Ovation Magazine Fall 2013

GALA2013 AN EVENING IN BLACK & WHITE

F R IDAY EV E NING | NOV E M BE R 2 2 , 2 0 1 3

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OPERA COLORADO STAFF GREG CARPENTER, General Director ADMINISTRATION Darrel Curtice, Director of Finance & Administration Julie Nowasell, Staff Accountant ARTISTIC Ari Pelto, Artistic Advisor DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING Camille Spaccavento, Director of External Affairs & Marketing Joyce de Roos, Volunteer Coordinator Molly Epstein, Group Sales Associate Nicholas Geyer, Annual Fund and Marketing Assistant Luke Lindholm, Patron Services Manager Emma Martin, Development and Marketing Assistant Glenda Masters, Annual Fund Manager Ed Mickens, Associate Patron Services Manager Rachel Perez, Marketing Manager Resnicow, Schroeder Associates, Public Relations EDUCATION Cherity Koepke, Director of Education & Community Engagement Elena Kalahar, Education Intern Alexandra Kotis, Education Intern Julie Nowasell, Education Assistant Betsy Schwarm, Pre-Performance Lecturer PRODUCTION Katie Preissner, Production Manager Ann Piano, Costume Director YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM Cherity Koepke, Director Taylor Baldwin, accompanist Colleen Jackson, soprano Louise Rogan, mezzo-soprano Brett Sprague, tenor Jared Guest, baritone Benjamin Sieverding, bass

OPERA COLORADO’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Michael Hughes, Chairman Marcia Robinson, President Kenneth Barrow, Chair Emeritus Martha Tracey, Treasurer Carol Crossin Whitley, Secretary and Vice President Dirk deRoos, Vice President DIRECTORS Bruce Allen Sheila Bisenius Michael Bock Suzanne Dost Bucy Ellie Caulkins, Lifetime Honorary Chair Mary Conroy Jack Finlaw Charles Kafadar Craig Johnson The Honorable Kenneth M. Laff

William Maniatis Pamela Merrill Mary French Moore Gerald Saul Alessandra Schulein Merrill Shields Shirley Smith Harry Sterling Byron Watson Britney Weil Larry Zimmer

HONORARY DIRECTORS Jill Irvine Crow Nellie Mae Duman Hugh Grant Ursula Kafadar Jeremy Kinney

Loring W. Knoblauch, Lifetime Honorary Director Jeremy Shamos Susan Shamos

OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 4

A

lthough our 2014 Season does not open for another five months, there is a tremendous amount of activity going on at the Opera Colorado offices and out in the community.

On November 22nd we present Gala 2013 – An Evening in Black & White featuring a performance by world-renowned soprano Elizabeth Futral. Our annual gala is our largest fundraising event of the year and the funds raised directly support our Education & Community Engagement Programs reaching more than 35,500 students of all ages throughout the Denver Metro Area and across the Rocky Mountain Region annually. Gala 2013 promises to be one of the most elegant and fun events of the Denver social season. You will find more information about the gala in this issue of Ovation! and on our website.

We are also in the midst of putting the final details on our very exciting productions of Verdi’s Rigoletto and Bizet’s Carmen. The season boasts eleven Opera Colorado debuts, including singers, directors and designers representing well-established artists alongside some exciting rising stars. We have chosen our casts for their extraordinary vocal talent along with their ability to bring to life the iconic characters they will portray in these timeless works of art.

And of course, now that we are well into the school year, our Education & Community Engagement Programs are in full swing, delivering cutting edge programming to school age children. Cherity Koepke, our Director of Education & Community Engagement, has been selected to appear on two national arts education panels, representing the extraordinary work we are doing in our community. It is wonderful that Opera Colorado is being recognized both locally and nationally.

We could not accomplish any of this without the generous support of our patrons. Thanks to you, we were able to raise a record $1.9 million during our 2013 Fiscal Year which allowed us to have a balanced budget with a significant surplus. The outpouring of support over the past year has been a testament to the value our patrons and the community place on Opera Colorado and the arts. We greatly appreciate the confidence you have placed in our future.

Your enthusiasm and advocacy is vital to our current and future success.

Sincerely,

Gregory Carpenter General Director

Ovation! News, Events and Activities of Opera Colorado Volume 15, Issue 1. Published quarterly for the benefit of friends and supporters of Opera Colorado, 695 S. Colorado Blvd. Ste. 20, Denver, CO 80246.

Phone: 303.778.1500. www.OperaColorado.org.

Produced by Opera Colorado’s Marketing and Development Departments.

