Missy Llewellyn of Bradford admitted she doesn’t know much about the opera, but she is hoping to change that.
She was among several people who got a tour of the Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center in downtown Bradford on Saturday afternoon following a dedication ceremony. The facility is adjacent to Veterans Square, where Horne made her first public performance at 4 years of age.
Llewellyn indicated that she is hoping to return to the museum and expand her newfound knowledge of opera when there are fewer people milling out and about. The new cafe area was packed with people enjoying drinks and snacks.
Of Llewellyn’s initial visit, she found herself being captivated by the clothing, which were replicas of Horne’s. The museum includes four replica costumes from Horne’s operatic roles in “Aida,” “The Barber of Seville,” “Carmen” and “Orfeo” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City during the peak of her career in the 1970s.
Displays throughout the museum highlight Horne’s life and career and others showcase vocal music and opera.
State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, took the first official group tour of the museum, and found himself in awe at the collection. “What a place. It’s amazing,” he said.
What impressed him most, Causer said, was how the museum was put together.
One station, for example, lets visitors simulate an opera, where they can make characters and pick costumes and sets.
Museum-goers can also quiz themselves on the various parts of voice –– soprano, mezzo, tenor and bass.
There’s also a matching game, where individuals hear a portion of a song and match it to words.
The exhibits will also allow individuals to hear interviews and sounds clips of Horne performing.
A film is also screened in a small theater covered in murals, resembling a miniature version of the baroque opera house Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy, renowned as being the most beautiful opera house in the world. Horne sang the title role of Rossini’s “Tancredi” in Italy in 1981.
Also on Saturday, Michal Carr, of Hillman & Carr Inc., which handled the media aspects of the museum, stood by as museum-goers put on headphones and interacted with creating an opera scene. She indicated that she was ecstatic at seeing the elements that were more than a year in the making come to life.
All told, she said that the facility will offer Pitt-Bradford students with a place to learn about opera and classical music in a deeper way.
Carr said she plans on coming back to the museum.
Campus officials made other improvements to the six-story Marilyn Horne Hall, including opening a café with Starbucks select service.
The first floor of Marilyn Horne Hall has a museum gift shop that features Pitt and Pitt-Bradford merchandise as well as Marilyn Horne-themed items; an assembly room; offices for a museum manager/docent and the Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center.
Carl E. Swanson and Sons served as the general contractor on the project made possible in part through a $3 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
The Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
