Little Patuxent Opera Institute

October 30, 2008 - Hello faithful readers. Sorry to have been out of the blogosphere for so long but let's just say I've been having "technical difficulties" up here in the Granite State. La traviata is now completely staged and entering its "polishing" stage. If any of my readers are in the area, please come check out the performances. The show is going to be great.

The purpose of this blog post, however, is to let singers know about a great new Young Artist Training Program: The Little Patuxent Opera Institute. This is an intensive four week program that will take place July 2009. Representatives from LPOI will be at the Opera Vivente auditions, so if you're already auditioning for Opera Vivente, you will also be considered for LPOI, if you are interested in a training program. If you are only interested in LPOI, you can apply via the same method as is outlined regarding the Opera Vivente auditions. Just indicate that you are only interested in the training program and not in the mainstage OV season.

Auditions for 2009-2010

October 17, 2008 - Another thing that I've been doing since Lord Giovanni closed is processing audition applications. Once again, I'm amazed at the relatively small percentage of materials sent by male singers. I realize that worldwide there are fewer bass-baritones than lyric sopranos but come on guys, I know there are male singers out there. Anyway, just to help the process along, here's a breakdown of the opportunities available in our 2009-2010 season.

Rossini's Cinderella (aka La Cenerentola to the original language folks) - 1 soprano, 2 mezzos, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, 1 buffo baritone, 1 bass-baritone
Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande (we have decided to do this rather than the Gretry) - 2 sopranos (or 1 soprano and 1 boy soprano), 1 mezzo, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, 1 bass
Dove's The Little Green Swallow - 1 spinto soprano, 1 lyric or soubrette soprano, 3 mezzo-sopranos, 1 counter-tenor (already cast but would consider a cover contract), 2 tenors, 1 lyric baritone, 1 buffo baritone, 1 bass, AND 3 boy sopranos

Not exactly a paucity of opportunities for male singers. Enough said.

Getting Ready to Go to the Granite State

October 15, 2008 - So my apologies for not posting for a while but as soon as Lord Giovanni closed (actually a bit before) I plunged into preparations for the an upcoming La traviata that I'm directing for Granite State Opera. I leave on Monday for approx. 3 weeks split between Manchester, Concord, and Portsmouth. Hopefully I'll have some time to blog about that process while I'm up there, but for now I just wanted to do a quick post to let everyone know that I have not completely dropped off the face of the planet.

Lord Giovanni Review

October 2, 2008 - Here is Tim Smith's review of Lord Giovanni for the Baltimore Sun. Just a few words about his quibble with the translation. If we accept that "Lady" is the only translation for "Donna" than "Lord" must be the only translation for "Don". I purposely translated these titles because I think class is an important part of this drama and to a modern audience, Lord and Lady instantly communicate an elevated class. The setting is 1960s (not 1940s or 1950s), think AMC's brilliant TV series Mad Men and we did indeed still have Lords and Ladies then, even in America. Remember Edward and Mrs. Simpson and their whole jet-setting coterie of peripheral nobility with lots of money and very few responsibilities? Anyway, if you'd like to see how all this plays out for yourself, there are still some great seats left for this evening's performance. Doors open at 6:30pm. You may purchase tickets with cash, check, or credit card. We are also offering 1/2 price tickets to students with a valid ID a half hour before curtain and a 10% discount to AGMA members who present their card at time of purchase. See you at the opera!