Editor: Camille Spaccavento Assistant Editor: Rachel Perez

Ovation! Magazine and In-Theatre programs are produced for Opera Colorado by The Publishing House.

Angie Flachman-Johnson: Publisher Wilbur E. Flachman: President & Founder Annette Allen: Art Director, Production Coordinator For advertising information, call 303-428-9529 www.pub-house.com www.coloradoartspubs.com

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Gala 2013, An Evening in Black & White, supports Opera Colorado’s Education and Community Engagement Programs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A RESERVATION, PLEASE CONTACT GLENDA MASTERS, 303.468.2029 OR GMASTERS@OPERACOLORADO.ORG. Page 7 | Fall 2013 | OVATION

Sandra Piques Eddy – Up Close and Personal with a Passionate Carmen Coming to Opera Colorado May 2-11, 2014 One of today’s most sought-after opera singers and actresses singing Carmen, Sandra Piques Eddy will perform the title role with Opera Colorado in May 2014. She recently chatted with us about her upcoming performance, her love of Bizet’s masterpiece and the rigorous preparations that go into playing this all-consuming character.

What is one of your favorite things about Carmen?

Carmen is one of opera’s all-time most memorable characters. I love the opportunity to play such a powerful, strong, fiery and passionate woman! The drama is intense and the music is beautiful and stirring. I jump at the chance to play Carmen!

What do you think audiences can expect in your upcoming Opera Colorado performance?

When I saw the cast list, I was thrilled! I’ve worked with Janai and Ryan before in Chicago and I am really looking forward to meeting and working with the incredible Jay Hunter Morris too - all amazing artists and colleagues. I am also so happy to work with Maestro Robert Wood and Director Kathleen Belcher again. It’s a great team and I’m excited about the possibilities with all this talent in one room.

What makes Bizet’s music so powerful, memorable and recognizable?

I never tire of this opera. The drama and music are so perfectly married.

Audiences get wrapped up in the passion of the tempestuous relationships. Act Four is rip-your-heart-out expressive. It’s a great first opera for opera newbies too! I think Act Two of Carmen is enough to hook anyone on to opera. Act Two has it all, from the fiery opening Chanson Boheme and the famous Toreador Aria, the amazing smuggler’s quintet, the sexy castanet dance, the fight, (another) famous Flower Aria and a big chorus finish- it’s a wild ride.

What is it like to sing such a legendary role and how do you approach it to keep it fresh and interesting – bringing something new to it?

Each night is fresh and interesting because anything can happen in live performance. My take on Carmen has been different each time because each collaboration is unique. I’ve done traditional productions, semi-staged concerts and updated/modern productions of Carmen. I learn a little more each time and feel that, with each experience, the character becomes more complex and authentic.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time…what are your hobbies?

I have an incredible four year old daughter who keeps me on my toes. So, basically my hobbies include playing at the park, blowing bubbles, chalk drawings, painting, reading, impromptu dance parties, dressing up and cuddling.

What does a day in the life of an opera singer look like?

There is no such thing as a typical day. When rehearsing a show, we may be called for six hours a day to work on staging and music. Once we get to stage rehearsals towards the opening of the show, we work on technical aspects and running through the opera in costumes, wig, make-up; performing on the sets with props and working with the orchestra. After opening night, our days are more open and predictable and we can focus on performances. Sometimes, singers are working on what roles and performances are coming up next after the present engagement but we try to take in the sights while on our trips.

Chicago Opera Theater

OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 8

What do you do to prepare for your role as Carmen?

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have sung Mercédès in Carmen several seasons at the Metropolitan Opera since my debut there in 2001. While singing

Mercédès, I listened and watched many great Carmens rehearse and perform. This was an incredible gift. The most interesting lesson I learned is that each Carmen is different and that I needed to discover my own. While singing Carmen’s mezzo sidekick, I also learned some basic flamenco and castanet-playing from a wonderful teacher in New York named Sara Erde. She is brilliant.

When preparing Carmen, I revisit the score, take it to my voice teacher and work through the role. I also work with vocal coaches and work with Sara, the flamenco teacher.

Another aspect of preparing for the role of Carmen is getting into good physical shape in order to build up stamina for demanding performances.

Is there anything else about you, your career or the opera Carmen that you think our audiences would find interesting?

When I first started my career, I knew that Carmen would be a role I would tackle, but when the time was right. Looking back now at the baby steps I took on the road to this role, I am thankful that I wasn’t enticed into the role too early. I sang my first Carmen in the scaled down Peter Brook version La Tragédie de Carmen first at Chicago Opera Theater in 2009. The challenge about that? I was six months pregnant in modern costume! I did my best to avoid side profile with my pregnant belly and thankfully, the costume designer was a genius.

