"Students who complete the program are steps ahead of others who have not had the experience," Leeper said. "It is very rare in this country to find an opportunity to sing in three or four operas in Italian over the course of a little over one month."
Abby Halon, a junior majoring in vocal performance, attended last year's festival. The experience helped convince the 21-year-old North Prairie native that opera was her life-long calling.
"I loved that the program was completely centered around the development of my voice," Halon said. "I learned more in those five weeks than I have in seven years of private study."
After graduating, she plans to move to Europe and perform with an opera company.
"You live and sleep opera during the entire festival," Leeper said. "The music business is a very close-knit one, and in fact quite small in number. The contacts that the students make with both faculty and other students will help them over and over again throughout their careers."
For this year's festival, 24-year-old Doherty auditioned and won the lead role in Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" opera.
He's looking forward to getting a better understanding of the Italian language and improving his stage presence.
But Doherty has no aspirations of moving to Europe after graduating. Any opera that he stars in likely will be in Wisconsin, he said.
Although Halon isn't returning to Italy this summer, she came back from last year's festival with confidence and commitment.
"La Musica Lirica helped me learn that there's life outside of Whitewater," Halon said.
"It helped me realize that I do have a wonderful talent and that there are other people out there who understand me."
