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The Connecticut Opera Guild has been sharing the magic of opera with as many people as possible. |
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The Connecticut Opera Guild has been sharing the magic of opera with as many people as possible. We are a group of opera enthusiasts who enjoy getting together, and in the process raise much-needed funds for The Connecticut Opera. Last year, the Connecticut Opera Guild awarded $18,000 in scholarships to young artists, and contributed over $20,000 to The Connecticut Opera for its 2006-2007 Season.
As Guild President, I am excited about the plans we have to promote and support our wonderful opera company in the new season. We invite you to join The Connecticut Opera Guild and help us make this the best—and most enjoyable—season ever.
hirteen years after the Connecticut Opera Association was established, Carl Lindstrom of the Hartford Times suggested that an Opera Guild ought to be formed. In May, 1954, the Connecticut Opera Guild came into being with Pauline and Carmen Kolodney at its head. The purposes were threefold: to support the Association, to promote OPERA, and to educate, especially for audience growth. I remember those early times when enthusiasm and exuberance ran high. I remember the Opera Ball at the Statler Hotel in November when so many of us met for the first time and became fast friends. From that time on the achievements of the Guild have been notable. Before each opera every member receives a chatty, four-page newsletter, ALLEGRO, which features the libretto, the cast, contributions to the Scholarship Fund, new members, and social activities accompanied often by photos. Our AUDITIONS program was begun by Robert E. Smith. Four prizes, The Frank Pandolfi, Edrie van Dore, Sue M. Wiesen, and Robert E. Smith, of $500 each and the Connecticut Opera Guild prize of $1,000 are awarded each year.
This history of the Connecticut Opera Guild was written by Micki Savin when the Guild was twenty eight years old. Twenty two years later, we’re adding a chapter to this organization’s exciting history.
An important event to be added was the establishment of the Connecticut Opera Guild Puppet Theatre in 1962, by the Guild's Education Chairperson and future President, Jeanne Grandahl. For many years the puppeteers—all Guild members—brought Opera productions to schools all over Connecticut. The puppets provided drama and music which enthralled the children. When "Opera Express" came to the Connecticut Opera in 1976, the puppets were retired. As we enter our fifty-fourth season, the Guild's threefold mission remains the same. The "Allegro" is still sent to all our members and Opera subscribers and is written and edited by Dan and Ruthanne Sullivan. The auditions program has grown from 4 awards in 1982 to twelve awards this past year and now totals over $18,000 in prize money.
Fund raising for the benefit of the Connecticut Opera continues to be a large part of our mission and we are always looking for new and interesting ways to help support the Opera. Over the years the Guild has donated substantial amounts to the Opera. Life has changed since the Guild was formed. With more women in the workplace, dynamic volunteer workers have become corporate executives with demanding jobs and family commitments. What hasn't changed is the love of the Opera; the need to support and cherish it; and the core members of the Guild who continue to work to fulfill the Guild's mission. We're looking forward to this season and the seasons to come. We invite you to join us in helping to assure Connecticut Opera's continued success.
Founded in 1942 under the directorship of Frank Pandolfi, The Connecticut Opera is the sixth oldest professional opera company in the United States. Under the dedicated leadership of Mr. Pandolfi, who served as General Manager for 32 years, The Connecticut Opera brought most of the major international opera stars of that time to Hartford.
The years following the Pandolfi era were dedicated to the task of restructuring towards a total theatrical company, with improved sets, lighting, costumes and stage and musical direction emphasizing young and talented artists on the rise, and away from the star system. In the mid-seventies, the opera's award-winning educational and touring company, Opera Express, was founded. To date, Opera Express has brought operatic programs to more than 3 million youths, senior and disadvantaged citizens in this region. During the early 1980's, The Connecticut Opera received national and international recognition through pioneer arena productions of Aïda and Turandot.
In the spring of 1999, the Board of Trustees embarked on an aggressive path of growth and re-invention for the company. This change in direction was marked by a change in management structure – from that of a single General Director to a management team headed by General and Artistic Director Willie Anthony Waters, and Managing Director Maria Levy, a position now held by Linda Jackson, dividing the artistic and administrative activities of the company.