Another interesting Carmen production was set in Seville, Ohio (yes, it is a real place) in the 1980’s by a very talented director named Daniel Kramer for Opera North in England. I loved this interpretation as well.

Get your Carmen tickets early for the best availability.

Visit OperaColorado.org or call 303.468.2030.

Photo credit Dan Sausser. Opera Coeur d’Alene

Photo credit Robert Workman. Opera North UK Carmen.

Page 9 | Fall 2013 | OVATION

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Opera Colorado Young Artists The Face of Opera in Our Community

E

Coleen Jackson

Jared Guest

Louise Rogan OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 12

ach season, Opera Colorado brings five young artists to Colorado where they live and work as artists-in-residence for several months.

While here, they gain invaluable performance experience and receive hands-on professional development and coaching through a performancebased residency program. Cherity Koepke, Director of Education & Community Engagement directs the Young Artists. She explains that these talented young performers “become a calling card for Opera Colorado and the face of what we do to the community. Bringing them into the company allows us the opportunity to reach into the community in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.” Not only do they give free performances for the public, they also bring opera into nursing homes, retirement centers, hospitals and every year they perform in a cancer-infusion unit.

The Academy of Lifelong Learning hosts the Young Artists in an Arias and Ensembles performance, taking place this season on March 11, 2014.

They will also perform a free Arias and Ensembles concert at St. John’s Cathedral on April 8, 2014. Other community performances scheduled for this season will take place at The Broomfield Auditorium, The Meadows in Castle Rock, Lone Tree Arts Center and the D.L. Parsons Theatre in Westminster.

Not only does Opera Colorado serve the Denver Metro Community through the work its Young Artists do, but it also servers the greater state of Colorado through the state-wide performance tour, which takes place May 12-23, 2014. This season’s Greater Western Tour will take the artists to Vail, Beaver Creek, Lake City, Paonia, Carbondale and others cities still being scheduled. The tour shows another side of Opera Colorado to audiences who might not otherwise have the chance to hear opera performances or main-stage production in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Koepke is excited about this year’s performances in Lake City. “When we are on tour, not only do we perform for an evening audience made up of about 75 percent adults, but we also go into schools and serve with some of our in-school programs,” she says. “This year when we go back to Lake City, we will be giving a program in the school, which we didn’t have the opportunity to do last year when we performed there.”

Opera Colorado provides Young Artists with living accommodations for the duration of their residency, and facilitates their daily activities, which range from rehearsals and performances to career development sessions.

“There really is no such thing as ‘a typical day’ for our young artists,” explains Koepke. “They receive training the whole time they are here, from rehearsing to performing for all types of events and programs, to training with local professional artists and learning from the guest artists that come to Colorado to perform in our mainstage productions. This year they will also participate in a movement class with a teacher from Colorado Ballet. Our new Artistic Advisor Ari Pelto will be working with the Young Artists, as well giving them coaching in a master-class setting. Some days are devoted specifically to training and some weeks are filled with performances in different schools.”

Every single artist chosen to participate in the residency has put in tireless hours of hard work and dedication to compete at the highest level for a spot in the program. Choosing the career path of an opera singer brings incredible challenges – it’s very competitive. Opera Colorado receives nearly 500 applications and hears about 200 live auditions each

season. Candidates must pay their own expenses to travel to Colorado for the auditions, so finances often prove a difficulty to overcome. However, the pay-offs for being chosen to participate are well worth the effort.

“It’s a huge stepping stone in the career of these artists,” explains Koepke. “Not only for what we offer to them, but for what they bring to us.

They hone their skills specifically by doing what they are training to do.

They are learning as they are performing. This season, not only will all of the Young Artists perform for our Education & Community Engagement Programs, but they will also be cast in smaller roles and some larger supporting roles in both of our main stage productions. Many of our Young Artists have gone on to be quite successful and participate in other prestigious Young Artist programs, and some are beginning their main stage careers as well.”

Two of this year’s artists, Jared Guest and Coleen Jackson went to college together for their undergraduate degrees, and haven’t sung together since. They are looking forward to reuniting and joining forces for Opera Colorado. Joining Opera Colorado this year all the way from the United Kingdom, mezzo-soprano Louise Rogan is thrilled to participate in Opera Colorado’s program. Programs in the United Kingdom don’t regularily offer performance experience equivalent to what artists receive here. When auditions for Opera Colorado’s Young Artist program took place she traveled to Colorado from Chicago, where she was finishing her degree. “This year’s tenor Brett Sprague is a freak of nature,” Koepke jokes. “I can’t belive how accomplished he is at such a young age.” Our bass, Benjamin Sieverding, has just been invited to participate for a second season in Santa Fe Opera’s Young Artist program, another highly regarded program in the United States.” Koepke sums up the incoming group by saying, “It’s going to be another fantastic year and we can’t wait to get started.”

