Many novels are illustrated with drawings or photos. Now, thanks to the internet, we have one illustrated with music.
The novel is Clementa by Jim Martin, and the music is introduced—and in some cases sung—by Dara Armstrong of New York City on the website clementanovel.com. Dara is accompanied at the piano by Zoe Nishimuta of Loveland, Colorado.
Off-screen, Dara and Zoe were coached by Dr. Juliana Bishop Hoch of Loveland, artistic and executive director of Loveland Opera Theatre. And the whole show—actually a series of short videos—was written and produced by Robert Hoch, Juliana’s husband and president of Evergreen Information Systems, Inc. Rob also designed clementanovel.com, the website where the videos can be seen.
Dara, Zoe, Juliana, and Rob created the videos from June to August, 2008, in Loveland.
The novel won’t hit bookstores until October, but the website can be visited now.
How does music illustrate the novel? Linda, one of the main characters in the novel, is a singer who mentions particular opera passages as she recounts her adventures. Readers can visit clementanovel.com and hear those passages sung.
Both Dara and Rob have had starring roles in Loveland Opera Theatre productions. Most recently, Dara performed the role of Pamina and Rob performed the role of Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Dara has recently relocated to New York City, where she is pursuing a career in opera.
Zoe is a professional pianist in the Loveland area.
Juliana and Rob are busy preparing for Loveland Opera Theatre’s Fall Gala, which will be held on October 18 at the McKee Conference Center in Loveland, as well as planning LOT’s next fully staged production, Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love.
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For more information, please go to LOT’s website www.fortnet.org/LOT
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