|
|
|
|
|
|
The Opera Workshop and Opera Theatre, currently
under the direction of William McDonald,
provide instruction in theater techniques to develop the basic skills required
by an operatic performer. Students engage in improvisational exercises,
stagecraft, stage management, movement, and character development training.
Interdisciplinary contributions of lecture hours and special demonstrations of
dance, costume, and make-up have been made by faculty and specialists from the
Dance and Theatre Departments. Students display their talents in presentations
ranging from an evening of scenes to a complete opera with orchestra performed
in the USF Theatre Complex assisted by the College of Fine Arts Production
Section and its access to theatrical experts. The Tampa Bay community has
enthusiastically received the USF Opera Program with off-campus performances at
the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, The Mahaffey Theatre in St.
Petersburg, The Palladium Theatre and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
Special student matinee performances are often scheduled for Hillsborough County
middle and high school students and opera students have performed at educational
events in neighboring counties.
William McDonald, an Illinois born tenor, began his professional singing
career over forty years ago. He has sung concerts around the world. As a
soloist, he has performed with the orchestra of Philadelphia, St. Louis and
Houston to name a few. Operatic engagements include the New York Opera, San
Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. He has been a guest artist at the
Opera Comique in Paris, France and the Festivals of Wexford, Ireland, York
England and Eisenstadt, Austria. His operatic repertoire is extensive. In the
mid-seventies he appeared opposite Beverly Sills in the Peabody Award winning
television production of Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment. This performance
can be seen on videocassette and DVD on the V.A.I. label.
William Wiedrich, is associate
professor of conducting at USF, where he conducts the Symphony Orchestra and Wind
Ensemble. He heads the graduate program in conducting, and teaches conducting privately
throughout the state of Florida where he is often engaged as a guest conductor and clinician.
Prior to his appointment at Tampa, Dr. Wiedrich held faculty conducting positions at East
Carolina University, Michigan State University, and visiting professor and conductor at the
University of Michigan, where he later earned his doctorate. His teachers include Gustav Meier,
H. Robert Reynolds, and Larry Rachleff, as well as with Gunther Schuller at The Festival at
Sandpoint. He also attended the conducting seminar at the Tanglewood. He is a member of the board of directors
of "Quorum," a professional contemporary music ensemble, and is a founding member of
"Newmusic Tampa," a similar ensemble actively performing in the Tampa Bay area.
A published composer and arranger, Dr. Wiedrich is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. He is active in commissioning works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, and wind ensemble. Groups with whom he has collaborated with have consistently received praise for their sensitive performances.
 |
 |