Prison choir to make its debut in NYC opera
IOWA CITY – A choir of inmates at a Coralville prison will soon be making its New York opera debut.
Members of the Oakdale Community Choir on Wednesday performed the “Prisoner’s Chorus” in Beethoven’s Fidelio for a recording that will be broadcast during a live performance in New York City in May. A group of inmates at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center, formerly the Oakdale Prison, have been learning German and perfecting the right inflection for their part in the song for weeks.
More than putting on a good show, members of the Oakdale Community Choir hope their part in a New York opera will show they are trying to become better Iowa neighbors one day.
The choir, consisting of about 40 inmates and 30 volunteers from the community, was asked by Heartbeat Opera to take part in a modern-day performance of Fidelio, an opera about a woman’s journey to free her falsely imprisoned husband.
The group is visiting and recording six choirs such as Oakdale’s, each performing a different portion of the “Prisoner’s Chorus.”
The production’s director, Ethan Heard, recorded the Coralville choir’s performance of the “Prisoner’s Chorus” in German. Videos of four choirs and audio of another two will be combined and projected during a pivotal scene of the opera, where prisoners are released into a courtyard for a breath of fresh air.
“They sing just this beautiful piece about breathing freely for the first time in a long time, feeling that joy of the open air,” Heard said.
Heartbeat Opera has been reimagining operas in New York for four years, including a take on Carmen.
Inmate Shane Kendrick has participated in the choir’s semi-annual performances for two years. According to court records, Kendrick was arrested for performing sex acts on a child under the age of 12. He says he has six years left to serve on his sentence.
Kendrick said he doesn’t know much about the storyline of Fidelio,” but he said any depiction that humanizes inmates is a good thing.
“If I was on the other side and somebody was coming into my community, I’d probably be freaked out as well, at least standoffish,” he said. “But the more people can see prisoners and inmates as normal people who made a mistake — if they’ve bettered themselves and they can come back out, I believe they should have a second chance.”