The artistic goals of the company are to become one of the leading regional opera companies in the country, presenting a balanced mix of well-known and emerging artists, stage directors and conductors.
At the same time, The Connecticut Opera will continue to enrich the lives of the residents of Central New England, with the goal of expanding its outreach programs to serve a wider geographic and ethnically diverse constituency. The first step in achieving this goal was creating a new program related to our main stage productions, called "The Magic of Opera." Each year, approximately 1000 young children attend a behind-the-scenes look at an opera production at The Bushnell, hosted by General and Artistic Director Willie Anthony Waters and other members of the staff. In July of 2000, the company presented the first operatic concert in Bushnell Park, with orchestra, chorus and six talented soloists. Approximately 5,000 individuals attended the free event.
July of 2001 saw the beginning of a collaboration with Girls, Inc. of Hartford in a program funded by The Hartford and the Ellen Jeanne Goldfarb Memorial Charitable Trust. Now in its third year, the program, called "Take Center Stage," introduced 40 girls from Asylum Hill and other Hartford neighborhoods to opera.
It is the goal of Connecticut Opera to continue to elevate its artistic product, at the same time as reaching out to more and more diverse audiences through imaginative programming and outreach efforts.
MISSION STATEMENT
Connecticut Opera produces quality opera featuring well-known and emerging artists, stage directors and conductors, offers opera education and outreach programs that engage diverse communities, and introduces and encourages further appreciation of opera, while exercising fiscal responsibility.
VISION STATEMENT
Connecticut Opera will be recognized as a leading American regional opera company known for innovation, artistic excellence and community engagement.
Since 1942, Connecticut Opera has been producing high-quality opera, very often to critical acclaim, at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford.
Throughout the decades our audiences have experienced many magical moments of opera by some of the major international opera stars of the 20th Century, along with other world-class artists, our own Connecticut Opera Chorus, and the wonderful Hartford Symphony Orchestra, resident orchestra of Connecticut Opera.
While opera itself is magical, it is not magic. It is by its very nature an expensive art form, combining all of the arts, musical and visual.
Tickets sales cover only 40% of the cost of producing opera; the rest is funded by charitable gifts from people like you. This is why we need opera lovers like you to take a moment today to make a charitable gift to Connecticut Opera so can we continue to present those many magical moments of opera.
How can you support Connecticut Opera? There are many ways including making a donation to our Sustaining Fund, joining the Director's Circle Society, or becoming either a Corporate Sponsor or a Corporate Producer.
Don’t forget to check with your employer to see if they offer a matching gift program. Such matching gift programs can amplify the value of your gift to Connecticut Opera.
If you are looking to make a long-term investment in our financial future, then please check out our Planned Giving section of this website.
No matter how you choose to support Connecticut Opera, your financial support will also be sending a strong message to the community that Connecticut Opera is an essential and very special component of the cultural and artistic life in the Greater Hartford area, offering audiences performances rarely found in communities outside of America’s largest cities.
Please help a homebound Connecticut Opera fan!
For over five years, Connecticut Opera has been working with WNPR, Connecticut Public Radio to record and broadcast each of our operas. This partnership allows us to share our critically acclaimed performances once again with thousands of opera fans around Connecticut, some of whom can’t attend a live performance of the opera.
Each production is digitally recorded to ensure the highest sound quality possible so that every exciting musical note and emotional moment is vividly re-created. Although a very costly process, the use of digital recordings will allow each listener to close their eyes and imagine that they are sitting in the best seat in the house.
Just imagine the joy you will bring to a homebound opera fan with your gift to Connecticut Opera’s Broadcast Fund. Please take a moment today to make a contribution to the Broadcast Fund.
Be sure to check out our calendar for upcoming boradcasts. All are featured on WNPR's Sunday Spotlight Series and The evening's broadcast will include a narration by Maestro Willie Anthony Waters .
