By Tyler Supp, UCA Publicity Intern
Together called, “plaint and luminous” (Parterre Box), Oct. 4, the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance’s Guest Artist Series brings Megan Pachecano and Sarah Nelson Craft’s big New York City sound to Fort Collins.
Pachecano, an opera singer who has worked to build a society for Latina/Latinos in NYC opera, and Sarah Craft, a full time classical musician, say performing together comes naturally to them.
After meeting at the Caramoor’s Bel Canto Festival’s Young Artist program, the duo’s first collaboration came when they were cast as sisters, Dorabella and Fiordilgi, in the opera Cosi fan tutte. “From day one of rehearsal, we felt an effortlessness singing and acting with each other – we were so in-sync musically and dramatically, we fell right into being sisters without a thought at all!” Says Craft. After their experience with Loft Opera’s performance, they decided a second opportunity to be on stage together was a must.
Of their 2016 opera performance, The New York Times wrote, “Megan Pachecano sang Fiordiligi with a lucid soprano, blend[s] easily with the soft-grained mezzo of Sarah Nelson Craft (Dorabella). Craft says, “our personalities mesh well… we have this shared foundation and appreciation of style, language, and technique that allows us to communicate really effectively and intuitively in duet.” And, “it absolutely makes it easier to work on stage with each other because so much doesn’t need to be spoken… it all just flows together effortlessly.”
Itching to be back together again, they’ve decided to duet at Colorado State University. Sustaining the momentum from their 2016 opera duet debut, Wednesday’s program is entitled, “The Tides of Love”. Named after a Brahms song they’ll be singing, the night’s performance follows a sea theme, following waves, wind, water and passion. In addition to three lovely Brahms duets, Craft and Pachecano will be singing the music that brought the artists together in the first place. The evening will feature three art-song duets from the “bel canto” era by Rossini and Donizetti. And that’s just the start of what is to be an amazing evening featuring a solo set for both singers.
“We’ll end with an operatic duet by Offenbach that is likely to be very familiar to most listeners.” Sarah Nelson Craft told us. “We may even have a special guest from CSU visit us onstage at one point – you’ll have to wait and see!”
The pair performs Oct. 4 in Fort Collins’ very own Griffin Concert Hall. In addition to the concert, Craft and Pachecano will be speaking to CSU voice students about building classical singing careers in today’s musical landscape. They’ll discuss a range of career paths and how to deal with tough aspects of the vocation.