Staff member brings opera to UND

MUSIC Viewings held one Saturday each month in Hughes Fine Arts Center.

One UND group is trying to bring a taste of opera to campus.

Music department staff member Wes Lawrence hosts an opera viewing each month that is open to the campus.

This month, Lawrence presented “The Daughter of the Regiment” which is a two-act opera composed by Gaetano Donizetti.

The opera is a comedy and tells the story of a baby girl who was adopted by a regiment of French Soldiers.

The titles of the operas shown at the viewings are not announced in advance, according to Lawrence.

He is able to show operas such as this through an Internet database that tapes live performances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

“This is by no means an official group or class,” Lawrence said. “We just like to get together and watch operas together.”

Lawrence says he began organizing the opera viewings since first coming to UND last year because of his love of opera and his desire to share it with his students. The group usually consists of music majors as well as fine arts students.

Music major Jace Erickson said he comes to these viewings both because of his love of opera and his original desire to get to know Lawrence.

This is Lawrence’s second school year teaching at UND in the music department where he serves as its voice specialist. He  also is a Ph.D student at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.

The viewings are held one Saturday a month in room 202 of the Hughes Fine Arts Center.

Nathan Guillemette is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]