ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø OperX to perform ¡®Amahl and the Night Visitors¡¯ and ¡®Stolen Scenes¡¯

The ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø OperX program will perform ¡°Stolen Scenes¡± and ¡°Amahl and the Night Visitors¡± April 20-23. Performances will be directed by Dr. Patrick McNally, assistant professor of music and director of opera.

¡°Stolen Scenes¡± will feature excerpts from the operatic repertoire accompanied by a pianist. Student musicians will perform works by Mozart, Gilbert and Sullivan, Bizet, Monteverdi and more.  

¡°Amahl and the Night Visitors¡± is a touching one-act opera commissioned for television in 1951. Composer Gian Carlo Menotti felt inspired to write a work that recaptured his childhood and wrote the piece to be kid-friendly. The opera tells the story of Amahl, a boy with a disability who meets the Three Kings on their way to meet the Christ child.

¡°Opera is amazing because it¡¯s a visceral combination of high-level specialists telling a story,¡± McNally said. ¡°You have people focused on singing brilliantly, dancers soaring, technical elements like evocative lights and fantastic sets, and all of it works together to share a story worth retelling every night.¡±

¡°Stolen Scenes¡± will be performed April 20 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. ¡°Amahl and the Night Visitors¡± will be performed April 21 at 7:30 p.m. and April 23 at 1:30 p.m. All performances take place in the Brunner Theatre Main Stage.