Monday, January 24, 2011

Buck Hill-Skytop Masterclass Series

For me, some of the most gratifying moments at last year's Buck Hill-Skytop Festival took place during our masterclass series.

Over twenty young and mid-career artists were accepted for the series.

And each had the opportunity to put what they learned each day to the test -- in front of a paying audience each evening.

To say it was intense is an understatement.


Metropolitan Opera mezzo  
Victoria Livengood's breathing technique class was a real eye opener even for seasoned artists.

She generously shared her expertise with masterclass participants along with our local young artists and audiences members.

Several participants commented that having access to Victoria during "down time" when they could chat informally was a profound experience that will help shape their careers for years to come.

Victoria has agreed to join us again in 2011 and I hope you will, too.

                                                              ******

Whether in working with me, Victoria, or one-on-one with one of our festival piano accompanists, masterclass participants had the valuable opportunity to fine-tune specific repertoire and their overall vocal skills.



Soprano Jordan Corbin Wentworth recently said that,
"This festival was mind blowing last year.

There were so many levels of instruction and education from masterclasses, to lectures, to performances.

It's valuable to have singers who are out there performing roles all over the world sit with you at dinner and share their practical experience.

Peter and Vicky have a great deal to share and a real way of expressing themselves." 


I am particularly looking forward to this year's series which is being coordinated by Shirley Xiao-Ling Wang, one of last year's Masterclass participants.

To learn more about our 2011 class offerings or to apply, please contact Shirley.

Email: Wangshirleymusic@hotmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/XiaoLingSoprano

Phone: 407-992-8153

Thursday, January 13, 2011

LYRIC OPERA VIRGINIA LAUNCHED

LYRIC OPERA VIRGINIA 

You'll LOV ...THE LYRIC!

Conceived and created to provide Virginians a major artistic institution whose mission is to present professional opera and musical theater gems of the classical and contemporary opera and musical theater repertoires in new, fresh and accessible formats appealing to 21st century audiences.

The Lyric will present its productions at venues including the new SANDLER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS nestled in Virginia Beach’s prestigious Town Center, CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY’S FERGUSON CENTER FOR THE ARTS CONCERT HALL in Newport News and the LANDMARK and CARPENTER THEATRES in Richmond and Northern Virginia.


Given the enormous economic growth of Virginia Beach and Newport News over the past decade, with the expansion of their business communities and populations and their thirst for a diverse group of performing arts institutions, the time is right for the birth of this new opera company at these major performing arts venues. LOV will deliver three productions and two added regular annual attractions for all of its audiences.

Renee Fleming, who began her illustrious career right here in Virginia and who was just recently hired as Chicago Lyric Opera’s Creative Consultant recently commented, “It is time to re-examine the role of an opera house in American communities in the 21st century” and suggested adding American Broadway Musicals to the bread and butter operas of the standard repertoire as a way of expanding audiences.

LOV plans to regularly include Broadway productions with high musical and vocal standards as well as a Jewel Box productions. Jewel Box Operas are shorter, more compact alternatives to lengthy opera productions. They are artistically crafted from the most exquisite musical "jewels" (arias, ensembles, scenes) in each work and staged with costumes, lighting and dramatic intensity -- but without the full-scale expense and length.

Getting down to Business:
LOV will be staffed by a knowledgeable and experienced group of opera professionals with me as Artistic Director at the helm. I will be supported by an executive director, a marketing director, a development director and other top-notch staffers.

We also plan to include the creation of Business Councils in each market to support and integrate the mission of this new company into the fabric of its business communities. The LOV’s inaugural season’s budget is 2.5 million.


Our 2011-2012 premiere season will showcase:

* It will feature a never-before-seen, grand production of Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA on a Fri-Sun matinee schedule in the fall in each venue,

* Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein musical THE KING AND I for a more extended run of performances in all three markets in the winter .

* And a Jewel Box production of CARMEN in the spring.

Added to this programming will be two additional evenings which will bring audiences into the exciting process of finding and training the next generation of the world’s opera stars.
 * Our DISCOVERY CONCERT will feature my latest and greatest singing discoveries

* Our PUBLIC MASTERCLASS will provide insights into how the voices of aspiring singers can be transformed into gleaming instruments of operatic passion with the help of a master.

* An abridged version of Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE is also in the works.

* Our educational outreach will involve the Commonwealth’s school children in THE KING AND I and participate in the 'Minds Wide Open' celebration of Children in the Arts in the spring of 2012.


Our second season (2012-2013) will feature:

* Puccini’s THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST- La Fanciulla

* SOUTH PACIFIC

* And in  celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Wagner, a Jewel Box presentation from THE RING.


Our third season (2013-2014) will include:

* LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (The Force of Destiny), in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi

* Continue with LES MISÉRABLES

* And conclude with a unique Jewel Box presentation of Leo Delibes’s LAKMÉ.


For more information, tickets and contributions visit the LOV website at lyricoperavirginia.org.

Our email
lyricoperavirginia@gmail.com.

Our new offices:
1 E. Plume Street, 2nd Floor
Norfolk, VA 23514

Our new mailing address:
PO Box 11592
Norfolk, VA 23517

Our Phone Number:
(757) 446-6666



We've already received some great press!

WAVY-TV

Virginian-Pilot Front Page News

Richmond Times-Dispatch Front Page News

Daily Press Newport News

Washington Post