October 9, 1998

Loyola makes strong showing at Aspen Festival

College of Music Professor Philip Frohnmayer, former students James Brown and Alfred Walker, and current student Bryan T. Hymel turned the 1998 Aspen Music Festival into a Loyola affair.

Frohnmayer was appointed to the voice and opera faculty of the 1998 Aspen Festival School, the instructional arm of the renowned Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colo. The school, which offers a nine-week session in the summer, draws its faculty from the most prestigious music schools in the United States and abroad, including The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute, Eastman School of Music, and Cincinnati Conservatory. Frohnmayer’s duties included private voice instruction as well as musical and dramatic coaching in the opera program.

This year’s student body featured two past Loyola students–tenor James Brown, who sang the role Tamino in the 1995 Loyola production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, performed the role of Fenton in Falstaff under the direction of Julius Rudell. Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Alfred Walker, who was featured in the role of Figaro in the 1998 Loyola production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, sang the role of Olin Blitch in Susannah directed by James Conlon. The Aspen Festival’s offerings included full productions of Verdi’s Falstaff and Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah in addition to weekly recitals of opera scenes. The student body, drawn from all over the world, is selected through a series of national auditions.

Loyola freshman Bryan T. Hymel, Jr., also was invited to participate in the Aspen Opera Theater Center. He was selected to understudy the role of Fenton in Falstaff. The 18 year old won the voice competition, beating out older singers from some of the most prestigious schools around the country. As a winner, he was invited to perform as a soloist with a full orchestra. Hymel holds the J. Freyhan Odenheimer Endowed Music Scholarship. The scholarship was established in 1996 by College of Music Visiting Committee member Rita Odenheimer Huntsinger in memory of her late husband and was meant to recognize excellence in the field of music. Kudos to the College of Music and its fine showing at this year’s festival.

–Reid Wick, Publicity Coordinator for the College of Music