OPERA 2010-2011
We are pleased
to report the following...
...which reflect an improved, solidly stable OperaDelaware (OD). Despite facing significant economic headwinds, we finished the year with another cash surplus for the third consecutive year, offered an expanded season of productions and education programs which brought us into more neighborhoods and schools in Delaware, and executed a viable business plan that reduced OD’s long-term debt by 60%; all this in a year in which a number of opera companies and art institutions have either failed or reported continuing losses.
OperaDelaware created a program of work in 2010-11 which was distinctive, relevant, and engaging. As a funder, you are a part of every one of our accomplishments. In all, OD attracted 13,916 adults and students from the Mid-Atlantic region during the 201011 season. With a continued emphasis on meaningful education and public engagement, OD saw sold-out attendance for our Sunday Matinee performances resulting in an 78% overall average attendance for our productions. We hired 368 local and regional artists, designers, chorus and orchestra members for our programs. We functioned as a production house, rehearsal and performance space for many arts organizations which touched more than 3,500 individuals. We provided year-long, statewide programs for 4,170 adults and served 3,493 children and teens through our opera education programs. But more importantly, we made a lasting and positive difference in the lives of hundreds of underserved children, helped them learn skills for their future academic, professional and
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Finance & Governance......
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Broadening the Experience
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personal success and put five children on a new path. These children who received specialized and intensive one-on-one vocal and acting training for Cab Calloway have been accepted to this premier arts school for the 2011-12 academic year. Each new season brings renewed excitement and unexpected challenges. One of the highlights this year was seeing 50 plus audience members gripped by a new opera, , unfolding in front of them as part of our new partnership with Center City Opera Theatre. Everyone involved in the work learned a great deal - composer and librettist discovered that what worked brilliantly on the score was often more difficult to realize with actual people; singers and musicians immersed themselves in this contemporary work and OD was once again a part of producing new works that added to the American opera canon. Another highlight was the overwhelming support for and growth in our Studio Series. Due to popular demand, OD expanded our Series to include a Fall and Spring Series in Wilmington and another production in Rehoboth Beach at Clear Space Theatre. We see this series as a way to create opera on a statewide scale that is exciting, engaging and forward looking; to build a new generation of opera-goers as well as reinvigorate our existing patrons; and as a chance to throw open the doors of possibility, to encourage boldness and create new ways of meeting people. As we plan for the future we realize that our strength lies in our community. OperaDelaware is strong because of our loyal subscribers, contributors, volunteers and the support of the Delaware community. Above all, OperaDelaware’s vision of “opera for everyone” is stronger than ever because of you. Thank you!
Landscape Review - Issue One, Volume One It has been a busy and rewarding year. It was a year of 26% audience growth for the company, a result of new initiatives and artistic collaborations based on our 2010 Strategic Plan. The 2010-11 season began with a thoroughly enjoyable and well sung (September 24, 25 & 26, 2010) directed by Music Director, Jeffrey Miller. Christian Bowers, Youna Jang, Lynne Claire Morse, Gary Seydell and Grant Youngblood captivated our near capacity audiences at the Studio and gave an evening of “pure enjoyment” and “remarkable” performances up-close and personal. The program ranged from rarely heard arias and duets by Massenet and Delibes to more popular works by Verdi and Puccini. Verdi’s (November 7, 12 & 13, 2010) followed with a resounding success. Colleen Daly, a recent graduate from the world-renown Academy of Vocal Arts, made her Mainstage operatic debut and New York tenor, Alok Kumar made an auspicious company debut. Marc Astafan returned to direct with intelligence, style, sensitivity and spirit. The chorus was excellent, garnering generous applause, thanks to Jeffrey Miller who did his usual first rate chorus preparation. We were also joined onstage by Delaware’s First State Ballet Theatre and in the pit by members of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. 2011 began with our (March 18, 19 & 20, 2011). Jeff Chapman, Joanna Gates, Elisa Matthews and Susan Nelson performed arias from Mozart’s , and scenes from that accentuated the beautiful voices of nine Wilmington Children Chorus students. The standingroom only audiences were also treated to the rarely performed Bellini duet from and an haunting quartet from Corigliano’s . As in previous Studio Series performances the ensemble artists performed with such panache that they garnered numerous standing ovations. The company ended our Main Stage Series with a splendid performance of Lehar’s (May 1, 6 & 7, 2011). Laura Pedersen gave a “stunning” performance which the audience received with great warmth. Marciem Bazelle directed it with a lively mix of simplistic stage direction and slap-stick comedy that engaged our patrons and made opera “accessible to the 21st century audience” [ ]. Although OD received a feature article from The News Journal a couple of weeks before the show, we unfortunately did not receive a critic review which negatively effected the box office sales. This was extremely disappointing considering the quality of the singing onstage, the gorgeous choreography performed by the First State Ballet Theatre and the unforgettable music of Lehar performed by some of the best musicians in the region.
