A summer spent singing in Hades

By LAUREN MODISETTE

Published on August 17, 2007

Amherst native Lawrence Jones has traveled afar to sing opera. But he never expected he would be singing in Hades this summer.

Jones was one of 28 singers selected out of over 700 auditioners to shine his tenor vibrato in the Young American Artists Program in this season's Glimmerglass Opera series, based on the myth of Orpheus.

Orpheus is a Greek character known to hypnotize people with his singing and skills on the lyre, an ancient Greek instrument much like a harp. When his lover is killed and taken to Hades, Orpheus embarks on a mission to find her and bring her back. He is told that if he can take her to Earth without looking at her, then he can have her back. Otherwise she will return to Hades and be out of his reach forever.

Glimmerglass opened its first season in Cooperstown, N.Y. in the summer of 1975, dedicated to presenting new, little known and familiar operas. Jones is performing throughout this summer's festival, which runs through Aug. 28 at the Alice Busch Theater.

"I started as a pianist at age 6," Jones said. "I studied through high school and stumbled upon the chorus." He said that chorus, taught by Jessel Murray, inspired him to take private lessons.

"By my senior year I wanted to go into singing as a career," he said. He went on to the San Francisco Conservatory, graduating in 2003, and earned his graduate degree in voice at Boston University in 2006.

"Once I graduated from B.U. I immediately sang as Tom Rakewell in England at the Aldeburgh Festival," he said.

Last year, Jones performed at Tanglewood in Lenox in what he calls a very modern opera, titled "What Next," by Elliot Carter, conducted by James Levine.

"It was a new experience and very exciting," he said. "It was not melodic in a traditional sense, and challenged me in a new way. It's interesting to see all these different styles of music."

After that performance, he returned to the Boston area before moving on to Sarasota, Fla. to study in the Opera Studio Artist Program. From there he headed for Glimmerglass.

Jones made his Glimmerglass debut on July 7 as Bacchus in Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld" and performed on July 21 as Glazier in Philip Glass' "Orphee."

"This is a very unpredictable career to be in," Jones said. "When you're in this kind of field, moving from gig to gig, you're constantly having to audition for new gigs, which is hard to do. Sometimes there are gaps - it has its ups and downs. It's a bit unnerving at times, but it's rewarding."

Jones said that one of the great things about Glimmerglass is that he can work on his repertoire. If he wanted to work on French or Italian aria or German diction, Glimmerglass would provide him with a coach.

"They teach you how to present your best audition package," he said, explaining that an audition package consists of five or six arias that show different facets of a singer's voice.

"It's a very inspiring environment," he said. "Busy, but inspiring."

Jones said that when he leaves his summer in Hades he will be taking as many auditions as he can get.

"[This field] is really competitive in terms of financial stability," Jones said, "but it's so much fun and there's so much creativity involved. It's great. I really couldn't imagine being in another field."