Students from the UW Vocal Performance program present Vinkensport, a comic one-act opera with music by David T. Little and libretto by Royce Vavrek. Stage direction by Kelly Kitchens. Daren Weissfisch conducts.
Masks are recommended in all indoor spaces. Proof of vaccination remains a requirement for everyone 12 and over at Meany Hall and all ArtsUW Ticket Office events, including Meany Center, DXARTS, Dance Department, School of Drama, and School of Music. Individuals unable to be fully vaccinated, including people with a medical or religious exemption, must have proof of a negative provider-administered COVID-19 test (taken within 72 hours of the performance). UW staff will check for proof of vaccination and negative COVID tests at the doors as a condition of entry. Proof of negative test result must come from a test provider, a laboratory or a health care provider. Home or self-administered tests will not be accepted. Details of these policies and procedures are at: https://artsevents.washington.edu/covid-protocols
Cast & Roles
School of Music Team
Trevor Cushman, Meany Studio Theater Stage Technician/Lighting Designer
Orchestra
Flute/Piccolo/Alto flute
Megan Hutchison
Clarinet/Bass clarinet
Megan Rideout-Redeker
Piano
Andrew Romanick
Violins
Dalma Ashby
Selina Siow
Viola
Eugene Chin
Cello
Young Kim
Double bass
Alejandra Heringer
Synopsis
A motley assortment of contestants participate in their annual finch-sitting competition, a Belgian folk competition that pits chaffinches (and their owners) against each other in a battle to see who has the most melodious bird. The contest is run as such: a man waves a flag and each of the competitors sits in front of a box containing one of their fellow contestants’ birds. Every time a bird makes a proper call (a susk-e-wiet, as it’s called in these circles) they receive a tally mark. The bird with the most points wins, bringing much pride to its trainer. Although a seemingly simple and gentle competition, access to the competitor’s inner monologues and flashbacks to their preparations reveal deception, deep-seated rivalries, painful loneliness, and blossoming romance.
Press Quotes for Vinkensport
“As it explores the motivations of the six competitors—who are identified only as “Trainers” of their wittily named birds (such as Hans Sachs and Farinelli)—their egotism, competitiveness, guilt, exhibitionism and, most of all, loneliness become the story. Through Mr. Little’s deft vocal characterizations, adroit pacing, and colorful orchestration, one comes to understand them all.”
TimesUnion
“Little’s assured writing is vibrant and driving”
Concertonet
“the final aria, sung by the lonely Garrett Obrycki to his bird Atticus Finch, is a blessing by composer David T. Little. The piece is poignant, telling…these few finishing moments gave value to the entire production.”
Daily Gazette
"The Finch Opera" was bold, brash and eccentrically novel about a little known Belgian "sport."
“The audience laughed throughout the show, and screamed and yelled its approval at the end.”
The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches
the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.
Biographies
Kelly Kitchens is a professional director, actor, adaptor, and arts educator based out of Seattle Washington. Her passion for storytelling is anchored in the practice of fierce collaboration and her thirst for art-making excellence is in service to her vision of a more engaged, inclusive, curious world.
Kelly is an omnivore of theatrical genres, forms, and styles; and whether she is directing an opera, a musical, a contemporary work, or a classic play, she is well- known for her powerful staging, razor-sharp pacing, illuminating the pulsing heart of characters, and finding the edges without losing the center. In addition to creating compelling theater, Kelly is also well-known for cultivating courageous and compassionate spaces in the rehearsal hall, the conference room, and the classroom alike.
Her honors include: Two time recipient of and four time nominee for the Gregory Falls Award for Outstanding Director; recipient of and two time nominee for the Gregory Falls Award for Outstanding Production; Seattle Weekly Readers Poll Best Director; recipient of the Broadway World Critics Choice Award for Best Direction of a Play; two time recipient of the R.A.D. (Recognizing Artistic Diversity in Seattle) awards; two time recipient of Seattle Theater Writers Awards for Best Direction of a Play; named in Seattle Magazine’s inaugural list of “Top 20 Most Talented People in Seattle”; and was a nominee for the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Mayor's Arts Award.
Kelly serves as an Artist in Residence for the University of Washington’s School of Music; she is also guest instructor in acting and directing for both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Washington School of Drama and for Cornish College of the Arts. Kelly served as the Associate Artistic Director and then as the Co-Artistic Director at Seattle Public Theater, garnering many awards with that organization which also includes the Gregory Falls Award for Theatre of the Year.
