0:10

For Delaware State of the Arts . I'm Andy Truscott

0:12

. My guests today are from the Wilmington Concert

0:15

Opera . Wilmington Concert Opera , an

0:17

exclusively woman and minority-run company

0:19

, was founded on principles of diversity

0:22

, inclusivity and accessibility

0:24

. Annually , they present

0:26

the works of dozens of local

0:28

opera singers and find

0:30

ways to bring them in front of

0:32

new audiences statewide . Upcoming

0:35

November 10th through 12th is your next performance

0:37

of Hansel und Gretel . Let's just jump

0:39

in . Tell me a little bit more about it .

0:41

Well , it is part of our mission

0:43

to do a full opera in its original

0:45

language every year , and so we will be doing

0:48

a rarity Hansel

0:50

und Gretel auf Deutsch , in German

0:52

in its entirety . It's

0:55

almost always presented cut down in

0:57

English . We're very excited about that . It's

0:59

a beautiful work . Obviously , it

1:01

has both very beautiful music for the

1:03

opera lover and the person who

1:05

would like complex and beautiful music . But

1:07

it also has beautiful tunes and a wonderful

1:09

brother's grim story

1:12

. It is family-friendly . All

1:14

of our performances are family-friendly , but we're really

1:17

excited this time to bring

1:19

a very specific family from

1:21

friendly matinee on November 12th

1:23

at 2 . That is a

1:25

family-friendly , sensory-friendly performance

1:28

. Snacks and digits

1:30

and a gingerbread house building

1:32

craft . At one o'clock before the performance

1:35

. We'll let the gingerbread

1:38

houses set during the performance

1:40

. You can take them home afterwards . There's

1:42

a costume-for-rated intermission . There's

1:44

just all kinds of fun things happening and

1:47

we really hope that people will bring their

1:49

children and have a great time , because

1:51

we really think this is a great piece

1:53

to introduce your kids

1:55

to opera . Also , if they

1:57

already like opera , you should still bring them

2:00

.

2:00

Yeah , we're also going to be—normally we're

2:02

in gowns and tuxedos and this time

2:04

we'll be in a little bit more individualized

2:07

costume-type wear . It

2:09

will still be concert version and there

2:11

will be super titles so that you can

2:13

read what's going on in English , in case you're worried

2:16

about the German . If

2:18

you think you don't know any music

2:20

from Hansel and Gretel , you do . It's

2:23

actually got a very , very

2:25

famous lullaby that you've heard , probably in

2:27

commercials or on children's

2:29

toys , things like that and it's

2:31

just a beautiful piece of music . It's

2:34

not an extremely long opera . It's a lot

2:36

of fun and I think

2:38

that every audience

2:40

member will really enjoy this . It's

2:42

something that our singers

2:45

and pianists enjoy and

2:47

love a lot , and I think the audience also

2:49

really just hones in

2:51

on the beauty of the music and also the fun story

2:54

. It's something we all know and love from our childhoods

2:56

.

2:57

Talk to me a little bit about how youth

2:59

and art started for you both , and

3:01

then what you hope performances like this do

3:04

to engage and make them aware

3:06

of some of the offerings that are out there for

3:08

them .

3:09

I started out in the arts as young as

3:11

I can remember . I started out in ballet

3:13

at age two and

3:15

took piano lessons very young

3:17

. My mother played piano and had been a dancer

3:19

. I loved musical theater growing up

3:21

, as I think many of us opera singers

3:24

tended to do , and

3:26

I was very active in musical theater

3:29

. When I was 12 , I started voice lessons and my

3:31

teacher got me started on the trajectory of singing

3:33

classical music . For me

3:35

that opened that door and she also got me

3:37

involved in my very first opera , which was

3:39

just a gateway for everything else . So

3:41

for me that's how that started . But

3:44

I think for us as

3:46

a team here and also as

3:48

a company , we

3:51

realize that if you reach children young

3:53

, that they can fall in love

3:55

with anything that you put in front of them , whether it's sports

3:57

or arts or whatever that might

3:59

be . So we want to

4:01

at least provide the opportunity for

4:04

people to have the experience of being

4:06

able to see opera for free in

4:08

their own community . And that's really what

4:10

is , you know , the cornerstone

4:13

of our mission . We want to bring professional

4:15

, quality opera , world-class opera

4:17

, to Delaware for free

4:19

for the masses , and that

4:21

is really what it's all about so that

4:23

they can have the exposure , to have that

4:25

experience and hopefully

4:28

they will come away with at least a great time

4:30

, if not a newfound love of music .

