Moapa Valley soprano Mitzi Bender has been selected to perform in the chorus of the Opera Las Vegas production of Tosca scheduled at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) in Las Vegas on Sept. 9 and 11. Photo by Mike Donahue.

By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

Moapa Valley soprano Mitzi Bender has been selected to perform in the chorus of the Opera Las Vegas production of Tosca scheduled at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) in Las Vegas on Sept. 9 and 11.

Metropolitan Opera Maestro Gregory Buchalter will conduct with Met soprano Elizabeth Blancke-Biggss starring as Tosca; baritone Daniel Sutin as Scarpia and tenor Raul Melo as Cavaradossi.

Bender’s selection for the 40-singer chorus is quite a coup for the Logandale resident who moved from Northern Utah to Nevada about 11 years ago. A retired manufacturing accountant, she has been teaching voice and piano at her home studio since finishing a University of Nevada Las Vegas Bachelor of Arts degree in music and theater last year.

A dramatic soprano, Bender has a powerful and compelling voice that will blend ideally to the strength and inventiveness of Giacomo Puccini’s 111-year-old Italian opera Tosca, a “through-composed” work with arias, recitative, choruses and other elements.

Bender sang a short Italian aria for her audition, which highlighted her voice and proved her an excellent fit the upcoming Las Vegas production that will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.

Bender has been rehearsing with the chorus for four weeks and will start dress rehearsals on Labor Day just days before the first performance.

She is a member of the Saints Unified Voices, a gospel group directed by Gladys Knight; the National Association of Singing (NATS); the Music Teacher National Association (MTNA), and a certified music teacher for “let’s play music,” an early developmental music course for children.

She has an extensive background in teaching and performance and before coming to Nevada attended the University of Utah with a Presidential Scholarship for Music Theatre and Voice. She has performed and worked in semi-professional theatre before entering the business world.

She is especially proud of her association with the Las Vegas Master Singers, a choral group directed by Dr. Jocelyn Jensen. The group is the “voice” for the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra. She serves on board of directors and is acting treasurer.

“This is such a wonderful personal opportunity,” Bender said of her upcoming performance with Opera Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas is a city long recognized as the gambling and entertainment center of the world,” according Opera Las Vegas states on its website. “Our goal, with the first rate contributions of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada Ballet Theater, is to make it a first-class cultural destination as well.”