Making Music and College Basketball

I know it’s been a long time since I posted, and I probably should write about where I’ve been and why it is I haven’t posted in a while, and I will. I’ll post a “why I haven’t been writing” blog post next week. This week, I want to talk about one of my loves: college basketball (specifically, Duke – go figure).

People who know me know my love of the sport (which tends to be lacking when it comes to the NBA). I think my favorite month of the year is March. It’s a time when you have seniors facing their last games ever. It’s a time of “win or go home.” UNC’s drubbing of Duke wasn’t without its silver lining. (And congrats to those UNC fans out there – you’re team really showed up and overwhelmed us at home.) I think the most impressive player on the floor was Miles Plumlee – Duke’s only senior. He played with determination, heart, and skill that seems to be something only seniors can do in their last games at home. Miles Plumlee played above himself and did all he could to will the team to win. He made me proud to be a Duke alum.

So, why is an opera company founder and conductor talking about a college basketball player’s heart and desire? It’s simple: great performances seem to have Miles Plumlee’s passion and intensity. They seem to have that back against the wall all or nothing feel. Great performances of opera or orchestra “leave everything on the floor.”

How do we channel that as musicians? How do we go out there each time we perform and “leave it all on the floor?” It’s been something that has become easier and easier for me, and I think it’s because I realized recently how much music means to me. Building Opera Vista has been a voyage – it has involved a lot of sacrifice (working two jobs at times in order to keep the company afloat, devoting time that took away from family and friends, lost relationships, etc). It has the difficulties of any start-up company coupled with the difficulties of a start-up non-profit in a rough economic climate.

That being said, I couldn’t be prouder of the shows we have put on stage in the past five years. We have focused on creating great art, and I think each show we have put on has displayed passion and determination – especially when you factor in the resource constraints we have always faced and the sheer scheduling nightmares we have faced.

The opportunity to make music never seems to come around often enough. I feel as though I spend most of my time on administrative stuff, and the conducting subsequently flies by. (In some senses, it’s a bit like skiing. You spend a good bit of time in line for the lift and then on the lift, and then it feels like 2 seconds later, you’re waiting in line again).

There is really no feeling like being on the podium to make music – at least not for me. In some ways, I look at each opportunity in the same way Miles viewed the Duke/UNC game in Cameron – his last opportunity to play at home. I try to focus on each show as if it will be my last. How do you other musicians do it? What do you do to get your head in the game?

And to my favorite college basketball team, in the words of Coach K, “Next Play!”

Asian Excursion (Part 4 – Ain’t no host like a Bangkok host)

Sorry this post is a long one! I had to cover the past few days since I haven’t been able to write the past few days.

I had an incredible visit to Bangkok. I finally met the composer of The Silent Prince, Somtow Sucharitkul. I arrived in Bangkok directly after the Asia21 Young Leaders’ Summit in Jakarta. (I’m getting a chance to see a good part of Asia that I haven’t yet – talk about being blessed with travel). I arrived at the incredible Rembrandt Hotel. (After a lengthy wait in Immigration and Customs.  My mom had sent some gifts for people in India, which I then had to explain to the customs guy – who was convinced for some reason that I had been in China recently).

Anyway, I arrived at the Rembrandt Hotel (thank you, Opera Siam). I walked in and they promptly told me that I would have to check in elsewhere. By elsewhere, they meant in the VIP lounge (again – thank you, Opera Siam). I don’t know why, but I still love nice hotels. Again, I’ve been lucky that most of the hotels people put me in when I conduct are nice hotels, and each time I walk in one, I smile. I hope I never lose that.

The first night I had dinner with Somtow, one of Somtow’s students, Darren (the stage director for Carmen), and Stefan (one of the singers). It was nice to finally meet Somtow. I felt like I had known him for years. (In some ways, I have – we collaborated on The Silent Prince, and the process lasted years, but it was nice to actually meet the person). I ended up back at the hotel and collapsed. I was exhausted.

