Amahl and the Night Visitors comes to South Church

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By Laura Mazza-Dixon

On Sunday, Dec. 4, at 4 p.m., the Bruce Porter Memorial Music Series welcomes the Hartt Opera Theater to Granby for a performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors, the enchanting mini-opera by Gian Carlo Menotti about a young boy and his mother who are visited by the Three Kings on their way to pay homage to the Child. Audience of all ages will appreciate the way the students of the Hartt Opera Theater bring this tender, lively, humorous and deep tale to life.
Menotti wrote Amahl and the Night Visitors for the NBC Opera Theatre in 1951, and it was broadcast that same year. The composer and lyricist explained the inspiration for the story this way: “This is an opera for children because it tries to recapture my own childhood. You see, when I was a child I lived in Italy, and in Italy we have no Santa Claus. Our gifts were brought to us by the Three Kings. I remember hearing them; I remember the weird cadence of their song in the dark distance; I remember the brittle sound of the camels’ hooves crushing the frozen snow; and I remember the mysterious tinkling of their silver bridles.”

Hartt Opera Theater’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors features students from the Hartt Vocal Studies Division with conductor Jerron Jorgensen, pianist Doris Lang Kosloff, and stage director, Caitlin Flemming.
This production is the third of five events in the 2016-2017 season and is funded by a grant from the Granby Education Foundation’s Community Grant Program for the this season.
The Bruce Porter Memorial Music Series is held in the sanctuary of South Congregational Church, 242 Salmon Brook Street. The church is wheelchair accessible. Admission to the concerts is free, with a suggested donation of $10 at the door to support the continuance of the series.
For more information please contact the South Church office at 860-653-7289 or visit the website at www.southchurchgranby.org/connect/music/bruce-porter-memorial-music-series