AUDITIONS

2008 Season   |   ROCK


ROCK Auditions

Please call or email Amy Logan for location information:

Amy Logan: (406) 671-2214

What to bring: Come with a copy of your prepared solo selection. The music selection should be memorized. An accompanist will be available at the auditions.

Who is listening: Doug Nagel (Artistic Director), Amy Logan {ROCK Director}

General information: All Rimrock Operas are professionally produced and performed at the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings, Montana. Professional sets, costumes, and orchestra, are used.

The Rimrock Opera holds auditions throughout the year in Billings, Montana. If you would like to set up a time for an audition please contact us.

Solo artists, to request an audition please contact General Director, Doug Nagel in writing.

Mail to: P.O. Box 11
Billings, MT 59103-0011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

Rimrock Opera Announces Adult Chorus for Elixir of Love! The following singers have successfully auditioned and have been accepted as Rimrock Opera's newest chorus: Brenna Becker, Loren Becker, Tyler Bokma, Lance Hansen, Shirley Herman, Meghan Kilroy, Rachel Ludington, Dan Miller, Jesse Murphy, Rachel Nielsen, Stephanie Padden, Aaron Pagniano, Christina Pezzarossi, Megan Powers, Nathan Raschcow, Sara Ricord, Christa Soloman and Erin Walker.

Dr. Chris Sheppard has been named adult chorus masters of Billings’ Rimrock Opera Company. Miss Sandi Rabas will accompany all rehearsals. Rehearsals for the upcoming opera The Elixir of Love is already underway.
 

Rimrock Opera’s fall 2008 opera production will be Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, sung in English, with English text projected above the stage. The opera will be at The Alberta Bair Theater, downtown Billings, performed Saturday, September 20 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 21 at 3:00 PM. The spring production will be Bizet's Carmen on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, March 22 at 3:00 PM. The opera will be sung in French, with spoken English dialogue and English supertitles.

 

Rimrock Opera performs with professional sets, costumes and orchestra.

 

Auditions for The Marriage of Figaro and Carmen will be held sometime in May. Check back for an exact audition date!

The Rimrock Opera Chorus consists of about 30 people who are involved in our main-stage productions. The chorus is a volunteer organization that allows local artists the opportunity to work side by side with polished professional singers from all over the country. Professional guidance is given in every aspect of opera including rehearsing, costuming, choreography and stage direction. Whenever possible, small roles are assigned to members of the chorus on the basis of interest, experience and availability. The members of the chorus rehearse several times during the month preceding an opera production. During the final two to three weeks of the production the chorus is usually called for several evening rehearsals each week. Rehearsal schedules are prepared far enough in advance so chorus members are aware of the level of commitment required for the productions.

Thank you for your interest in the Rimrock Opera!

Dr. Chris Sheppard, Chorus Master

Director of Choral and Vocal Activities is in his third year at Montana State University Billings. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin, University of Northern Colorado, and Marshall University. Before coming to Billings, he taught at Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia, and Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado. Besides directing the choirs at MSU-B, he also teaches private voice, choral conducting, and vocal pedagogy. He recently began conducting the Magic City Singers and will serve as Chorus Master in Rimrock Opera’s spring production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Sheppard has also been honored twice in “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.”

For the past two summers, Sheppard served as chorus master and voice instructor at the Maud Powell International Opera Institute in Illinois, and will return in that capacity again this summer. In 2001, Sheppard was the choral director for the World Scholar-Athlete Games, which involved over 2,000 participants ages 15-19, from 152 countries and all fifty states. He has directed All-County/All-District Festivals in three states and, while teaching at Bluefield College, led choir tours from Ohio to Florida.

A proficient baritone, Sheppard appeared in Northwest College’s 2006 performances of Handel’s Messiah, and has appeared in many theatrical productions, including opera, musicals, and plays.

Besides his work with universities and community ensembles, Sheppard has served several churches as a music administrator and choir director. He recently began working as Music Director at First English Lutheran Church in Billings.

Rimrock Opera Chorus for Kids Auditions

Chorus Auditions- Additional members will be considered for the Rimrock Opera Chorus for Kids (ROCK).

About ROCK – The organization, in it's 4th season, recently presented its own concert and performed with the Billings Symphony Nutcracker performances.

ROCK appears regularly in Rimrock Opera main stage productions at the Alberta Bair Theater, including La Bohème, Hansel and Gretel, Carmen, Tosca, and 4 selected children appeared as soloists in Girl of the Golden West. In March of 2009, selected ROCK children will have the opportunity to sing on the Alberta Bair Theater stage, accompanied by full orchestra, in Rimrock Opera's 2009 production of Carmen.

Information - We welcome children (grades 3 - 10) who love to sing. The children are split into three groups. Rehearsals are Saturday mornings at Venture Theater, with concerts throughout the semester.  ROCK is based on a per year tuition. Some scholarships are available, but this season's recipients have been chosen.

For more information and/or an audition notice for this summer's Kids' Camp, held June 23-27, 2008, please send an e-mail to Douglas Nagel, general director at:

 

Thank you for your interest in ROCK!
 


Currently in its 9th year, the Rimrock Opera is one of the nation’s newest professional regional opera company, headquartered in Billings, Montana, and serving south-central Montana and northern Wyoming. Opera is an art form that can be enjoyed by everyone. That enjoyment is even greater for an enlightened audience. With that goal in mind, the Rimrock Opera is committed to the development of performance-based outreach programs designed to educate listeners about what many refer to as the “highest form of musical art.” General director Douglas Nagel adapts full-length operas into mini versions for touring in the schools. For more information about the Rimrock Opera: 406-671-2214


                            
 

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