The next day was sort of a free day for me. I ended up going to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. It was an amazing sight to see. I’ll post pictures of it below. I have to say I enjoyed seeing the aspects of Indian culture in the mix. On one huge wall was a pictorial representation of the Ramayana. (In fact, Rama is a title of the King of Thailand). I didn’t realize it was a Buddhist/Hindu monarchy. It was a cool experience.

The next morning started with an interview for Bangkok’s The Nation. It was a fun conversation. I finally had the opportunity (especially after decompressing) to discuss the experience of putting TSP on stage. What really struck me as I was discussing TSP with the Thai reporter was the enormity of the feat that Somtow pulled off. He wrote a new opera that brought the house down. After going through all the new operas submitted for the competition and all the new operas I see on a regular basis, the magnitude of writing a great new opera is truly incredible.

Somtow and I then met with Renuka Narayanan from the Indian Embassy in Thailand. Plainly put, she was a hoot! What a well-read and interesting person. Honestly, I was rather shocked that she was in the Indian foreign service. We had conversations about authors, philosophy, Somtow’s opera, and of course, India. She was a huge proponent of a tour of The Silent Prince as am I.

What Somtow was able to do is truly incredible.  He wrote a very Asian themed opera with musical influences from traditional Carnatic music. The story was based on a (perhaps for Western audiences) obscure Buddhist folk tale. It used non-stereotypical voice types like the male soprano. The triumph was that it spoke to an audience thousands of miles away of predominately young professional Texans. It’s a testament to the power of music, of course, but there is a lot of music that doesn’t speak across so many cultures like that. I think more than anything it’s a testament to the work that Somtow put into writing this opera. It’s definitely one that I would do again at the drop of a hat. It showed Somtow’s mastery of the art form.

So, given how I felt about his opera, it was great to finally meet him. It was also amazing to see the incredible talent that he’s drawing to Bangkok and to see the hours he’s putting in to making opera an important art form in a city that has never had it as it’s tradition. Thailand has a treasure and a lot to be proud of in Somtow!

My final evening there, Somtow and I met one of my new friends from the Asia21 Summit, Kwang Asadej Kongsiri. It was a fun dinner of Thai food. It was also rather humorous to find out that in some distant fashion Somtow and Asadej are related to each other. Asadej claims to not be an opera fan, but I think we can convert him. We had a long discussion with him on funding possibilities for a tour of Somtow’s The Silent Prince through Asia. One cool idea from Renuka earlier was to perform it at Lumbini, Buddha’s birth place.

You can see all the pictures under the Photo Gallery tab on my website.

Pictures of the Grand Palace in Bangkok:

Where I’ve Been, and How I’ve Been Staying Out of Trouble (Part 1/3)

It has been a truly crazy season.  Without a doubt, this has been the most intense start to an Opera Vista season we have ever had – and that’s a good thing!  The past few years, we’ve opened our season at Bayou Bend each September, and then we’ve only had Opera 101s until March when we have our annual Festival.  (We’ve had fairly light seasons).

This season, we decided to roll the dice and swing for the fences, and we did.  We opened the season at Bayou Bend.  Bayou Bend is still one of my favorite events of the year, and I am always thankful that we have that partnership.  About three weeks after Bayou Bend, we were in Zilkha Hall performing the world premiere of Somtow Sucharitkul’s The Silent Prince.

The Silent Prince was without question the biggest project we have ever undertaken.  To give you a sense of perspective, we had been building our annual operating budget to approximately $40K by last season (2009-10).  Needless to say, our growth was hit hard by the Great Recession coupled with the fact that by the point that we had reached eligibility for foundation and government funding only to see the market tank and nobody have any money.  (Most performing arts non-profits have to function for two full calendar years before they become eligible for funding from foundations and government organizations – we hit two years right at the peak of the Great Recession).

