Elon University senior Rachel Jones, a music performance major, participated in the 2012 Opera Academy of California Summer Program in San Francisco this past June and July.
Rachel performed the role of Soeur Anne de la Croix (Sister Anne) in Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues des Carmelites,” which was about the martyrdom of the Carmelite nuns during the French Revolution. She was in the ensemble for Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and was selected to cover the role of Lauretta in “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini. All three operas were fully staged productions.
Rachel closed the July 25 Opera Scenes Program by performing “Olympias Couplets” in Les contes d’Hoffmann. This scene, commonly called “The Doll Song”, was directed by Rod Gomez who has directed operas in San Francisco, New York, and Germany. Rachel utilized her ballet training at Elon to give life to the beautiful singing automaton, “Olympia,” created by a mad scientist. Her final opera scene of the summer was directed by Yefim Maizel who established the Opera Academy and serves as a Guest Stage Director for the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Rachel played the maid, Despina, in a scene from the first act of Cosi fan tutte by W.A. Mozart.
Aria Evening performances include Verdi’s “Saper vorreste” from Un Ballo in maschera. She performed “O Mio Babbino Caro” from Gianni Schicchi for a Master Class. Other scene work included “Una Donna a Quindici Anni” from Cosi fan tutte, “Sull’aria” from The Marriage of Figaro, Act 1 finale from Don Pasquale, and the Act 1 trio from Die Fledermaus.
Rachel earned a work study scholarship for this summer experience. She used her theatrical experience as a stage crew member on “Don Giovanni” as well as various scene shows. Her training at Elon in applying makeup prepared her for her work in providing makeup for all of the male roles in “Gianni Schicchi”. She also formatted and edited all of the supertitles for “Gianni Schicchi”.
Rachel is a voice student of Dr. Hallie Hogan, and also studied voice at Elon with Barbara Peters.