ARIZONA OPERA

ARIZONA OPERA innovates to create a compelling new season

By Michelle Glicksman

Even while Arizona Opera, like the rest of the arts world, faces the uncertainty of the current pandemic, Joseph Specter, its president and general director, says the company is striving to expand its impact in the face of today’s challenges.

“This moment has caused us to take a harder look at our connection to community, the level of service we’re providing and the unique opportunities to grow our contribution to those we serve,” he explains. “Traditional cultural art forms across the country, such as opera, ballet and symphony, have struggled for years with the question of expanding their reach and impact, even during ‘normal’ times. This crisis has sharpened our focus in a way that I believe can ultimately allow us not just to survive, but to grow our civic value significantly and in compelling new ways.

“We’re committed to whatever amount of adaptation and innovation is necessary to fulfill our mission to serve this community through the art form of opera — and in ways that are safe and comfortable for our patrons,” he continues. “It’s more important now than ever, as people are in need of the beauty, storytelling and connection that our art form provides so abundantly. It is so motivational for me and our organization that we are striving for something innovative — completely reimagining our upcoming season — for the potential benefit of so many.”

That innovation has indeed led the organization not to retreat, but to rethink how to present what it will provide in the season ahead. It started by inaugurating its newly structured programming on Oct. 2 in Phoenix and Oct. 4 in Tucson with socially distanced outdoor recitals performed by members of the organization’s prestigious and elite Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio in the company’s new Studio Spotlight Series.

Future performances will occur a number of times over the season, with Phoenix shows generally being held on the first Friday of the month and Tucson shows being held two days later, on the first Sunday of the month. For those who prefer to watch from home, at least one of each month’s shows will also be livestreamed via Arizona Opera’s website.

“We’re one of very few opera companies in the country that performs in multiple cities, and we’re very proud to do so,” Specter says.

To ensure that everyone associated with any in-person performance is as safe as possible, all appropriate social distancing protocols will be enforced, including ensuring a significant distance between the singer and the first row of seats and the piano, and required maskwearing for all attendees.

“Also in the vein of live performances during the upcoming season, we are planning a concert series called Arizona Arias, which will feature some of the leading singers from the opera world, along with members of the Arizona Opera Orchestra,” Specter says.

Though details of those performances are still being finalized, they are currently scheduled for February and March 2021.

Perhaps one of the most innovative and ambitious initiatives Arizona Opera is undertaking this season is producing a motion picture adaption of the company’s second world premiere commission, The Copper Queen. This new opera, written by composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John de los Santos, has been in development with Arizona Opera since 2015, and was originally intended to open the 20202021 season as part of the McDougall RED Series.

“Instead of moving it to a future season, we decided we’d do something wild and exciting by adapting the opera into a film,” Specter says. “Presenting this gripping character study in film format provides opportunities to heighten the storytelling in ways that are unique to film.”

The story is set in Bisbee, Arizona at the famously haunted Copper Queen Hotel, with parallel dramatic lines set a century apart, in 1910 and 2010.The opera tells a tale of human bondage, furtive romance, secret connections, and, ultimately, redemption, in a powerful tale that brings two determined women together across the generations.

“I think that the big screen-type approach will allow us to have an intimacy and engagement with those characters that might not have been as easily accomplished on a proscenium stage,” Specter commented. “Combined with some of the supernatural elements of the show, my sense is that The Copper Queen will likely have an even more powerful impact in a film format than in a traditional theatrical setting at the Herberger Theater or the Temple of Music and Art, where we normally perform our RED Series. All of that conspires to make an exciting upcoming project for everyone involved, including future viewers inside and outside of Arizona.”

To make this undertaking a reality, the opera’s creators and its all-female production team, led by director Crystal Manich, have joined forces with longtime video partner and Phoenix-based creative agency Manley Films to create the feature-length production. The Copper Queen is scheduled to be filmed in January and released online in April 2021.

“It’s a point of pride and excitement for us that Arizona Opera has joined an elite group of opera companies around the country that are exploring film as a possible way to scale out and impact more people,” Specter shares.

In addition to these many initiatives, the organization is also working on several others, including exploring ways to continue its K-12 program at a time when traditional intheater performances are not possible. Those programs will be reimagined, as well, so that Arizona Opera can continue to impact tens of thousands of students across the state, as it has done in recent non-COVID years.

“Our upcoming season is going to be a year of experimentation for all of us, and anything that we can do to be a more impactful organization is what we want to do,” says Specter. “We believe in the transformative power of art to help people during incredible times of challenge, and we want to continue to be an integral part of people’s lives during this period, whether they’re watching in person in a socially distanced setting or live online.

“We’re creating some very exciting and creative things this year in response to this unusual and challenging time, and we really want to share it — and our love of opera — with everyone in our communities.”

Particularly in the time of COVID-19, arts organizations such as Arizona Opera rely on philanthropic support to continue their service to the community, and the organization is extremely grateful to those who would consider contributing financially, in light of the limitations on revenue that is normally generated by in-person ticket sales.

For more information, visit azopera.org.