Opera Buffs' Spring Showcase March 6 at Colburn School

For almost 30 years, the Opera Buffs has been dedicated to supporting emerging opera singers at a crucial juncture in their careers – during the years of transition from student to professional performer. Opera lovers are invited to hear six of the organization’s most recently discovered singers when the Opera Buffs presents its Spring Showcase, “One Day When We Were Young” on Sunday, March 6, at 2 p.m. at the Colburn School’s Thayer Hall.

“Titling the Showcase ‘One Day When We Were Young,’ after the song by Johann Strauss II is the perfect description for this performance,” says David Alan Gibb, President of the Opera Buffs’ Board of Directors. “We are introducing singers ‘on the way up.’ All are vocalists of great promise, selected as the most talented among the 40 singers heard at our last Auditions Program. This is also their ‘Opera Buffs debut’ in that all are singing for us for the first time.”

While the Opera Buffs often provides scholarships for young singers – to help defray the cost of everything from voice lessons to airfare to an audition – a key part of its mission is to offer singers the chance to perform.

“Our Fall and Spring Showcases are part of our ongoing initiative to discover and promote new talent,” Gibb continues. “These performances give singers an invaluable opportunity to learn and grow while working under the direction of a professional music director and stage director. We look forward to welcoming opera lovers from throughout the greater Los Angeles area to join us at the Colburn on Sunday, March 6.”

Singers participating in ‘One Day When We Were Young’ are sopranos Christen Horne, Diana Newman and Zoe Scaljon; tenor Benjamin Cortez; baritone Ben Lowe; and bass baritone Austin Thompson. These promising young artists will appear under the direction of Music Director and accompanist Mona Lands and Stage Director Michael Van Duzer in a variety of scenes from such operas as The Elixir of Love (Donizetti), The Ballad of Baby Doe (Moore), Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart), Romeo and Juliette (Gounod), Don Pasquale (Donizetti), and The Pearl Fishers (Bizet). Scenes from the operetta The Merry Widow (Lehar) and the musical Showboat (Kern) will be performed as well.

“ We’re introducing six very extra-ordinary singers who are all 21 and 22 years old,” says Lands. “As I was creating the program for this special group, the title of a beautiful old Johann Strauss song from The Great Waltz came to mind – "One Day When We Were Young." Using this song to give the program musical framework, I chose each selection to make the audience smile as they enjoy an afternoon of young singers and young love.”

Reservations for “One Day When We Were Young” are required. Simply call 310.470.6268 or email jmachunter@aol.com. A donation is suggested -- $15 for nonmembers or $5 for students, payable at the door. The Colburn School is located at 200 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles.

“Today, our singers are young,” says Gibb with a smile. “But tomorrow, who knows? There’s a more than a good chance that, like so many of the singers we have helped over the years, they’ll be stars. There’s no excitement like it – helping a talented singer take that first, very important step into the limelight.”

The Opera Buffs Inc. plays a leading role in nurturing and supporting talented young Southern California opera singers and in furthering their careers. For more information about membership, upcoming events or the Opera Buffs’ current roster of singers, visit www.operabuffs.org.