4:32

I also definitely was , you

4:34

know , in the theater as young as I

4:36

can remember , but actually from the backstage

4:38

side . My mother costumed theater and dance

4:40

when I was a small child . So some of my first

4:43

childhood memories were going

4:45

to the dance store and looking for loose sequins on the floor

4:47

and going to costume fittings Because

4:50

I was the costumer's daughter

4:52

. I made my professional dance debut at

4:54

nine because they needed a child

4:56

for the modern dance piece and they knew

4:58

that I was capable of sitting still for 15 minutes

5:01

, which was really the main choreographic

5:03

requirement for these . I

5:05

know I always sang . I did dance

5:07

a little as a besides , you know , accidentally

5:10

professional dancing . I did take ballet as a small

5:12

child and then I also started voice

5:14

lessons at 12 . And you

5:16

know that the Phantom of the Opera on Lame is were

5:18

such like a gateway for

5:21

those of us who were already singing

5:23

in the early 90s . And

5:26

if you found that that was a thing that

5:28

you know suited your voice , then you know quickly

5:30

the voice teachers like . But which would you like to

5:32

? And the answer is yes , I would

5:34

like to . I would like to sing that , that Mozart

5:37

, or that that Mendelssohn or whatever .

5:39

What are some ways that parents

5:41

or guardians can expose

5:44

their children to what to expect

5:46

from the opera before they arrive ? What do

5:48

you think are some effective ways that someone

5:50

might let their , their child , know what to

5:52

expect before they arrive that day ?

5:54

Well , I think there are your traditional standard

5:57

answers . Right , like there's . Like they show

5:59

them a video on YouTube or

6:01

read the story beforehand , read the synopsis

6:04

. Those are the things that we tell people all the time

6:06

. For this particular production , we

6:08

actually have outreach events that they can go to

6:10

. There are a few events that

6:12

are actually planned that they could

6:14

specifically take their child to . The

6:17

most prominent one , I think , is

6:20

the Halloween Fall Festival

6:22

in Spooktacular at Presbyterian

6:24

Church of the Covenant , which is also the location

6:26

for our performances . That

6:29

is from two to five on October 28th

6:31

. It is family friendly , very

6:33

family friendly , lots of events

6:35

, and you can hear snippets from the opera so

6:38

that you can hear the

6:40

witches' aria and one of Gretel's arias

6:42

, and they'll be explaining what's going on too

6:44

. So that's a small taste

6:46

to see if it's something that they can

6:48

enjoy and sit through . Also

6:51

, with our sensory friendly production

6:53

date of November 12th , if

6:56

they are just not feeling it

6:58

, you can take them out . You can

7:00

go have them , have a cool down in the

7:02

cool down room and come back , and

7:04

that's okay . We're absolutely open

7:07

to that . We want it to be accessible

7:09

, and so I think that that

7:11

is the prime goal

7:13

of November 12th's performance . Yes

7:15

, we plan to give you a fantastic performance

7:18

as well , but we want it to be

7:20

something where people can feel that they are

7:22

having that experience , whether

7:24

or not the children

7:27

are ready to sit through an entire show or

7:29

if it's just brand new to

7:31

them . You know , it might be that

7:33

this is something that they could

7:36

be an older child , but they've never sat through

7:38

an opera before and they might not know what to think . So

7:40

, yeah , I think exposure is

7:43

, or before they come , is great

7:45

. If not , that's okay too and

7:47

it's all right . We are open to that and

7:50

we're perfectly fine . If

7:52

there's a rapper in the middle of the performance

7:54

, you know that's okay . Something like that , something

7:57

that might be frowned upon at a

7:59

bigger theater or a more grandiose

8:01

site .

8:02

Something I've heard with sensory friendly

8:04

performances is there's sometimes called relaxed

8:06

performances , with the idea right that the

8:08

rules are relaxed to air quotes , that

8:11

if you're really excited about what's going

8:13

on , you can clap in the middle of the song . Everything

8:15

will be okay , you know , lights can be up . Similarly

8:18

, you can walk out of the event to kind

8:20

of decompress and come back in without

8:23

kind of that judgment from other

8:25

audience members around you , and so I'm

8:27

thrilled to hear that it's finding its way

8:29

deeper and deeper into some of our organizations

8:32

in Delaware . Hansel and Gretel is

8:34

the end of your 2023

8:36

calendar season . Talk

8:38

to us about some of the highlights . What

8:41

were some of the great successes ? What were some of

8:43

your favorite moments ?

