When 17-year-old Athens High School junior Corinne Evans was a gymnastically agile preschooler, the most her mother, Cindy Evans, wanted for her was to become a cheerleader.

Today, Corinne aspires to be accepted to one of the most prestigious music colleges in the nation to study to become a professional opera singer.

On Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. a local audience will have the opportunity to hear and see Corinne sing the role of Gretel in the opera, “Hansel and Gretel,” at Brookhill Elementary School auditorium.

A student at Ars Nova School of the Arts in Huntsville for the past six years, Corinne studies under Dr. Ginger Beazley, opera director and lead soprano who has trained singers who now perform at the Metropolitan Opera and internationally.

Beazley, the founder of Ars Nova, is bringing “Hansel and Gretel” to Athens to introduce children to opera. Brookhill had the first opportunity to host an Ars Nova performance as a fund-raiser. Future Ars Nova productions will be offered to other local schools, according to Leslie Christopher, also an Ars Nova student and one of Corinne’s former teachers.

The community has watched the daughter of Jerry and Cindy Evans grow up, marveling at the big voice from the tiny girl. Many have heard her sing the national anthem at local patriotic events, effortlessly hitting what seemed like impossibly high notes.

“Then I didn’t pop up those high notes,” said Corinne. “People here are just not used to that.”

Evans said that her daughter as a preschooler never played with dolls, but loved to dress up in adult clothes, spike heels, jewelry and make-up. At 4, she joined the Cherub Choir at First United Methodist Church, directed by Mary Stephenson, who went on to found and direct the Heritage Children’s Chorus of the South

“When she was 4 years old she came home from choir and sung with a very mature voice and style—a lot of bravado—and I told her to sing like a child because I thought she was making fun of Mary with her gestures. But then Mary said to me, ‘Do you realize this child really has a voice?’ To be honest, I was grooming this child for cheerleading because I had been a cheerleader. She started gymnastics at 4, and although petite, was extremely muscular. We thought she would be a gymnast.”

Evans said that once she and her husband became convinced that their daughter had real talent, they became committed to keeping her goal oriented—not always an easy task for a child who would sometimes rather play than sing.

“We let her go through with being a child, but we always put voice first,” said Evans. “We told her God gave her a gift for voice.”

Evans said that Corinne’s voice study became so intense at one point that it affected their mother-daughter relationship and Corinne took a summer off just to be a kid.

“I’m not just a singer,” said Corinne. “I have an overall 99 average, I’m junior class president and in the National Honor Society. When I don’t have a play going on I still have a life. You need balance in every aspect.”

As well as studying under Beazley at Ars Nova, Corinne has taken master classes and workshops with such opera notables as Marni Nixon, who did the voiceover for Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady”; Mezzo-Soprano Frederica Von Stade; Jason Hardy, Alma Thomas who worked with Pavarotti, and Cynthia Hoffman. To people outside the opera community, the names might be obscure, but they are the teachers who matter on a young singer’s resume when applying for a top school such as Julliard or Indiana University.

“Julliard takes only 850 students a year, and of those only five voice students,” said Christopher. “Thousands apply, but they choose only two sopranos. Voice teachers mean more to them than schools.”

This is Corinne’s first real opera. “Hansel and Gretel,” based on the fairy tale by composer Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) and his sister, Adelheid Wette (1858-1916) was first performed in 1893.

Performed in English, “Hansel and Gretel” will open tonight 7:30 at Ars Nova School of Arts. It will play Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets for the Dec. 3 Brookhill performance are $5 for adults and $2 for students, and may be purchased at the school office. For ticket information, call 233-6603.