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Raffaele Cipriano, director of music and assistant professor of music, welcomes attendees to the first concert of 2026. The program featured works by Italian composers Giuseppe Verdi, Gioachino Rossini and Giacomo Puccini to provide an overview of the Italian operatic tradition in preparation for an upcoming full opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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Cipriano conducts choral. Cipriano encouraged the audience to reflect on the meaningfulness of the chorus.
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Musicians are performing on their respective instruments. The lyrics of the chorus emphasized the importance of remembering their homeland and transforming their suffering into strength and virtue.
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Cipriano conducts the orchestra with a baton. The WU String Orchestra performance will take place March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
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Michael Crawford, tuba player, performs solo tuba. Crawford performed the same piece he won with at the 2026 concerto competition.
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Musicians perform on cello. Around 200 spectators were present in the concert.
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Midway through the program, after the orchestra finishes its portion, the Washburn Chorale performs. They performed “Selections from Cosi fan tutte,” by W.A. Mozart.
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Musicians perform on violin under the direction of the Cipriano. The concert opened with two overtures that illustrated the shift from serious to comic opera and referenced a hit work that was swiftly added to the standard repertoire.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, Washburn Symphony Orchestra organized an evening of Italian Opera at White Concert Hall from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Around 200 spectators were present in this concert.
Raffaele Cipriano, director of music and assistant professor of music, described the featured composer of this program.
“We are producing a full opera in Italian by Mozart at the end of the semester,” Cipriano said. “So I wanted to give an overview of other Italian composers and so we featured Verdi Rossini and Puccini to give different kinds of sounds, all coming from the Italian karate tradition.”
Zoe Billau, freshman business and entrepreneurship major and violin player, described how she prepared for the performance.
“Lots of practice, especially the few weeks leading up beforehand,” Billau said. “You never want to do any last minute practicing, but definitely a few weeks beforehand.”
Billau also described what performing live meant to her.
“It’s a really beautiful thing to kind of come together with everyone and all show off the work you’ve done together and show your emotions through the music,” Billau said.
Iyona Taylor, freshman music education major, played cello and described how she felt about this concert.
“I thought we did pretty good. The music was hard, but we got it whipped up in time,” Taylor said.
The concert featured the Washburn Symphony Orchestra, the Washburn Chorale, the Washburn Opera Studio and solo Tuba performance from Michael Crawford. It showcased a variety of opera pieces and explored the unique language of opera, including its plot, emotional depth, vocal performances and orchestral highlights.
Washburn music department is conducting the scholarship audition for the students who want to major and minor in music. To schedule an audition or for further information, contact Joseph DeSota, assistant professor of music, at [email protected].
Edited by Arohi Rai and Anushma Dahal