Kelly earned her B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Sandbox Artists Collective, a member of Actor's Equity Association, and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Daren Weissfisch has conducted professional and student ensembles in the United States, Mexico, and Europe for over a decade. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Washington under the tutelage of Dr. David Alexander Rahbee where he is the conductor of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestras, the assistant conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of the University of Washington Modern Music Ensemble and Opera Theater Works Orchestra. Daren was recently named House Conductor of the Tacoma Opera and he previously conducted the University of Washington’s opera production of Vinkensport by David T. Little and Joseph Haydn’s opera Philemon und Baucis. Daren has also served as cover conductor for the Harmonia Orchestra Seattle and the Issaquah Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2013 to 2019 Daren was the Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Esperanza Azteca Sinaloa, which is an El Sistema based youth orchestra and choir in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. While in Mexico he was the assistant director for the 2016 production of Charles Gounod’s opera Romeo and Juliet with the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes under Sinaloense conductor Enrique Patrón de Rueda and the same year he collaborated with French guitarist Jean Bruno Dautaner to record the guitar concerto Tres en Raya by Spanish composer Antonio Ruíz Pipó under the AdLib MusicMX record label. In 2017 Daren conducted the Sinaloa premier of Horizontes, a work by Mexican composer Samuel Zyman, again with the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes, and for the 2017 Sinaloa Cultural Festival Daren founded the ensemble Sinaloa Players which presented Stravinsky’s masterpiece Histoire du Soldat in collaboration with renowned Mexican choreographer Mauricio Nava. Daren was a conducting student of Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux Festival and School for several summers and he also studied with many notable conductors including Ludovic Morlot, Donald Schleicher, Kensho Watanabe, Lior Shambadal, Edward Cumming, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Gábor Hollerung, Linus Lerner, Carlos Spierer, Sandro Gorli, Glen Adsit and Timothy Salzman among others.
Daren is also an oboist and was the second/assistant principal oboist of the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes in Sinaloa, Mexico from 2010-2019 as well as soloist playing oboe concertos by Mozart, Strauss and Bach. He is also a substitute player in the Seattle area with the Bainbridge Island Symphony Orchestra, Harmonia Orchestra Seattle and the Lake Union Civic Orchestra among others.
Rhonda Kline is Artist in Residence and Director of Collaborative Piano at the University of Washington School of Music. An accomplished and versatile pianist cited as a “tour de force at the piano” (Klarinet), Rhonda’s passion is collaborating with others in sharing music. International highlights included a weeklong residency at the American University of Sharjah near Dubai in partnership with baritone Victor Benedetti and soprano Juliana Rambaldi; and a recital tour with Metropolitan Opera soprano Joyce Guyer, performing in Florence, Budapest, and Kyiv. Current projects include music direction for one-act operas by local composer Sterling Tinsley, Tacoma Opera online presentations, and a performance with Bellingham Chamber Chorale of Mozart’s Requiem arranged for piano duet (partnered with pianist Emily Gantt). Passionate about fostering both the young emerging professional and veteran performer, Rhonda serves as general director and music director for Northwest Opera In Schools, Etc. (N.O.I.S.E., www.noiseforkids.org), an opera education program serving elementary schools and retirement communities in Washington state. Summer months find her in Italy, where she is a pianist and coach with Canta in Italia, a program for singers to study opera and Italian language and culture. Her operatic coaching repertoire includes more than 60 titles, including traditional operas, contemporary works, and musical theater.
Andrew Romanick performs in the Seattle area and beyond as a collaborative pianist and opera coach. On faculty at the University of Washington School of Music, he instructs Opera Workshop and Collaborative Piano. This year Romanick has performed and premiered with soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw a number of pieces in Seattle and St. Paul by contemporary composers: Linda Tutas Haugen, Kate Soper, Jocelyn Hagen, Juliana Hall, and Karen P. Thomas. In January, Romanick also contributed to the reconstruction and performance by UW Opera of Joseph Haydn's Philemon and Baucis, or Jupiter comes to Earth. Previous professional performances have taken place virtually with Seattle soprano Chérie Hughes in the Barcelona Festival of Song; with Broadway and Metropolitan Opera Baritone Zachary James in the Hoku concert series in Kona, Hawaii; in the Canto Opera Festival in Louisville, Kentucky; in the Music in the Marche Opera Festival in Mondavio and Fano, Italy; and solo in the Gijón Piano Festival in Spain. Romanick earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Washington in 2018 in the studio of Robin McCabe.
