Kelsi Holmes Performed in the Fall Opera Scenes at Luther College

2012 Nov 27

Kelsi Holmes, a senior from Monticello, Iowa is one of 19 Luther College students who performed in Fall Opera Scenes performances in Luther's Jenson Noble Hall of Music, Nov. 16-17.

Holmes was selected for the role of Mercedes in "Carmen".

Holmes, daughter of Mike and Sue Holmes, is majoring in music at Luther. Holmes graduated from Monticello High School in 2009.

The Fall Opera Scenes were directed by Edwin Andereck, Luther professor of music, and Jacob Lassetter, Luther associate professor of music, accompanied by Luther students Jordan Buchholtz, Robert Ragoonanan and Esme Wong.

According to Lassetter, the scenes format is perfect for new audiences as it provides a sampling of several operas, and also allows regular opera goers to learn about other works that are new to them. "The staging will be exciting and will challenge any pre-conceived notions the new audience member might have," Lassetter said.

Programmed excerpts included Rossini's "La Cenerentola," "I Pagliacci" by Leoncavallo, "Carmen" by Bizet, "La Traviata" by Verdi, "La Fille du Régiment" by Donizetti, "Manon" by Massenet, "Albert Herring" by Britten, "Don Pasquale" by Donizetti and Puccini's "La Rondine."

The scenes were presented in original languages with projected English supertitles.

Students were selected for the program from auditions held during spring semester 2012. The scenes were then programmed with the selected students' voices in mind.