12/11/2024
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DUBLIN – Classically trained singer, musician, and Bladen Community College adjunct professor Mary Tyndall has recently performed with the Opera Wilmington production of Die Fledermaus at the UNCW Mainstage Theatre, in Wilmington.

“This was my fourth production with Opera Wilmington,” stated Tyndall, “and I think it was my favorite because it was a comedy.”

Composed by Johann Strauss II, Die Fledermaus (The Bat), is an operetta set in Vienna in the late 19th century. Tyndall sang with the ensemble.

“My love for singing began when I was in the fifth grade,” she explained. “I sang with others as a Girl Scout, and later in middle and high school choruses.”

As a self-proclaimed ‘Air Force brat’, Tyndall moved across the country until 1983, when her family settled in Wilmington. “Jerry Cribbs, my choral teacher at John T. Hoggard High School, invited me to go to a choral camp at East Carolina University. I loved it!”

Tyndall attended ECU, majored in music, and began her career as a music teacher in Wilmington. She was involved in theatre, taught voice lessons, and sang for weddings and special events.

“At the time, we used the Arts Center, the former USO, at the corner of Second Street and Orange for theatre,” she remarked, “but when we learned that the city was going to tear down the building, I became an activist to save the building. That event led to the best story ever!”

“The Community Arts Center Accord wanted to host a USO Dance fund raiser at the Arts Center to support the building,” Tyndall recalled. “One of the persons who became involved showed up with an original WWII Jeep.”

That ‘person’ was Cliff Tyndall, who later became her husband, and who teaches history for Bladen Community College.

Tyndall describes herself as well-rounded in her preferred styles of music. Her favorite concert was the 2013 Eagles concert in Greensboro.

She has taught music education for 29 years, and has taught for Bladen Community College, as requested, for 2 years. “For the college, I teach Music Appreciation 110 and the History of Rock,” she stated.

Tyndall believes that every person has the ability to appreciate a wide variety of music genres. “We can all be well-rounded,” she stated. “We can all enjoy many different styles of music.”

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