We are thrilled to introduce you to the newest member of the Wolf Trap Opera team! Ronald Lee Newman joined us just last week as the Director, Artistic Operations. This position will play a critical role in future season planning and implementation, and we are confident Ron is more than up for the task with
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International Opera Day
If you are an opera lover, or opera-curious, I hope you are able to spend some time digging around the interwebs today, as there’s a true plethora of material for you to consume: historic performances (here’s one of my favorites), old chestnuts, new works, new takes on the aforementioned chestnuts. There are interviews with artists,
Read MoreThat’s a wrap!
Friends, I have tried to write this post no fewer than a dozen times. I don’t get very far, because there is so much to say, so many layers surrounding this crazy summer. Our season has concluded, and our company has scattered; but they left us in good health, and that is truly the best
Read MorePast: Present
On Friday and Saturday, we captured audio and video from several scenes in Puccini’s La bohème and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin for Love: Surrender, a series of videos that will be posted on our website on August 9. And from today’s vantage point here in the Barns balcony, I’m witnessing scenes from the Orpheus myth, set
Read MoreSomething is Missing
In some ways, this feels like a normal summer. There are singers onsite, we are rehearsing a bevy of musical projects, the epic Virginia heat and humidity has kicked up a notch. In more ways, this is a deeply different experience. Our singers have been onsite for one week, and in this last week we’ve
Read MoreWe’re off!
Dear friends, WTO 2020 is under way! Our artists are safely snuggled into a suburban Virginia hotel, waiting out the end of our quarantine period. Every day there are interactive lectures with Wolf Trap Opera alums, language coachings, musical coachings, and dramatic tablework sessions on the schedule – we’re averaging somewhere around 60 hours of
Read MoreChanging Lanes
The last several months have forced us –individuals, the opera industry, and our larger communities – to pivot. A crucial, pervasive part of those pivots has been to take stock; examining what we usually do in the light of present circumstances, and to frame all forward action against the dual goalposts of our new reality
Read MoreLooking Forward
There’s a quote by Bishop Desmond Tutu that keeps floating to the top of my consciousness this spring. “The only way to eat an elephant is a bite at a time.” As someone whose mental processes tend to conflate and connect thoughts and issues and ideas into one large vat of mental stew? Well, it’s
Read MoreA reimagined Wolf Trap Opera 2020
April 21, 2020 Dear Wolf Trap Opera Community, I write this hoping that you and your loved ones are all healthy and safe, and that you’re caring for yourselves during this truly unprecedented time. We find ourselves at a particular moment when the shared musical experiences that we live for and that our artists and
Read MoreIntroductions are in Order! Jon DeVries
We are thrilled to introduce you to the newest member of the Wolf Trap Opera team! Jon DeVries joined us in early January 2020 to take on the role of Coordinator, Company Management; he keeps our finances in order and our artist services on point. If you need a refresher on the rest of the
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