Glimmerglass Opera Blog » The Tender Land

the results are in!

L to R: Andrew Stenson and Mark Diamond in Glimmerglass's 2010 production of "The Tender Land." Photo: Claire McAdams.

Baritone Mark Diamond, a Glimmerglass Young Artist in 2010, took the top prize in the twenty-third annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers at Houston Grand Opera. Guest judge Frederica von Stade joined HGO General Director Anthony Freud and HGO Music Director Patrick Summers in selecting the winners.

This year, HGO’s Eleanor McCollum Competition received more than 700 applications from young singers from around the world. After two rounds of auditions in four cities across the U.S., under the watch of Houston Grand Opera head of Music Staff Francis Greep and Program Director Laura Canning, twenty semi-finalists were flown in for a weekend of further auditions. The group was then narrowed down to eight finalists including soprano Jessica Stavros, tenor Mark van Arsdale, bass-baritone Noel Bouley and mezzo-soprano Nicole Rodin in addition to award-winners Lauren Snouffer, Mark Diamond, Thomas Florio, and Adam Lau.

Mark, who gave a memorable performance as Top in Copland’s The Tender Land in 2010, is not the first Glimmerglass Young Artist to win this prestigious competition. Top prizes have also gone to Anthony Roth Costanzo (2010) and Caitlin Lynch (2008). We congratulate Glimmerglass alumni for their achievements… and our colleagues in Houston for their excellent taste!

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Kelley Rourke, February 4th 2011 | Posted in Between Festivals, The Tender Land, Young Artists Program

Mark Diamond — One of Glimmerglass Opera’s Gems

“Mark Diamond was boisterous and entertaining.”
-Steve Smith, The New York Times

“Baritone Mark Diamond, as the swaggering Top, is a singer with a bright future. Although the character of Top is hardly a sympathetic one, Mr. Diamond’s beautiful voice and striking stage appearance gave the character much redemption.”
-Seth Lachterman, Berkshire Review for the Arts

Mark Diamond is a member of Glimmerglass Opera’s 2010 Young American Artists Program. He performed this summer as Top in Copland’s The Tender Land and can be found attending the opera every night he is not in the show. Though this afternoon was Glimmerglass’s last performance of The Tender Land, Mark Diamond is surely an artist to watch for.

A Conversation with Mark Diamond

Mark Diamond as Top in 'The Tender Land'

Brittaney Brentzel (PR Intern): Mark, tell me a little about your family.

Mark Diamond: I am one of five siblings and we all grew up in the Augusta area or the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area). My family goes to West Acres Baptist Church in Evans, GA. My mother works as director of Nursing at Alliance Hospice and my Father works at Savannah River Sight(SRS).

BB: When did you first realize you were interested in music?

MD: I first found an interest in music in high school at Greenbrier High at which point I was involved in community theater in Augusta. I then decided to pursue a degree at Georgia Southern University for Music Education. After a few years studying voice there I changed tracks slightly in order to pursue a career in vocal performance. I did complete my Music Education degree there in May of 2010.

Mark Diamond rehearses at a voice coaching

Mark Diamond rehearses at a coaching

BB: What made you decide to persue the Young American Artists Program at Glimmerglass?

MD: After going to Aspen Music Festival and School last summer I was encouraged to really dive head first into the audition circuit, at which point I auditioned and was offered the role of “Top” in Copland’s The Tender Land.

BB: What is your favorite food?

MD: My favorite type of food is southern home cooking like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac ‘n cheese, and casserole.

Mark Diamond as Top in "The Tender Land" opposite Andrew Stenson as Martin

BB: If you were stranded on an island and could only have three posessions with you, what would they be?

MD: If I could have only three possessions they would be a Frisbee, a friend and a piano. A Frisbee because I can entertain myself for hours with it and I played ultimate for years now, a friend because I might go crazy if I didn’t have someone to share things with, and a piano because I have always wanted to be better at playing and if I had one I am sure I would.

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Brittaney Brentzel, August 21st 2010 | Tags: augusta, berkshire review, mark diamond, New York Times, tender land, Young American Artists Program
Posted in 2010 Festival, The Tender Land, Young American Artists

A Conversation with 2010 Young American Artist Jamilyn Manning-White

Jamilyn Manning-White

Jamilyn Manning-White is a member of Glimmerglass Opera’s 2010 Young American Artists Program, returning from her Glimmerglass debut last year as Clorinda in La Cenerentola. This season, she has performed the role of Mrs. Jenks and covered the role of Laurie in Copland’s The Tender Land, performed with the chorus in Puccini’s Tosca and sang in Steven Blier’s concert, the Killer B’s: American Song from Amy Beech to the Beach Boys.

Jamilyn was raised in Smithfield, Utah. She studied at Utah State University, where she received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She went on to receive a Master of Music in Opera Theater Performance from Arizona State University. At the Arizona State Lyric Opera in Phoenix, Jamilyn performed the role of Belinda in Dido and Aeneas as well as the role of Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Jamilyn will return to Arizona in the fall to perform the role of Frasquita in the Arizona Opera’s production of Carmen as well as Edith in the production of The Pirates of Penzance. She will also be covering the role of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance and Konstanse in the company’s production of The Abduction from the Seraglio.

A Conversation with Jamilyn Manning-White

Jamilyn Sings a Solo in the Killer B's Concert Accompanied by Steven Blier

Brittaney Brentzel (PR Intern): Jamilyn, you’re originally from Utah. Does your family still live there?

