11
Jan
2005
Ron May, the founding president of the City Opera Company of the Quad Cities, said he wants his organization, now in its fourth year, to open the world of opera to everybody - both performers and audiences.
"Our focus is providing outlets for singers from the Midwest, primarily younger artists who are trying out the world of opera, and we're giving them every opportunity we can to do a first-class production," he said. "With that vision in mind, we want it to be young and vital, and we want everybody to feel comfortable coming to the opera."
The company will be presenting Puccini's most beloved opera, La Bohème, at the Galvin Fine Arts Center of St. Ambrose University on Friday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 16, at 3 p.m.
According to May, City Opera started its first year "with just a few activities to get the awareness growing in the community that we were going to have an opera company." An early effort was sponsoring a vocal competition for young singers that has now become an annual spring event.
In its second year the company performed a children's opera, and last year it put on its first fully staged production, Mozart's The Magic Flute. With help from the Scott County Regional Authority, City Opera also sponsored a European touring company, Opera Verdi Europa, which came to the Adler last year.
City Opera began its current season in autumn with an opera-highlights concert, which was held at Augustana College and featured local artists. The purpose of the concert was not only to showcase regional singers, but also to educate the audience about the wonders of opera. After its performance of La Bohème, the organization will sponsor another production of Opera Verdi Europa (again with a grant from the Scott County Regional Authority). In March the City Opera Company will perform La Traviata and hold its Young Artist Vocal Competition once more.
Although the opera company is still in its beginning phases, May has big plans for it. "We certainly want to think about building an opera guild, or something like that for social purposes and for assistance in raising funds. The Des Moines Opera is probably the closest large-scale opera operation that we could compare ourselves to. They have a pretty well-developed opera guild and, as soon as we feel comfortable about funding, we want to do that."
City Opera received startup funds from the Riverboat Development Authority, which May said has been "very generous to us" and which provided funding for the production of La Bohème. The company has also received contributions from Deere & Company and private individuals.
May is pleased with the audience turnout the company has enjoyed thus far. Last year's Magic Flute drew more than 1,200 people. He hopes to see as many or more for this year's production of La Bohème.
Featured in this production are local artist Eric Ashcraft as Rodolfo, Augustana graduate Chris Scott in his debut performance as Marcello, and Chicago vocalist Anne Marie Lewis as Mimi.
A native of Geneseo, Illinois, Ashcraft has been singing professionally for 10 years and has toured Israel, Ireland, and the Tuscany region of Italy. He studied at Bradley University in Peoria, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. He then moved to New York City, where he contracted an agent and began auditioning and performing. Despite finding steady work in New York City and in other opera companies around the country, Ashcraft grew tired of dealing with agents and of trying to break into small, tight-knit opera companies as a new singer.
Ashcraft was invited back to Peoria to sing in a concert series and decided not to return to New York. He has since been teaching voice at Black Hawk and Augustana colleges and said, "I'm thrilled to be able to sing opera here in the Quad Cities, and there is an audience." He also said he is impressed with City Opera's progress: "The future of our opera company has no limits. [But] they really need some big sponsors in order to ensure their future."
Chris Scott is in his first contracted professional role. Besides studying music at Augustana, during the summer of his freshman year Scott studied at the Dorian Opera Theatre in Decorah, Iowa. The following summer, under the auspices of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he spent two months in Luca, Italy, at an opera workshop. He then participated in the Young Artist Vocal Competition, after which he landed the part of Marcello in La Bohème. He said that "being on the stage with professional singers and moving at such a fast pace [the company spends only two weeks rehearsing the opera] makes it very exciting."
Tickets for La Bohème are $20 for adult general-admission seating. For tickets, call the St. Ambrose University box office, (563)333-6251, or visit McKay Music and West Music in Davenport and Moline, or Griggs Music in Davenport.
"Our focus is providing outlets for singers from the Midwest, primarily younger artists who are trying out the world of opera, and we're giving them every opportunity we can to do a first-class production," he said. "With that vision in mind, we want it to be young and vital, and we want everybody to feel comfortable coming to the opera."
The company will be presenting Puccini's most beloved opera, La Bohème, at the Galvin Fine Arts Center of St. Ambrose University on Friday, January 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 16, at 3 p.m.
According to May, City Opera started its first year "with just a few activities to get the awareness growing in the community that we were going to have an opera company." An early effort was sponsoring a vocal competition for young singers that has now become an annual spring event.
In its second year the company performed a children's opera, and last year it put on its first fully staged production, Mozart's The Magic Flute. With help from the Scott County Regional Authority, City Opera also sponsored a European touring company, Opera Verdi Europa, which came to the Adler last year.
City Opera began its current season in autumn with an opera-highlights concert, which was held at Augustana College and featured local artists. The purpose of the concert was not only to showcase regional singers, but also to educate the audience about the wonders of opera. After its performance of La Bohème, the organization will sponsor another production of Opera Verdi Europa (again with a grant from the Scott County Regional Authority). In March the City Opera Company will perform La Traviata and hold its Young Artist Vocal Competition once more.
Although the opera company is still in its beginning phases, May has big plans for it. "We certainly want to think about building an opera guild, or something like that for social purposes and for assistance in raising funds. The Des Moines Opera is probably the closest large-scale opera operation that we could compare ourselves to. They have a pretty well-developed opera guild and, as soon as we feel comfortable about funding, we want to do that."
City Opera received startup funds from the Riverboat Development Authority, which May said has been "very generous to us" and which provided funding for the production of La Bohème. The company has also received contributions from Deere & Company and private individuals.
May is pleased with the audience turnout the company has enjoyed thus far. Last year's Magic Flute drew more than 1,200 people. He hopes to see as many or more for this year's production of La Bohème.
Featured in this production are local artist Eric Ashcraft as Rodolfo, Augustana graduate Chris Scott in his debut performance as Marcello, and Chicago vocalist Anne Marie Lewis as Mimi.
A native of Geneseo, Illinois, Ashcraft has been singing professionally for 10 years and has toured Israel, Ireland, and the Tuscany region of Italy. He studied at Bradley University in Peoria, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. He then moved to New York City, where he contracted an agent and began auditioning and performing. Despite finding steady work in New York City and in other opera companies around the country, Ashcraft grew tired of dealing with agents and of trying to break into small, tight-knit opera companies as a new singer.
Ashcraft was invited back to Peoria to sing in a concert series and decided not to return to New York. He has since been teaching voice at Black Hawk and Augustana colleges and said, "I'm thrilled to be able to sing opera here in the Quad Cities, and there is an audience." He also said he is impressed with City Opera's progress: "The future of our opera company has no limits. [But] they really need some big sponsors in order to ensure their future."
Chris Scott is in his first contracted professional role. Besides studying music at Augustana, during the summer of his freshman year Scott studied at the Dorian Opera Theatre in Decorah, Iowa. The following summer, under the auspices of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he spent two months in Luca, Italy, at an opera workshop. He then participated in the Young Artist Vocal Competition, after which he landed the part of Marcello in La Bohème. He said that "being on the stage with professional singers and moving at such a fast pace [the company spends only two weeks rehearsing the opera] makes it very exciting."
Tickets for La Bohème are $20 for adult general-admission seating. For tickets, call the St. Ambrose University box office, (563)333-6251, or visit McKay Music and West Music in Davenport and Moline, or Griggs Music in Davenport.
