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The enterprising spirit that has characterized opera for 400 years is alive and well at the 58�Թ���.  

Case in point: the school’s new film of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. At 7:30pm Friday, March 18, 58�Թ��� will screen at Mixon Hall a production that demanded exceptional daring across the board and pushed the art form at 58�Թ��� into exciting new territory. The screening will also feature a panel discussion with the creative team and select cast members. 

“It was a big project, and I think it taught our students a lot,” said Dean Southern, dean of the conservatory and director of opera theater at 58�Թ���. “It’s something we can all be proud of.”  

Work on the project began in spring 2021, before vaccines were widely available. Seeking a creative and safe way to engage opera students and build on its acclaimed 2019 video production of Philip Glass’ The Juniper Tree, 58�Թ��� opted to make a cinematic version of Purcell’s 1680s masterpiece and partnered on direction with Akron-based Red Point Digital to develop and produce the film.   

Much of the film was shot outdoors last summer, at the former Westinghouse Factory in Ohio City. All performers, including a student chorus and the 58�Թ��� Orchestra under Harry Davidson, recorded their parts in advance. The cast then acted out the scenes on set in synchronization with a composite recording painstakingly compiled by Alan Bise, 58�Թ���’s Grammy Award-winning director of recording arts and services. 

“Students could really go to deeper emotional places without having to worry about making a perfect tone,” Southern explained. “We didn’t want this to be a film of an opera on stage. We wanted it filmed like a movie.” 

In a final bold stroke, the 58�Թ��� Opera Theater design team embraced the immersive and atmospheric Westinghouse factory setting by placing the story in the not-so-distant time and place rife with many of the same problems society faces today, including economic disparity, widespread misinformation and addiction to technology. 

In this production, Dido – sung by professional studies student Rachel Rose (Kuznetsova) – inhabits a peaceful, low-tech realm while Aeneas – sung by Jiayin Shi (MM ’21, Blumberg/Southern) – hails from a high-tech, corporate world. All evil spirits reside on the internet. 

Ironically, the internet is where the production may come to reside. After the Mixon Hall screening in March, Southern said 58�Թ��� is planning additional showings of the film at Cleveland-area theaters before ultimately making it available to the public online.  

“The imagination, the energy everybody brought to this project was just amazing,” Southern said. “To me, it feels like a love letter to Cleveland.”

Learn more about the screening and reserve your tickets.

Photography by: Dred Geib