Colin Whiteman &
Amy Hunter

Arias & Acting: A performance and discussion of stage craft and opera

Colin Whiteman, Bass/Baritone
Amy Hunter, Pianist

Through staged opera performance we tell many stories, but when individual songs are performed in recital, much of these stories must be cut short. Sharing these great works is a privilege and should be done in a way that even the most novice listener can understand. With the use of stage craft and acting techniques, opera singers are able to bring these full-length stories to life in a very short amount of time so that anyone can enjoy and understand them, even if they don’t know the language in which they are performed. Colin’s aim is to explore not only the musical beauty of these songs, but to show how the intricacies of these characters can be made clear without the many hours of backstory that usually accompanies them.

Program:
Bottom’s Dream – Benjamin Britten
Vecchia Zimarra Senti – Giacomo Puccini
Air du Tambour Major – Ambroise Thomas
If Ever I Would Leave You – Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe

Colin Whiteman (Bass – Baritone) is a fine-tuned young professional who strives for artistic excellence in all he does. He has been praised for the powerful and warm tone that he brings to his performances, and is equally facile when singing the role of  Frère Laurent in Romèo et Juliette with The New York Opera Exchange or as Seneca (L’incoronazione di Poppea) with Queens College (reprised in the Spring of 2017 at Purchase College). His robust resonance as Reverend Hale in Robert Ward’s The Crucible can be heard on the 2016 recording with Albany Records.

A native of Maine, Amy Hunter holds a B.M. and M.M. in piano performance from Temple University’s Esther Boyer School of Music where she studied with Dr. Charles Abramovic. Amy has taught private piano lessons and accompanied various musicians and choirs for over 25 years in Philadelphia PA, Yerevan Armenia, Washington DC, San Jose CA, and Portland ME. She has also taught at Montgomery County Community College in PA and Colby College. In 2015 Amy founded the music school, The Hunter School of Music, in San Jose, CA where she taught and was the Executive Director for six years. HSM served over 100 students per week and employed six talented faculty members. In 2021 Amy and her family moved back to Portland, Maine where she enjoys teaching private lessons and performing locally.

RUN TIME: 45 minutes, no intermission