What do fiddles, ducklings, and music in the night have in common? - A wonderful season at Seagle Festival. Keep reading and stay tuned for more information about all the upcoming events – a welcome change from the long winter months. For questions and tickets contact the Seagle Festival Office, 518-532-7875. Surprise your loved ones with tickets to favorite performances.
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Old Friends and New, a fan-favorite concert, will take place on June 24. This annual concert is a great opportunity to hear the new Seagle Festival emerging artists for the first time, as well as those that are returning to The Hill for a second year. Each of the 32 singers will be featured, performing favorites from musical and operas, as well as art songs.
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Roméo et Juliette will kick off the mainstage season July 5-8. Charles Gounod’s powerful romantic opera features memorable duets and ensembles, the famous waltz aria Je veux vivre (I want to live), a masked ball, sword fighting, and the well-known dramatic ending. Stage direction will be by Dale Girard, who directed Seagle Festival Artistic Director Darren Woods many years ago in Roméo et Juliette. Darren hired him for the same show while at Fort Worth Opera, and continues that tradition by having him at Seagle Festival. Dale is an award-winning fight director, choreographer, and author of the stage combat manual Actors on Guard (2nd Ed. 2021). His fight director credits include The Metropolitan Opera, Studio Arena Theatre, and Chautauqua Opera, among others.
The Ugly Duckling, a children’s opera by composer Andrew Duncan and librettist Steven Malone will be presented on July 8 at 10:30AM. There is only one performance at the Boat House Theater for this free show, so come early. Road shows will also occur during the summer and fall. Themes of the opera include diversity, tolerance, and encouraging young children to accept differences in other people. This 35-minute show is a great way to introduce children to opera.
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A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim will be presented July 19-22. 2023 is the 50th anniversary of this popular musical. The Tony Award winner of best musical, best book, and best original score includes the ever-popular Send in the Clowns. This song has been recorded over 500 times! The story follows the complicated love lives of actress Désirée Armfeldt, her former and current married lovers, and their extended families in early 20th century Sweden.
The Boys of the Summer, a cabaret-style musical theater and opera concert featuring all the 2023 male artists, will be performed July 28 (matinee) and July 29 in the beautifully air-conditioned Schroon Lake Central School auditorium.
With Blood, With Ink by composer Daniel Crozier and librettist Peter Krask will be performed August 2-5. The opera, musically inspired by Verdi and Britten, had its professional premiere in 2014. The moving true-life story follows the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th Century Mexican nun known as the “Phoenix of the Americas”. Sor Juana, the first great American literary figure of her time, sacrifices everything to become the beloved poet, intellectual, and heroic champion of women’s freedom she is know as today. The powerful opera is not to be missed.
Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick will close out the mainstage season August 16-19. Be sure to get your tickets soon, as this wildly popular musical is sure to sell out. The heartwarming story is about fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. There is truly something for everyone. Audiences will most likely go away humming “Sunrise, Sunset”, “If I Were a Rich Man” or “Tradition.” The late, renowned violinist Charles Treger played the violin part in Fiddler several years ago at Seagle Festival.
Almost Like Being in Love – the music of Lerner and Loewe will be Seagle Festival’s fall season touring revue, performed first in Schroon Lake at the Oscar Theater Memorial Theater on September 4, and then across the region at various venues.
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Seagle Festival Gala & Guild |
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The Seagle Festival Gala, the largest fundraising event of the summer, will take place under a giant tent on July 15 outside the Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater. The theme of the gala is Smiles of a Summer Night. This exceptional event is always one of the most memorable happenings of the season. This year’s gala will honor alumna Alissa Anderson, Seagle Festival supporters Kemp and Nancy Smith, and also celebrate 25 years of the Seagle Festival Guild (see more about the Guild below). Alissa Anderson has been described in Opera News as “deliciously over the top” a “powerful mezzo soprano” and has sung at opera companies across the country and around the world. Kemp and Nancy are dedicated supporters, and loyal host families for Seagle Festival artists. Heidi Kelly, Gala Chair, will once again lead the event that includes a delicious catered dinner from Lily and the Rose, performances by the Seagle Festival artists, a live auction, and dancing with a live band.
The Seagle Festival Guild provides a welcoming atmosphere for the audience and a supportive presence for the singers. Volunteer activities include providing host families for the emerging artists, ushering, selling refreshments, and helping raise funds to support the Seagle Festival Guild Scholarship through winter and summer raffles, and a summer luncheon. New members are always welcome. To join, please contact Guild President Sharon Hieber at smcguild@seaglefestival.org.
The annual luncheon to raise funds for Guild scholarships will be held at the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls on August 8 at 11AM. Join the Guild for a three-course lunch, basket raffle, and entertainment by the Seagle Festival emerging artists.
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New Faculty/Staff: Along with several new theatrical staff, Seagle Festival is excited to welcome two new women to the music faculty for 2023. Joining the faculty as coach and pianist for 2023 is Yukiko Oba. Yukiko is a coach at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She has played Seagle Festival auditions for many years, is a hiker and avid runner, and has even run the Boston Marathon several times. Hannah Harnest, completing her doctorate at Eastman this next year, will be the children’s opera coach and pianist. She will also play the fall season.
