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Left to right: students Lisa Cossentino-Miller, Kit Cleto, Lesly Dume, Gabriella Otero and Kristal Smink with benefactor, Frank Paul Barber, center.)

by Elizabeth Herrera '10

Opera students at the University of Central Florida refused to be silenced by budget cuts, and their grassroots efforts to save the program last year were sweet music to the ears of generous opera lovers in the community.

Students responded to cancellation of the program by fundraising on their own. They sang outside of Publix and staged an opera gala at UCF in spring 2008.

“They really used their gifts and the training they’ve received to show the community their passion and the quality of what they’re learning and experiencing in the music department at UCF,” said Jeannine Starr, director of development for the College of Arts and Humanities.

Their efforts caught the eye of Frank Paul Barber, of the University Club of Winter Park.

Barber, whose Italian grandfather sang arias in his carpentry shop back when Barber was more interested in Elvis Presley, has been passionate about opera for the past fifteen years. He persuaded members of the University Club of Winter Park to help UCF opera.

“As I explained to our board, ‘My God, these students really want to do it. If they’re trying to raise the money, let’s help them out,’” he said.

Dr. Juan J. Herran, a pulmonologist and lifelong opera fan, also gave a gift. “I cannot tell you how happy and grateful I am that by making a contribution I was helpful in bringing back this program at UCF that I am told would have certainly disappeared otherwise, and that would have been tragic,” Herran said.

Starr credits Herran and Barber for opera’s survival.

“Those two initial gifts are what really put the program back on the map, and it’s been gaining momentum like that ever since through private support,” Starr said.

Private support also allowed a busload of students and donors to go to Sarasota recently to watch “La traviata,” an opera by Giuseppe Verdi. “For some of the students it was their first exposure to a full opera production of the caliber that can be found in Sarasota,” said Starr.

The group was hosted by Bill and Casiana Schmidt, donors to the Sarasota Opera. They joined the group for lunch and gave them a private tour.

“One of the messages Casiana said to the group is that when you love something and are passionate about it, that you have to put your money where your heart is, to not just write the check but to be involved,” Starr said.

On the bus ride back down I-4, students linked arms and sang, something Barber loved. He had students autograph a framed photo of themselves, which now sits in the lobby of the University Club.

Barber thinks it’s a shame that classical music is disappearing from schools and radio, a sentiment no doubt shared by music professor and director of opera Thomas Potter.

“Unfortunately there are very, very, very few choral jobs out there, and those that do exist are in opera choruses,” Potter said. “If we drop the opera from the voice performance major, it’s really not preparing [students] well for jobs in solo classical performance.”

Students in opera take music theory and history, diction courses for foreign language, chorus, song literature and an opera workshop.

The future looks brighter for opera at UCF. “I look forward to the day when the department will be in full operation with a lot more activities going on,” said Herran. “I feel like this is only the beginning.”

Visit www.music.cah.ucf.edu/opera for more information and performance schedules.