Saddleback Students Study Opera in Italy!

Paloma Pallante, Lauren Graham, and Jose Zamarripa

This summer, the Orange County Ars Vocalis Academy (OCAVA) sent 13 young artists to Rome for three weeks to study opera. Six of those students are currently studying music at Saddleback College. They are: Sophia Ahwazi, Scott Dilbeck, Lauren Graham, Lauren Lugo, Paloma Pallante, and Jose Zamarripa.

OCAVA was founded by Saddleback College music professor Dubravka Zubovic in 2012. The academy offers training to advanced high school and college singers in opera, art song, and musical theater. According to Zubovic, this intensive program seeks to unleash students’ unlimited creative potential.

A mezzo soprano, she has sung in opera houses around the world. Zubovic approached chair of Saddleback College’s Department of Music Scott Farthing with the idea of starting a nonprofit intensive vocal academy that would allow students to study in the ancient city. Excited about the prospect of such a fantastic adventure and learning experience for the students, Farthing knew he wanted to be a part of it and that it would be just the ticket for his opera students. Saddleback College music professor Norman Weston, staff accompanist Catherine Tibbitts, and from Saddleback as the OCAVA-in-Rome faculty Vera Maniaci were also in Italy representing Saddleback College.

After they arrived in Rome, teachers and students immersed themselves in the culture of a city overflowing with an immense history and a respect for classical vocal performance. The singers lived and took classes at the Domus Pacis Hotel, just three kilometers from Vatican City. Their days began at 9:30 a.m. with either an Italian language class or a private voice lesson. The intense program included one 45-minute private lesson per day compared to one 30-minute private lesson per week back in the states. The teachers worked on everything from breath control to vowel shape and even proper facial musculature.

The students performed three concerts at St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church. Studying in Rome set students up to be inspired by the same scenery that inspired many of the greatest opera composers. For the academy’s third and final performance at St. Paul’s, they sang to a packed house which was an unbelievable way to close the three-week program. Zubovic stated, “After such a great success in our inaugural year, we hope many young singers from southern California and elsewhere will join us in 2014. Net year the program will last from June 15^th to July 6^th. “

With a long tradition of excellence in music, the Saddleback College Vocal Program continues building on that tradition with the very finest in both standard vocal repertoire and the music of the cutting edge. The three primary choirs on campus include the Community Chorale, Concert Choir, and the Women’s Camerata, which perform many concerts around the area throughout the school year. Membership is open in all three ensembles with the successful completion of a vocal placement interview at the beginning of each semester. In addition to beginning, intermediate and advanced level vocal classes, Saddleback College offers private voice lessons to a select few vocalists who are planning on pursuing degrees in vocal performance at the university or conservatory level.

Past students in the Applied Music program have been accepted to prestigious music schools across the country. In addition, Saddleback College is proud to be one of a handful of community colleges in the state which offer its students the opportunity to perform in operas and opera scenes each semester. Past performances include The Old maid and the Thief, The Medium, Goose Girl, Suor Angelica and Mozart’s Mitradate.  For more information about singing at Saddleback College, please contact Dr. Farthing at sfarthing@saddleback.edu.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.

Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.