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Longwood Opera
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Scott Brumit, the co-founder and current general director
of Longwood Opera, compares the training of an opera singer to that
of an athlete:
Both
must learn by doing.
The
Boston area has plenty of conservatories and universities with excellent
music programs - but provides few opportunities for young singers
to practice and gain experience in their art.
Why?
Producing opera is a costly undertaking.
Most major companies are reluctant to risk using "unseasoned"
singers in leading roles.
Scotty
Brumit and John Balme were willing to take that risk. They
founded Longwood Opera in 1986 to give locally-based performers
a chance to establish themselves as professional artists.
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continue the sports metaphor: Longwood works as baseball farm
team - the Pawtucket Red Sox of opera. |
While
part of the company's mission is to prepare singers for the
next stage in their operatic careers, success in achieving this
goal can bring joy mixed with a little sadness, as favorite
artists move on. |
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As a result, audiences can enjoy a performance
cast with singers drawn from several generations of the Longwood
roster
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Happily,
many singers keep their local ties and may express interest
in learning a new role in one of our productions.
As more people seek performing arts careers in a climate of
dwindling opportunity, Longwood Opera has matured into a valuable
forum for the young, talented artist. |
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achieves its commitment to local artists by using a cooperative
system. Many of the roles in each production are double- or
even triple-cast, allowing several singers to perform the same
role.
As a result, over the past seventeen years hundreds of singers
have had an opportunity to practice their craft as members
of the company.
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Jeffrey
Brody |
Composers
need support, too.
Longwood
has already had the privilege of providing commissions for
composers and then staging the premiers of their new works:
Friends and Dinosaurs, by Charles Shadle, was first performed
in 1989. The spring of 2001 marked the premier of a new work,
The Measure of Love,
composed by Longwood's conductor, Jeffrey Brody, with a libretto
by Richard Sizensky, commissioned and performed by Longwood
Opera.
Jeffrey
Brody on composing an opera for Longwood
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Since
1990, Christ Episcopal Church
in Needham has served as our base of operations for auditions
and rehearsals, and as a performance space for many full productions
as well as for our Summer Concert Series.
We
are also committed to bringing opera to communities throughout the
greater Boston area. Longwood provides professional-level performances
for local audiences without the inconveniences of expense or travel.
So
Longwood has a double mission: to give young artists a chance to
practice their craft - and to provide Opera for All! |
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Who's Who at Longwood Opera:
Scott
Brumit, General Director
Jeffrey Brody, Musical Director
Wayne Ward, Musical Director
Robert Monaghan, Production Coordinator
Shelley Monaghan, Production Coordinator
Elaine Senay, Photographer & Historian
Roger Mansen, Technical Advisor
Marion Leeds Carroll, Webmistress |
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Longwood
Opera
42 Hawthorne Avenue
Needham, Massachusetts 02492-3806
For
more information call (781) 455-0960 or send e-mail to Encore@LongwoodOpera.org
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