The 2009-10 season was like a kick in the gut to the OV crew.  To that point, we had seen a great deal of growth in our budgets and organization.  Last season was like a step back.  I think it was tough for a lot of non-profit organizations.  If I remember correctly, even Michael Kaiser of the Kennedy Center said that it was one of the most taxing years for non-profit organizations around the country.  It also left a lot of directors of those organizations in the doldrums.

So, you might ask – coming off such a tough season, why would Opera Vista decide the roll the dice and aim to perform an opera that cost literally twice the entire operating budget for 2009-10?  (The Silent Prince’s budget was about twice that of the entire 2009-10 season).  From an artistic perspective, we felt like we had built enough infrastructure to take on a project of such magnitude.  We were able to secure an amazing underwriter in Jefferies with the support of Ralph Eads.  More than all of that – it was time to bring Houston a great contemporary opera in a downtown setting like Zilkha Hall.  In a lot of ways, we were taking a play out of the Michael Kaiser playbook – we were focusing on our mission – bringing great new opera to the Houston community.

I’ll continue with more on The Silent Prince in Part 2/3 next week.  So much to talk about – my upcoming trip to Asia, my upcoming trip to Colorado Springs to conduct the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and the 2^nd half of the Opera Vista season.  I’m back, and when you hear The Silent Prince story, you’ll understand where I’ve been.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

It’s been a busy few weeks for me.  On a personal note, I am in a new apartment, so I had to deal with the wonders of moving.  (I have yet to meet anyone who is excited about moving – excited about being in a new place but not about the actual move).  In much the same way, Opera Vista is “moving.”  We’re not picking up and moving towns, but we’re in the process of completely changing what we do and how we do it.

We’re really excited that Crisp and Raw (thanks Zachary Hunt and Yvonne Boustany) have taken the time to work with us on our new logo (to be unveiled soon).  They are also working with us on a new website, so you’ll see an entirely new face to Opera Vista starting in the fall.  You’ll also see an incredible season of programming.  In the past, it has seemed as though we have not really been able to take this company into the programming that we believe is needed in Houston – mainly because we did not have the infrastructure to deal with it.  We’ve always been proud of the festival, and that is still the crown jewel of the season, but for the first time, we have planned an entire season for Opera Vista.  (I know there are some of you wondering what the season entails, but we won’t be announcing it until the wine dinner at Julia’s Bistro on July 29^th).  (Thanks to SAVAGE and Ashley Rundall for donating the invitations to that, and of course, thanks to Edward Sanchez for setting the dinner up).

As you can imagine, taking a company and putting a new face on it is daunting.  The questions of what that face/look should be, does it fit the long-term strategy of the company, does it match my shoes all seem to somehow impact the decision making.

It’s been a crazy busy summer for the board, staff, and volunteers, but I can’t tell you how excited we all are.  I went to one of my board member’s block parties the other day, and I was surprised at how many of his neighbors came out to say, “Oh, you’re the opera guy? James has told us all about Opera Vista!  When is the next production?  I think James is more excited about Opera Vista than his job!”  Let’s hope that’s not entirely true because we need James to keep his job, so he can donate and continue to be the board president of Opera Vista.  I can’t tell you how it feels to know that the projects I’ve designed along with Joe Carl White, Opera Vista’s Executive Director, have made the board so excited that their neighbors already know, and we haven’t even released the season yet!

In past blogs, I’ve continuously harped on about how it is the artistic director’s/music director’s duty to come up with interesting programming that excites the community.  It’s not an easy task, especially when you have finances as a big concern.  This season has proved to me that if you come up with new and interesting programming that gets people excited, the donations start to build.  (We accept checks and all major credit cards).

Go Big or Go Home?

Michael Kaiser has yet another great blog from his “Arts in Crisis” tour.  Two of Kaiser’s basic premises are to be creative in programming in ways that directly connect to the community and to plan far into the future.  They are both things that I philosophically agree with, but often for small organizations, they’re so busy trying to make sure that the current projects are fully funded and all the fires are put out that getting ahead of the game becomes tough.

