Liberty music students take on famously challenging opera role in Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’

“The Magic Flute,” Mozart’s most widely performed opera, is making its way to Liberty University this weekend as the School of Music performs its own rendition of the family-friendly production that delves into themes of sanctification, love, and good overcoming evil.

The opera, sung completely in German with dialogue in English, draws from Liberty’s exceptional student talent to feature one of the most challenging singing roles in opera history, the Queen of the Night. “The Magic Flute” — or “Die Zauberflote” in German — opens Thursday night at the Center for Music and the Worship Arts, Concert Hall and will run through Sunday.

The opera follows a prince named Tamino who gets lost in the woods, is pursued by a poisonous snake, and is rescued by three ladies who serve the Queen of the Night. When Pamina, the Queen of the Night’s daughter, is captured by an evil sorcerer, the Queen of the Night tasks Tamino with rescuing her. Embarking on his quest alongside his companion, the bird-catcher Papageno, Tamino comes to realize that the evil sorcerer is not so evil after all — it’s actually someone else Pamina knows that she must be saved from. As a tool for his journey, Tamino is given a magic flute to help him as he navigates trials.

The show’s director, Professor of Voice and Vocal Coordinator Dr. Samantha Miller, said that while the opera has a very “Disney-esque” feeling that caters to all ages, Liberty has enhanced some of the themes to incorporate tenets of the Christian faith. These additions, like sanctification, provide a spiritually rich foundation — not seen in other renditions — to ground the entertaining and fantastical story in biblical truth.

“(The characters) have to go through their own trials in life to reach their potential, and their own sanctification process is like what we go through when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us,” Miller said.

Miller said the opera features one of the hardest and most iconic opera roles ever written: the Queen of the Night. The role requires singing of pitches that are outside most female singers’ normal range, as well as a technical prowess of vocal agility and power. Miller said many schools are unable to perform the opera if they don’t have a strong enough student performer to cast, but this year, Liberty has two students with the skills to take on the role — graduate student Sarah Bromke and senior vocal performance student Ava Knight.

The two students are double-casted, with Bromke performing on Thursday and Friday, and Knight on Saturday and Sunday. When they aren’t playing Queen of the Night, they are playing one of the Queen’s ladies, which required them to fully memorize both parts.

Bromke, who is pursuing a Master of Music in Performance, said taking on the dual roles has been one of her most challenging, yet rewarding experiences to date.

“There are so many technical and artistic intricacies that are required to deliver both the Queen’s character and her two big (vocal) arias successfully,” she said. “Although her role is difficult, I have definitely witnessed a lot of personal growth over these past six months of preparation. My stage confidence has grown, as have my abilities to improvise and interact with other characters with whom I share the stage in a given scene.”

Bromke is one of many graduate students who are active professionals and educators in the community. She currently teaches at Allegro School of Music in Lynchburg, and many of the school’s young students are also performing in the opera.

“My hope is that (my students) will be inspired by the music that we share, and after playing roles such as the Queen, that my current and future students will view me as a resource they can turn to should they wish to pursue a similar musical path,” she said.

Willie Dykes, another Master of Music student, plays the role of Papageno, a lovable bird-catcher who serves as the opera’s comedic relief. He said the role has stretched him in many ways.

“Because the opera is sung in German, it required extra effort not only to learn the music but also to fully understand the text and communicate its meaning clearly. I had to put in the work to understand both the language and the music and then apply that understanding to my acting choices on stage,” he said. “Successfully accomplishing this has been a dream and an important milestone in my growth as a musician and performer.”

In addition to featuring challenging roles, Miller said what makes this opera special is the children’s choir from Allegro. In Liberty’s rendition of “The Magic Flute,” which Miller herself wrote, the show begins with an overture of children, and one child experiences bullying. To cope, the child and his mother read a story together — “The Magic Flute”— and the storyline morphs into the classic opera. They learn alongside the characters how to overcome trials and suffering.

Miller said she was inspired to add this culturally relevant subplot after the death of a 10-year-old girl from Roanoke, Autumn Bushman, who took her own life after being bullied. Miller said she wanted the performance to resonate with today’s audience.

“I was planning on doing (‘The Magic Flute’) next year, but because we have the cast for it now, I added it, and I thought that the timing was appropriate,” she said.

Dykes said people should attend the opera this weekend because people with varying interests will find it entertaining.

“It has something for everyone — romance, comedy, action, drama, and incredible music and singing,” he said. “Opera often gets a bad reputation for being boring, overly long, or outdated, but I can promise you this: this production is none of those things. We have created an entertaining and exciting performance that is suitable for audiences of all ages.”

“The Magic Flute” will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Visit Liberty.edu/music/events/ to purchase tickets.