Iowa Public Radio’s 2016 Opera in October series this year includes the University of Northern Iowa Opera Theatre in concert. IPR’s broadcast will present the UNI Opera Theatre’s performance of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah on Saturday, October 22 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 23 at 3:00 p.m.
In the backwoods of Tennessee, a beautiful young woman is accused of indecent behavior after she is discovered bathing naked in a stream. Will the charismatic traveling preacher who sets his sights on her soul be her salvation, or her downfall? Carlisle Floyd's all-American score, which beautifully evokes the work's rural Appalachian setting, "is unabashedly neo-Romantic," says The New York Times. The production was directed by UNI’s Dr. Mitra Sadeghpour, with Dr. Korey Barrett as vocal coach and Dr. Rebecca Burkhardt as orchestra director. Rev. Olin Blitch was performed by UNI’s bass Dr. John Hines and graduate soprano Kayla Kjeldseth took on the lead role of Susannah.