He often talks about making sure that the programming is marketed well, but one of the things that Kaiser has not addressed is how you go about figuring out the right programming for your city.  It’s in some ways easy to say that an arts organization should be unique and creative for the city.  (Something I think that Kaiser is 100% correct on).  You cannot program in New York for the New York Philharmonic and be unique for that organization in the same way you program for the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and be unique for that organization.  I truly believe that you can program a lot of the same repertoire for each, but you handle them and build to them in different ways because the communities are different.

This is one reason the Artistic Director must get to know the community and must figure out how they are going to be unique and interesting in ways that appeal to the community.  The easy sell is to simply do more pops concerts and turn into an easy listening organization, but I cannot truly believe that this meets the mission of most arts organizations.  We can’t turn this into a race to the bottom.  If we do, we lose the social good we bring to our cities.  Now before people start bashing me for being ant-pops and anti-fun, I have to say I LOVE pops concerts.  I like a variety of music.  I just think that we can’t lose sight of the “art music” we do simply to make ends meet through doing more easy listening stuff.

Again, this puts a lot of the burden on the Artistic Director/Artistic Planner for the organization, which I think as an artistic director/conductor-type is a good thing.  The farther ahead of the game you can program, the easier it is to build the infrastructure necessary for a big project.  For Opera Vista, we are finally at the point of being able to do a big project.  (Mark October 15, 2010 in your calendars – seriously, we have a live elephant).

It’s taken four years of building infrastructure in the organization for us to be able to take this huge artistic (and financial – as my board is wont to remind me) risk.  We’ve reached the point as an organization that it’s almost necessary for us to shed the cocoon and fly.  Because of next season’s out of the box programming, we’ve won the trust of a wonderful PR company that is helping us with our branding.  Luckily by programming an opera that is so unique and exciting (did I mention the elephant and the Bollywood-esque dancers), we’ve picked up our first major corporate sponsor.  Stay tuned.  All this information will be on the website soon!  (And the website will be entirely new!)  So, Mr. Kaiser, you’re 100% right – it’s not just for the large organizations!

The Offseason (Part 2)

I’m often asked what it is that we in the arts do during the off-season.  (Usually it’s phrased more in the form of – “it must be great to have so much time off.”)  I WISH!  One of the nice things about the summer is that there are no pressing engagements.  In other words, we aren’t constantly looking to the next show and having to deal with keeping a production together.

Right now, our big focus is on the entirety of next season.  In Opera Vista’s case, this is a huge prospect because as you will see very soon, OV’s 2010-11 season is going to be off the hook.  In a lot of ways, Opera Vista has done the impossible for the past 3 years.  We’ve managed to put some pretty amazing productions and create an internationally known opera competition together on very little cash.  (Think toothpicks and duct tape.)  What this has allowed us to do is truly build a production infrastructure that is extremely efficient.  The biggest drawback (aside from the toll it took on me and Joe Carl White and our respective families) is that we have relied on the kindness of our singers and instrumentalists to help us out in relation to their fees.

Opera Vista’s board recently decided that it was time to take the next step and build OV to the next level.  The OV Board of Directors is an interesting (and motley) group.  I think the average age of the board is around 30 years old, so we’re dealing with a young but passionate group of people.  They should get awards for being young professionals who truly believe in the mission of new opera!

It’s a huge testament to the board to watch them come together and learn what it means to be on a board.  They have really taken it on themselves to look at what we’ve accomplished and decide that with more support, Opera Vista could truly begin to build world class productions of truly important works by living composers.

Given this decision to push OV to the next level, it’s proving to be a busy summer.  You’re going to see a completely new-look OV in the fall (new logo, new website, everything).  We’ve had some great supporters jump on board and decide to invest in our little company, so we’re going to be able to better accomplish our mission in bringing great new opera to the Houston community.  I am truly excited about the season we’re soon to announce.

The past few seasons have been truly constrained by finances.  It often felt like the productions that OV truly believed in were tabled for future seasons because we simply could not afford to do a credible job with them – the production values demanded more money than we could spend.

