Performance History
There are so many opportunities to perform when you are involved in Andersen Vocal Arts. We have fall and spring recitals annually in order to prepare for upcoming performances and competitions such as NATS and Solo & Ensemble. We offer a Christmas Studio Class Recital that is very popular with the students. Current students offer Christmas music ensembles, alumni come back and we all have a Christmas party at the conclusion of the recital. At the end of spring, we do a show of some sort. It is sometimes a large-scale show as mentioned below, or a Night of Musical Theatre Scenes. Students pick their favorite scenes of new musicals and classics and perform them with staging and costumes. In addition to these opportunities, AVA offers Studio Classes throughout the year. Studio Class is chance for the studio to gather and practice the art of performing. It is the chance for the nervous performer to get in front of people and get over their fears in an encouraging and non-threatening environment and the confident performer to fine-tune their skills.
Opera Workshop
AVA students are also offered the opportunity to be a part of the Opera Workshop Class at Loras College that Sandra Andersen directs. This class is a performance class where scenes from opera and operetta are chosen for the specific singers, they are staged and then performed for area schools and the public in full costume. This has been a tremendously popular and enjoyable option for AVA singers in the past two years.
The Shows
We have embarked on many projects in the Tri-State area, including the first youth opera program in Dubuque. In 2003, we performed a fully staged production of Mozart's famous opera, The Magic Flute in the Washington Middle School Auditorium. In 2004, we expanded our production and performed Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious masterpiece The Mikado at the Grand Opera House in Dubuque, with unbelievable costumes, tech and set design as well as a full orchestra.
Previous programs:
A Night of Musical Theatre 2006
An Evening of Musical Theatre and Opera Scenes 2005
The Ark Project
In 2006, Andersen Vocal Arts began a project called Sing for THEIR Supper. We performed throughout Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin to raise money for Heifer International, a nonprofit organization that supplies livestock and training to the neediest parts of the world in order to provide a sustainable food source. AVA was the first voice studio to raise $5000 for an Ark that is 2 of each animal and benefits over 30 families in the United States and abroad.