'Warhorse 101' Course Educates PL South Choir

Taylor Ingraham
11.15.07

Through vocal music and on-stage acting, a team of four professional musicians, sponsored by Opera Omaha, came to Papillion-La Vista South to present the first "Warhorse 101" course for PL South's concert choir.

"Warhorse 101" provides a chance for students to understand and essentially appreciate opera music for what it is.

"The term 'Warhorse' is basically a standard of opera," performer Jonathon Fiske said. "It is the most common or popular."

With narration by Tara Cowherd and acommpaniment on the piano by J. Gawf, students learned the many aspects that go into performing an opera. Fiske and Megan Besley, who have been on stage for more than 15 years, performed scenes from various operas, including the well-known opera, "Aida." The students were asked to interpret what the characters in the scenes were feeling. This wasn't as easy as they might have thought; the lyrics were in a different language. However, through the body movement and emotion coming from the performers' voices, students were able to catch on easily.

"I learned more about opera and how easily it could be figured out by just watching," junior Andrew Nelson said.

Not only did these performers entertain the South students, but they educated them as well. The history of opera and its most famous composers and writers were factored into the 45-minute presentation as well.

"I actually learned something about opera and it was pretty cool," senior Dylan Maughn said. "I think it would be cool if they came again."