TWO YEARS AGO, when Mary Ann Cashman first offered her opera appreciation course at Arnold Senior Center through Anne Arundel Community College's Lifelong Learning Program, her students ranged from novices who had never been to an opera to lifelong aficionados eager to expand their knowledge.
It's a testament to Cashman's warm exuberance and expertise that in these two years, a core of students (including myself) have remained to take the noncredit course again, and enrollment has tripled.
Starting July 14, she will teach an eight-session summer-only version of the course at Arnold Senior Center.
Cashman has taught college classes in voice and acting, and is the founder of the Takoma Park Youth Drama Group and Opera Bel Canto, a professional opera company. Last summer she traveled to Italy to coach American singers at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival and Institute in Vietri sul Mare. She also coached at the Shaker Mountain Performing Arts Festival in New York's Berkshire Mountains. She also teaches a class in stage movement for singers at Catholic University in Washington.
With a doctorate in education and a passion for opera, she has found a new source of inspiration in her senior students.
"Love of music grows with age," Cashman says. "Music nourishes the soul and unlocks our creative spirit, and according to `The Mozart Effect' can even heal the body."
For opera addicts, she adds, "We never say about opera that we've been there and done that. One performance inspires us to see another and another."
Senior students enjoy a different video opera each week, hearing familiar and less-known operas. The spring series included favorites such as Gounod's Faust, Verdi's Nabucco and Puccini's Turandot, but instead of offering Strauss's familiar Der Rosenkavalier, Cashman served up his sensuous Salome to broaden students' experiences.
She also offered such rarely performed works as Verdi's Stiffelio, increasing its accessibility by selecting a video starring Jose Carreras in the title role. The tenor superstar played the charismatic Protestant minister who discovers that his wife - played here by diva Catherine Malfitano - had been unfaithful.
Using audio and video recordings in her presentations, Cashman adds excitement by offering more than one version of favorites. For Madama Butterfly, Cashman used videos recorded at Italy's Arena di Verona and La Scala. Inviting us to compare the two prima donnas' abilities to move gracefully despite kimono costume constraints, Cashman introduced aspects of stage techniques comparing their ability to fall naturally.