Keep an eye out for these dynamic artists and take advantage of the opportunity to hear them sing and meet them in person during the 2014 season. Young Artists begin their residency January 2, 2014. Visit OperaColorado.org for more information about their upcoming performances.

Brett Sprague

Benjamin Sieverding

2013 The Barber of Seville Young Artist Performance

Page 13 | Fall 2013 | OVATION

Jared Guest Takes a Second Spin as Opera Colorado’s Young Artist Jared Guest Performs at Opera Colorado’s 2013 Gala

This season, Opera Colorado welcomes Jared Guest into its Young Artist program for a second consecutive season.

M

y favorite part of about being a Young Artist last year was, by far, the amazing performance opportunities. Not only did we get to hone our skills as singing actors, with dozens of touring performances of The Barber of Seville and Carmen in schools, community centers and hospitals, but we were fortunate enough to work alongside prominent established professionals in mainstage productions. This in particular is a rare opportunity that most Young Artist Programs do not offer. It is these sorts of experiences that distinguish Opera Colorado’s Young Artist Program from the other similar programs nationwide.

One of the most valuable things I’ve taken from participating in this program has to be learning what it is like to live and work as a full-time singer. Most singers enter this program, and others like it, directly out of school or shortly thereafter, and it’s often their first opportunity to experience the life of a professional singer. Until now, opera in our lives has been painfully and precariously balanced with school, a job, often several jobs, and everything else we must do to support our opera habit. The sudden shift of opera to the forefront of our lives, where it is our only job all day, every day, is quite a surreal adventure.

I expect that returning as a Young Artist with Opera Colorado for another season will be a lot like returning home. Moving across country to a foreign city where you don’t know a soul can be a daunting task, but the staff at Opera Colorado make this all much less scary. They welcomed me last year with open arms, provided a safe space for me to learn and experiment, and gave me the tools I needed to grow. As Young Artists, we all struggled, faced countless road blocks and overcame every one of them together, each helping the other develop into a better artist and human. I can’t wait to come back!

Another advantage of coming back to Opera Colorado for a second year in a row is the incredible training this program provides. Our OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 14

instruction doesn’t end when we graduate from our various universities and conservatories. Indeed it doesn’t end with our first Young Artist Program. I feel as if I only discovered the tip of the iceberg last year, and I’m looking forward to continuing to grow as I did last season. The amazing repertoire I’ll be singing (Barber of Seville, Romeo and Juliet, Rigoletto and Carmen), opens up even more opportunities for me.

In the 2014 season I look forward to meeting a whole new crop of Young Artists and developing a whole new set of relationships. Through the many performances and rehearsals, the long road trips and early mornings, you bond in a tremendous way. I stay in close contact with all of last year’s singers and miss them every day. Now I look forward to making four more friends and colleagues just as wonderful and talented as the last.

One interesting fact that many may not know: I wasn’t merely “renewed” for this position. I auditioned a second time along with a long line of other baritones, and was fortunate enough to earn a place here for another year. I’m extremely honored (and humbled) to have been selected again from the many talented singers working in the field today, and look forward to another year of contributing to world-class opera.

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Give the Gift of Tickets

In the heart of Beaver Creek, Colorado

Joyce DiDonato Friday, February 7, 2014 | 6:30pm

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OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 16

Share your love of opera with someone special this holiday season – give the gift of tickets. Opera Colorado gift certificates make the perfect gift and can be redeemed any time for any Opera Colorado performance at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

This season’s performances of Rigoletto and Carmen will delight any opera lover in your life. It’s not too late to purchase season tickets for gifts as well.

To ensure you have your tickets or gift certificates before Christmas and New Year’s, place your order before Friday, December 20.

Gift certificates are available by calling ticket services at 303.468.2030.

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Handel’s MessiaH DeC 13-15, 2013 | fRI-SAT 7:30 PM | SUN 2:30 PM

Experience the full majesty of one of the most revered oratorios of all time with the Colorado Symphony and the Colorado Symphony Chorus.

Gilbert and sullivan tHe Pirates of Penzance MARCH 8, 2014 | SAT 7:30 PM

The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players bring the humor and wit of this popular operatta to life in a sparkling production with the orchestra in a starring role.

