Acclaimed Mezzo-soprano to Perform and Coach Young Singers at UM

Sandra Piques Eddy

International opera singer Sandra Piques Eddy will join music faculty members at the University of Mississippi to teach emerging singers at the Living Music Institute, coming up this weekend on campus.

LMI is an aria-intensive workshop that brings emerging artists from across the U.S. and Canada to work with UM professors Nancy Maria Balach and Amanda Johnston, along with featured guest artist Eddy. An acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Eddy lends her deep experience and technical understanding to these young performers.

Three of the institute’s events are open to the public, when everyone is invited to Nutt Auditorium to hear performances by Eddy and the outstanding emerging artists participating in the LMI.

“Sandra Piques Eddy will be an amazing and highly entertaining guest,” Balach said. “Her varied roles and experience performing around the world will be interesting to students and patrons of music alike, and her approach to balancing life and work will be helpful to anyone starting out in professional life, music-based or otherwise.”

The events begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Jan. 18), when Balach interviews Eddy on “LMR Live,” an interactive web talk show. The show is produced by Ole Miss music majors and features esteemed performing artists talking about their work and their lives as artists.

Viewers from the U.S. and abroad stream the show online, and can ask the artist questions during the live broadcast.

At 1 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 19), the public is invited to an aria matinee to hear the LMI participants – all undergraduate or graduate students in music preparing to launch their careers – perform their favorite arias.

“This year’s cohort is an extremely talented group of singers,” Johnston said. “The matinee offers a fun opportunity to see a range of performers at the very beginning of their careers. The energy will be outstanding.”

Finally, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Eddy takes the stage at Nutt Auditorium to demonstrate the reason for her broad acclaim. Critics describe Eddy’s voice as “fiery and alluring, akin to burnt honey.”

Tickets are $10 and are available at the UM Box Office, 662-915-7411, or at the door. Following Eddy’s recital, she will work with four LMI participants in a public master class.

The Living Music Institute and “LMR Live” are both productions of Living Music Resource. The program is housed in the Department of Music and offers opportunities for Ole Miss music students to add related skills to their classroom experiences, connect with community and schools, and think about music entrepreneurship in an integrated and creative way.

By Lynn Adams Wilkins