WT Opera Teams with Chamber Music Amarillo, Distinguished Alumna for ‘Albert Herring’

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — A West Texas A&M University distinguished alumna and musicians and the conductor of one of Amarillo’s esteemed arts groups will join WT Opera for its final production of the year.

Emily Pulley, a 2014 distinguished alumna who sings frequently with the Metropolitan Opera and other companies around the globe, will join Chamber Music Amarillo and conductor George Jackson to help WT Opera bring the comic opera “Albert Herring” to life.

The Benjamin Britten opera will be staged at 7:30 p.m. March 29 and 2:30 p.m. March 30 in Mary Moody Northen Recital Hall on WT’s Canyon campus.

Tickets, available at cur8.com/22281/project/130013, are $20 for general admission, $30 for premium seating and free for WT faculty, staff and students with a Buff Gold card.

In the opera, villager in Loxford, England, are looking for this year’s May Queen, but they can’t find any candidate who lives up to their vision of springtime innocence. Instead, they decide to crown a May King and select the eponymous Albert, known far and wide to have a spotless reputation. Until, that is, he drinks some spiked lemonade.

“Playing Albert has definitely been a huge challenge for me,” said Joshua Moreno, a senior music education major from Canyon. “I feel like he’s not the typical character that someone may have the chance of playing in an opera. He experiences a rainbow of emotions, some I’m unfamiliar with myself, which forces me to apply a rainbow full of acting choices.”

For Sarah Beckham-Turner, WT Opera director and assistant professor of voice, seeing her students have the opportunity to work with the likes of Pulley and CMA has been a joy.

“This is such an exciting collaboration,” Beckham-Turner said. “The students are learning so much working alongside someone with such a long and acclaimed career. Plus, Maestro Jackson and the CMA musicians are adding a whole new level of professionalism.”

Jackson said that working with WT Opera “has been such a joy.”

“Watching these students bring their very best to the challenging music of Britten’s ‘Albert Herring’ has been a rewarding highlight of my own season,” Jackson said. “In Sarah Beckham-Turner, WT can be proud to have an unparalleled director of international standing, and the artistic quality she repeatedly offers the Panhandle is second to none.”

The cast also includes Andrea Sándor, a graduate vocal performance student from Romania, as Nancy; Kanani Crandall, a graduate vocal performance student from Carlsbad, California, as Mrs. Herring; Kelton Harbison, a junior music education major from Canyon, as Sid; Erin Hinds, a senior music education major from Amarillo; Greyson Wesbrooks, a freshman music education major from Canyon; Jewels Rodriguez, a senior musical theatre major from El Paso, as Cis; Brooklynn King, a junior music performance major from Pearland, as Lady Billows; Sarah Estes, a junior vocal performance major from Turpin, Oklahoma, as Emmie; Raul Zuniga, a junior music business and music performance major from Amarillo; Oscar Hample, a graduate vocal performance major from Wasilla, Alaska, as Superintendent Bud; Kyler Hilton, a junior vocal performance major from Canyon, as the vicar; Matt Oglesby, associate lecturer in voice, as the mayor; and second-grader James Turner from Amarillo as Harry.

Fostering an appreciation of the arts is key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: Joshua Moreno stars as the title character in WT Opera's "Albert Herring," to be staged March 29 and 30.

—WT—