Opera Company Co-Founded by Rodda ’10 Presents First Concert

The Performance: “The Secret Song,” the inaugural concert by the Secret Opera company, will feature six works from new and emerging composers, with a chamber orchestra for each, and including Once Upon the Wind, a one-act opera by Theo Popov ’11.

Date and Location: May 4 at 3 p.m. at the Shrine of Saint Anthony of Padua, 154 Sullivan Street, New York City.

The Company and Co-founder: The Secret Opera believes in opera’s immediate relevancy to today’s culture, and is committed to new politically and socially relevant readings of classic and new works. Co-founder Alexis Rodda ’10 is a soprano from New York City. She is a 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition Boston district winner and a New England regional finalist. This year she made her role debut as Mimi in La Boheme with Maestro Kelly Crandell. She holds a master’s degree in vocal music from Mannes College and currently studies with voice teacher Arthur Levy.

The Show: “The Secret Song” features six performances:Only Air, Tesla’s Pigeon, Kindertwist, Once Upon the Wind,Raving Beauty, and Seeking You. Popov composed Once Upon the Wind, a one-act opera based on a Russian folktale. Brad Baron ’11 is singing in Once Upon the Wind as the featured role of the soldier. The story is based on the Russian folktale “The Soldier Who Captured Death” and deals with the moral implications of playing with nature. When the protagonist imprisons death in a magic sack to save his old, sick mother, he prevents many souls from getting the repose they need after a long and tiresome life. He is faced with a difficult decision: keep his mother alive or restore natural order.