MANASSAS – (Press Release) George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) in collaboration with the Washington National Opera (WNO) announce Raising Voices, a new program of opera and musical theater, to be held Sunday, April 7 at 4 p.m. at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.
Featuring the combined talent of Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist and Mason Opera and Vocal Studies students, Raising Voices marks the beginning of a developing partnership between these two important programs, aimed at expanding the support, growth, and opportunities for young opera singers in America.
Some of the best young voices in the nation come to the D.C. area to perfect their art and craft. Founded by Plácido Domingo in 2002 and currently guided by Robert Ainsley, the WNO’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program auditions hundreds of postgraduate, emerging professional singers for a coveted few positions every year. These exceptional artists receive coaching, perform with WNO at the Kennedy Center, and participate in the development of new work through the American Opera Initiative. Domingo-Cafritz alumni are singing with major opera houses around the world.
Mason’s Opera and Vocal Studies program, under the direction of Patricia Miller, provides high-caliber academic study for outstanding undergraduate and graduate students from around the country and internationally, regularly producing award-winning singers, who go on to prestigious graduate programs and professional careers.
Under the guidance of Ainsley and Miller, Raising Voices will feature a joint program of operatic favorites, showcasing singers from both programs in a celebration of the power of the unamplified human voice.
“We are thrilled to continue developing our partnership with one of the premiere young artist programs in the nation,” shared Rick Davis, Dean of Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and Executive Director of the Hylton Performing Arts Center. “Our talented students learn from working alongside these emerging professionals and through the extraordinary coaching and musical preparation that Rob Ainsley and his team provide. You can see the future of opera in this program and it is beautiful and bright.”
“Washington National Opera is committed to partnering with its local communities and esteemed educational institutions, making opera accessible and available to all,” adds Ainsley. “George Mason University’s CVPA is working incredibly hard to provide the highest possible level of training to their performing arts students and to enrich the cultural landscape of Fairfax and beyond; it is a privilege to support them in this endeavor. That they have the exquisite Hylton Performing Arts Center and the ideally-sized operatic stage of Merchant Hall at their disposal is a real bonus, and provides the perfect venue to hear these two groups of extraordinary young talents join forces.”
Raising Voices
Sunday, April 7 at 4 p.m.
Hylton Performing Arts Center
10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, VA
Tickets to Raising Voices are $20 and can be purchased by phone through the Hylton Center Box Office at 703-993-7759 or online at hylton.calendar.gmu.edu/raising-voices.
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