OPERA America Invites Artists, Administrators and More to A TOAST TO 50 YEARS
By: Chloe Rabinowitz May. 15, 2020
OPERA America is inviting artists, administrators, trustees, and audiences to "A Toast to 50 Years," a celebration of opera's progress and of OPERA America's 50th Anniversary, taking place today, Friday, May 15, from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. EDT. The event can be live streamed at youtube.com/operaamerica. It is part of Opera Conference 2020, which was moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide the support and perspectives necessary to inform the field's path forward.
OPERA America's president and CEO, Marc A. Scorca, will be joined by three of OPERA America's 50th Anniversary Ambassadors: sopranos Angel Blue and Christine Goerke, and bass Morris Robinson. The event will also include special announcements, a trivia game about the origins of opera in America, and the formal introduction of a new video creation, Light Shall Lift Us: Opera Singers Unite in Song.
The video features more than 100 opera singers, including Ambassadors Morris Robinson, Zachary James, Daniela Mack, Ailyn Pérez, David Portillo, and Brenda Rae, in a virtual performance of Light Shall Lift Us, a large ensemble work created by the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of composer Paul Moravec and librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell. The video - with music direction by Andrew Whitfield, video editing by Cara Consilvio, and orchestra simulation by Peter Lurye - is demonstrative of the dedication of artists to the art form and of their artistry.
"It is moving, though not at all surprising, to see artists from all across America, at all levels of their careers, come together as a community. It's indicative of the spirit of collaboration in opera and the resilience that artists and opera companies are exhibiting in the face of the current crisis," declared Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America. "We are deeply grateful to all the participating artists, and thrilled to share this important work with the opera community and audiences around the country."
The 107 artists who lent their voices to this project are:
Javier Abreu
Danielle Beckvermit
Daniel Belcher
Andrew Bidlack
Matt Boehler
Amanda Lynn Bottoms
Liz Bouk
Marnie Breckenridge
Erica Brookhyser
Raehann Bryce-Davis
William Burden
Jennifer Johnson Cano
Leonardo Capalbo
Joyce Castle
Lisa Chavez
Hailey Clark
Sarah Coit
Troy Cook
Sasha Cooke
Olivia Cosío
Tara Curtis
Adrienne Danrich
Joseph Dennis
Mary Dunleavy
Jason Ferrante
Jessica Fishenfeld
Emily Fons
Daryl Freedman
Blake Friedman
Joseph Gaines
Blythe Gaissert
Priti Gandhi
Sara Gartland
Eve Gigliotti
Nathan Granner
Devon Guthrie
Jasmine Habersham
Sam Handley
Roger Honeywell
Soloman Howard
Briana Elyse Hunter
Craig Irvin
Zachary James
Keith Jameson
Jessica E. Jones
Michael Kelly
Maya Kherani
Michael Kuhn
Claire Kuttler
Tesia Kwarteng
Sarah Larsen
Anna Laurenzo
Victoria Livengood
Cecilia Violetta López
Zulimar López-Hernández
Alexandra Loutsion
Daniela Mack
Amanda Majeski
Alex Mansoori
Trevor Martin
Robert Wesley Mason
Aundi Marie Moore
John Moore
Dylan Morrongiello
Brian James Myer
Miles Mykkanen
Luis Alejandro Orozco
Edward Parks
Ailyn Pérez
Dimitri Pittas
Matthew Polenzani
David Portillo
Stephen Powell
Katherine Pracht
Gabriel Preisser
Emily Pulley
Elise Quagliata
Brenda Rae
Zoie Reams
Morris Robinson
Lisa Marie Rogali
Adrian Rosas
Annie Rosen
Jordan Rutter
Christian Sanders
Lucy Schaufer
Laurel Semerdjian
Alek Shrader
Benjamin Sieverding
Jake Stamatis
Dane Suarez
Jack Swanson
Talise Trevigne
Richard Troxell
Maria Valdes
Jamie Van Eyck
Miguel Angel Vasquez
Craig Verm
Yunpeng Wang
Andrew Wilkowske
William Ferguson
Karin Wolverton
Caroline Worra
Matthew Worth
Wei Wu
Adriana Zabala
Jennifer Zetlan
For more information about Light Shall Lift Us: Opera Singers Unite in Song, go to operaamerica.org/LSLU.
For more information about Opera Conference Online, go to conference.operaamerica.org.
Comments
Videos