The Sounds of Music @ the Cleveland Institute of Music 4/28 It was an interesting concept—to present a series of brief operatic scenes with a theme. Opera of course, must have music, but surprisingly, there are many other human-generated sounds present, as well. With appropriate costumes (by Alison Garrigan and Esther Montgomery) occasional lighting effects and a few props, the students of CIM’s Opera Theater program presented some sixteen examples of these sounds, which included chatter, screams, sneezes, laughter, yawns, hiccups from overindulging, and the resultant hangover. The selections ranged from hilarious to serious with staging by Amy Irvine and Alissa Schneider.

Artistic Director David Bamberger directed and staged the various vignettes, while Opera Coach John Simmons was Music Director, masterfully performing at the piano for some selections, while others were accompanied by students (Rena Iwai, Shanelle Jernigan, Lee Schmitz) of the collaborative piano department or Adam Whiting, a staff accompanist at CIM.

Each of the scenes was introduced by one of the vocal students, effectively putting the audience into the action. The singers ranged from first year freshmen to graduate students. It’s reasonable to believe they’ll all be successful in reaching their goals, but at this point, some are farther along the way than others.

Some scenes worked better than others, but then, they were all taken out of context, which isn't always helpful. It was interesting to see how the students performed in the various roles; not everyone can do Gilbert and Sullivan, for instance, but then again, not everyone should attempt Mozart either. In spite of the uneven performances, it was a very enjoyable evening, filled with young singers whose names you'll want to remember. Someday you might see them again on another stage in another city.

Just for the record, I attended three musical presentations in three nights last week, and each one of them (including this one) was interrupted by a cell phone. It’s extremely frustrating and insulting to both the performers and the audience. Not to mention, downright rude!

CIM regularly presents concerts and recitals by both faculty and students, as well as guest artists. For tickets or other information about any of these presentations, visit the web-site: http://www.cim.edu or call (216) 791-5000.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net (:divend:)