The opera “I Pagliacci” specifically calls for a group of children. For the UNM production, the music department called upon the UNM Children’s Chorus, and for many of the young performers, singing in operas is nothing new.
But 10-year-old Sophia Ellis-Young said this opera is more intricate than anything she’s done before, and she said she gets to act instead of just singing.
“We each have our own stage friends which tend to be our real friends, and we interact with them,” she said. “It’s really just like life. I think the definition of a chorus, at least for me, would be group singing. This isn’t that.”
Zachary Butler, also 10 years old, said the acting is his favorite part.
“My stage brother and I — after the first opening note — we run down that ramp up there, we look around excitedly,” he said. “I turn around and ram into him on accident. It’s just really fun. It’s above and beyond what we do as a regular chorus.”
The kids are members of the opera’s chorus, so they sing in Italian along with UNM’s voice students.
Butler said opera cured his fears of performing, and he would recommend that others try it.
“I had pretty severe stage fright,” he said. “In band I kept sweating even though I wasn’t doing anything really important. I tried opera once and now I don’t have stage fright anymore.”
Butler said although the opera is fun, it’s physically demanding.
“I’ve been staying up until nine or 10 recently and I normally try to go to sleep at nine or 10,” he said. “All because of this opera, I’m exhausted. But it’s totally worth it.”
The children are surrounded by college students and adults every night; Butler said he’s learned college students are interesting, unpredictable and crazy. This is a new experience, Ellis-Young said.
“My stage parents keep forgetting they have kids,” she said. “They either start texting or talking about anything under the sun.”
Both Butler and Ellis-Young said they enjoy listening to classical music in their spare time, and Ellis-Young said she also listens to Celtic music, LMFAO and The Clash.
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Butler said he doesn’t usually like popular music on the radio.
“Mostly all I hear is Justin Bieber and I don’t like him,” he said. “I don’t want to sing like those people on rock-and-roll stations.”
