The Nurse in History and Opera

From Scarabea, Artusa’s old nurse in Francesco Mannelli’s La Maga Fuminata (1638 Venice) through the Canadian nursing sisters in Stephanie Martin’s Llandovery Castle (2018 Toronto), over one hundred nurse characters appear in opera roles ranging from silent cast extra to principal singer. The Nurse in History and Opera: From Servant to Sister explores that role over the span of opera’s existence.

Judith Barger examines the nurse character in opera within the sociohistorical context of her real-life counterparts off stage; the progression of the nurse from servant to sister, both inside and outside the opera house, is a commentary on how society has viewed its women. READ MORE

Veteran, nurse, scholar, musician, author —all define Judith (Judy) Barger. For Judy, the Air Force was a logical choice—her father was an Air Force chaplain. During her own Air Force career, Judy worked as a nurse in a variety of assignments both stateside and overseas. The one she remembers most fondly was her tour of duty as a flight nurse at Clark Air Base in the Philippines from 1973 through 1975. It was the best job in the Air Force. For two years Judy flew aboard the C-9A Nightingale throughout the Pacific to Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Okinawa, Korea—even Iwo Jima and Singapore—providing patient care and logging almost 1300 flight hours. It was because of that assignment that Judy became interested in flight nurse history and in the women in whose footsteps she followed.