Bel Canto and Beyond: Beautiful Singing Comes to Southport, North Carolina

On Sunday, February 8, 2009, Professor Nancy King, Assistant Professor of Music and coordinator of vocal music studies at UNC Wilmington, brought her young singers from the University to the Southport Community Center for their annual Opera presentation.

The UNC Wilmington Opera Outreach Project (UNC-WOOP!) provides vocal and dramatic training to young singers at UNCW and is committed to fostering the link between campus and community and to stimulating interest in opera in the local community. These undergraduate students have voices of professional quality, and never fail to delight audiences.

The title of this offering was "Bel Canto and Beyond." Bel Canto literally translates to "beautiful singing" and is also the name of a musical style popularized by the composers Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini which flourished in the early 1800's.

The popularity of bel canto faded for a time, but in the 1950s, a bel canto revival of sorts took place. Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and Beverly Sills, repopularized the bel canto repertoire. Some of today's most frequently performed operas, such as Rossini's The Barber of Seville and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, are from the bel canto era.

The coloratura soprano is often used in bel canto singing. A coloratura is one whose voice can soar to the high notes and execute staccatos, trills and embellishments, going to the highest register of the human voice.

Some of the selections were from Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra", Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro" from "Gianni Schicchi", "Norina's Aria" from Donizetti's "Don Pasquale",and "Depuis Le Jour" from Charpentier's "Louise".

Next Sunday, February 15, will be an Opera Quiz, in which Professor King and her students will challenge the audience to name some of the most popular selections performed at the Opera Series in Southport since 2003.

Mention must be made of the wonderful accompanist, Patricia Ainspac, who is also a member of the music faculty of UNCW. She did an outstanding job, as usual, accompanying the singers. Also, the wonderful venue of the Southport Community Center should also be mentioned. Located on Bay Street, just across the street from the Cape Fear River, the center's expansive windows look out onto the beautiful waterfront. It's not unusual to see a huge freighter coming in from the Atlantic Ocean, turn to make its way up the river to the deep water port of Wilmington, or to see dolphins frolic in front of the Bald Head Island ferry.

On Saturday, March 21st, at 8:00 pm, Professor King will perform with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra in an event entitled "A Glorious Evening of Opera" at the Kenan Auditorium in Wilmington. Other performers include Dr. Steven Errante, Conductor, Joy Murrell, Michael Rallis, Marva Robinson, and the UNCW Opera Outreach Program. This promises to be an event all local opera lovers shouldn't miss.