Opera singer, Manning-native returns to raise funds for Hausbarn

They’ll be singing opera in a high-school auditorium tonight (Saturday). An Iowa native who now lives in Pittsbrugh returns to perform at the high school in his hometown of Manning, and singer Nathan Boersma says the show may please even those who don’t follow the fine arts. He says they’ll do some “classical standards” that you’d expect an opera singer to do, but he chose pieces that aren’t long and are “beautiful, pretty famous melodies.” In addition there are jazz, musical-theatre and popular ballads everyone will know. The event is a fundraiser to help preserve Manning’s German heritage. He notes the 350-year-old Hausbarn that was brought from Germany and reassembled in Manning, its museum and attached restaurant, and says the newest addition “will really be something else.” It’s to be a large glockenspiel for the front entrance to the conference center. Boersma says it’s a complex and costly plan. The Glockenspiel’s expected to be done by June of next year, when Manning celebrates the town’s quasquicentennial — 125 years.