For immediate release:

Cal State L.A. Presents Spanish Zarzuela
and Classical Italian Opera

Los Angeles, CA -- The College of Arts and Letters and the Department of Music at California State University, Los Angeles present two full operas, La Canterina (The Diva) and Gigantes y Cabezudos (Giants and Big Heads), in the State Playhouse on the Cal State L.A. campus. The show times are March 31-April 1, 8 p.m.; April 6-8, 8 p.m.; and April 9, 3 p.m.

Directed by Vera Lúcia Calábria, conducted by Steven Byess and artistic direction by Susan W. Kane, the productions will feature student performers, crew and orchestra from the Departments of Music and Theater Arts and Dance.

These two operas are a study in contrast with a common theme: “strong-minded women.” La Canterina is a story of a singer and her mother making their way in the world by manipulating their circumstances (and men). Gigantes y Cabezudos is a story of very strong women who have kept their life in their village going while all the men were off to war. While La Canterina is about the upper class, Gigantes is set in a village in Spain. Canterina is loosely set in the 18th century reflected by the beautiful classical style music while the setting and music of Gigantes are more current. Yet, both operas have the same message: “women can and will do whatever it takes.”

General admission, $10; Cal State L.A. students, $5. The University is located at the Eastern Avenue exit, San Bernardino (I-10) Freeway, at the interchange of the 10 and 710 Freeways. Public permit dispenser parking is available in Lots F and G, or the upper level of Parking Structure 2. To reserve a ticket, call the Cal State L.A. Music Department at (323) 343-4060.

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 185,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds--reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Among programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, to be housed in the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab now under construction. www.calstatela.edu

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