Francesca Reindel, Class of 2011,
Eliot House, Neurobiology Concentrator
The first night of pre-frosh weekend is thrilling, but also somewhat daunting. Finding your way to Agassiz House to pick up your t-shirt, the calendar listing the hundreds of events, and your host’s information, and then appearing at your host’s doorstep with your sleeping bag—it’s exciting but slightly unnerving. Some pre-frosh may not arrive until the next day, and it is normal to feel a little lost.
I was lucky enough to be, quite literally, rescued by a group of undergraduate members of the Lowell House Opera (the details of this rescue could rival any fairytale). It was my good fortune that a friend-of-a-friend was involved in this incredible organization and invited me to come watch a video of the opera Othello with them, an opera we would eventually produce in full and perform in the Lowell House Dining Hall in 2009!
As an opera singer, the last thing I would have expected at pre-frosh weekend was to find myself immersed in a group of opera lovers. Most of my friends from music school had moved on to conservatories or universities with large opera performance programs in order to fulfill their dreams of one day singing at the Met. I was more interested in broadening my horizons and attending a liberal arts college, while also pursuing opera.
Harvard has a myriad of performing opportunities and a strong, active, and welcoming community of people who love to sing, direct, produce, and listen to opera. We have FOUR companies which annually mount full scale productions! I performed in my first full opera this February in the Dunster House Opera (DHO)’s production of Albert Herring. Each year DHO’s undergraduate cast and orchestra energetically perform an opera in English. With the Lowell House Opera, which performs larger-scale works in their original language, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many of the behind-the-scenes aspects of opera, and LHO’s unique community of students and semi-professionals from around the Boston area is very exciting. If you prefer early music, check out the Harvard Early Music Society (HEMS), or for quick-paced English operetta, explore the Harvard Gilbert and Sullivan Players (HRGSP).
Photo: Francesca Reindel in a Master Class with Renée Fleming at Harvard
There are also opportunities to learn from experts in the field through the Harvard Music Department and the Office for the Arts. I recently had the opera-tunity (pun intended) to sing in a master class for international opera star and three-time Grammy award winner Renée Fleming!
At Harvard, even novice singers can get involved! There are also programs, such as the Lowell House Opera Scenes concerts, which allow singers and directors to develop their craft in smaller-scale productions. Most productions have a chorus as well, which is a great way to begin learning about opera!
We’d love to have you share your fresh ideas and talent with us! Join us at the Opera Aria Concert at Lowell House on Saturday, April 24th at 1 PM to hear undergraduate opera singers and learn more about our incredible organizations!