8:44

So I mean the highlight of 2023

8:47

really is the realization of this season

8:49

. The title of the season all of our seasons

8:51

have titles is Back to Before and

8:53

for us , as a company

8:55

whose mission is both about

8:58

bringing opera to new audiences

9:00

and also about supporting local

9:02

singers , when we say back to before

9:05

, what we mean is that the two productions we

9:07

did this year the Belcanto Gala and

9:09

Hansel and Gretel were the reopening

9:11

of the contracts for the

9:14

productions we did not do in 2020 . We

9:16

thought it was really important to honor

9:18

the intention and the

9:20

contracts for that work , but

9:23

that was the big . The big joy of the season

9:25

is that and of course , also that you know Hansel and Gretel

9:27

is just going to be so fun and multi-layered

9:30

and exciting and beautiful and

9:32

rewarding to sing and rewarding to listen to and

9:36

hopefully , as Pearson said , you know , a joyful

9:38

and comfortable place for audiences to be . We

9:42

like to think it's always a safe place to say yay in the

9:44

middle of the aria . We

9:47

would rather have your joyful noise than not have you bring

9:49

your children and

9:52

to any of the performances . You know

9:54

, if Sunday doesn't work for you and you want to come to this Friday

9:58

night performance and you have your children with you . That is

10:00

also great .

10:00

Yeah , we actually had a dog bark in

10:02

one of our performances for Geron Deans and I remember

10:05

that that was a new experience for all of us . We

10:07

didn't expect that Somebody

10:10

had brought their service dog and it was just kind of like , oh there's a bark

10:13

there , you know . But we were fine , we made

10:15

it through with no problems .

10:18

How do you feel like your artists

10:20

have kind of rallied and gathered around you as the organization has

10:22

grown ?

10:25

I think that , from what I noticed

10:27

, everyone was very grateful to have a contract actually followed

10:29

through with from 2020

10:31

. We

10:33

were able to increase their pay from what

10:36

we initially planned , which was really appreciated Because

10:39

you know , we are back , so to

10:41

speak , but it's still rough . I mean , covid is still

10:43

very much here . We've got another wave coming , there

10:45

are things happening , so

10:49

trying to do group numbers

10:51

is tricky Because you might

10:53

lose somebody at the last minute , and we have

10:55

. We have been in that situation where we've

10:57

lost somebody at the last minute and had to regroup

11:00

the morning of a performance . You know

11:02

, so it's it's tricky . We're still

11:04

navigating that as a whole

11:06

, as an industry . But I think the

11:08

, the singers and all the musicians

11:11

I don't want to just limit it to the singers have

11:13

all been grateful for the work and I don't

11:15

want to speak out of term , but I think that they enjoy working

11:17

with us . I mean , I've gotten the impression

11:19

that the vast majority of people I've

11:22

talked to have been very happy to work

11:24

with us and in an environment where they

11:26

know they can bring their child if they

11:28

can't get a babysitter , or they

11:30

can come late if there's a problem

11:33

with traffic and we are not going to

11:35

Dr Pay . I think that it's been

11:37

very positive overall

11:39

.

11:39

You know , to speak to your the corner of your question

11:41

about you know the caliber of artists . You know the caliber

11:44

of . You know there's obviously there's a core

11:46

of singers . You know every company has singers that you

11:48

you bring back time and again because they're great

11:50

and you like working with them . We're

11:52

always , always looking to hear

11:54

new voices and the caliber

11:57

of submissions that we receive and

11:59

the number of them continues to increase and

12:01

frequently they do come addressed

12:04

with other singer friends who has

12:06

worked with you who said

12:08

that I should apply and it said X

12:10

, y and Z wonderful things about the experience

12:12

of working with you .

12:14

And we do try to include at least one

12:16

or two new people for every concert , even

12:18

if we are solidly bringing back a large

12:21

number . But we use new people all

12:23

the time . And the other thing is that we still

12:25

have our virtual recitals going . So that's

12:27

one nice thing that we have for both

12:30

local and further out distant

12:32

people , that they have opportunities to

12:34

be heard that way or bring new repertoire

12:36

to our audiences that we wouldn't have otherwise

12:39

. Like , for example , we had had a Filipino

12:41

recital of all Filipino music that

12:44

we would not have had otherwise if

12:46

we hadn't had this virtual recital series . So

12:48

it's still something that we are

12:52

always expanding our

12:54

singer base .

