Denison Voice Instructor Emily Noël had an idea, but she wasn’t sure how many of her students would go for it.
Inspired by their vocal talents, Noël suggested starting an opera ensemble in the 2024-25 school year.
“I thought three people might sign up,” she said. “Maybe five, tops.”
She was delighted when 15 students signed up. Nine were then seniors, members of the Class of 2025.
Together, they delved into an art form that some view as challenging and inaccessible. Over the course of the workshop-style class, which culminated in a reimagined and contemporary performance of the classic opera Dido and Aeneas, they showcased the timelessness of operatic storytelling and created enough buzz to sustain the ensemble through the 2025-26 school year.
“Professor Noël’s class opened the floodgates,” Maisey Frederick ’25 said. “After we put on that show, I had people coming up to me saying, ‘How do I do this? This is so cool! How can I be a part of this?’”
“There is that stereotype of opera being inaccessible, and I think that stems from the fact that opera, historically, used to be inaccessible,” said Frederick, who majored in biology and minored in music performance at Denison.
“Opera is often seen as an exclusive and intimidating art form, something to be viewed in a large hall from a distance,” Noël said. “It was important to me to be able to take this old, antiquated art form down off the pedestal, to hand it to the students and say, ‘No, this is for you.’”
Last summer, Noël went to France for six weeks of professional development, serving as assistant director for a production of Carmen in the Festival Opéra Bastide.
When she returned, she found interest in the ensemble hadn’t waned. At the start of the Fall 2025 semester, she had 16 students sign up for the workshop. She has teamed up with Associate Professor of Music Sun Min Kim to teach it.
The pair decided to focus on Mozart’s comic operas and to incorporate a research component that situates the works within a historical and cultural context.
“Opera, especially Mozart’s operas, is one of my favorite genres of music,” Kim said. “I once took the ‘Mozart’s comic operas’ class in graduate school and fell in love with its expressivity, humor, and the beauty of the music.”
Noël had first floated the idea of starting an ensemble to Megan Barker ’25. A double major in English and music performance while at Denison, Barker is now working toward her master’s degree in opera performance at the elite Mannes School of Music in New York.
“Her operatic training here prepared her well enough that she won a lead role in an opera in her first semester (at Mannes),” Noël said. Encouraged by Barker’s endorsement of an ensemble, Noël got started and connected with 14 other interested students.
“I was really intrigued,” said Gabe Donnelly ’25, a President’s Medalist who majored in history, minored in music performance, and sang in Chamber Singers and the a cappella group, The Hilltoppers. He is now pursuing his master’s degree in musicology at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned a place in the CCM Chamber Choir, the Conservatory’s most selective vocal ensemble.
Elizabeth Lyon ’25, another President’s Medalist who played on the women’s varsity golf team, saw a link between opera and athletics. Her voice grew exponentially while training at Denison, she said, to the point that she started singing the national anthem at campus events. She is currently enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program in developmental biology, cell biology, and regenerative medicine at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. She eventually plans to enter an MD or Ph.D. program.
“I discovered how much overlap there was,” she said. “I used to lack a lot of confidence. Music helped me gain that confidence, and I saw that in my golf game too. I have songs that I sing in my head when I’m in between shots.”
Of the 16 students who signed up for the second ensemble in the 2025-26 school year, only two knew enough about the genre to list a favorite opera, Noël said. “At the start of the semester, I polled the class about their experience with opera,” she said. “Only a few students knew much about it. Most just said, ‘This is something I’d like to explore.’”
Among them is Lev Hund ’27. Hund, an environmental studies major with a music minor, has had a long interest in theater and has held leading roles in various musicals since transferring to Denison in his first year. Opera seemed like a golden opportunity to challenge himself with another style of performance.
“It’s a really fun way to sing,” he said. “I’ve noticed my voice has gotten a lot louder, without pushing too hard or straining.”
Maya Sutte ’27, a triple major in psychology, women’s and gender studies, and vocal performance, was part of the first ensemble and didn’t hesitate to sign up again for the second.
“Now there’s a whole new community of classical singing on campus,” she said. “I find myself really growing as a musician now that this ensemble has started. Opera has been a great way to foster that.”
Last fall, the group showcased their talents in a Big Red Weekend performance — complete with gowns, full-length gloves, and in Kim’s case, a tuxedo — at the Granville Center for the Arts.
Kim said the ensemble showcases the power of collaboration at Denison, where students and faculty alike are encouraged to pursue disparate interests.
“Being in a liberal arts school, I love opportunities to collaborate with other areas within the music department — something that is not possible at a conservatory,” he said.
“The Denison mission is to have all these opportunities for students,” Sutte said. “The ability to do anything and everything, that’s the beauty of Denison.”