Penar as Lescaut in Massenet's Manon; March 2011, Kodak Theater, Eastman School of Music.

Shelburne resident Geoffrey Penar will be performing in the opera Don Giovanni in Montreal on Jan.26 and 28. Penar is in a master's program in opera studies at McGill, having graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a bachelor of music degree in vocal performance last May. He is cast in the bass-baritone role of Leporello. "I love stage performance, and playing saxophone and clarinet, but opera became my passion while working on my singing technique with Bill Reed," Penar offered. Of his role in Don Giovanni, Penar said "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 who is the son of Paul and Dorothea Penar of Shelburne, will be performing in two emerging artist programs, one event in Crested Butte, Colorado, and another closer to home at the Green Mountain Opera Festival (www.greenmountainoperafestival.com).   

Don Giovanni will be performed at Pollack Hall on the campus of McGill University Jan 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. The content and staging is appropriate for an "adults only" audience. Tickets are $30, and are available by phone during box office hours (noon-6 p.m., Mon. - Fri) at (514) 398-4547.