New Five-Borough Opera Series Kick-Starts in The Bronx in April

The New York Opera Alliance (NYOA), with support from OPERA America, today announced NYOANext, a new citywide opera series spotlighting local artists and companies in each of New York's five boroughs. The initiative begins with a spotlight on the Bronx with a three-day festival April 20, 22 and 23, 2023, celebrating the borough's vibrant and varied opera community. Opera companies from around the five boroughs, including the 56-year old Bronx Opera, will perform in the Bronx with local artists from the neighborhood Program information and event details will be available in the coming weeks on NYoperaalliance.org. NYOANext plans to spotlight Mid and Upper Manhattan in Fall 2023, Queens in Spring 2024, and other boroughs to be announced at a later date.

"We are thrilled to be launching this comprehensive borough-wide initiative that will encourage deeper exploration throughout the city's diverse neighborhoods while supporting small opera companies and spotlighting local artists," explains Marianna Mott Newirth, president of NYOA. "Our aim is to bring this most complex of performing art forms to more and more people who never considered attending opera before. We are here to celebrate, rejuvenate and expand the very meaning of what opera is for all New Yorkers to discover."

Through shared resources and collaborations, NYOANext is a multi-day event held three times a year in a rotating cycle through all five boroughs. This unique series provides a platform for the entire opera ecosystem to perform, network, and connect to both each other and their patrons. Each borough-specific series begins with a general audition and showcase for local singers, followed by highlights of upcoming productions, and ends with a community potlatch for the participants and neighbors to share resources, music and food.

"After seven years of hosting the New York Opera Festival, we are repositioning our programming to better complement our mission of community building," explains Newirth. "Our field is changing and NYOANext is our response to the call. Now is the time for our opera community to collaborate and learn how to not only survive, but also thrive, in the present economy. There is strength and power in working together at the community level and NYOANext is a shining example of the benefit that results from it."

NYOANext: Bronx begins April 20 with a general audition and singers showcase, particularly for unrepresented opera singers seeking to break into the field. It ends with a casual, fun potlatch gathering April 23. The main stage event is an April 22nd matinee featuring performances by NYOA opera companies including Bronx Opera. In the words of Opera News, "The Bronx Opera's crowd, like the company's enthusiastic, sonorous chorus, is (hearteningly) among the most racially integrated to be seen in New York; encouraging the attendance of so many young people marks a positive contribution to the art form." Additional program details to be announced in March 2023.