Author: Daniel Arkin
Four singers and a pianist from the Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program, a two- to three-year residency program for gifted musical talents, came to campus last Wednesday for an hour-long recital.
The recital, which took place in Booth Hall’s Bird Studio and was open to the public, consisted of six short performances from classical opera productions, including Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute), Gounod’s “Faust,” and Wagner’s “Tannhäuser.”
The Five Young artists who participated in the event – Janai Brugger-Orman (soprano), Museop Kim (baritone), Yohan Yi (bass-baritone), Matthew Anchel (bass), and Douglas Sumi (pianist) – are among nine artists in the 2010-11 company. Their Occidental appearance was part of the L.A. Opera’s twenty-fifth anniversary series, “25 Recitals for 25 Seasons.”
The Young Artist Program, created and overseen by the L.A. Opera’s Eli and Edyth Broad General Director, the celebrated Spanish tenor and conductor, Plácido Domingo, is geared toward musical talents with professional ambitions.
According to the L.A. Opera website, the program is “designed to support the future of opera by discovering and developing the talents of exceptionally gifted young artists to become performers of potentially international stature, who will be valuable assets to L.A. Opera and to companies around the world.”
After the recital, Orman, Kim, Yi, Anchel and Sumi participated in a question-and-answer session with students and faculty.
Sumi, who doubles as the group’s vocal coach, said that the Young Artist Program, a full-time paid commitment that takes its musical talent around the city for high-profile performances, is oftentimes grueling.
“We don’t know where we’ll be [performing] until 6 p.m. the night before,” Sumi said.
TRANSITION Student response to the recital was generally enthusiastic, particularly from music students, who appreciated the intimate venue and quality acoustics.
“I’ve been to several professional operas, but I had never been so close to the singers–their voices were enormous,” music major Daniel Strychacz (senior) said. “Bird Studio was almost shaking from the overtones their voices produced.”
The Young Artist Program, according to the programs passed out at the recital, also allows students “to further develop their skills in main-stage roles [and] as principal artists’ covers.”
Next month the Young Artists are scheduled to perform at venues such as City of Hope’s Cooper Auditorium (May 5) and the Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theatre (May 10).
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