Operatic presentation awes Dingman Delaware Middle School students

As the Dingman Delaware Middle School middle school teenagers filed into the auditorium on Friday, Oct. 6, they formed a sea of stone-faced, expressionless, typical teen-aged faces. They were there to listen to two brilliant operatic soloists from the prestigious Academic of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia: soprano Emily Margevich and tenor Angel Gomez, accompanied by AVA pianist, José Melendez. These three had been scheduled to do a concert for Kindred Sprits that evening, in addition to the school presentations, but logistics had forced them to cancel that concert.

Margevich, who radiates charm and warmth, got up on the stage and the first question she asked was, “How many of you have ever seen or listened to an opera?” The response was a big goose egg, except for one person who saw “Phantom of the Opera.” Margevich had her work cut out for her and after explaining that “Phantom” was not an opera, she did some interactive warm-ups and explained to the audience that just as an athlete warms up for a game, vocalists warm up their voices. She demonstrated a warm-up (a simple scale) and showed how you can raise your arm at the same time to help your voice get higher and higher. In short order, the entire audience was participating and it sounded like a siren.

Margevich said, “I’m going to sell opera to you,” and indeed she did. She continued, “ You don’t have to be an opera singer, but I just want you to get to know it. Just keep it in your mind. If you want to do it, you can. If someone tells you you can’t, then you just have to. Let today inspire you.”

Gomez talked about how he got started, and sang an aria in French. Then both Gomez and Margevich sang some arias.

At the end of the session, the audience was really with them. Kids came up to both of the singers to ask them questions and one girl wanted to give Margevich a hug. They changed minds that day and hopefully presented new vistas for the kids to embrace. They feel that it is important to get young people interested in opera to preserve the genre. They did another session with the DV high school students in the afternoon. In the end, the students felt the joy and Margevich did succeed in selling opera. She certainly provided food for thought and something for students to remember in the years ahead.

Yana Thatcher, a board member of Kindred Spirits who sponsored this event, talked about the importance of music in the community. In addition to bringing musicians to the community, they have programs in the Delaware Valley schools that can be a presentation, a workshop, or a master class where first-class musicians work closely with the students. The workshop program has been flourishing since 2002, with four workshops a year — two in the fall and two in the spring. Thatcher said that it is easy to work with the DV schools since they have invested a lot in music programming.

Kindred Spirits has two more concerts scheduled before the end of the year. Greg Giannascoli will play the marimba at the Columns on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. He will also do a workshop at DV during the day.

The final concert of the year is a holiday matinee at the Milford Theater on Dec. 3 at 3 p.m., with the Highline Vocal Jazz group. For more information, see kindredspiritsarts.org.