Nine UNC Charlotte music students will join the cast of Carlisle Floyd\u2019s opera, Susannah<\/em>, in a production presented through a partnership with Central Piedmont Community College\u2019s Opera Theatre program. Performances will take place April 1-3 in the Halton Theater on the main campus of Central Piedmont.<\/p>\n The voice students \u2013 Nicholas Andruzzi, Sarah Freeman, Kathryn Goretzka, MacKenzie Hall, Sophia Marmolejos, DeLenn Rumbolo, Christian Souza, Zach Voigt, and Caleb Wilson \u2013 are enrolled in the Department of Music Opera Workshop program, directed by Professor of Voice Brian Arreola.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for our students,\u201d Arreola said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like singing with a professional company. The level of production and musical value that Central Piedmont\u2019s Opera Theatre program brings to it is probably unparalleled among community colleges. It\u2019s really, really a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded years ago by Central Piedmont voice professor Rebecca Cook-Carter, the Opera Theatre program integrates professional and pre-professional artists with college students in productions that include full sets and costumes and a professional orchestra.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great benefit to our students just to be on stage with professionals of varying levels,\u201d said Arreola, adding that the students learn so much from the rigorous rehearsal schedule, in which sessions last as long as three hours, and from singing in the large performance space \u2013 almost three times the size of the Anne R. Belk Theater in Robinson Hall.<\/p>\n