Fifteen years ago, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music began a holiday tradition— performing "Amahl and the Night Visitors." The tradition continued in December when UNL Opera presented the opera in the Studio Theatre of the Temple Building on campus.
“It is a great introduction to opera: The show runs at under an hour; it is in understandable English; the story is easy to grasp; the music is tuneful and accessible,” said Glenn Korff School of Music Professor and Director of Opera William Shomos.
“Even though the opera is richly and deeply rooted in the Biblical Christmas Story, the piece has a universal message promoting kindness and generosity as valuable human qualities. In a world that is becoming increasingly coarser and meaner, 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' endures as an uplifting opera that encourages selflessness among human beings and advances the message that 'it is better to give than to receive.'”
Shomos sees "Amahl and the Night Visitors" serving as a perfect vehicle for outreach—a way that Opera can “give back” to the community in a meaningful way.
Since the project’s inception, it has targeted fifth graders from Title 1 schools in Lincoln Public Schools.
“If we had the resources, we’d do it for all LPS fifth graders, but we decided to target those communities that are not as likely to have the means to have access to live opera,” Shomos said. “That age range has proven to be very receptive to this opera, perhaps, in part, because the protagonist (Amahl) is a young boy their own age, who faces adversity that he must overcome.”
The cast was made up of students from the Glenn Korff School of Music while the Shepherd’s Chorus is made up of students from UNL and LPS High Schools. This year it included Lincoln Northeast, North Star and Lincoln Southwest.
“Since the inception of the project, we have collaborated each year with LPS high schools,” Shomos said. “On a rotating basis, choir directors from the six high schools supply the shepherd’s chorus.”
And like last year’s performance in Ord at The Golden Husk, this year UNL Opera was invited to perform in Central City. Central City High School’s musical director, Dane Christensen, is a graduate (music education) from Nebraska. That performance took place Dec. 10.
--Brian Reetz, Glenn Korff School of Music