By Girindra Selleck
[email protected]

MUSIC
Così fan tutte
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn
Admission: Free

Iowa City Concert Opera, founded in May by University of Iowa graduate students Lisa Neher and Jessica Saunders, will perform a concert version of Mozart’s comedy of mistaken identities Così fan tutte in the original Italian at the Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., at 5 p.m. Friday.

“We were hoping to bring opera to a new setting and to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to see or afford it,” said Saunders, who, alongside Neher, acts as the troupe’s artistic director.

The group’s six singers chose Così fan tutte because it is an accessible steppingstone into the genre, Saunders said.

That is not to say the piece doesn’t have appeal with the opera in-crowd.

“It’s one of the most beloved Mozart operas; people in the opera world know it well and love it,” said Jacqueline Lang, who will play the role of Fiordiligi.

The opera, which follows a classic Shakespearean formula that temporarily confuses the fates of two engaged couples through a swapping of identity, will be performed in a concert setting with piano.

“Unlike a lot of larger companies, we’re not staging the show,” Saunders said. “This version really allows the singers to be more attentive to the music and communicate more effectively with a smaller audience.”

The Iowa City Concert Opera, funded in part by grants from the University of Iowa’s Arts Share program, is the natural evolution of a longstanding desire some of its members had to perform Mozart’s music together.

“One day [Saunders] approached me and asked if I was interested in doing a concert version of [Così fan tutte],” said Lang, a former classmate of Neher and Saunders.

In addition to being one of their favorites, Neher said, a performance of Così fan tutte is also a practical step in the forging of a professional opera career.

“These are all standard repertoire roles for young-singers, they’re really well-suited for young voices,” Neher said. “After this, we could step out and get hired to do it again, having already learned and performed it.”

The troupe opened its concert series with a preview performance at the Oaknoll Retirement Community, 1 Oaknoll Drive, Wednesday. It will follow up the Friday performance at the library with another on Saturday at the Art Experience in Maquoketa, Iowa, and a final showing on Aug. 30 at the Washington Public Library, in Washington, Iowa.

“Ultimately, our goal is to bring opera to the community,” Neher said. “Both here at home and also a little bit farther outside of the immediate Iowa City area.”