PorGy & bess MAY 16-18, 2014 | fRI-SAT 7:30 PM | SUN 2:30 PM

Take a trip to Catfish Row, home to the cast of characters who populate Gershwin’s beloved folk opera. Andrew Litton will conduct his own edition of this American classic.

OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 18

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Inspiring Genius: the Man who First Imagined Rigoletto Bring together a gifted composer and the work of a gifted writer and magic may result.

W

hether it’s music for the stage or for the concert hall, an inspiring story can bring out the best in music. Rather frequently, that “gifted writer” is Shakespeare. However, other nation’s writers have also played a role in providing ideas for composers. The list includes Germany’s Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Russia’s Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), American Walt Whitman (1819-1892), and Frenchman Victor Hugo (1802-1885). It is the last of these who crafted the tale that comes to be Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Son of a high-ranking officer in Napoleon’s army, Hugo might have been expected to tend toward Revolutionary views. However, his mother was more of a Royalist, and young Hugo found both opinions affecting his world view. In his professional career, he would produce that ultimate Revolutionary novel, Les Miserables, and yet would also have King Louis XVIII as patron. It was not a matter of Hugo bending his opinions to prevailing winds; rather, he became important and influential at an early enough age-not yet thirty-that his gifts had to be admired even if his views were not quite what some observers might have wished.

Hugo was an ultimate Romantic, in the old sense of the word. Long before “romantic” came to symbolize hearts and flowers, it was code for strong emotions and an independent spirit, often embodied by a lone melancholy figure who moves against convention. Certainly, that describes Jean Valjean, protagonist of Les Miserables, and Quasimodo, protagonist of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. However, it also relates to Hugo himself: making heroes of society’s outcasts-exactly the sort of persons whoprevious writers would have used for tragic-comic relief, if, indeed, they used them at all.

Here is where one finds the hunchbacked jester Rigoletto, who first came to life in Hugo’s verse play Le Roi s’amuse (literally “The King Diverts Himself,” though more often rendered in English as “The King’s Jester”). The English form of the title helps to bring home the fact that the drama is more “about” the jester than “about” the ruler. That the ruler’s immoral actions drive the jester’s own can be seen as in line with Revolutionary ideas: if the underclass acts out, it is the upper class that has forced them to do so.

Written in 1832, the original play was widely banned for its unfavorable portrayal of royalty. It appeared in print, but could not be staged. Verdi acquired a copy and declared it to be the most affecting tale he had ever read-and this was a man who was also devoted to Shakespeare, so it was a strong statement indeed. However, it was not just the French who felt queasy around the story; Verdi, living in northern Italy under Austrian rule, faced similar obstacles. The state censorship office disliked the fact that the ruler was written as a vile character.

Moreover, it declared that the jester could not be humpbacked-as Hugo had written him-lest that horrify the audience.

Verdi did consent to move the action from Hugo’s Renaissance France to Renaissance Italy, and changed character names to fit the new OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 20

setting. No longer was the ruler the historical Francis I; he became instead the Duke of Mantua. Mantua was (and is) a real place, but it had no duke. As for the jester, his name morphed from Triboulet to Rigoletto, but he kept the hunchback. Verdi had insisted that, without the jester’s disability, there would be no reason for him to be such a disaffected soul.

Only after long negotiation was he able to bring his opera to the stage March 11, 1851.

As for Hugo himself, the same year that the opera Rigoletto came before the public, the author was facing his own problems. With the fall of Napoleon, France had again assumed a monarchy, first with Louis XVIII, then with Charles X, and then with Louis Philippe I. In the renewed revolutions of 1848, Louis Philippe was forced to abdicate and go into exile. Before long, Napoleon III-nephew of the original Napoleon-came to rule, first as president, then as king. Having found himself on the opposite side of the line from Napoleon III’s supporters, Hugo left France for his own two decades of exile. Taking up residence on the islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, he was far from the capitals of music. However, he would have heard of Verdi’s success with the opera, and no doubt was struck by the irony of the opera reaching the same public that had been forbidden access to the play. As the philosophies of the two stories were largely the same, perhaps he came to feel that, one way or the other, his ideas were being heard. In Verdi, as in Hugo, a servant’s search for justice goes tragically wrong.

Article by Betsy Schwarm, author of Classical Music Insights, Operatic Insights, and More Classical Music Insights.

Gordon Hawkins sings the title role in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Photo: Tim Fuller

O

pera Colorado launches Inside OC, a new initiative aimed at bringing young professionals together for networking in an elegant, chic environment to enjoy connecting with other professionals and attending Opera Colorado performances on Tuesday evenings. Inside OC packages for $295 include three networking events at The Four Seasons Hotel Edge Bar and Opera Colorado’s 2014 performances of Carmen and Rigoletto.

