Opera

Hylton Performing Arts Center and Lyric Opera Virginia stuns viewers with "Master Class" performance

From Jan. 30-Feb. 2, the Lyric Opera Virginia, with help of the Hylton Performing Arts Center, presented “Master Class,” by Terrance McNally.

The small cast included Lisa Vroman, who played the central figure in McNally's play: Maria Callas. Accompanying her were Joe Walsh as Manny the pianist, two sopranos played by Aundi Marie Moore and Sarah Kate Walston, a tenor played by Joshua Baumgardner and a stagehand played by Mason student Matthew Lincoln-Bugg.

Grammy-winning soprano Leona Mitchelll visits Mason

As someone who has had a rather shaky introduction to opera, I have since fallen in love with it.  Not because I know how difficult it is to hit that C sharp in the middle of an aria, but because the stories wrapped within the music are reflective of the feelings humans go through each day. Instead of telling the audience through a monologue of a character’s emotions, they are sung with such empathy that  literally makes one quake in their seat. Without realizing it, you are swept up and all language barriers are forgotten.