staff photo by phyllis zorn
Music store owner Jordan Bruce delivers a piano Monday to Marion Community Center.
Tuning up for the opera
Staff writer
Jordan Bruce sweated and peered around the side of a Steinway baby grand piano he wheeled into Marion Community Center on Monday after hauling it from Crescent, Oklahoma.
The piano belongs to Margaret Singer, musical director for Opera Workshop in the Flint Hills.
Stage director Martha Sharp said she’d checked into renting a baby grand piano.
“It was just way too expensive,” Sharp said.
Instead, Singer’s personal piano was brought for the workshop.
Performers also are showing up this week for a 1½-week workshop that will culminate in public performances at 7 p.m. Aug. 3 and 4 and 2 p.m. Aug. 5 at the community center. Tickets are $30 and available at eventbrite.com/e/47556501777.
The workshop, sponsored by Symphony in the Flint Hills and International Opera Workshop, will include classes on acting, presence, and stage movement.
People interested in seeing the 11 enrolled opera students practice can watch at no charge from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays starting today and through Aug. 2.
Besides Sharp and Singer, Leanne Hilmer, Marion native Beverly Hoch, and Bridget Hille will instruct students.