On with the show: Students to help open Overture Center

More than 150 UW–Madison students will be part of an extraordinary out-of-the-classroom learning experience as they dance, sing, play and perform as part of the celebration of the opening of Madison’s Overture Center on Sept. 20.

“UW Performing Artists of the Future Celebrate the Overture,” draws students from music, opera, theater and dance. The musical portion of the event will include works by Brahms, Bellini, Leonard Bernstein, Edward Elgar, Prokofiev, Sondheim and more. Actors and jazz musicians will combine forces in a fugue of words and music. The program also features two dance pieces, one a multimedia work, the other a celebration of Asian and African culture and tradition.

The idea of this performance originated with Tino Balio, emeritus and now interim director of the UW–Madison Arts Institute. He’s also on the board of directors of the city’s cultural district.

“Students will be performing, of course, but they also will be working backstage. They’ll be members of the audience as well. In a very real sense, they are major participants in an important aspect of the city’s cultural life,” he says.

And what students they are, according to William Farlow, University Opera director.

“I hope the broader, non-university audience will become more aware of the caliber and breadth of the student performers we have here at UW–Madison. The opera selections, for example, demand high-quality professionals. Our students are up to the task,” he says.

The Overture gala contributes to the general aura of excitement in Madison at this time of year. Carrie Coon, a second-year master of fine arts candidate in acting, says that being part of the center’s opening celebration is going to be a highlight of her semester.

“I have never been involved in a collaborative event of this magnitude, and it’s important for those of us planning to work in the industry to understand directly how much work is required to pull it off successfully,” she says. “The variety and the number of artists invited to create the opening is a testament to the opportunities for artistic growth that soon will be opening up in a community that’s already proved how supportive it can be.”

Coon will be doing one of the monologues in the jazz fugue segment. Doctoral candidate Kevin McMahon will conduct “A Little Night Music.” Because he plans to conduct for a living when he graduates, he says that this opportunity will add a crucial dimension to his education. “It’s a rare thing to be involved in a concert that opens a new hall,” he says.

David Becker, UW–Madison director of symphonies, will conduct the UW–Madison Symphony.

“An integral part of the education of our musicians, actors and dancers is the invaluable experience of live performance, ” he says. “We hope this will be the beginning of an active collaboration between the UW–Madison arts community and the Overture Center.”