Inside OC – Pre-launch Party Inside OC – Pre-launch Party Appetizers and Drinks | 5:30-7 pm Appetizers and Drinks | 5:30-7 pm The Xssentials Experience Center Tuesday, January 14 at Union Station Tuesday, November 19

Fridays=Date Night

Dinner & An Opera for Two or Four

T

reat yourself and your date, or group of four, to dinner at Pizza Republica and Opera Colorado’s Friday night performance of Rigoletto or Carmen.

Set in a beautiful and modern environment, Pizza Republica has become an Italian staple for authentic wood-fired Neapolitan Pizzas.

Rigoletto | Friday, March 21 OR Carmen | Friday, May 9 Package for Two Only $198 Includes parking, two opera tickets, and dinner for two* (plus two glasses of wine - Pinot Grigio or Chianti)

Inside OC Launch Networking Event Appetizers and Drinks | 5:30-7 pm | Tuesday, February 11 Inside OC – Networking Events and Performances Heavy Appetizers and Drinks | March 18 & May 6 | 5:30-7:00 pm Rigoletto, Tuesday, March 18 at 7:30 pm Carmen, Tuesday, May 6 at 7:30 pm Visit OperaColorado.org or call 303.468.2030 for more information or to purchase an Inside OC Package.

Package for Four Only $364 Includes parking (2 cars), four opera tickets, and dinner for four** (plus one bottle of wine, Pinot Grigio or Chianti and dessert) *Dinner = $60 gift certificate, not including gratuity or tax

**Dinner = $100 gift certificate, not including gratuity or tax

Visit OperaColorado.org or call 303.468.2030 for more information or to purchase Fridays=Date Night Packages.

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Page 21 | Fall 2013 | OVATION

A N E V E N I N G I N B L A C K &W H I T E GALA CHAIR SUZANNE BUCY GIVES A SNEAK PEAK AT THE FESTIVITIES With an abundance of enthusiasm this year’s Gala committee has created an event to delight patrons who attend An Evening in Black & White in support of Opera Colorado’s Education and Community Engagement Programs. Not only will the evening consist of elegant dining and dancing, it will also boast a unique and intimate performance on the Ellie Caulkins Opera House stage with guests seated around the grand piano and soprano Elizabeth Futral. The theme this year, “An Evening in Black & White,” brings into play several witty angles to create a convivial atmosphere. Gala Chair Suzanne Bucy shares a few elements.

“An evening in black and white it will be — from our signature cocktail of black rum and ginger beer to represent this season’s dark and stormy operas, Rigoletto and Carmen, an exquisite dinner craftily conceived in black and white, to a chance to fill your dance card in your own ‘Little Black Book’ and close the evening with very special black gift bags. This carefully conceived evening by the gala committee will be absolutely delightful!”

This year’s Gala offers something different. As Suzanne Bucy points out, “Galas need a new twist and not a continuance of the same old, same old. This year’s big differences will include having no auctions of any kind, guests will be on the stage during the performance, the program will be each person’s ‘Little Black Book’ and special vouchers will be placed in random gift bags sponsored by Cherry Creek Shopping Center for deluxe gifts, as well as several other unique touches during the evening.”

Patrons can purchase tables and tickets at various support levels.

This year’s support levels include a new single ticket price of just $250. Patrons who support Opera Colorado as table sponsors ($5,000 to $15,000) will receive an invitation to attend the patron party on November 20 at the new Denver Art Museum lofts. Not only will participating in the Gala give you a memorable experience, but also the satisfaction of knowing that you directly impact the arts in Colorado — making it possible for students and audiences of all ages to experience the joy of live opera.

All funds raised through Gala 2013 will directly support Opera Colorado’s Education and Community Engagement Programs.

Opera Colorado’s Young Artists in-residence bring music to audiences throughout Colorado and beyond, while fostering their professional and artistic development, and paving the way for their careers. “It is important to attend Gala 2013 if you want to support our Young Artists and their all-encompassing outreach programs,” states Bucy. “Every once in awhile my grandson asks me, ‘Now, tell me again, why is it you like classical music?’ And I tell him, ‘It is the most glorious and compelling music ever written — through many periods of music composition — just like modern music — but, to me, it has more endurance. It endures in all its grandeur, especially in opera. We need to support opera if we hope to continue enjoying live performances.”

For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Glenda Masters at 303.468.2029 or gmasters@operacolorado.org.

