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“He, of course, can project very, very well. “His timber, the color of his voice – he has the ability to sing with a wonderful legato line,” she said. He wants to come to Calvin!’” Sawyer recognized the uniqueness of Rasendrahasina’s voice. Calvin music professor Charsie Sawyer recalled hearing a CD of Rasendrahasina singing for the first time: “When we first heard him, we said, ‘Oh, my goodness. The community of Woodlawn Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids took an interest in Rasendrahasina, raising funds so he could enroll at Calvin and bringing him to the attention of the music department. They started to persecute … church leaders. So the military thought my dad was involved with the government. The president (of Madagascar) at the time was the vice president of our denomination. The year of Rasendrahasina’s “big hit” with the Ensemble also brought sudden change for his family: “Back in 2009 when the legal government was forced to move – there was a coup, a mutiny. “Later on people told me to develop that gift, so I joined the music institute.” While at the Anglican Music Institute in Antananarivo, Rasendrahasina sang with several operettas and oratorios, touring France in 2009 with the Indian Ocean Vocal Ensemble. “I started singing at the age of five back home in a children’s choir,” he said.

Music is Rasendrahasina’s craft and passion, and it has been a part of his life since childhood.

“I guess I’m the lost lamb because I’m not a theologian,” Rasendrahasina joked. His grandfather served as the first president of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, a Reformed denomination his father is the current president of the church, and his mother is a theologian and part-time teacher. Rasendrahasina grew up in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, in a family of theologians. The story of how Rasendrahasina arrived at this point, he said, “is one of blessing and surprise. The 2011 scholarship totaled $2,500, the largest amount awarded by Opera Grand Rapids this year. On May 18, he received the Betty Van Andel Scholarship, an annual award given to an exceptional student of music from the greater Grand Rapids area. Rasendrahasina’s season with the opera gained the attention of the company’s benefactors. “It was painful at the beginning because I thought I was too small for that. Most of the people that are in opera are people that have experience and deep training in music,” he said. Singing from the stage of the three-tiered, 2,400-seat Devos Performance Hall without the aid of a microphone is an impressive prospect: “It’s amazing how the human voice works, filling that huge auditorium,” he said.Īs the one undergraduate in the opera company, Rasendrahasina was aware of the pressure on his shoulders.

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Tickets to the Dalton Theater performance are available at the door, and cost $5 for general admission, $2 for students, and are free for students of Kalamazoo College.In the role of Edmundo, then-Calvin junior Fitah Rasendrahasina offered the opening vocal in Opera Grand Rapids’ production of Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut on Feb. Trent Broussard, who plays the role of Butterfly's uncle, adds his take on his role in the tragic story.īutterfly's journey from innocence and faith to sacrifice is one of the most powerful character arcs in all of opera, says Koehler, and Puccini's music never loses sight of the heroine's emotions. She cites soprano Madelaine Lane's dedication to learning the role by traveled to New York City to study the part of Butterfly with an expert who coaches the role for The Metropolitan Opera.

It's an enormous effort to prepare, but WMOP executive director Sarah Faasse says she's extremely proud to show how much talent there is in West Michigan. Andrew Koehler will conduct the performance starring Michigan soprano Madelaine Lane in the Dalton Theater of the Light Fine Arts Building at Kalamazoo College. At 3 pm on Sunday, May 22, Grand Rapids' West Michigan Opera Project and the Kalamazoo Philharmonia will present a second performance of Puccini's famous opera Madama Butterfly.