LPOI Program Opens Tonight

July 31, 2009 - Just a reminder that the Little Patuxent Opera Institute at Howard Community College where I've been working with a group of talented young artists has its opening performance this evening. The first half is operatic scenes ranging from Monteverdi to Britten and the second half is Puccini's conventual potboiler Suor Angelica. Click here for more info.

The Two Women in my Life

July 22, 2009 - This week is completely absorbed with the bringing to fruition of Little Patuxent Opera Institute's production of Sister Angelica and with crystallizing the design concepts for Opera Vivente's opening production of the 2009-2010 season: Rossini's Cinderella. (As an aside, I'm thrilled to announce that Don Thomas will be completing the design team as lighting designer). While these two title heroines share a few personality traits (goodness, humility, etc.), ultimately they and the two pieces they inhabit are so different that I'm almost feeling bipolar working on them at the same time. Look for more visuals for Cinderella in the next few weeks, but as a teaser I can tell you the look is a bit like M. C. Escher visiting Versailles.

See you at the opera!

Club OV and I Hear America Singing

July 17, 2009 - So tomorrow afternoon at Corpus Christi Church in Bolton Hill, Opera Vivente, wearing its cabaret hat (henceforth to be known as Club OV), will present a program entitled I Hear America Singing; a program which, with the exception of "Make our garden grow" from Bernstein's Candide, contains no opera. Several OV fans have wondered why an opera company is presenting a program of folk songs, patriotic songs, broadway songs, pop songs, and even one rock song, so here's my answer for what it's worth.

For me, and for the vast majority of people who work at OV, "opera" is about story-telling, an elucidation of the human condition brought about through a magical combination of words and music. In that light, all the music in I Hear America Singing is "operatic" because it all speaks to the story of America and Americans. For better or worse, until recently, the more traditional concept of opera has been one that has eluded American composers, but the works of George M. Cohan, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Frank Loesser and many, many others have told this story as eloquently as any 19th century Italian composer told the story of the unification of Italy.

So, come check out Club OV's offering tomorrow afternoon at 2 and 5:30pm. Come hear America singing, because she sounds amazing.

Summertime and the Livin' Ain't Easy

July 11, 2009 - As the child of two educators, summer was always a season when things slowed down dramatically, lots of time was spent doing nothing, and deadlines were something that didn't exist again until September (or at the earliest late August). Well, as an adult running a non-profit arts organization, summer is in some ways more hectic and demanding than the producing season. This is the time when the bulk of the planning happens. Casts are assembled and contracts are sent, bios and ads are gathered for the season program (this is often incredibly time consuming due to singers being all over the place in summer festivals, young artist programs, etc.), grants are written and submitted, rehearsal schedules developed and tweaked. The list goes on and on.

This summer, I've added another component to my already busy summer: The Little Patuxent Opera Institute, a fledgling training program for young singers based at Howard Community College. The group of 8 young women participating in the institute are putting on a program consisting of operatic scenes ranging from Claudio Monteverdi to Benjamin Britten on the first half and a fully-staged production of Puccini's Suor Angelica on the second half (the cast for this is being fleshed out by professional singers in the area). They are receiving what is often referred to as a "baptism by fire", having to cope with a huge range of styles in three different languages while polishing their technique and learning how to create character, move fluidly on stage, and convey emotion with their voices. Kudos to them all for their hard work and progress so far. If you want to know more about the institute, click here.

Also, next week I dive into rehearsals for our Artscape offering. More akin to our cabaret offerings, I Hear America Singing, interweaves readings from American history with music ranging from folk tunes to spirituals to Tin Pan Alley in a moving celebration of the American spirit. Click here for more info.

So if your summer schedule permits, come check out either The Little Patuxent Opera Institute, Artscape, or both. See you at the opera!