Jamilyn: My family is currently spread out throughout the United States. I have a brother studying at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, another brother in graduate school at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, who is also serving in the military and a sister in Provo, Utah. My youngest sister and my parents are in Lima, Peru. My father, Roger, has worked in the LDS Church Educational System all his professional life, most recently teaching at the LDS Institute of Religion in Logan, Utah. My parents are currently serving as Mission Presidents for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Lima, Peru South Mission. My mother, Lyn, has worked at home teaching piano lessons while raising her family, and she is currently finishing her bachelor’s at Utah State University to be an elementary teacher.

BB: Were you active in your community in Utah?

Jamilyn: I have always been very active in any community I have lived in. I lived in Fruit Heights, Utah, for a few years growing up and participated in several community service projects to beautify neighborhoods. I raised funds for Food Drives and was a member of the National Junior Honor Society. In Smithfield, Utah, I served on the Smithfield Youth City Council, participated in the Cache Valley Community Theatre, did community service projects and was a Sky View High School Cheerleader. From 2001-2002, I served as Miss Cache Valley, a part of the Miss America Pageant. I attended most elementary and middle schools in Cache Valley to promote youth literacy. I was featured on several local radio broadcasts and local television and performed the song “Tell me a Story,” a song composed specifically for this school tour and other youth literacy outreach by Jay Richards, a local composer in Logan, Utah. In the course of my year reign as Miss Cache Valley, I received the Spirit of the Valley Service Award.

Jamilyn as Laurie in the cover run of The Tender Land

BB: When did you first realize you were interested in music and performing arts?

Jamilyn: Growing up in a very musical family, I’ve always been surrounded by music and the performing arts. I remember listening to Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Beethoven, Mozart, Greig, etc. and learned all the piano classics from listening to my mother play at home. My parents took me to see ballets and musicals in Salt Lake City and at the Cache Valley Civic Ballet and I absorbed every minute of it. My Grandma Bennion (mother’s side) was a prominent strings teacher in Cache Valley and Northern Utah, and I remember visiting on Sunday evenings and she would play for us. I remember telling my Grandma, “One day, I will play the violin and I’ll be good at it!” At an early age, I’ve always been determined to work hard to pursue my dreams. I later did study violin with her for several years until deciding to pursue singing full-time.

I grew up dancing at the age of 5 and started taking piano lessons from my mother at the same age. My Grandma Manning (father’s side) was an opera singer and I’ll never forget when she gave me my first voice lesson at the age of 8. I still have her hand-written vocal exercises she wrote out for me and I’ll always cherish that small piece of paper! I continued studying Tap, and Jazz, but Ballet was always my favorite. I loved how challenging the technique was and when I did it right, it was so satisfying and so beautiful to watch.

At the age of 12, I started taking voice lessons and violin lessons from my Grandma Bennion. I think it wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized I wanted to pursue singing. I received a full-ride scholarship my senior year in high school to study at Utah State University and I’ve been singing ever since.

Jamilyn as Laurie in the cover run of The Tender Land

BB: What made you pursue the YAAP at Glimmerglass Opera?

Jamilyn: Back in 2008, I did a lot of research of several Young Artist programs. Glimmerglass was one of the top of my list. The 2009 season offered several roles that I could sing, so I applied. I sang for Glimmerglass in Chicago and had a great audition. When Don Marrazzo, formerly Glimmerglass’s Director of Casting and Artistic Operations, called me in November to offer my singing contract I was actually about to compete in a competition in Palm Springs, California. It was all I could do to not burst with excitement!

Jamilyn Performs alongside other YAAP females in the Killer B's Concert

BB: As an opera singer you are frequently traveling. What three possessions do you make sure to have with you while on the road?

Jamilyn: I always keep a picture of me and my husband on our wedding day wherever I travel. I always keep my music on my person with my roll-up piano keyboard that fits in my music bag. Lastly, I always bring my vitamins, sinus rinse and medicine with me, just in case I start feeling under the weather.

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Brittaney Brentzel, August 17th 2010 | Tags: Jamilyn Manning-White, Killer B's, The Tender Land, Utah State University, Young American Artists Program
Posted in 2010 Festival, The Tender Land, Young American Artists

Time to Dry Rye

The Tender Land is an American opera that takes place in the Midwest. Set Designer Donald Eastman has incorporated a field of four-foot-tall wheat into his design for the opera – not an uncommon sight when traveling through the plains. You may remember our previous post on our visit to Cooperstown’s Farmers’ Museum for research on which grain might work best for our purposes. We had discovered that wheat doesn’t actually grow to be four feet tall. In an ideal world, we would probably have triticale, a rye/wheat hybrid. However, we don’t have quite enough growing in this area for our uses.

Farmer Rick at The Farmers’ Museum put us in touch with Paul Newjack, a farmer in nearby Milford. He donated 400 square feet of rye to the set of The Tender Land. Abby Rodd, Director of Production, and some of her team members went to harvest it last week. We borrowed the sythes seen in the pictures below from The Farmers’ Museum. After a quick lesson on using the sythes from Farmer Rick, the team was off to Paul Newjack’s farm. The wheat was laid out to dry in front of our scene shop yesterday. Next, we will spray it all down with water to help bleach it and then we will fire proof it.

Rodd said we will probably have to purchase some triticale to mix in with the rye. Designer Eastman prefers the bigger head on the triticale, but the rye will be used to create a thicker field of wheat on stage.