Universally acclaimed as one of Europe’s most original and progressive directors, and widely celebrated as the founder of the global #OperaHarmony movement, auteur-director Ella Marchment has also taken on leadership roles for international arts organizations and spoken and lectured at world-renowned companies and conservatoires, including Opera Europa in the Netherlands, the Royal Opera House in London, the Juilliard School in New York, and the Royal College of Music in London. She was previously director of the opera programme at Northern Illinois University and is the current artistic director of Manor Opera in the UK, and Opera Festival of Chicago.

Main Stage Opera

Auditions are held for the main stage opera at the beginning of the fall semester and casting allocated before the winter break in order for students to have time to start work on repertoire over the holiday period.

• Students from all conservatory programs as well as the wider university community are encouraged to audition. If you would like to audition then we would like to hear you!
• Voice performance students are required to audition.

More Information

Visit the Ensemble & Production Auditions webpage for the most up-to-date information about auditioning for our music, theatre and dance ensembles and productions.

Ensemble & Production Auditions

Fall Semester Opera

Our fall opera is our space to experiment and introduce students to forward-thinking innovative operatic experiences (recent productions have included Philip Glass's “Hydrogen Jukebox” where all students involved played Beat Generation creatives and were on stage for the full evening), and the Fall 2023 production was a devised work (which all student performers contributed script to) and collaboration between Shenandoah University’s Center for Immersive Learning (SCiL) featuring augmented reality, dance and Shenandoah's own contemporary music group, the EDGE Ensemble.

Industry Trends

We want students to engage with opera in its broadest sense and also to become champions of the change the industry is currently experiencing. This means that in recent productions we have often featured the work of female composers, and in September 2022, performed the first ever full program of Native American music in Europe at the Venice Biennale.

https://youtu.be/G33lFXbsSOc?si=B9uO1SAnt5M6X8Q4&t=16

Travel Opportunities for Students

In addition building bridges between the University environment and the profession is key to setting our students up for success beyond Shenandoah. In the past two years students have travelled with our Director of Opera Ella Marchment to perform on national TV in Arkansas, and travelled internationally to work alongside Marchment.

Opera Courses

MUPP 370 Opera Theatre Ensemble

In this course, students will prepare short complete works and/or excerpts of larger works for public performances presented both on and off campus. An audition is required. Credit(s): 2

MUPP 372 Opera Studio

This course develops the expressive potential of the singer, introduces students to the profession of opera and explores solo role development in specific musical and dramatic styles. Designed as the conclusion to introductory acting and movement training, this class culminates in a performance project featuring canonical repertoire. Credit(s): 1

Main stage opera is a key feature of the Shenandoah Conservatory performance calendar and takes place near the end of the spring semester in a three-performance run. Recent productions include Benjamin Britten's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and Germaine Tailleferre's four comic operettas in “The New World of Opera.” This is a fully supported production with sets and costumes created specifically for the production, as well as a chance for students to experience the performance process in a pre-professional manner.

‘Hydrogen Jukebox’ Ties for First Place in NOA’s 2022/23 Opera Production Competition

Result reflects exponential growth of Shenandoah Conservatory's opera program

Shenandoah Conservatory’s production of “Hydrogen Jukebox” was featured as part of a three-way-tie for first place in the National Opera Association’s (NOA) 2022/23 Opera Production Competition Division I category, alongside Baylor University’s “Monsieur et Madame Denis” by Jacques Offenbach and Laurencin and Michel Delaporte and SUNY Potsdam - Crane School of Music’s “The Enchanted Pig” by Jonathan Dove and Alasdair Middleton.

“‘Hydrogen Jukebox’ was a performance project that embodies Shenandoah Conservatory’s mission to be a collaborative community,” said Director of Opera and Associate Professor Ella Marchment, B.Mus. “It’s a huge honor to be the winners of this national competition and the result is testament to the commitment and investment of all students involved who collectively were on stage in character for the entire evening. Opera at Shenandoah is growing exponentially and to receive this accolade shows us that we are perceived as a center of innovation, experimentation and collaboration, preparing well-rounded artists for the future profession.”

“Hydrogen Jukebox” was directed by Marchment, and featured original choreography by Adjunct Instructor of Dance Lindsay Browning, B.F.A.; music direction by Adjunct Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching Wei-Han Wu, D.M.A., and lighting design by Oak Neel ’24 (Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Design & Production – Lighting Design).

“Hydrogen Jukebox” (1990) is a compelling and provocative chamber opera set to music by Philip Glass and the words of iconic beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Named for and inspired by Ginsberg’s 1955 poem “Howl,” “Hydrogen Jukebox” is a melodrama that creates a portrait of the sensory overload and upheaval of America from the 1950s through the 1980s — covering the end of World War II through the thick of the Cold War. Through a special collaboration with the Dance Division, and accompanied by a live chamber ensemble, the production explored the difficult, often ugly, growing pains of our country.

View the “Hydrogen Jukebox” digital program to learn more about the November 2022 production.