Allentown's Sarah Terry hits all of the high notes

BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Sarah Terry, an Allentown High School student and vocalist, recently had the opportunity to perform with the Boheme Opera in Trenton. ALLENTOWN - At the age of 17, she has already had not one, but two evening performances at the opera.

Sarah Terry, who will be a senior in the fall at Allentown High School, performed twice with the Boheme Opera of New Jersey, which is the largest professional opera company in the state.

Maestro Joseph Pucciatti welcomed Terry to the Boheme Opera chorus last year for the performance of Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah," an American opera, at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton on April 28 and 30.

Terry earned a chance to perform with the Boheme Opera through the company's education outreach program.

While a group of Allentown High School students was putting on a version of "Aida" at the school last year, the Nannis, a local family that lives in the Four Seasons development, decided to give 75 students a chance to attend a full-staged dress rehearsal at the Trenton War Memorial of the Boheme Opera's performance of "Aida."

John Nanni and his wife, Christine, are executive board members at the company. They are also just beginning their fifth season singing with the opera.

After the Boheme Opera's performance of "Aida," Pucciatti invited students to return the following morning for a backstage tour of the "Aida" set.

Terry took Pucciatti up on his offer, as well as the offer that would soon follow.

"During the tour, he talked about what goes into a production, the staging, the costuming," Terry said. "He said the opera company is always looking to connect with younger people because young people often consider opera to be lame."

Pucciatti mentioned that the company sponsors a student apprenticeship where qualifying participants are allowed to be a part of an opera production as members of the chorus.

"I thought the apprenticeship sounded cool," Terry said. "So I got the phone number for the opera company from my choir director, Mark Megill."

Terry has been a member of the choir for all three of her high school years.

"I love to sing," Terry said. "I have been taking singing lessons since I was 6."

Terry has taken voice lessons with two teachers. She has studied under Pat White, who used to direct the Community Christian Choir in Hamilton, and Julie Schmitt-Breckman, who gives Terry lessons at her home every Friday evening.

"I have a half-hour of piano lessons and an hour of voice lessons," Terry said.

Although she considers herself a soprano 1, the highest vocal part, she said she has a vast vocal range from alto to soprano.

Terry had practiced singing opera with her vocal coaches, but her experience with the Boheme Opera was the first time she ever performed in an opera.

To become an apprentice, Terry had to audition. Last year, she went to Pucciatti's house. His wife accompanied her on the piano while Terry sang an aria in English and one in Italian. For tryouts, Terry performed "What Good Would the Moon Be?" from Kurt Weill's operetta Street Scene, as well as a piece in Italian by Boito from the opera "Mephistopheles" called L'altre notte."

Terry said she enjoys singing in languages other than English.

"It's an interesting experience," she said. "Prior to performing a piece, you have to translate the works so you know what you are singing."

She can sing in languages such as Italian, German and French.

With the Boheme Opera, Terry performed in English. She sang with a choir of 20 people that included two other student apprentices.

When asked if she was nervous prior to her opera debut, Terry said she really wasn't.

"I had more of an excited feeling when we were waiting behind the curtain listening to the introduction of the opera," she said.

When asked what kind of performance career she would ultimately like to pursue, Terry said she "loves musical theater" but also "really likes opera."

"The opera is such a different kind of performance," Terry said. "Professional opera singers are amazing."

The biggest differences between musical theater and opera, according to Terry, is that "musical theater requires singing and dancing, and there is a lot more emphasis on choreography and staging."

Terry said the opera's focus is not so much on choreography, staging and music but rather on vocal quality.

When asked if she has any favorite music to perform, Terry said she enjoys music from the musical "Chess."

"The lyrics are by Tim Rice and the musical was composed by two men from the band ABBA," Terry said. "It is set during the Cold War, and it is based on a real chess match between the Soviet Union and the United States."

Terry said she enjoys the music of "Chess" because "the music is different.

"The chorus parts are very operatic," she said, "and then the music breaks into a rock 'n' roll sound."

Terry currently performs with one of the New Jersey Allstate choirs. There are two Allstate choirs, a women's choir and a mixed one. Terry performs with the mixed choir, which consists of approximately 300 students from all over the state.

Every year, Terry said, she performs with the Allstate choir in Atlantic city and at the N.J. Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, where the Allstate orchestra also performs for a huge crowd, according to Terry.

Terry said she developed a love for music because of her parents. She said that although her mother, Terri, does not like to admit it, she has a beautiful voice. Terry also said her mom always sings around the house.

Terry's father, James, has always been a huge Beatles fan. She said she and her brother, Zack, grew up listening to the Beatles all the time.

When Terry was 8 years old, she joined a band that performed at a local Beatlesfest. She sang "Things We Used to Say" in front of a crowd of 2,000, which was her first big performance.

Performing is something that has always come naturally to Terry.

"I tend not to get nervous," she said. "I may worry all the way up to a performance, but when the performance starts I get into my Zen place."

"When we went to the Beatlesfest," her mother said, "I was a wreck. I was afraid for her, but she is wonderful [and] extremely confident.

"The more people that are there during a performance, the better it is for her," her mother continued. "I would be dying. I don't know where she gets her confidence from. I'm shy and can't get up in front of groups of people."

Her mother said Terry has been singing since she was a baby.

"She hummed even before she spoke," her mother said. "She's always moving, dancing, singing."

Terry said she would like to attend a college where she can double-major in voice and English. Ultimately, she sees herself performing on Broadway and writing her own plays and musicals.

Besides singing, Terry is also a member of AHS' Academic Team and English Honors Society. In addition, during the summer, she works as an assistant teacher for a musical theater class in town for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade.

"It's a great experience getting kids used to performing," Terry said. "Most start out shy in the beginning, but we get them to come out of their shells in the end."