The four initially joked about forming a chamber quartet, but the idea morphed into a serious project last term, when they enrolled in a chamber music class.
Senior lecturer and vocal coach Erma Mellinger advised the four, while Glee Club director Louis Burkot was key in connecting the girls with their accompanist, pianist Noah Palmer. Palmer, who plays in Opera North, will come from New York to participate in the production. Dennis Wu '14 has been rehearsing with the quartet in the meantime.
Though the four received guidance from the music department, the vast majority of preparation was self-driven.
"It's taught me a lot not only musically, but also how to put on a production for myself and how to take on that responsibility," Jellerette said. "I didn't really realize all that goes into it and how much our music directors usually do."
The group received a Year of the Arts mini-grant in the hopes that it would help them make the production "fitting of our senior spring," Hoar said.
"A Night at the Opera" will consist of duets, quartets, a trio and a solo piece by each performer. Many are arias taken from their senior recitals.
"With the exception of two pieces, they all have a story behind them and you kind of jump in and you get this really neat snippet of what's happening," Hoar said. "We've written some program notes that will hopefully help people understand what's going on and translate what we're saying."
The quartet feels that classical music isn't often heard around campus and hopes that they can perform it in an accessible way.
"I want people to know that it's not terrifying," Hoar said. "It'll be pretty, but it'll also be fun. That's the idea behind it, it's not just us being serious opera singers but it's also us sharing that and getting it out to the Dartmouth community in a way that hasn't been done before."
Blancke, Hoar, Thaqi and Jellerette all sing in the Glee Club and have performed a cappella, musical theater and Dartmouth Idol. Though each of them is heavily involved with classical music, they do not often have opportunities to perform for students.
"I'm really excited, maybe it's a little selfish, for my friends to hear my classical voice," Jellerette said. "Because they'll all come to my a cappella shows but I don't blitz out about my Glee Club performances because it's just different. Now it's a setting that's a little less formal and I'm getting to share this classical side, which is a huge part of my life."
The production, while exciting, has greatly challenged the quartet. Hoar, Thaqi and Blancke are sopranos and Jellerette is a mezzo-soprano, but they are required to cover a much broader and lower range when they sing together. For that reason, they have had to stretch their voices and sing parts they would not ordinarily.
"It has added a lot of extra music, but I think it's okay because we all really enjoy this stuff," Thaqi said. "I just want to do as much music as possible this term. It's what makes me happy."
