38 April Golliver is no stranger to uphill battles. Coming from the little town of Lucien in north central Oklahoma, she didn’t have the musical opportunities of those in larger towns and cities. When she wanted to study in Italy for a summer, the then college sophomore decided to hold a fundraising concert. Townsfolk were 100 percent behind her. They wanted her to be a famous opry singer. She wanted to be an opera singer. “The folks in Lucien were willing to put money into me going to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville,” says Golliver, 37, director of opera studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma State University. Lucien, population 70, has no police department or streetlights. Golliver says what they do have is an appreciation for country music. “I decided to do this concert, From Classics to Country. I knew that I had to perform the opera first because if I did the country first, they’d leave at the end it and never hear the opera.” Folks in her hometown didn’t disappoint in their generosity. They attended the concert and applauded almost as loudly for the opera as the country. And, she did end up going to Italy. The Opera Plot Filled with dreams, struggles, determination, perseverance and the large potential for success, the story of singer April Golliver and her fight to build a top-tier vocal performance program at OSU rivals that of any opera. STORY BY Sylvia E. King-Cohen ’81 PHOTOGRAPHY BY Phil Shockley A SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY BACK TO OSU Golliver started her musical training at OSU and earned her bachelor’s in vocal performance from Oklahoma City University and her master’s from the prestigious Indiana University. “I grew up country,” says the associate professor of music. “My father would play the steel guitar and I’d sing along. My favorite entertainer was Reba McEntire. But, you can’t get a degree in country music anywhere in Oklahoma.” Golliver’s love of opera is thanks to an uncle who paid for her to take a trip to New York City. Golliver went to the Metropolitan Opera. After that trip, she was hooked. “I joined the opera company at OSU,” says Golliver, who speaks with an attractive Oklahoma twang. She has since performed with the Tulsa Opera; the Mobile Opera in Alabama; the Wichita Grand Opera; at NYC’s Carnegie Hall; spent summers performing at the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium in Italy, a Mecca of opera; and attended the Aspen (Colo.) Music Festival, which she describes as the summer program for The Juilliard School in New York City. The one thing exposure to such a varied world has taught her: OSU’s vocal performances have the potential to be the best of the best. “When I was an undergraduate at OSU, the opera program was weak,” says Golliver, who was encouraged to come back to OSU as a teacher by her mentor, Babette Belter, a clarinet teacher at OSU. “She encouraged me to teach here. I passionately wanted to come back and build a program here that would nurture great young voices.” That’s where the challenge comes in. A MODEL PARTNERSHIP Great students need to know OSU is a place for opera and the public needs to be educated about opera, Golliver says. It isn’t just a fat lady singing with horns on her head and long blonde braids. “Today’s opera is nothing like that. Today’s singers are stars and celebrities,” says Golliver, whose department is working with the OSU Foundation and Tulsa Opera on a partnership that would benefit students, enhance the opera program and bring incredible prestige to OSU as an opera destination. Tulsa Opera is committed to and excited about the prospects — if Golliver and OSU can come up with as much as $1 million. They don’t need it all at once, but about $250,000 to get the ball rolling. CONTINUES
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