OD’s Studios on the Riverfront keep the arts alive, affordable and accessible for more than 3,500 arts patrons. It’s a home for our administrative offices and our education programs. It functions as rehearsal and performance space for many arts organizations such as Bootstrap, City Theater Company, Wilmington Fringe Festival and Center City Opera Theatre. It’s a production space for Arden Singers, The Brandywiners, The First State Ballet, Delaware Theater Company, Wilmington Drama League, Stonegates, Temple and Rowan Universities. It’s also OD’s production space where our sets and costumes are built and crafted. Ownership of these items minimizes OD’s dependability on other organizations and saves thousands in rental fees. Besides the savings, OD has another source of income from the rentals of these items to other companies and schools throughout the state.
To see growth in philanthropy and donation income is a tangible expression of the passion and ownership audiences feel for OperaDelaware. Many aspects of development and fundraising enjoyed growth - the most significant being in foundation support which exceeded our goal by 56%. Individual donation revenues exceeded our goal by 16% in 2010 -going against almost every national and international trend. Without the support of local corporations, foundations, individuals and government agencies, we would not be able to present to our audiences both traditional and new operatic works and employ 368 artists and artisans. The full Board met five times throughout the year and the Executive Board met monthly to monitor the company’s operating budget and devise a plan to address our long-term debt. This attention to detail is reflected in the return of an operating budget that is once again cash positive, and the execution of a plan that reduced our long-term debt by 60% which when balanced against an increase in the number of productions, demonstrates the company’s attention to good governance.
Landscape Review - Issue One, Volume One Adult Education and Audience Development programs reached more individuals across the state than ever before, totaling 4,170 patrons. The company hosted various events to educate and familiarize patrons about music and opera in general and upcoming productions specifically. They included explorations into OD’s season productions, basic opera previews, and advanced master classes. In addition to our regular outreach in Lewes and Wilmington at Osher Lifelong Learning, we toured our ever-popular Studio Series to Rehoboth Beach’s Clear Space Theatre which provided an exciting outreach opportunity for the company and resulted in increase attendance to our Main Stage operas. Many who have never attended a production or even seen an operatic performance enjoyed a beautiful evening of opera arias right in their town. We also partnered with the Delaware Art Museum for an evening of song and art around and Pre-Raphaelite theme of “The Fallen Women” and with The Grand for their Annual Gala where our chorus performed with We are also pleased to note that OD’s annual Opera Ball was a “stand-out”, sold-out evening – reaching a total of 198 patrons and included US Congressman John Carney and Delaware’s Governor and First Lady.
The company’s 2010-11 Youth Education Programs again offered a range of learning opportunities and experiences for youth across the region. But with our (WYOP) we did more than just introduce young students to opera – we made a lasting and positive difference in their lives, helped them discover new worlds of possibilities and put them on a positive track for future academic, professional and personal success. The overriding aim of our opera education programs is to use music and opera as a “hook” for learning. We used the arts of opera as a device to open up learning opportunities for youth ages 7-17, at all levels of experience. OD provided in-depth residencies in underserved schools in Wilmington and offered a first experience with classical music and drama for many elementary and middle school students through our Youth Opera Productions at our Studios and in local schools. We gave youth the chance to discover more about their own creativity by taking part in writing classes that got them excited about the power of their words, to dream about a future in music, to learn performance and technical skills in a nurturing environment and to perform classics on stages across Wilmington. All this was delivered through several key strains of OD’s Youth Education programs which reached 3,493 students, 42 schools and 82 teachers in 2010-11. (January - March, 2011) YOP was open to all students, ages 7-17, none of whom are required to have previous experience. It brought together students from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, educational and economic environments with professional artists to explore opera in a comprehensive and artistically rigorous program based on National Arts Standards. Students are taught by caring, experienced, professional teachers and each session culminates with a final performance, designed and performed by the students. In addition to voice, movement, acting training, students learned how to make and stay within a budget, how to bring basic concepts in set and costume design together. They learned how to share thoughts and ideas with others, how to trust and respect each other and then to accommodate others input and modify their performance to create something beautiful. This year, YOP brought together 42 students from 24 different schools to produce and perform Gilbert and Sullivan’s . Three students from participating WYOP schools who showed an inclination to learn more about opera received scholarships to participate in our Youth Opera Programs. In addition to their touring productions, they performed to more than 450 student dominated audience in our Studios on the Riverfront. (February 2011) Each year, OperaDelaware offers Master Classes to schools of all levels – elementary, middle and high school—in a variety of locations throughout the region. This year, professional artists spent a day with students of Tower Hill led by Music Director Jeffrey Miller. These Master Classes gave local voice students a chance to learn more about opera and its art form.
