An Opera for August: Don Giovanni
Dear friends,
Can you feel the whisperings of autumn? Here in Vermont the nights are cooler, the cicadas hum their tireless symphonies, and the evening light turns golden against the dark green foliage of late summer. I’m soaking up Summer’s “lasts” while looking forward to the rippling of reds and yellows and oranges to come. I’m very excited about this month’s musical offerings — a full opera (!), and a beautiful program by Boston’s own Castle of Our Skins (see below).
I’m delighted to share a recording of Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni which will premier Saturday, August 22 at 7:30pm. I sing the role of Zerlina, a feisty young woman in a small town who is one of the unfortunate victims of the womanizer, Don Giovanni, a nobleman who boasts of his “love” conquests across the world—and is finally brought to his knees. A production of Barn Opera (based in Brandon, Vermont), this opera is the first of a series of Barn Opera’s Social Distance Opera projects, which AD Joshua Collier and colleague Nick Tocci dreamed up after opera stages and concert halls went dark due to the disruption of COVID-19. It has given an opportunity for artists across the US and Europe to continue music-making, role study, collaboration, as the opera world discerns how to adapt to the dramatic changes wrought by the pandemic.
How does virtual opera work?! you might wonder. These SDO projects are produced completely virtually, starting with piano accompaniment and carefully layering each artist’s individually-recorded part into the recording. Some folks had access to a wonderful online platform — the Google Doc of virtual music-making, you might say — in which you can collaborate with your colleagues in real time, directly recording your parts to the platform, able to hear and sing along with colleagues’ parts already uploaded. Others with slow internet (me!) weren’t able to access that platform, however, and so we recorded our parts without ever hearing our colleagues’ voices, striving to be as musically precise as possible, and relying on our imaginations to flesh out the scene dramatically and musically while we sang, alone, to naught but our reflections in the window. Working around cars driving up our gravel driveway, lawn mowers, vacuums, and even noisy bird song provided further challenges, creating unwanted background noise that warranted many retakes. Regardless, it was thrilling to partake in this project, and encouraging to explore ways we can still make music together during this uncertain time. I’m so grateful for Josh and Nick’s vision and leadership to make this possible. I hope you will tune in and enjoy this SDO production of Don Giovanni this Saturday at 7:30pm!
Support your artists
All donations gifted to SDO will be divided equally among the artists. We SDO artists have participated in this project pro bono — a gesture of hope that the arts will continue to thrive in spite of the odds, as well as a gesture of deep generosity as so many have lost contracts which provide their livelihood. Any amount you are able to give toward this project would be appreciated, and would help sustain performing artists and Barn Opera during this challenging time. Thank you for your support!
This month I’m also thrilled to highlight a company local to Boston, CASTLE OF OUR SKINS. Castle of Our Skins is committed to equal representation on the concert stage and telling stories from Black History that have been omitted throughout history. They are educators and story-tellers, celebrating Black excellence in diverse and thought-provoking ways. Their most recent performance was featured on The Kennedy Center’s website: “The Power of Her Voice,” a program “honoring Black women and the power of their voice through the music of Florence Price and Jessie Montgomery…. On the eve of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, this performance celebrates the resilience and artistry of African American women who still faced discrimination barring their full involvement in the newfound right of women to vote.” Castle of Our Skins is staying active and creative virtually during this time — follow their upcoming events here, and support the work of Castle of Our Skins here.
Wishing you well as you bid farewell to the season of vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh blueberries, and welcome the coming season!
Be well, friends,