Portland Students Present Opera Performance
Several classes and musical groups at Deering and Portland High are working together on a project that will culminate with a performance of highlights from Gluck’s eighteenth century opera, “Orpheus and Eurydice.”
Portland High students are translating the myth of Orpheus from French and Latin. Students are preparing art pieces that illustrate the myth. Portland High School acting students Jesse Dziedzic, Sidney Dritz and Eileen Hanley are performing from the translated script. Students from Portland Ballet are dancing in the ballet sequences in the opera.
The Deering High School Chorus directed by Mark Nordli and the Deering-Portland High School Orchestra led by Julianne Eberl will perform the opera highlights with community members on Tuesday, May 27, at 7 p.m. in the Portland High School auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public; donations at the door are welcome.
“This is a very special opportunity for our students to be involved in the staging of an opera,” said Eberl. “We are grateful for all of the community support that has brought the year-long project to fruition.”
The project received a Portland Education Partnership Reachout grant for $300, a $500 grant from the Dettling Family and $1,500 from the Children Matter grant program sponsored by Bank of America.
Julie Goell, a professional singer, bassist and founding member of the Casco Bay Tummlers, is staging the show. Performers include Michael Albert, a Portland High graduate who now works as the registrar at the Portland Conservatory of Music, Christina Astrachan, a professional singer who teaches at Bates College, and Leela Nowrangi, a professional singer and teacher who owns an Old Port art gallery. About 70 students are involved in the musical performance, ballet sequences, acting segments and technical production.