12:55

For that reason I mean

12:57

we had a delightful virtual recital

12:59

in September . That was all relatively

13:02

new music , I mean within the last

13:04

10 years I think , by living

13:07

composers who were all friends with the

13:09

soprano who programmed it . That

13:11

was like a really cool niche

13:15

lane of things , but it was all just such

13:18

fun and she was clearly having such

13:20

fun performing . It was beautifully sung . Highly

13:22

recommend checking it out . It is on our YouTube channel .

13:25

That's something people can do with their children

13:27

too is if they want to just get a taste of what

13:29

we do . We do have excerpts from our big

13:31

concerts , but we also have all these virtual recitals

13:33

, and most of them have little breakaway

13:36

introductions and things like that too , just

13:38

to kind of set the scene .

13:39

As we look forward into 2024, . You've

13:41

got a whole set of upcoming performances

13:44

and other kind of new

13:47

initiatives coming . Tell us a

13:49

little bit about what we can expect to see from Wilmington

13:51

Concert Opera into the 2024 year

13:54

.

13:55

Well , I think we're really excited about this season

13:57

. We have again

14:00

our Gala and our full opera

14:02

. The full opera is Diefle der

14:04

Maus and that will be . That

14:06

is tentatively scheduled for September of 2024

14:09

. And that is

14:11

an operetta and it's lots of

14:13

fun . It's comic and we

14:15

haven't done too many comedic operas , but

14:18

this one will be lots of fun . It's again in

14:20

German , but we will do an English dialogue

14:22

for that , just to make it more

14:24

accessible . There's no reason for us to

14:26

try to be butchering spoken German if we don't

14:28

have to too much . In

14:31

that there is a famous aria

14:33

called the Chardash and the

14:35

translation for that is , loosely , voice

14:37

of Home , voices of Home . So

14:39

that is the title of our Gala , which

14:42

will actually happen before

14:44

Diefle der Maus . That will happen in early

14:46

May and that is going to be

14:48

about a curated program

14:50

for Voice for pieces

14:53

based on the individual heritages

14:56

of the different singers

14:58

on the program . So that

15:01

is based on both heritage and ethnicity

15:03

. We have a nice variety

15:05

of singers scheduled for that of

15:08

all different types of heritages

15:10

, which is really exciting for us . We're

15:13

going to be able to feature music that we wouldn't be able to feature otherwise

15:15

, and I'm working specifically with

15:17

each singer to try to make sure that we

15:19

are honoring their heritage as

15:22

they feel is done

15:24

in a sincere and honorable

15:26

way . So

15:29

we have all sorts of different types of people

15:31

. We have a Filipino singer , we have Native American

15:33

singers , we have African American singers , we have singers

15:35

of Jewish heritage . We have all sorts

15:37

of different singers . So they will all be doing

15:40

things that are either , if

15:42

they only have one heritage that they want to

15:44

showcase , we will be focusing

15:47

on that , whether it's with a

15:50

composer or a poet , and

15:52

we will also be dealing with people

15:55

who have multiple heritages and with

15:57

those they will

15:59

be showcasing some or all

16:02

of their heritages , based on what

16:04

they feel they want to feature . And

16:06

then , additionally , we will

16:09

be throwing in some things about home and

16:11

homeland that can open up the

16:13

variety of pieces for ensemble

16:16

work . One specific example

16:18

that we plan to do is journey on from ragtime

16:20

, so that will be something that we can do that

16:22

features the idea of going home

16:24

or coming to a new home . Anthem

16:27

from Chess will be on there , and specifically

16:30

, I know we're looking at Opatria and Mia

16:32

from Aida as well . So those are all

16:34

things that are not specifically about someone's

16:36

individual heritage , but they talk about homeland

16:38

as a whole , so that ties the program

16:40

together as well . We're very

16:42

excited about that . We think the

16:45

audiences will love it . It's different

16:47

from anything we've done before , and I

16:49

know that our musicians are extremely

16:51

excited about the prospect of showcasing

16:53

who they are on a different level .

16:56

Can you share some personal anecdotes or stories

16:58

that illustrate the impact of these

17:00

diversity and inclusivity efforts for

17:02

the organization ?