What you’ll see in the 2010-11 season is what we’ve been dreaming to do with OV for the past four years (think elephants).  It’s going to be a sensational season, and I couldn’t be more excited.

The Off-Season

My apologies for being AWOL so long.  Last season was truly a tough one in a lot of ways.  Running a very young arts organization in the midst of a recession was mentally and physically exhausting – not only for me, but for everyone involved in the company, as well as those around me.

As usual, Michael Kaiser has a great take on this last season and the toll it took on arts administrators.  (One of the most interesting aspects to my job with Opera Vista is that I’m not only the Artistic Director, I also have a ton of administrative responsibilities.)

In Kaiser’s article he talks quite a bit about the current feel of burnout in the arts community.  One of the most interesting things about arts managers is that they tend to be extremely efficient.  There just isn’t enough money to do all that needs to be done, so you are constantly looking to find the most efficient and cost effective ways to deliver the greatest quality art possible.  The constant struggle to keep organizations efficient and keep costs low often renders arts managers exhausted.  Tack on the fact that we were all navigating through a recession, and I think it’s the biggest reason you see such exhaustion in the arts community.

The part of Mr. Kaiser’s post I found the most interesting were the comments section.  I highly recommend reading those.  I was surprised at how many people were talking about their health issues and the level of exhaustion.

I have to admit that both Joe White and I felt much of that towards the end of last season.  We couldn’t really blame our donors for cutting their donations – nobody knew what the future would hold, so being conservative made sense.  But, that also meant that we had to find a way to navigate through the reduced donations, etc.

I think the arts tend to be the first hit and the last to recover when the economy slides.  There is increased uncertainty, so people feel that they must start cutting back on the non-essentials.  The arts take that hit pretty hard.  The nice thing is that with the economy recovering, generosity is increasing!  And, OV’s next season is looking to be an amazing one.  (Think live elephant).

I think I am finally beginning to recover mentally from last season, and next season’s projects seem truly exciting, so consider my biweekly blog back!  My only regret from last season was how stressed I constantly was, and the final toll it took on those around me – one person in particular.  But, we all snap back, and hopefully things return to normal.

I’m Back!

I know it has been an incredible amount of time since I have posted. There has been so much going on that I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and think – much less blog. But, I’m back, so let’s catch up. (Normally, I hate posting my “news,” but since it’s been so long since I’ve posted, I’m going to share the news!)

The first truly exciting thing is that the Houston Press honored Opera Vista with their 2010 MasterMind Award for our artistic creativity and innovation in adding to the Houston cultural landscape. I don’t know whether I can tell you how honored we were to receive this award. Like any other start-up business, the first few years are difficult – there is a challenge around every corner. Now, tack on the fact that we are a non-profit organization that depends on your donations, and it makes starting a new company a bit more complicated. Through it all, with amazing personnel and great support from the Houston community, we’ve been producing innovative and creative opera. To receive an honor like the Houston Press MasterMind at an event that focuses primarily on the arts, their Artopia gala, we were truly over the moon.

We’re also gearing up for the 2010 Opera Vista Festival and the 2010 Vista Competition. It’s going to be a really interesting festival. For those of you who haven’t been (but I am sure are already planning on going – March 20 to 27, 2010), the festival’s primary focus is the Vista Competition. It’s an American-Idol-style competition for new opera. Composers from all over the world submit new works, and we narrow the submissions down to 6 or 7 operas. We bring in an expert jury (think Simon, Paula, and Randy – but in Opera form). We then perform a short excerpt from each opera, the jury then comments on the selection – with the composer standing right there. Then you, the audience, votes for the opera that you would like to see us perform in its entirety.

I’m off to be on a grant committee for the Texas Commission on the Arts, so in the next few days, I’ll write a bit about that. In the next few weeks, I’ll write a bit more about the works in the competition and new opera in general. I will also be going out of town towards the end of the month to conduct the Yakima Symphony Orchestra in Yakima, WA. It should be a fun trip since I’ll be conducting some truly great music – the “big piece” on the program is Beethoven’s Symphony no. 7, so I’ll also be writing a bit more about that in the next few weeks!

