ABOUT HAR LEM OPER A THEATER Under Artistic Director, Gregory Hopkins, internationally acclaimed tenor, conductor, organist and pianist, Harlem Opera Theater performances include all types of musical offerings: opera, oratory concerts, recitals, Negro Spirituals and varied forms of American music, in keeping with our mission “to provide performance opportunities for professional and developing gifted artists within Harlem and communities where opera is seldom performed; and to cultivate and expand audience appreciation for opera and classical music through creative programming.” Particular focus is given to the works of African-American composers and to projects that link different aspects of the performing arts.
OUR HISTORY AND ACHIEVEMENTS Board of Directors Edwina Meyers Lynch, President Gregory Hopkins, Artistic Director Carol Brown, Secretary Members Leslie Bright, Jeffrey Colvin, Dante Harrell, Ruqaiyah Nabe, Twila Perry Arturo Carvajal, International Coordinator
The mission of Harlem Opera Theater is to provide performance opportunities for gifted professional and developing singers, as well as other musicians of exceptional potential for an operatic career in local, national and international forums. The organization develops an audience for the classical art form in underserved communities where opera is seldom heard. Founded in 2001 under the leadership of Dr. Gregory Hopkins, Artistic Director, as a non-profit corporation, the concert season includes a Salute to Black History Month in February, celebrating Spirituals by African American composers such as Harry T. Burleigh, Father of the Spiritual Arrangement, Hall Johnson and Margaret Bonds; also, selections from operas of classical composers, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti and Scott Joplin. We present concerts, recitals and new initiatives; we collaborate with other organizations to present new artists throughout the year and host a Community Holiday Sing in December. We have hosted a master class for artists and a community focus group session with Harlem stakeholders. We develop the audience and potential artists of the future as we present “Opera for Beginners”, a music literacy project to enrich the lives of children through inschool performances in the NYC Public Schools; charter schools and after school programs, such as the Northside Center. Harlem Opera Theater has presented approximately 190 classical singers in concert to a combined audience of over 18,000 patrons of the arts.
