The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Opera Theatre will present a fully staged production of the opera "The Tender Land" by Aaron Copland on Friday and Saturday, April 18 and 19.

The performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in Michelsen Concert Hall in the Noel Fine Arts Center. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and may be purchased through University Information and Tickets in the Dreyfus University Center Concourse or by calling (715) 346-4100.

The production includes a student cast under the direction of faculty voice professors Susan Bender and Dennis Willhoit. They are assisted by pianists Jeffrey Watson of the Washington, D.C. area, and Steven Radtke of Shawano, a 2007 graduate of UWSP. Kevin Wall of Chicago is the set and lighting designer for the production.

"The Tender Land," an opera in three acts, is sung in English. Copland was commissioned by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, through the League of Composers, to write an opera for television. NBC rejected it but it was subsequently produced by the New York City Center, where it was staged by Jerome Robbins and conducted by Thomas Schippers.

Set on a Midwest farm in the 1930s, the opera is concerned with rural America, even quoting two familiar folksongs, says Willhoit. The farm family’s oldest daughter, Laurie, is graduating from high school and falls for Martin, one of the farm’s itinerant workers. She plans to go away with him to free herself from the constraints of farm life, but her plans change when Martin realizes his attachment to her would mean having to settle down.

"’The Tender Land’ is a timeless story about the promise of life," says Willhoit, "The opera explores the unpredictability of life’s beginnings and endings."

"Copland’s story is about life’s conflict that every man or woman faces at different stages of life," says Bender. She adds that the students have been challenged at every level, musically, vocally and dramatically, but it is most rewarding to see how they have embraced this story and these characters.

For more information, contact Willhoit at (715) 346-3840.

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