APRIL 23, 2024 — The UTSA Lyric Theatre presents the final production of its 2023-2024 season with The VERDI Project. The concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 26, at the Edgewood Theater for Performing Arts in San Antonio.
From the creative mind of director Jourdan Laine Howell, associate professor of instruction for voice and Lyric Theatre at the UTSA School of Music, the show is a new collaborative effort between the school’s theatre, orchestra and choral ensembles. The massive production commemorates the School of Music’s 50th anniversary this year.
The event will center the life and works of the famous Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. UTSA Lyric Theatre vocalists will perform melodies by Verdi, one of opera’s most celebrated composers. The show will also include narration by UTSA professor emeritus Gary Mabry and student Justin Chappell.
The production will feature the UTSA orchestra and all three choral ensembles. Directed by orchestra conductor Troy Peters and Jordan D. Boyd, assistant director of choral activities, this collaboration will provide the large number of voices required for Verdi’s famous choruses.
“I am thrilled to help celebrate the School of Music’s 50th anniversary year with this huge team project, because it speaks to the collaborative, familial spirit of our school’s faculty and students,” Howell said. “Verdi is a big name in opera. Maestro Peters and I agreed that focusing on a giant of the opera world would be a great way to commemorate 50 years.”
Howell added that she and Peters will work together again this fall.
“We will bring another opera giant to the stage — the masterful Mozart himself in a production of Don Giovanni, one of the world’s most performed operatic works.”
The production will feature costume pieces from UTSA’s MET Opera collection.
Student vocalists for the production include Callan Sramek, Joshua Moncada Zoll, Emily Densmore, Alyssa Moreno, Lucas Moncada Zoll, Deeana Janai-Malave, Francheska Lugo, Antonio Zubillaga, Osvaldo Chacon, Lexie Cairy, Taylor Malcolm, Jared Kellman-Medina and Ryan Noelle.
The creative team consists of Peters, Howell, Aurorah Cerros (assistant stage director), Madeleine Phipps (stage manager), Chuck Drew (lighting design) and Boyd (shadow conductor).
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Each fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