(November 2010 & May 2011) This 20-year-old program provides large-scale access to professional opera for middle and high school students from 35 schools within the entire state of Delaware and regional sections of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. Funding from corporations, foundations, government agencies and individuals enable OperaDelaware to provide more than 750 students with free tickets annually. The Student Dress Rehearsal program created strong, long-term relationships between our company and the attending schools and introduced students of all academic levels to professional opera, often for the first time. The program also included additional opportunities to deepen the school’s curriculum through study guides that introduced students and teachers to the historical perspectives of the opera and through our pre-performance lecture series, .
Landscape Review - Issue One, Volume One (September 2010-June 2011) OD exposed 3rd grade students of Warner ES to the power of words through Residency. Guided by Cal Brackin, our In-School Director, students worked collaboratively to write, compose and perform their original operas based on the nursery rhyme. During this year-round, intensive residency students learned about writing a libretto, music composition, singing technique, performance skills and the elements of production. They learned how to write a story using the four basic elements of Character, Conflict, Setting and Resolution and tied it back into vocabulary being taught in the classroom. Most importantly, it exposed students to language that went beyond the ordinary to extraordinary. In a Survey conducted by the Red Clay School District, nearly 50% of the 3rd grade children reported that “They learned a lot” from participating in this program, 29% reported that “they learned some” while the remaining reported that “they learned little.” It is also significant to note that 2010-11 DCAS reading test scores showed an overall improvement of 12% between Fall and Spring tests. In total, 254 3rd grade students participated in two Residencies which concluded with final performances of their operas performed to 323 1st and 2nd grade students and 15 (1-3rd grade) teachers. Please visit http://www.operade.org/Education.htm to view a video about the process.
(November-January 2011): Thirty-four 5th grade students (our first year Residency students) expressed interest in auditioning for Wilmington’s Performing Arts School (Cab Calloway). Students received specialized and intensive one-on-one vocal and acting training in preparation for the School’s Audition in January. They learned how to work independently, to plan and manage their time, to memorize a script, to perform and then receive input from adults and learn how to adapt and modify their performance. They built risk-taking abilities by listening to feedback, made mistakes and went beyond their safety zone. But most importantly, they discovered a strong sense of self and developed a secure sense of their own ability, how to plan and work for a positive future. Seven students in January 2011 auditioned, and five were accepted at Cab Calloway although one chose to attend Conrad School of Science for the 2011-12 Academic year. Naseem, 5th grade student at Warner School
– Barb Winchester, Resident Teacher (March 2011) The children of our Youth Program toured to select schools within Wilmington. To engage all of the school, we work closely with music and art teachers so that the student body can participate by singing in the chorus, designing the stage and decorating the school for their production. Mote ES 4th & 5th graders performed as the chorus to their peers and teachers. Teachers were also provided study guides for the production. (June 2011) This professional teacher development course was inspired by comments from the Warner teachers who noticed that during our Residencies students come alive, connect personally with the material and academically struggling kids become excited about learning. This free workshop focused on teaching methods that integrate music, drama, art and movement into their curriculum. Arts partners (DAM, Music School of Delaware and FSBT) joined us for a full-day workshop teaching the creative process to 46 teachers from The Red Clay School District.
was founded on the simple premise that the arts are an indispensable part of a complete education because quality education in the arts significantly adds to the learning potential of students. The world we inhabit is rapidly changing. As technologies evolve at an ever-increasing rate, learning how to learn may be more important than what we already know. When the arts are brought into the classroom skillfully and thoughtfully, students learn better and enjoy learning more. The arts provide students ways to make personal and immediate connections with a range of materials. The arts give students more tools for delving into course content and help inspire higher-level critical thinking. Moreover, research shows that music is deeply tied to brain structure and function, and that early exposure to music helps children succeed in school and life. Children participating in WYOP learned critical skills that met state academic standards while developing an understanding and love of music, opera and expressive arts. Each new school year brings renewed excitement and unexpected challenges. One of the highlights this year was seeing 34 students build up their courage and get excited about our 5th Grade Audition Workshop for Cab Calloway Performing Art School. These children were our first year students, so it was especially touching to us to see how much they’ve grown. In fact one of the five students, Lon’yen who made it into Cab Calloway, was the terrified child I mentioned three years ago who was thrust onstage in a lead role because the original actress was sick. She went onstage with script in hand and performed that role beautifully. As she said when interviewed, “I learned that you can express your feelings in singing and acting and not to have stage fright and how to set you mind to a dream.” Another highlight was our Teaching Creativity in the Classroom Workshop. Seeing 46 teachers get up on their feet, try something new and find new entry points to engage their students was amazing. Just imagine the impact that 46 teachers will have on thousands of students! WYOP has made a difference in more lives that we could ever have imagined. It has laid a foundation that has inspired hundreds of underserved kids to dream about a future – showing them that the study of music and the arts is something that they can pursue in middle school, high school and beyond. Our collection of education programs are essential to OD’s strategic growth and you are an essential part of that equation.
OPERADELAWARE 4 South Poplar Street, Wilmington DE 19801 Ph: (302) 658-8063 www.operade.org