Well, it's been about a year since I've been with my friends here with the South Bend Lyric Opera.

But I'm excited to be back.

And we are up in IUSB on the performance stage here, which is just wonderful.

I have my friends returning with me and Emanuel and Ian.

Thank you so much for joining us.

This is a special production that you guys are doing this year, because we're wrapping up the 10th year that you have been doing this year in South Bend and bringing it back home.

Yes.

That is very true.

So ten years ago we did by Puccini, and it was a special moment for all of us because we haven't seen professional opera in a long time in the city for about 20 years.

And now we're back.

And we did a line back back then, but now we're back on this wonderful stage.

If you see, this is a beautiful stage and we have a beautiful sets and we have manuscripts of Rodolfo, who is the poet, and he's writing things.

But yes, this is a special moment for us ten years later to come back and Du Bois again.

It is.

And what are some of the differences that you're incorporating, especially with what you've learned over those ten years?

Many things have learned because when you first did it before in that smaller setting, right, this is a much bigger venue.

So you were able to be more immersive with the audience too.

How will that shift now?

It's a little bit of a shift, but we have a little bit of immersion here too, because we have the orchestra and orchestra.

The orchestra will envelop the audience in the beautiful sounds.

So back then we did it with piano.

Budgetary wise, space wise, we didn't have the space.

We didn't have the budget.

We didn't know if we will continue to do this right ten years ago.

But now we're here and sets much bigger sets.

We have the sets and we have a wonderful stage, but this is the difference.

So the orchestra is a huge difference.

And Maestro Jameson Cooper is doing a fabulous job.

We had a dress last night.

We have another dress tonight.

So yeah.

And then we'll we'll put it all together and it's going to be a fabulous show.

And I know and you have a huge part in this too, but also not just with the organization, but you are in this performance as well.

Let's talk about that experience for you.

Yeah.

So this is my first time doing both.

I'm playing Colleen, who is sort of a philosopher, one of Rodolfo friends and stuff like that.

He's very much the kind of like observer sits back and kind of like watches a lot of the action.

Is that true to your personal actually?

Actually, just kind of for a lot of ways, although he speaks in a lot more like philosophy and references.

Like Greek and Latin references and things like that, that I don't do.

But it's but it's fun, but it's fun because it will come to a very, very tender area that I have not sung before, called the Code Aria from From bone.

That's very, very delicate, very just like reflective.

Because what's because what's important about these characters that they're in poverty.

So if, you know, like the musical rent.

So that's like my favorite musical.

That's what bomb.

It's based off of bomb.

Okay.

Perfect.

So bringing that together.

Yeah.

So basically it's a similar concept except with except with rent.

It's in the 90s during the and aftermath of the Aids crisis.

Yes.

But it's all the same themes and stuff like that.

And so both this and then the character back then Collins both kind of have this coat and things like that.

And so the code aria basically just gets to the point of like really reflecting on, I'm letting go of you so that for this tragic thing that's going to happen.

But in order to prove the world like I'm going to pass this off to you.

So it's really fun to get to play into those.

How do you prepare your voice?

It's like, because I'm not an operatic, right?

Like, I don't know how that works.

I do it in the shower just fine, but like, what actually goes into it?

It's just, I mean, obviously warming up every day.

I mean, a lot of the time if you're singing each day, then it gets easier and easier.

But ultimately, like it's just warming up every day, really running through some of the stuff.

So like my aria, some of that, I don't know if it's something for you just running through the aria, because that's probably the biggest thing and it's you, you have to sing.

So just try and make sure you sing through it first before you go out on a stage.

And then.

And then.

Yeah.

And then just kind of just keeping going, noticing, trying to notice when, if things are feeling off in the voice and how do you make adjustments and things like that.

Yeah.

And Arias are interesting things because there are like songs, but they're not songs.

They're intense, very deep thought pieces composed in the opera.

And there are the thoughts of the characters.

Sometimes they're the, the, the dialog, but then there's no body there.

It's just with your thoughts.

So that's an amazing thing that singers have to prepare for because they're solo, they're on stage, and then the orchestra is going and then you're you're alone doing all of this, and you have to actually express your thoughts, the concepts, anything that, that, that you and I, what I'm doing now, I'm doing this now, this is an aria.

But but this is a little bit of, you know, with music, with the orchestra and you have to gel and collaborate with the orchestra.

And a lot of times opera is in another language to is this one as well.

This one is Italian.

We do have super titles.

If you see the little thing there.

We have super titles in English.

So you see every line what we're saying, but that goes into the performance as well.

I mean, because music is translated in so many different ways and so feeling that emotion, when you are up here doing that, it comes across whether we understand the language precisely or not.

For sure.

And no microphones and no, no microphones.

No, my singers don't have the microphones.

They're trained.

That's the way we do these things, because opera started in a time that there were no microphones, so we had to develop a vocal technique so you can actually go all the way to the back back row there too, so everybody can hear you.

So interesting.

And another thing, because we're talking about rent, the dreadful disease that they dealt with in the 19 1900s, 1800s was tuberculosis.

So this is the situation that we're dealing with here, this, this, this bad thing that is happening.

And it's all around.

And that's why they wrote opera.

This is not the only opera that deals with tuberculosis.

La traviata is the same.

So a lot of operas dealt with the reality of everyday, exactly everyday life in Italy at this time.

So yeah.

And you have a long history of opera performance as well?

Yes.

And it goes back generationally to.

That is true.

My dad is an opera singer, so.

Okay, so maybe I'm not meant to be an opera.

No, that's not true.

That's not true.

But yes.

So my father is an opera singer.

So he performed.

And I grew up technically in the wings, if you see the wings of it.

And I would watch him was a little kid, and I saw the artist coming in and out.

And then I also hear the orchestra.

So I was I was taken by that throughout my, throughout my childhood.

And this is really This is your baby here without the Lyric Opera, you know, coming together with wrapping up your ten years here.

Yes.

Talk to us about that in itself, because that is such a wonderful accomplishment, especially bringing it opera here to the Michiana area.

Yes.

You know, this is a special moment because ten years ago we didn't know what's going to happen.

Are we going to do this past this first boy or not?

We had such a great response.

The community was, oh, this is awesome, let's keep doing it.

And we kept doing it.

And here we are ten years.

I never thought that we will be here ten years later because I didn't know where we will go.

But here we are.

And then the community is amazing, embracing us and then being here and and supporting us.

This is so, so important, but a special to me because I never thought I would go this direction in my life.

I thought, I'll just be a singer and that's that.

And then I started this with a couple of people with Rami and Coley and Stephanie.

So.

And then here we are ten years later and it's growing and it's taking.

And now we have this is his baby too.

And we want to fill.

Yes here.

Right.

We want to feel this.

Tell us where the performances are happening and how people can get their tickets.

Yes.

So the performances are happening this Friday and Saturday, the 29th and 30th, as well as next weekend on the fifth and sixth, right here at Iowa City Auditorium.

And so you can just go to South Bend Lyric Opera's website and just purchase tickets right there.

That's wonderful.

Such a great way to experience opera right here in our community.

You guys have to come out and see this and celebrate with you guys and doing so.

Thank you so much for having us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.