Our next story looks at one of Northern Arizona Universities gems, Nando Shellen and his latest opera production.
"The Magic Flute" was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and debuted 219 years ago.
It's one of the most popular productions in the history of opera,
and a natural choice here on campus.
First of all, Mozart is the composer for young singers he wrote wonderful music for the young voice,
so that is why we do a lot of Mozart here.
"The Magic Flute" is an opera that we can perform, we have to always look first,
do we have the singers to perform the opera that we want to perform?
So there was a big yes.
The opera follows Prince Timeno and his valiant efforts to rescue Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night.
A theme in the magic flute is the struggle between good and evil.
With shades of grey as characters display how motives can be challenged in the face of different circumstances.
It's a classic timeless theme, which NAU Opera has brought into modern times.
I think that so many operas and things were written so long ago, the Classical Era,
but they have such great stories and fun things and you can just bring it to life in this era.
And Nando does a great job of doing that, he always likes to bring things to a relevant time
and place them in settings that aren't normally done.
For the many audience members who have seen "The Magic Flute" before, Shellen's approach makes it fresh.
I find it really a challenge to show with the help of these younger student singers,
to show and to convince an audience that the only date in which a piece plays is now, today.
Because you are today and we are the stage art today.
And we just bring new life to a piece that has been composed 230 years ago.
Shellen directs operas in the language they were written, which puts these student performers
on stage singing and speaking German, after coaching by a modern languages professor.
Lots of German, ha, that is a big thing, I haven't taken any languages yet.
But yeah it was, because it was such a huge show, so many people involved in everything.
More than 100 people took part in this "Magic Flute" performance.
With two sets of singers, the NAU Orchestra and 17 members of the stage crew.
I didn't realize how much there exactly was to, when it comes down
to the lights, the curtains, all of the people you don't see backstage.
I found that very just astounding how, you know, how much actually goes into a production without you kind of knowing.
You know you come and see a production and you think, oh that's really cool,
but like you know there is a lot of stuff you'd never think.
And because Northern Arizona University is smaller than schools with similar programs,
some of the people involved with this opera are freshmen.
In honor, often reserved for upper-classmen.
The smaller atmosphere serves students in many ways, including one from Malaysia who plays the Queen of the Night.
You can learn a lot and all the teachers are very friendly and helping you. So this is a very good start for me.
Instead of going to other big schools, I really like here you get a chance to
perform and you can sing and everybody is very encouraging.
Nando Shellen who has worked in professional opera for 30 years discovered later in his career, his strength as a teacher.
He came to Northern Arizona University in 2000, Shellen has been working to dispel prejudice against opera,
something he finds among young and old alike.
But I have been in this for a long time, and I don't want to be bored, in my life.
And I want to be convinced and all the performing arts have to do with, how do you convince people?
And it doesn't matter whether you do an opera or you play Beethovens 5th Symphony,
that is also something that you have to make fresh and alive for the people who listen to it today.
Because we should never forget that our most important partner is the audience.
This version of "The Magic Flute" is anything but old fashioned,
members of the cast hope that audience enjoys the performance.
" The Magic Flute" is based on a fairy tale so I hope that they take away, like that bit of fancifulness.
It is very playful and I hope they just take away, like, you know, just that feeling of
kind of being a child again and you know enjoying more of the adult scenes as well.
I would hope that you would get an appreciation of why "The Magic Flute" has been so popular,
and why it continues to be popular even now.
Because it's really entertaining and people, people really enjoy it a lot.
And as much now as they did when it first came out, it's really a lasting hit.