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From the Studio: Inland Northwest Opera's Madame Butterfly

Spokane Public Radio

Inland Northwest Opera will present Madame Butterfly for two performances only: 7:30 PM Friday and 2 PM Sunday at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. The opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles. Dawn Wolski, general director, and soprano Elizabeth Caballero stopped by the studio to talk with Verne about what the audience can expect, about bringing the lead role of Cio-Cio-San to life, and to share some of the music written by Puccini for the opera, which moves listeners from anticipation and hope to betrayal and despair. 

Verne Windham got his start at Spokane Public Radio 20 years ago. “I came in to complain and they hired me.” He’s now the Program Director, as well as the host of Morning Classical and Concert of the Week. When choosing music for Morning Classical, Verne likes to keep the agenda as broadly defined as possible. For Concert of the Week, he focuses on the best of recent local performances, mostly classical in nature. For many years, Verne was also the conductor of the Spokane Youth Orchestra. He enjoys gardening, his vintage car and playing French horn.