17:04

Specifically to me Marissa

17:06

and I are both women . Obviously , marissa

17:08

has a Jewish background . I am Native American

17:10

. So , right there , we are not your

17:12

stereotypical

17:15

CEOs , if

17:17

you will . We bring

17:19

a different perspective , just based

17:21

on who we are , and I think that that is something

17:23

that we

17:25

have always acknowledged as part

17:27

of who we are . As far as diversity

17:30

and inclusivity , from

17:32

the onset of the organization

17:34

, that was always the goal was to

17:36

be as inclusive as possible

17:39

and accessible , so accessible to the

17:41

audiences . Specifically , we wanted

17:43

to bring in the biggest

17:45

number of types of people

17:48

. Backgrounds , levels

17:51

of income , where people lived

17:53

, it didn't matter to us . We wanted to be able

17:55

to reach everyone . So that was always

17:57

, from day one , one of the most

17:59

important things to us as far as being

18:02

inclusive . As far as our performers , we

18:04

wanted to make sure that , no

18:07

matter what your

18:09

background is , if you're a great singer

18:12

, you can be featured . If you're

18:14

a good colleague , you can be featured , and

18:16

that's never been something we've ever had

18:18

any issues with . It's something we want to

18:20

feature more of , so that

18:22

we are dealing with people of all ages , disabilities

18:25

, races , backgrounds , cultures

18:27

, religions . So , in

18:30

and of itself , because I think we

18:33

are coming from it from a perspective

18:35

of being people who have been

18:37

judged our whole lives as singers . But

18:40

also the fact that we are women , that

18:42

we are coming from backgrounds that

18:44

are not necessarily the biggest

18:46

majority of people

18:48

, that makes us much more aware

18:51

, and so we've tried

18:53

to make sure our board is diversified

18:55

, that we get different perspectives , that

18:57

we ask our audience what

18:59

do you see that you like ? What

19:01

are you seeing that could improve On

19:04

a regular basis ? So I think that

19:06

that may be a broad answer , but I think

19:08

that that's really we come

19:11

from that , so we try to embody

19:13

that .

19:14

It's sort of hard to narrow down because it's so profoundly

19:16

what we do .

19:18

As you look to engage this younger generation

19:20

, do you have any advice for young aspiring

19:23

opera singers who may be considering

19:25

a career move into this field

19:27

?

19:28

Question whether those gatekeepers really have

19:30

authority over you . Are the people

19:32

who are telling you know people

19:35

whose opinions you would actually respect if they were

19:37

talking about anyone else ? And

19:39

do you love it ? Is this what you

19:41

wake up with in your heart every day ? Then

19:44

that's what it is , that's the thing

19:47

for you .

19:47

Yeah , I think that I'm that person that

19:49

someone says I can't , so I find a way

19:51

to do it just to spite them . I

19:54

think that doesn't inspire it's actually

19:56

hard , but , yeah , I think that there's a lot

19:59

to be said for that . If you don't love practicing

20:01

, if you don't love it and enjoy

20:03

that and have that be a respite for

20:05

the rest of your stresses , it's

20:07

going to be a very hard career . I would say

20:10

that more than anything , in addition

20:12

to what Marisa said , which I absolutely agree with

20:14

be open to whatever

20:16

opportunities come your way , even

20:18

if it's not something that was in your plan . My

20:20

career has been exceptionally varied

20:22

and gone in ways that I never

20:25

, ever , could have anticipated . I don't

20:27

think either of us ever had a goal of opening

20:29

and starting a company . It happened

20:32

because the pieces

20:34

lined up so obviously to

20:36

us that we fell

20:38

into it , and then we fell into it full force

20:41

because we realized the need for

20:43

it but also the love that we had for it . Everything

20:45

that I've done in my life career-wise

20:48

that has been really positive has

20:50

been because I've taken a leap into something I

20:52

didn't know if I could actually do . I

20:55

thought I could , I thought I might be able to

20:57

, but because I trusted

20:59

it myself enough that I could said okay

21:01

, I'm going to try it and see where it goes . It

21:04

has opened so many more doors

21:06

. So I think if you're set

21:08

, I'm only going to sing If I can perform at the

21:10

Met . This is not the career for you . If

21:13

you want to sing because you love singing , then

21:15

it might be the career for you If you're willing

21:17

to make all those sacrifices and do all those things

21:20

and also realize there is not one

21:22

clear-cut path for everyone . It's all very

21:24

different , especially nowadays .

21:26

You can learn more about Wilmington Concert

21:28

Opera at their website , wilmingtonconsertoperacom

21:31

, and a reminder that their next upcoming

21:34

performance of Hansel and Gretel is

21:36

November 10th through the 12th Ladies . Thank

21:39

you so much for joining me and I

21:41

look forward to seeing kind of all the exciting things

21:43

coming now through the end of 2024

21:45

. Music

21:50

.