American Music, Marin, and Mahler

I’ve been doing a lot of work with American music lately.  I’m performing Bernstein’s Three Dance Variations from Fancy Free in February, and we have our Opera 101: It’s in English! this evening.  I also went to two rehearsals of Marin Alsop’s with the Houston Symphony.  She’s performing Barber’s Symphony no. 1 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.  All of this has led me to going back through great American music – and we have some truly great American music.

I had never heard Barber’s first symphony.  (In all the great repertoire from so many countries and over a few hundred years, it’s pretty easy to miss a great work!)  After hearing the Houston Symphony rehearse it, I can honestly say that I missed a wonderful piece of music.  I would say (perhaps without debate) that rhythm is the driving force between most American music.  If you think of Aaron Copland’s music, there is a very wide open sound to his music (think the music from westerns), and there is a driving rhythmic element to most of it.  This could perhaps be due to the fact that much of the music for which he is famous was written for the ballet, but I also think there is a deeper “America” to his rhythmic ideas.  Leonard Bernstein is probably most famous – aside from his conducting – for his music for West Side Story. There was again collaboration with dance in his work with Jerome Robbins, but again, I would suggest that there is a rhythmic drive that is American even in their purely orchestral works.

Barber’s music also has that American rhythmic drive to it, but in a way that is different from the music of Bernstein and Copland.  I believe that much of that difference arises from his sound concept.  Both Bernstein and Copland orchestrated their works to create a light and colorful sound.  (I’m generalizing and over simplifying, I know!)  In some ways, I always hear a French style to Bernstein’s and Copland’s orchestration – and I think it is because of the incredible color.  On the other side, Barber tends to be the more “Germanic” of the Americans.  I hear (again gross generalization) Brahms meets America in that there is a deep, dark, Germanic orchestra sound but with that American rhythmic drive and underlying pulse.

Speaking of American music, Houstonians have a great opportunity to see a great American conductor working with the Houston Symphony this week.  Full disclosure moment – I’ve done 3 masterclasses with Marin Alsop, and I think she is one of the better conducting teachers out there.  She really gives the student an idea of what you experience with professional orchestras on a daily basis.  When I was living in Paris, I remember seeing a headline for Marin’s concert with the Orchestre de Lyons.  It was Lyons or Bordeaux.  The title they chose for the concert was Un chef… une femme.  (A conductor… a woman).  Well, Marin Alsop isn’t a great female conductor – she’s a great conductor, and Barber is her bread and butter.  She is one of the foremost interpreters of Barber’s music these days.  She’s also performing one of my favorite pieces in Mahler’s first symphony.  You can catch it on Saturday or Sunday.  You can find more information on the Houston Symphony’s website.

Since those concerts are on Saturday and Sunday, you can catch Opera Vista’s Opera 101: It’s in English! tonight at Boheme Cafe and Wine Bar at 8:00PM!  See you there.

Also, I wanted to throw some love to the University of Texas.  They played a heck of a game after losing their star quarterback.  I thought Garrett Gilbert walked into a crazy situation and proved that he has a huge upside.  That team is going to be good for years!

Thoughts on Avatar… and Opera (Part 2 – my opinion)

Yesterday, on my Houston Chronicle blog (reposted here), I wrote a bit about my theory that “opera being long” is not the reason that people have a negative perception of opera.  (I gave as my proof the fact that Avatar was a crazy long movie, but people still sat still through the entire thing).  I said that I would give you my opinion on the matter, so here it is:

I politely put forth my theories as to why people think of opera as a boring, old fashioned art form that is solely for the wealthy and does not speak to the general public:  1) costs continue to drive ticket prices higher, so it does begin to seem that opera is solely for the wealthy, 2) productions of opera can tend to be targeted towards the cognoscenti as opposed to the general public, and 3) opera takes time to understand.  I’ll start with number 3 and work my way back.  I will confess right off the bat that I was not an opera fan.  I went into music and realized I wanted to be a conductor, but I did not start out as an opera fan – I just wanted to conduct orchestra.  I went to my first opera and was thoroughly unimpressed, and this was at the Vienna State Opera and a production of Madame Butterfly!  Looking back on it, I will take all the blame for not getting the opera.  I didn’t know anything about what I was watching.  I did not know Italian, so I could not understand the plot, and I sure didn’t get the German supertitles.  I was lost.  There was some pretty music, but I really did not care because I couldn’t tell up from down.

By no means am I suggesting that in order to understand opera you need to go out and learn Italian.  That’s not the case.  It does help to take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with the basic plot.  That way, if you do not understand the language of the opera you can keep abreast of the plot (and I’ll be honest, even with having studied Italian, German, and French – I don’t get ½ of what the singers are singing – it goes by too fast).

It does take a bit to get an idea of how an opera works.  I compare it to going to a Bollywood film for the first time.  If you sit there and expect it to be similar to a western film, you’ll be thoroughly lost after the first dance sequence.  You’ll spend way too much time wondering where all those other dancing people came from!  Opera can be much of the same way – why do they break out into an aria (song)?  What is that silly speak/singing they do?  Getting an idea of each of the components of an opera does help keep you up with the plot and drama.

Finally, the last tip I tend to give people that ask me how to “get into opera” is to show up early enough to let yourself get into the right frame of mind.  Opera (like cinema, good books) transports you to a different sense of time.  An hour can feel like minutes, and (unfortunately at times?) seconds can feel like hours.  It’s tough to sink into the opera’s sense of time if you’ve just run in after work, you’re still mulling over that problem at home, etc.  (Of course, I do think a great performance helps you forget all that and transports you to a different world no matter what baggage you bring with you).

Ahh… the great performance!  This is the one (number 2 on my list above) I put squarely on the heads of us opera folk.  Too often, I’ve seen a production that does something innovative and different simply to be innovative and different – not necessarily because it pushes the plot.  One of the reasons for this is that opera companies are constantly struggling to generate press, so one way to do this is to create something that people talk about.  I’m all for that, but if there is a sound and thoughtful reason to do it.  Audiences know when they’re being pandered to, so simply creating a production that’s “innovative” to create buzz won’t fly.  Audiences are too smart.  The other reason we often see the “innovative” production is that stage directors are constantly being pushed to come up with something new and different to distinguish themselves from their peers.  Again, this can be a great thing if they come up with something truly innovative.  But, there are those times that the production is different simply for the sake of doing something different.

I don’t want to sound like I’m against creativity and innovation – in fact, I think quite the opposite.  I think more opera companies need to truly explore innovation and put a lot of thought in their productions.  One of the things Michael Kaiser talked about in his presentation while in Houston was that arts organizations need to plan far enough in advance to truly develop the production.  I think he’s 100% right.  (And it’s the direction that Opera Vista is moving in its 4^th season – we’re finally brainstorming productions years in advance).  I’ll talk more about innovation in the next blog.

Finally, there is the cost issue.  Opera tickets cost a good chunk of money!  I admit it.  (Which is one reason that Opera Vista focuses on keeping costs in the $20 range)!  I wrote quite a bit as to why costs continue to rise in this blog. One of the issues we face is to continue to aggressively fundraise, and develop good marketing to help fundraising to keep costs down.  (This is one reason I think that arts organizations MUST pursue innovative and thoughtful programming – the more press you can generate because of great shows, the easier it is to fundraise and the better job you are doing for your community).

More thoughts on this in the next blog, then back to the Michael Kaiser, Beethoven and Wagner discussions.  If you’d like to learn more about opera, Opera Vista’s next Opera 101 is at Boheme cafe and wine bar on January 8, 2010 at 8:00PM.  Come learn about opera in a fun/laid-back atmosphere.