Well, our weather has warmed up and right now we're getting rain - but I dare say it's freezing rain with the temperature at 30 degrees. We had a little snow earlier this morning, and as predicted, it has turned to rain. It's going to go back to snow by evening, according to the forecast. The road crews are busy, and traffic seems to be doing ok at least for now.

I had a very nice note from Dorothea Penar who has a cottage on Narrows Drive. Her son, Geoff is a graduate in 2007 from St. Johnsbury Academy and will be appearing in an upcoming performance in Montreal as Leporello in the opera, Don Giovanni
At right is a photo of Penar in the role of Lescaut in Massenet's Manon; March, 2011 at the Kodak Theater, Eastman School of Music.

Here's an article that appeared in the Caledonian Record about him:
Caledonia Record

St. Johnsbury Academy graduate, Geoffrey Penar will be performing in the opera Don Giovanni in Montreal on January 26th and 28th. Geoffrey is in a Masters program in Opera Studies at McGill. Last May, he graduated with High Distinction from the Eastman School of Music with a BM in Vocal Performance. While at Eastman, Geoffrey performed several operatic parts. "Lescaut in Manon was my favorite part, working with such amazing singers and the great Eastman faculty," Geoff describes.

Geoffrey is a veteran of the amateur Vermont performing arts scene, with Lyric and Stowe theater groups, talent shows, choral groups, and even St. John Evangelist Catholic Church. In high school, he received the highest honor at the All State Music Festival in his junior and senior years, and was a finalist at the Bundy Center Young Artist competitions. At St. Johnsbury Academy, he is remembered for his performance as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. He was also featured on the nationally broadcast NPR show "From the Top."

"I love stage performance, and playing saxophone and clarinet, but opera became my passion while working on my singing technique with Bill Reed. Opera combines singing, acting, music studies, and language studies -- everything I love. It's very challenging and gives me a great deal of satisfaction when I nail a performance."

Geoffrey adds, "I was thrilled to be cast in Don Giovanni as the conflicted and comedic Leporello. It’s one of the largest bass-baritone parts in the Mozart opera repertoire. Leporello is the servant to the libertine, Don Giovanni, who serves up wine, women (hundreds of them), and song. Leporello’s disgust with and attraction to Don Giovanni make him a very interesting character to portray. “

This summer Penar will be performing in two emerging artist programs, in Crested Butte, Colorado, and here at the Green Mountain Opera Festival.

Don Giovanni Performance times and location: Pollack Hall, McGill Campus January 26 & 28 at 7:30 PM (Geoffrey Penar’s cast). The content and staging of Don Giovanni is provocatively modern and appropriate for an “adults only” audience.

Geoffrey is the son of Paul and Dorothea Pinar of Shelburne and West Danville, Vermont.