Unplugged View: Fate SOI Étoiles
by Aaron Rowan
I recently spent some weeks with a pub trivia team of Stanford students. Our fearless leader was a young woman who didn’t know who Jimi Hendrix was upon hearing his name in question. She’d never heard of Hank Williams. God help us all, am I right?
Fortunately, not everyone from the next generation makes me despair for the future of music. Jody and I continue to enjoy as many Opera Modesto productions as possible. Recently, we sponsored a pair of bright young stars in the making to attend this year’s Summer Opera Institute. Both burst onto my radar with performances drawn from their heritage at my December collaboration concert with OM. I’d love for you to meet them.
Marcus Teixeira began his vocal career last year when he won the 16-18 age category of the Kristina Townsend Memorial Vocal Competition. He attended SOI that summer appeared in the chorus of Opera Modesto’s ‘Die Fledermaus’ in the fall, and shared a song from Portugal at our multicultural variety show. In April of this year, he made his professional cast debut in Tosca, where he played the role of Sciarrone (the villain Scarpia’s top henchman, for those unfamiliar with the story). Marcus enjoyed the cast’s camaraderie and the chance to explore new sides of himself and undergo his own craft and character development. He is deeply grateful to have flourished under the guidance of Opera Modesto directors Roy Stevens & Annalisa Winberg, and he plans to continue this career path. Says Marcus, “Being a bass-baritone, I hope to be a Scarpia one day. The only downside is that in good conscience, I should wait twenty years before I even think about it, but at least it isn’t completely out of the question for me.”
I love an excellent Mideastern melody, and Baharnaz Alimohammadi won me over effortlessly at the ‘Around The World’ concert when she delivered a gorgeous Persian folk song. The daughter of Iranian immigrants, Baharnaz maintains a connection to her culture through her studies in Classical Persian music. While one of her favorite Iranian artists is Darya Dadvar, who sings Persian music in an operatic style, it was a name more familiar to Western ears that led Baharnaz down the path to opera performance. “The fiery stage presence of Maria Callas captivated me like no other, and since then, I’ve been inspired to come out of my shell and pursue what I loved to sing,” she recalls. Baharnaz has overcome being born with hearing loss and numerous speech delays to blossom as a vocalist. She’s pursuing a degree in vocal performance at UC Irvine and is excited to continue her opera studies at SOI and beyond. “Opera Modesto is one of the greatest opportunities I could have ever imagined crossing paths with,” she says.
You can watch Marcus and Baharnaz, and many others with their own stories and songs, shine onstage at the Summer Opera Institute’s public concert on August 2 at 7 PM, held at CSU Stanislaus in the Snider Recital Hall. Free tickets for this superb evening can be claimed at www.operamodesto.org.
