Wagnerism Seminar Takes USU Music Students to the Metropolitan Opera for Experiential Learning

LOGAN, Utah — This spring break, a group of USU music students attended the Metropolitan Opera’s gala opening of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” in New York City as part of a Wagnerism seminar taught by Christopher Scheer, associate professor of musicology.

The trip marked the first time many had encountered Wagner’s music in a live, fully staged performance at professional scale and was made possible through the Dean’s Experiential Learning Fund and the Caine School of the Arts.

“One of the things that this composer, Wagner, theorizes is that in order for drama to be expressed well, all the arts have to work together,” Scheer said. “When you go to see a production at a house like the Metropolitan, you have a very high level of artistic creation and invention.”

The trip was designed as part of the seminar’s academic focus on Wagner’s influence across music, visual art, literature and politics. Scheer said the goal was to move students beyond theoretical understanding and into direct engagement with the scale and intensity of Wagner’s operatic work.

“The students would have a hard time understanding it if they haven't ever seen a performance of any of his works done really well,” Scheer said. “And to do one of these works really well requires massive forces. Everything changed after they saw it in the way that they understood what we were dealing with.”

Students said the impact of seeing Wagner’s work performed at full scale was immediate. Campbell Helton, a piano performance and composition major, said the live setting fundamentally changed her understanding of the material they had studied in depth.

“It was truly a life-changing performance,” she said. “It just made such a difference to actually see the performers on stage in front of me … and to get the full five-hour experience in one sitting. It really brought to life the music we’ve been studying.”

Students also visited the Museum of Modern Art, where they examined visual artworks influenced by Wagner’s aesthetic philosophy and cultural legacy. The combination of performance and visual art showed students how Wagner’s ideas extended beyond music into broader artistic movements.

“Seeing the opera juxtaposed with modern art and just understanding how arts interact with each other in different places was really eye-opening,” Helton said.

For graduate student Rebecca Schull, the trip served as a form of applied learning, reinforcing skills developed throughout the semester.

“This is the practical application of everything we do in the classroom,” she said. “Now go see an opera, see what you can pick up on, see how you can actively listen. It’s the chance to do it in real time in an actual setting.”

Additionally, for students preparing for careers in music performance, education and composition, the trip offered insight into the professional world of classical music beyond Utah.

Ben Gittins, a percussion performance major, said the experience provided a broader understanding of the field and his future within it.

“The trip allowed me to actually understand the field at large,” he said. “What I need to be doing, how I need to be preparing for future careers and for grad school, to understand where I am in my path.”

Scheer said that experiences like this extend far beyond a single class or semester, shaping how students engage with their discipline long term.

“They will live with that experience for the rest of their lives, and they will understand music differently for the rest of their lives,” he said.

To learn more about classes offered and experiential learning opportunities within the Department of Music, please visit the program website.