Opera Company of Middlebury's Teen Singers Serenade Seniors in Summer Concert Series

Since the summer of 2020, singers from the Opera Company of Middlebury's Youth Opera Company have presented free concerts at senior residences and community centers around the state. The spark of the project began when Youth Opera Company founder Sarah Cullins was looking for a way to bring joy and music to seniors isolated by pandemic protocols while simultaneously offering her Youth Opera singers opportunities to perform and give back to the community. With restrictions on indoor visits at senior residences, Sarah began with a few singers and a microphone set up in residence parking lots or lawns to serenade the residents who congregated at their windows and balconies. And Project Serenade was born! Since then, with funding from the Burlington City Arts Community Fund and donations from public concerts, Project Serenade has presented over 30 performances in Chittenden, Addison, Washington, and Lamoille counties.

The concerts feature singers and repertoire from past Youth Opera productions and include music in Italian, German, French, Spanish, and English, ending with selections from the golden age of musical theater that residents in senior communities often know and love. 

For the participating singers, these concerts have been incredibly impactful. Their own words say it all: "I've participated in two summers of Project Serenade," says Lili Diemer, a rising senior at Rice Memorial High School. "The memories made from the performances are unforgettable! It's the best feeling when the audience is mouthing the words to the song I'm singing with a huge grin on their faces. It makes me realize why we do what we do: to share our gifts with others.” George Lane, a rising junior at Wheaton College and a graduate of U32 High School in Montpelier adds, "I've been participating in Project Serenade since the first program in 2020 and the impact it has had, not only on the lives of the residents, but my own, is remarkable. My confidence has improved, and speaking with the residents at our performances is the highlight of my summers." Other singers have shared similar experiences: "I am so grateful to have the opportunity to bring them so much joy," says recent Burlington High School graduate, Ambrose Cusick. "Moments like these are the reason I choose to sing," agrees Mia Palmiero, a student at the Longy School of Music and a U32 alum. "It is a very rewarding experience and very different from other musical projects I've participated in," says Jeremiah Stewart, a student at the Hartt School of Music and a BHS grad, "It was an absolute joy watching everyone's faces light up."

This summer's cast, coached and accompanied by pianist Mary Jane Austin, includes the five students mentioned above, as well as Burlington High School student Siena DeMink, Harwood Union High School senior Elsie Pawul, Essex High School recent graduate Celeste Pullis, Middlebury High School graduate Jane Jensen Waggoner, Northfield High School graduate Emma Cerutti, and rising junior from Stowe High School Neve Bruno.

In addition to concerts in senior residences and community centers, Project Serenade is offering two public concerts this summer, a fundraiser at Shelburne Vineyards at 7pm on Tuesday, July 23, and a concert at Island Arts in North Hero at 7pm on Thursday, July 25, that will be followed by a Q&A for other young singers interested in learning more about their opera-singing Vermont peers. The private concert series will include free performances at venues including Bayview Crossing in South Hero, the CORE Adult Center, Birchwood Terrace and Elderwood in Burlington, and Otter Creek and Eastview in Middlebury.

For more information, visit www.ocmvermont.org/youth-opera

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