By JONATHAN ESTABROOKS

Ari Pelto (above) will conduct Juilliard's production of Iphigénie en Aulide and Robin Guarino (below, Photo by J. Henry Fair) will direct.

Creativity abounds within the dusty halls and construction zones that currently are The Juilliard School. Yet with hundreds of performances each year, it is possible to overlook the exciting work that is being done in both the undergraduate and master's degree programs of the Vocal Arts Department. While the post-graduate Juilliard Opera Center garners much of the focus on opera at the School, the Juilliard Opera Workshop (J.O.W.) and the Juilliard Opera Theater (J.O.T.) provide their own brand of artistic brilliance and act as important stepping stones to the professional operatic stage. This winter, both programs will offer fully-staged opera productions, The Mother of Us All by Virgil Thomson and Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide.

The undergraduate voice program is, for many young singers, the true beginning of focused vocal and musical training. The typical singer enters the program at age 18, eager to explore the technical and musical processes required to develop a healthy and sustainable operatic voice. While weekly voice lessons build such a foundation, it is the phenomenal coaching and directorial staff at Juilliard that enables singers to hone their skills as seasoned communicators.

Edward Berkeley is one such mentor. He has been on the faculty since 1987, and for the last 10 years he has been director of undergraduate opera studies at Juilliard. As artistic director of the Aspen Music Festival's Opera Theater program and a busy director of opera throughout the United States, Berkeley brings his years of experience and passion for opera to the undergraduate singers. He understands the depth of commitment required to become a great performer and has always worked to convey to his students the skills necessary to succeed in the opera world.

"I made the conscious decision with [the support of the co-advisor of undergraduate studies] Ken Merrill to shift my focus to the undergraduate students, with the ultimate goal of working to help them develop good working habits as singing actors," he says. Between scenes and workshop productions, he hopes to feed their hunger for the stage and stretch the singers beyond what they think they are capable of achieving. He stresses that singers at the undergraduate level are only beginning to explore their artistic capabilities, as well as their likes and dislikes. "They may find that they are not hungry enough for a performer's lifestyle"—and that's perfectly fine, he says. The journey is about discovery and exploration, and such a mature realization can be one of the greatest life lessons for any performer.

Productions of operas by Gluck and Thomson give undergrad and master’s-degree singers a chance to shine.

"We are all lifelong learners, each one responsible for his or her own artistic integrity," says Robin Guarino, stage director of the Juilliard Opera Theater, which involves students from the master's degree program. Renowned for her creative energy and fresh approach to opera directing, Guarino has worked nationally as a director of opera with Glimmerglass, the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, New York's Gotham Chamber Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera—where, since 1992, she has directed and restaged numerous productions. When speaking to Guarino, one gets a sense of her creative vision and how she values the synergy between performers and the creative team. "It is a collaborative artistic process, meant to tell a story, and the students are a big part of the process." It is her emphasis on teamwork that continues to attract some of the finest designers in the business today, including set designer Donald Eastman and costume designer Gabriel Berry, whose most recent production involved working alongside John Adams in India. Says Guarino, "These designers are coming back [to Juilliard] because they feel that real work is being done, and because the performers are willing to take risks."

Premiered to critical acclaim at the Paris Opéra on April 19, 1774, Christopher Willibald Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide helped to usher in a new era in French opera, in reaction to the excesses of Italian opera seria.

Costume sketches by Kim Sorenson for the characters of Lillian Russell (above) and John Q. Adams (below) in The Mother of Us All.

The libretto, written by Leblanc du Roullet, was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie. Calchas, the great seer, prophesies that king Agamemnon must sacrifice his own daughter, Iphigénie, in order to guarantee fair winds for the king's fleet en route to Troy—a demand that arrives from the goddess Diana. Throughout the opera, Agamemnon struggles with the terrible choice between sparing his daughter's life and ensuring his subjects' welfare. Gluck aimed to make the music serve the poetry without interrupting it for conventional orchestral ritornellos or ornamental singing. He chose to break down the sharp contrast between recitative and aria and brought about "a new equilibrium between music and drama," writes Tel Asiado in his article about Gluck on the Web site MozartForum. "His convincing operas exerted a strong influence on his younger contemporary Mozart, into the 19th century, and perhaps beyond." This musical landscape will come to life under the baton of conductor Ari Pelto, a regular guest conductor at the New York City Opera since 2003.

"Directors love parameters—and in this case, the chance to bring the performer down closer to the audience," says Guarino of her plans for staging Iphigénie en Aulide. Guarino and her creative team have chosen to create a stage where the singers, not the set design, are the focus. "We have decided to create a downstage focus where a physical separation between principals and chorus depicts the world of the gods and that of the people," she explains, with the chorus mirroring the physical and emotional conflicts that the principals are feeling. Guarino believes this design concept will allow the production to be about communication rather than an overwhelming extravaganza.

Edward Berkeley and his undergrads will bring their enthusiasm and creative vision to Studio 305 when they present the American opera, The Mother of Us All. The work was the second collaboration between Virgil Thomson and librettist Gertrude Stein, commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University in 1945. The opera chronicles the life of Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States. In whimsical style, the opera brings together characters, fictional and nonfictional, from varying periods of American history and provides snapshots of the struggle between the traditional domestic expectations placed on women, and Ms. Anthony's fight to give women an equal say in the political process. It is a telling irony that Gertrude Stein would receive only half the salary of her male counterpart Thomson when commissioned to write about such an important hero of gender equality.

Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide Juilliard Opera Theater Peter J. Sharp Theater Mon., Feb. 19; Wed., Feb. 21; Fri., Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. Please see the Calendar of Events for more information. Thomson: The Mother of Us All Juilliard Opera Workshop Studio 305 Mon.-Tues., Feb. 26-27, and Thurs.-Fri., March 1-2, at 7 p.m. Limited tickets for Juilliard students, faculty, and staff available beginning Feb. 19. Please contact the Vocal Arts Office, ext. 261.

"The text is extremely challenging," explains Berkeley of the opera, "because it is not in a clear, linear style. The wit is obscure and, as a singer, you are caught in Thomson's simple musical style while being faced with a much more complex libretto." Thanks to its 27 roles, Thomson's opera can accommodate a large number of singers, giving the students of the J.O.W. the rare opportunity to work with a small orchestral ensemble, conducted by Ken Merrill.

Combining the creative vision of the Vocal Arts faculty and the talents of Juilliard's many gifted young singers, these two productions are sure to give audiences a new appreciation of the creative process.

Jonathan Estabrooks is a first-year master's student in the Vocal Arts Department. He will appear as Testo in the J.O.T. studio production of Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda in April.