IMPRESARIO TABLE

$15,000 • Priority seating for a table of ten (10) guests at the Gala 2013 performance and dinner • Invitation for ten (10) guests to attend the Gala 2013 Patron Party on November 20, 2013 • One (1) full-page color advertisement in the Gala Program Book • Your name or corporate logo featured on a Gala Sponsor Banner • Complimentary parking for your table guests • Your name/corporation listed in the Gala Program Book

OVERTURE TABLE

$10,000 • Benefits as listed for Impresario Table purchase

MAESTRO TABLE

$5,000 • Seating for a table of eight (8) guests at the Gala 2013 performance and dinner • Invitation for two (2) to attend the Gala 2013 Patron Party on November 20, 2013 • One (1) half-page black & white advertisement in the Gala Program Book • Your name or corporate logo featured on a Gala Sponsor Banner • Complimentary parking for the table purchaser • Your name/corporation listed in the Gala Program Book

DUET PACKAGE

$2,500 • Priority seating for two (2) at the Gala 2013 performances and dinner • Invitation for two (2) to attend the Gala 2013 Patron Party on November 20, 2013 • Complimentary parking and your name listed in the Gala Program Book

ARIA TICKET

$250 One (1) seat for the Gala 2013 performance and dinner • Your name listed in the Gala Program Book •

Contributions to Opera Colorado are tax-deductible under Section 170 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code. The organization is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code. The Federal Identification Number is 84-0850527.

A 30-Year Career of Bringing Characters to Life Baritone Gordon Hawkins took the time to chat with us about Verdi’s Rigoletto and what matters most to him when singing opera.

Gordon Hawkins will sing Rigoletto with Opera Colorado

What do you love about Verdi’s operas and about singing the role of Rigoletto?

Verdi’s operas offer the best singing music that a baritone can have.

Everything you want to express as a singer, you can express through this role – every emotion and dynamic, it’s a tour de force. I love everything about it.

How do you prepare to sing Rigoletto?

More than anything else, I review the score, and also lessons that I’ve had when I’m singing it. Many conductors I work with sit down with the score and ask, ‘Why did he write this here or there? This dynamic or that phrase marking?’ Studying the score, I now see details that I didn’t see years ago. Verdi is very specific about what he writes in the score.

Not only detailing what to sing, but how to sing it. Phrases with slurs [musical notation to elide syllables] mean that Verdi wants to emphasize the sound of the voice, while phrases without slurs denote more emphasis on the text – the words are really important. There are dozens of examples of this throughout the opera, and by using the score to guide your interpretation you can achieve a very authentic performance.

As you get older you realize these composers (Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, etc.) are pretty good and, if you follow their mark, you attain more than your own selfish ideas.

that character come alive. I’ve been singing professionally for 30 years.

More than anything else, I want to make the character three-dimensional, living and breathing. Taking this approach makes it nicer for the audience, too. When they see characters acting in a real way, they can see the humanity in that character and can relate for themselves.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Golf, golf and more golf! If I weren’t an opera singer, I would be Tiger Woods’s caddie so I could have the best seat in the house. Something most people don’t know about me: I got drafted by the Texas Rangers right out of high school. So, if there are any other baseball aficionados out there, I’d like to meet them.

Get your tickets early for Rigoletto and see how Gordon Hawkins breathes life into this character in Opera Colorado’s production, March 15-23, 2014.

Visit OperaColorado.org or call 303.468.2030 for tickets.

What do you think audiences can anticipate in your upcoming Opera Colorado performance?

One of the beautiful things about this opera is that it’s very tuneful; there are melodies in it that the audience will easily recognize. It’s the best of both worlds: it’s melodic but the dramatic action is very strong, very forceful.

What inspires you as an opera singer?

When I was younger what inspired me was listening to recordings of the great singers and I wanted to emulate their sounds. I loved listening to Robert Merrill and Leonard Warren. The great singers that I heard inspired me. As I get older, the more I appreciate and respect the quality of singing and artistry that is demanded of performers. I care more about what I’m singing. I think more about the emotional impact of what I’m singing, instead of purely technical elements. The point of it is to make

Photos: Tim Fuller

Page 23 | Fall 2013 | OVATION

New Artistic Advisor Ari Pelto Makes the Opera Experience Complete

F

rom planning productions to conducting them in final form, Ari Pelto brings all of his strengths, imagination and creativity to his new role as Opera Colorado’s Artistic Advisor.

Ovation! recently caught up with Ari, who lives in New York City, about his new collaboration with Opera Colorado and what audiences can expect to see from him in upcoming seasons.

