Opera puts spotlight on campus collaboration
When Madeline Yankell chose the University of Iowa for her graduate studies in music education, she couldn’t have imagined that she would get to skip across the stage of a 1,800-seat theater and sing about otters as part of a contemporary opera production.
Being in the cast of Fierce — a story of four teenage girls searching for identity as they write their college essays — was unlike any other musical performance Yankell has participated in. In the production, featuring music and direction from UI jazz studies assistant professor William Menefield and performed at Hancher Auditorium in April 2024, she played Vesta, a bubbly yet naïve character who escapes her troubled home life by fantasizing about the world of otters.
Yankell, who graduated in 2024 with an MA in music education, says the experience was as educational as it was fun.
“Not only is Hancher one of the most beautiful performance venues I’ve ever seen, learning from Dr. Menefield was amazing. He’s passionate about working with students, and that came across at every rehearsal. We would stop in the middle of working on a scene and talk about acting methods or vocal technique. That’s important for fostering learning and community,” says the New Jersey native, who taught high school choir before enrolling at Iowa. “Everybody experiences music differently, and I look forward to taking what I’ve learned at Iowa into my classroom and helping students express themselves in new ways.”
Fierce will be available for streaming during September 2024 on the university’s YouTube channel.
Yankell’s experience in Fierce is exactly what leaders in the UI School of Music, the Performing Arts Production Unit, and Hancher were aiming for when they collectively resolved in 2022 to bring the opera to campus. (The 90-minute, one-act opera was commissioned and premiered that same year by the Cincinnati Opera.) Through the joint production of two performances, they engaged a cross section of students in music, theatre arts, and dance.
Fierce was the first of many performing arts collaborations they hope to cultivate. The goal, says Hancher director André Perry, is to make Iowa an arts-engaged campus.
“Part of our work as a performing arts campus is, to some degree, to bring in visiting artists, and to have a series of presentations that show what’s going on in the rest of the world,” says Perry, who also serves as the executive director of the UI Office of Performing Arts and Engagement. “Another part of our job is to be able to build things here on campus, and that helps our campus and our community understand that we have what it takes — the people, the time, the resources, the facilities — to make amazing work at Iowa. Our students, whether they are in the pit ensemble, part of the cast, or working behind the scenes, are learning how to bring a big performing arts production to the stage.”
Perry and several of his Iowa colleagues, including School of Music director Tammie Walker, attended the Cincinnati production of Menefield’s opera, and immediately imagined the possibilities.
“This project embodies what we’ve been talking about for over a year: creating a new structure of performing arts at Iowa. Working on Fierce is the first time that we’ve combined forces in every sense of the term, working really closely with the production unit, the Hancher team, the School of Music, the dance department, and the theatre arts department,” Walker says. “It’s our first real experiment to do a true co-production with Hancher, and it’s gone incredibly well.”
Undergraduate and graduate students were involved in all aspects of the production, from singing and dancing and playing in the pit orchestra, to constructing the set and coordinating the audio/visual components. Being involved in collaborations like Fierce, Walker says, sets students up for success after they graduate.
“Everything on the Fierce stage had a student footprint in it in some way,” Walker says. “We want our students to be marketable and to have their own singular voice when they leave Iowa. By giving them the opportunity and the courage to try things they haven’t done before, we are supporting them while they’re students and as they begin their careers.”
“Part of our work as a performing arts campus is, to some degree, to bring in visiting artists, and to have a series of presentations that show what’s going on in the rest of the world. Another part of our job is to be able to build things here on campus, and that helps our campus and our community understand that we have what it takes — the people, the time, the resources, the facilities — to make amazing work at Iowa.”
Creativity is at the heart of everything we do at the University of Iowa. We collaborate across campus and community, blending artistry and technology to offer a tremendous variety of ways to enjoy the performing arts — whether you are a creator, performer, or audience member.
Meenakshi Chinmai, an MFA student in theatre arts studying stage management, is from India and plans to return home to apply what she has learned at Iowa. Serving as assistant stage manager for Fierce allowed her to put classroom lessons into practice — and to shadow visiting professionals at Hancher.
“We were able to meet the Broadway stage management teams that came to Hancher this spring and spend time backstage with them during their shows. And last fall we had a class about stage management styles and opera, so I was able to implement what I learned,” Chinmai says. “I love that I get to collaborate with artists at Iowa — and not just those within my own department. We also get to work with the shop members who are on staff as well as other students. We’re getting an education, but we are treated as professionals. When I graduate from Iowa, I will have a lot of professional experience on my résumé.”
Menefield was thrilled that his employer brought his composition to campus. Not only did he feel like it was an endorsement of his work as an artist, but he says the experience also informed his work as a teacher.
“I’ve learned the importance of continuing to grow as a communicator. These students came to the university to learn, and I had to find a balance between being a director, being a professor, and being the composer. I needed to do the best job I could communicating with them so that they felt empowered, so they felt like they were a part of the process, so they felt respected for their time and their investment. They’re getting tools that they can use for the rest of their careers,” he says. “I’ve also learned a lot about myself and what I’m able to do. I feel there are sides of me that are waking up.”
Since joining the University of Iowa music faculty, pianist and Cincinnati native William Menefield has found a nurturing place to teach — and to create.
Perry says collaboration among the performing arts units on campus adds value to the Iowa City community’s culture, and he looks forward to productions to come. Collaborations on the horizon for Performing Arts at Iowa — the collective identity of the School of Music, the Department of Dance, the Department of Theatre Arts, the Performing Arts Production Unit, and Hancher Auditorium — include a residency and performance by percussionist and UI alumnus Steven Schick; a residency and performance by The Crossing, an acclaimed 18-voice choir, with Kantorei, Iowa’s premier choral ensemble; and continued partnerships between Hancher and Iowa’s String Quartet Residency Program.
“We’re trying to have a place where creativity and creative practice are core values, and a project like Fierce really digs into that. It celebrates the art-making process,” Perry says. “The thing about collaboration is that you just have to pick a project and do it — and go through the successes, the frustrations, the complexities of it all. Then, if we all take the time to learn what went well and what didn’t go well, we have the foundation for building something even better the next time around. So, doing collaboration is how you do more collaboration.”
For Yankell, the collaborative spirit on the Iowa campus has provided the perfect environment for further developing her skills as a music educator.
“I didn’t know a ton about the University of Iowa before I applied, except for the fact that the music education faculty was amazing,” she says. “Once I got to Iowa City, I saw how strong the arts are in this community. There are so many different performance venues. Having the opportunity to be part of this new opera was different than anything I’d done before. It was really exciting.”
