NDSU Opera

🎶🎭 MAGIC FLUTE Cast Spotlight 🎭🎶

Power struggles abound between soprano Mara Campbell (left) as the notorious Queen of the Night and bass Zion Zaloudek (right) as Sarastro, High Priest of the Sun.

Mara was brought up in Florida and earned a B.M. in voice performance from Florida Southern College where she studied with renowned mezzo-soprano Beverly Wolff. She completed her M.M. in voice performance at NDSU under the tutelage of Dr. Virginia Sublett. With Opera NDSU, she has performed the role of Lady Billows (Albert Herring) and excerpts from the roles of Manon, Fiordiligi, and Musetta in scenes programs. Mara’s professional engagements include performances with Opera Tampa, The Florida Lyric Opera, The Spanish Lyric Theater, and the Imperial Symphony Orchestra, among others. She is currently a Challey Fellow in the D.M.A. voice performance program at the Challey School of Music and also is the voice studio teacher for Theatre NDSU.

Zion comes from River Falls, Wisconsin. He has previously performed in Dido and Aeneas and as the Wolf in Barab’s Little Red Riding Hood. Zion is a second-year M.M. voice performance student at NDSU. He enjoys being a member of the NDSU Concert Choir.

NDSU Opera is excited to bring Mozart's masterpiece The Magic Flute to life on Thursday, February 23 (7:30PM) and Sunday, February 26 (2:00PM) at Festival Concert Hall.

🎶🎭 MAGIC FLUTE Cast Spotlight 🎭🎶

Our Three Spirits: sopranos Hannah Ray (left) as the First Spirit and Ziyan Hu (middle) as the Second Spirit, and mezzo-soprano Liz Wilhelmi (right) as the Third Spirit.

Hannah is from Faribault, Minnesota and is a sophomore studying voice performance. Hannah is a member of NDSU Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers. Her recent performances include the ensemble of Theatre NDSU's production of Jekyll & Hyde, chorus in NDSU Opera's Dido and Aeneas, and various roles in opera scenes. She covered the role of Emmie in Minnesota Opera's production of Albert Herring by Benjamin Britten and performed the role of Helen in Lewis Murphy's Belongings through the Project Opera program under Minnesota Opera.

Ziyan is from China and received an M.A. in music from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. After completing her music degrees in China, she taught high school music for three years. Ziyan is a first-year M.M. voice performance student.

Liz is a second-year student in the B.S. music degree program. She is a mezzo-soprano and participates in the NDSU Concert Choir, Madrigal Singers, BisonArts Singers. Magic Flute is her first full opera. Learning close harmonies within the trio of Spirits has been a very fun challenge for her, and she has had a blast working with her fellow performers to put all the pieces of the production together.

NDSU Opera is excited to bring Mozart's masterpiece The Magic Flute to life on Thursday, February 23 (7:30PM) and Sunday, February 26 (2:00PM) at Festival Concert Hall.