CREATOR & DIRECTOR

Byron Jones

MUSIC DIRECTION

Maja Tremiszewska

REHEARSAL PIANIST

James Newsome

MOVEMENT CONSULTANT

Ben Howard

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Savannah Stephens

PIANISTS

Maja Tremiszewska
James Newsome

with

Liam Jaehnigen, guitar
Jonathan Toomer, violin
Mary Ruth Kestner, violin
Andrew Stewart, cello
Liu Chen, voice
Elijah Wunderlich, voice

THE COMPANY

Michael Bromley, Emma Faraone, Erik Figueroa, Erin Finnigan, Brooke Frampton, Aislin Given, Donald Hawkins, Kinsey McCulloch, Alexandra Richardson, Julian Robbins, Olivia Scanzera, Darynn Wanamaker

Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 2:30 p.m.
Goodson Chapel – Recital Hall
Shenandoah Conservatory

Welcome to the Fall 2026 edition of Opera Up Close: an examination of the art form and its relevance in an ever-changing, professional landscape. Whether you are an opera “regular” or new to the artform, we are grateful for your presence with us. 

The idea for this project has been rattling around in my brain for quite a while—to tell the Orpheus story through music taken from the various operatic treatments of this epic tale: Monterverdi, Gluck, Offenbach, and Aucoin. Then, it came to me that the story is much broader than that. The themes of love, loss, doubt, trust, faith, and the transformative power of music are all part of the Orpheus story, but, more importantly, they are part of our human story. 

This performance begins with an invocation based on the Seikilos epitaph, the oldest known surviving notated music, and includes a piece written for this show—so, a span of about 2,000 years!   

The texts, sung and spoken, are taken from many sources. We have sought to find connections between both texts (where it often seems unlikely), and singers. We have taken things out of context—apologies to the Shakespeare purists among you—and experimented with program order. You now have the finished product.  

But are artists ever finished? Are human beings? 

If you have attended a traditional opera performance at Shenandoah, this probably does not look or sound like what you might expect; however, to be a successful singer in opera or any genre, really, is to be able to tell a story. This piece has challenged us all, with our words and with our silences, to be compelling storytellers.

I’ll leave you with the words of English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, delivered in 1932 as part of the Mary Flexner Lectures at Bryn Mawr College: “The actual process of artistic invention, whether it be by voice, verse, or brush, presupposes an audience, someone to hear, read, or see.” By being here, you are completing our artistic process—we could not do this without you.

Vive l’opéra! Long live opera!

Invocation, based on the Epitaph

Seikilos, attr.

The Company

Excerpt from The Four Loves (1960)

Clive Staples Lewis

Julian

“I want to die while you love me”

Undine Smith Moore

Aislin

“Arise, My Love”

Richard Hundley

Michael

“Due pupille amabili”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Erin, Emma, Julian

“Tu donnes des rêves à mes nuits…” from Lettres à Lou Andreas-Salomé

Ranier Maria Rilke

Darynn, Olivia

“Pur ti miro” from L’Incoronazione di Poppea

Claudio Monteverdi

Kinsey, Erik

“Luci care, luci belle”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Alexandra, Darynn, Michael

“A complaint”

Robert Owens

Donald

“Till I Wake”

Harry T. Burleigh

Olivia

“The Heart of a Woman”

Georgia Douglas Johnson

Brooke

Rastlose Liebe, D.138

Franz Schubert

Darynn

“This is what it is to love an artist” from Eurydice

Matthew Aucoin

Erin

“Più non si trovano”

“Se lontan, ben mio, to sei”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Kinsey, Olivia, Donald

“Col mio sangue comprerei”

Alessandro Stradella

Brooke

“My Love”

Harold Bruce Forsythe

Julian

“Hope”

Robert Owens

Alexandra

“I am s h e d d i n g”

Jo Sexton

Aislin

“Adieu, jusque je vous revoye”

Marques L. A. Garrett

Kinsey

“She Weeps Over Rahoon”

Harold Bruce Forsythe

Olivia

Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene ii

William Shakespeare

Kinsey

“Caro mio ben”

Giuseppe Giordani
arr. Carlos Simon

Michael

“Mi lagnerò tacendo”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Brooke, Kinsey, Julian

“I Believe”

Dave Ragland

The Company

“We have not long to love”

Tennessee Williams

Michael

“Ecco quel fiero istante”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Brooke, Aislin, Erik

“The shouting for joy is there…” from Lettres à Lou Andreas-Salomé

Rainer Maria Rilke

Julian

WORLD PREMIERE

O music of the powers!

Cedric Allder

Julian with Brooke, Alexandra, Emma, Aislin

Excerpt from Henry VIII, Act III, Scene i

William Shakespeare

Darynn

“Orpheus”

Ivor Gurney

Alexandra

“Herz, mein Herz, sei nicht beklommen” from A Love Cycle

Marques L. A. Garrett

Donald, Darynn

“But oh! What art can teach”

George Frideric Handel

Brooke

Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen

Emma

The Artist

Evan Mack

The Company

Performers make full use of the space, including the aisles and other audience areas. Contact the Box Office or speak with an usher for more information.

Pre-show Lecture

Friday, November 6 at 6:30PM
Saturday, November 7 at 1:30PM
Goodson Chapel – Recital Hall

Enhance your experience by joining creator and director Byron Jones for a pre-show lecture beginning one hour before each Opera Up Close performance.

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Contact Shenandoah University's Office of Advancement at (540) 665-4512 or give@su.edu for more information or other ways to give.

Shenandoah University is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All gifts are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

nkoda

Some performances at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University feature digital scores accessed through nkoda, the world’s premier digital sheet music platform. Visit nkoda.com to learn more.