Q

You will be conducting one opera each season starting in the fall of 2014. As such, what will be your responsibilities as Artistic Advisor during the current 2013-2014 season?

Well, although the conducting aspect of my position won’t begin until the fall of 2014, a lot of planning is happening now. Greg Carpenter and I communicate every couple of days...or sometimes everyday...about repertoire and productions that are in the works, including singers, directors and conductors whom we want to come to Colorado in the next few seasons. In the spring, I’ll also spend time working with the Young Artists, coaching them on their repertoire. We are even looking to do a master class at some point in the spring.

Q

During an opera performance that you conduct, what should audiences expect to experience?

What I want them to experience is that everything is whole – unified. The singers and orchestra work together as one expression.

For me, the orchestra does not accompany the singers. The orchestra, at every moment, expresses the drama, emotions, the life of the piece along with the singers. Every single player in the pit is a part of that expression. When all the forces come together with that total commitment, the audience experiences something irresistible.

Q

What do you view as the most important aspect of conducting opera?

There can’t just be ‘good singing’....’good orchestra playing’...’good staging’...’good ensemble’...’good Italian, German, French or Czech.’ Conducting opera is all of that combined, so that

OVATION | Fall 2013 | Page 24

the piece that we have been given to express by Mozart or Puccini or any composer, is brought to life in the fullest, truest way.

Q

What excites you about your new role as Artistic Advisor for Opera Colorado?

Opera is above all about collaboration. Of course that’s true, in the obvious ways, like between singer and conductor, director and conductor...orchestra and singers, but also in the planning and vision of the whole company. I am thrilled to discover that Greg Carpenter and I find ourselves interested and excited by the same things. So the sky is the limit for what we can achieve!

Q

What do you love about opera specifically?

I think opera can tell a story in a more powerful way than any other art form...and express emotions, the truest and deepest emotions, in a more powerful way than any other art form. There are things you just can’t experience anywhere else: the idea that a human voice can produce those sounds and that beauty in a huge room with a huge orchestra (playing its heart out) without microphones...think about that! That combined with great directing, great sets and costumes, great orchestra playing and great acting.

When it’s good, opera can do it all.

Q

What are you favorite hobbies?

Besides opera, I am most obsessed with food and wine. I love to cook (this is actually another thing Greg and I share). Cooking for me is a lot like conducting. I know you think I’m joking, but it’s true. You have to trust your ingredients and help them to find their tastiest expression.

Investing in the Future with Arts Internships

By Cherity Koepke

D

id you know that Opera Colorado is investing in the future of the arts through internships? Each season we select an intern to work with us and learn how non-profit arts administration works. This season, we have selected Elena Kalahar and Alexandra Kotis, both students at the University of Denver and part of the Pioneer Leadership Program.

Through this program, students earn college credit by participating in an internship with a local organization.

We asked Alexandra and Elena to share their thoughts about the internship with Opera Colorado.

How do you think the internship will benefit you?

Alexandra: My career goal is to sing opera professionally. I am looking forward to learning from all of the staff, artists and directors that I will have the opportunity to meet.

This internship is very pertinent to my ambitions and dreams. It’s helping me realize that there are many career opportunities other than performing

and teaching, which are crucial in ensuring that the classical music world thrives.

Elena: The talent of the administration that holds Opera Colorado in place is absolutely mindblowing. I want to know how they do it; how one of the most magical art forms in the world is created and sustained in such and inspiring and beautiful way. This internship will help me to develop personal leadership, administrative and music-related skills.

What do you think makes Opera Colorado’s internship different from others?

Elena: Opera Colorado offers opportunities for me to get personally involved in various programs and events. Not only am I helping out with much of the curriculum of the education programs, but I have the opportunity to make personal decisions and deliver my input into the programs. Plus, even though I work at Starbucks, I haven’t once

FOLLOW THE REGION’S PERFORMING ARTS BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE PERFORMANCE

been asked to bring anyone coffee!

Alexandra: Opera Colorado’s internship offers you practical experience. Unlike most “paperpusher” internships, the Opera Colorado interns are actually involved in the creative process of outreach programming.

Opera Colorado is proud to be able to provide this opportunity each season and engage with the young professionals who will take the reins in years to come. You’ll no doubt see Elena and Alexandra at upcoming events and performances. Please take a moment to say hello and encourage them on their journey.

Elena Kalahar is a sophomore in International Studies. Growing up, she developed a love of music as both an instrumentalist and a singer.

Alexandra Kotis is a senior in vocal performance. Her love of classical music and live performance lead her to focus her studies in opera, pursuing a career as a singer.

Elena Kalahar

Alexandra Kotis

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