The Seagle Festival Alumni Association was founded in 2016 to encourage alumni and former staff to actively participate in the Seagle community, attend events, volunteer, fund an ongoing alumni scholarship, and create new ways for alumni and former staff to stay connected to Seagle Festival and each other. If you’re interested in joining, please reach out to Alumni Association President Liz Cass at alumni@seaglefestival.org.
The Annual Meeting of Seagle Music Colony, Inc. DBA Seagle Festival is scheduled for August 14 at 11 a.m. This brief meeting, led by Seagle Music Colony, Inc. President Seth Bader, is an opportunity to hear about season highlights and to learn about future activities and projects of Seagle Festival.
Many Thanks: The named scholarships and recipients will be listed in the season program booklet. You are welcome to create a scholarship as a lasting tribute to honor or commemorate a loved one. Your generous contributions deserve many thanks. For information on how to support a targeted scholarship fund, please contact Darren Woods at darren@seaglefestival.org.
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We offer our sympathy to the family of Russell Banks who wrote Seagle Festival’s 2021 world premiere opera Harmony. We offer our sympathy to the family of former Seagle Festival Board Member Dick Barth. We offer our sympathy to the family of long-time Seagle Festival Guild member Suzanne Fremon. We offer our sympathy to the family of Fulton Fryar. Fulton was the first Black artist to attend Seagle in the 1950’s. In 2020, a scholarship was established in his honor and awarded to a deserving Black artist to attend Seagle Festival each year. We offer our sympathy to the family of Richard Schoenstadt. Richard’s mother was a student of Oscar Seagle’s and sang with the Seagle Singers. We offer the family of Charles & Debbie Treger our sympathy. Charles gave benefit concerts for Seagle Music Colony, was on the Seagle Music Colony Board of Directors, and was a distinguished violinist. Debbie performed and taught at Seagle Music Colony. They were married in the Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater.
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Friends from near and far enjoy hearing about your musical happenings and will continue to cheer you on in your performances and other endeavors. Send your news to Dodie Seagle, The Chronicle editor for the December issue. dpseagle@verizon.net
We are enthusiastic to hear that Rene Burkett will be getting married in July. Robert C. Mann wrote a book in June titled "The Church Sings Its Faith" which is available from GIA Publishing or Amazon. The book provides a history and chronological development of congregational song and assists the reader in evaluating the importance of communal song in today's worship. The text is of value to teachers and students of hymnody in the academic setting as well as an informative and accessible resource for Sunday School classes or congregational study. Sean Panikkar has engagements to sing in Carmen at the London Coliseum, Wozzeck in Vienna, Te Deum with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Hamlet in Munich.
Shannon Richards wrote, “I would not be here without you (the donors)”. She especially liked the audition classes and feedback from the administration. Jasmine Saunders placed second in the Gerda Lissner Foundation Vocal Competition and will sing in Carnegie Hall in May. Alicia Russell was also a finalist. Jack Swanson made debuts with Atlanta Opera and Minnesota Opera. Christopher Temporelli is a visiting professor of classical singing at South Korean universities. Paul Wolf was a finalist in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition.
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This summer, former Seagle artists are keeping busy at over sixty opera companies. Here's a sampling. (* denotes apprentice artists)
Wolf Trap Opera: Wm. Clay Thompson, Kyle White, Mary Beth Nelson, Mario Manzo, Adam Partridge, and Jazmine Saunders
Central City Opera: *Emily Richter and *Grace Heldridge
Des Moines Metro Opera: (the program with the largest number of Seagle alums) *Ashlee Lamar, *Daniel Esteban Lugo, *Michael Pandolfo, *Jose Olivares, *Jacob O’Shea and *Logan Dell’Acqua
Glimmerglass Opera Festival: *Alicia Russell
Santa Fe Opera: Reginald Smith, Jr. will be Scarpia in Tosca with *Dylan Gregg as The Jailer.
Recently the following performed principal roles at Sarasota Opera: Andrew Surrena, Andrew Simpson, Anna (Bridgman) Mandina, and Eric McConnell, with *Sergio Mandujano receiving the “Apprentice of the Year” award.
Metropolitan Opera significant appearances were: David Blalock in La Traviata, Andrea Carroll in Don Giovanni, Matt Grills in Fedora, Sean Panikkar in The Hours, Jesse Murillo in Don Carlo, and Stefan Egerstrom in Der Rosenkavlier.
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The summer season at Seagle Festival will be filled with carefully chosen operas and musicals that not only the audience but the singers will be thrilled about—full of adventure and excitement. Thanks so much for your support. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution before the end of May so that you can be listed in the annual program booklet. Be a first-time attendee or a returning participant in the most important fundraising event, the Gala in July, and get tickets for the wonderful upcoming performances.
With warm greetings,
Dodie Seagle
Editor of the The Chronicle
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