Students delivered a "tag-team" performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, dividing major roles in the three-hour opera among multiple singers to protect young voices.

Lush costumes and lighting complemented the performance on the stage of the College's ornate Majestic Theater just off the town square.

The performance was the culmination of a course, open to both music and non-music majors, offered by Gettysburg College's Sunderman Conservatory of Music. In addition to performing, students also researched the history of the period and other topics.



Sung in Italian, with English supertitles projected above the stage, the performance told the tale of a Japanese geisha, "Butterfly," whose innocence leads her to marry an American naval lieutenant, with tragic results.

Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and sciences with approximately 2,600 students. It is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1832.