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 instructional/rehearsal time each day! It’s difficult, striking the right balance between making strong progress and avoiding “zoom fatigue” but with feedback from our company members we seem to be finding a way forward.
Perhaps more importantly, our company has banded together in a profound way, foregoing normal rites of passage and celebrations (hello, Independence Day Quarantine) to ensure the safety and health of our little community. They each are placing the goals and safety of the group above their individual comfort, and, in the conversations I’ve had with them, are doing so without complaint or second thought. This display of connectedness and caring is not only a balm for the soul (though it indeed is, and a welcome one at that), it actually gives me hope for all of us. If our little collective can easily and generously work together, so that everyone can safely participate in the artmaking that we love and miss, then that is a win for humanity.
So we move ahead. It will be less than a week until we can break quarantine and begin the in-person rehearsal process.
Lest you think that nothing of our normal operation remains, I’d like to gently remind you of Aria Jukebox on July 18! Voting is open now, and will remain so until July 14. Your $10 donation will allot you 4 votes for each singer on the program; use all 4 on your favorite aria, or if you can’t decide, split the difference with two on each of your favorite arias. If your donation is more than $10, your votes will be weighted so that all your votes carry a little more clout. You’ll be able to watch the result of your votes on July 18 at 7pm; and to entice you to tune in, voting will also enter you into a raffle for WTO swag, backstage experiences and greetings from the artists! You won’t want to miss it.
Thank you for a delightful Aria Jukebox and the opportunity to see the artists in a setting as close as possible to the real thing.
I also watched the MetHD Porgy and Bess and you should be most proud that quite a number of the leads were alumni of your program which is a real testament to your program in its quality and diversity.