WNPR Connecticut Public Radio can be heard online at wnpr.org, on 90.5 FM in Hartford/New Haven, on 89.1 FM in Norwich/New London, on 88.5 FM in Stamford/Greenwich, on 91.3 FM in Southampton and on 99.5 FM in Storrs.
Memorials & Tributes
Are you looking for a unique gift for a friend or loved one? There’s no better gift for an opera lover than a donation made to Connecticut Opera in their name. A gift in honor of someone can be given for any special occasion including birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, or any major milestone in that special person’s life.
Memorial Gifts are a great way to honor the memory of loved one.
You too can have a gift made to Connecticut Opera in honor, or in memory, of you. Just tell your friends that instead of a traditional gift this year, you would like them to make a contribution to Connecticut Opera in your name.
All Gifts in Memory, or in Honor, of a friend or loved one will be listed in a special section of our playbills, with both your name and that of the honoree, for one-year from the date of your gift. Connecticut Opera will send a letter to those you have named, or their family, informing them of your gift without revealing the dollar amount of your gift. You will also receive a letter confirming your gift with the dollar amount listed for your tax records.
You can help ensure that the timeless beauty of opera continues to thrive in Hartford for generations to come by including Connecticut Opera in your Estate Planning with some form of Planned Giving.
What is Planned Giving?
Planned Giving is a process by you which you make provisions in your estate planning to support Connecticut Opera with a planned gift of assets from your estate. These assets may include, but are not limited to, cash, securities, property, or a qualified retirement plan. A planned gift may also take the form of naming Connecticut Opera as a beneficiary in a Life Insurance Policy, or creating an endowment to support general or specific operatic costs.
Regardless of the form, planned gifts have many tax and legal considerations, therefore it is best to consult your estate planning professional in determining how best to support Connecticut Opera through Planned Giving.
Bequests
One of the easiest ways to support Connecticut Opera through Planned Giving is to include us in your will with a simple bequest. Below is an example of the language that you can use to bequeath a gift to Connecticut Opera.
“I give, devise and bequeath to the Connecticut Opera Association, Hartford, Connecticut, a non-profit corporation existing under the laws of the State of Connecticut, {insert amount of bequest, either a specific $ amount or a % of your estate} to be used for its general objectives and purposes.”
Pandolfi Society
The Pandolfi Society is a growing group of individuals who have chosen to support the long-term financial health of Connecticut Opera through planned giving. The Society is named after Frank Pandolfi, the founder and long time General Director of Connecticut Opera. And as a way of thanking you for your thoughtful planning, with your permission, we will recognize you in our playbills as a member of The Pandolfi Society.
The arts enrich the community…
Few cities the size of Hartford can boast a resident opera company that presents a full season of fully staged opera every year, which is why supporting Connecticut Opera as a Corporate Sponsor or Corporate Producer is a good “investment” in Greater Hartford.
A 2005 economic impact study produced by Americans for the Arts, with funding provided by the Greater Hartford Arts Council, concluded that the Arts & Heritage sector in Greater Hartford generated $244 million in direct local economic activity. More importantly, the study found that the economic impact of the arts in Greater Hartford is more than three times the national average.
Connecticut Opera helps generate part of that local economic activity by regularly drawing audience members from throughout Southern New England. Help us continue to stimulate the local economy by becoming a Connecticut Opera Corporate Sponsor.
Connecticut Opera offers a variety of Corporate Sponsorship packages ranging from $2,500 to $100,000. A package can be tailor-made to your requirements, to include tickets and opportunities to entertain clients and executives, or to sponsor specific programs and initiatives.
Another great way to show your company’s support of Connecticut Opera is to join the Connecticut Opera Corporate Producers. Membership in the Corporate Producers includes many great benefits for you and your employees such as employee discounts for tickets to each of our operas.
Delve Into Online Learning With OPERA America
OPERA America’s Online Learning Series is back and better than ever, with a full season of four courses on opera masterworks. Next up is Rossini’s La Cenerentola. The course will run from February 13 through March 5, 2008, with a link to a new lecture sent each week over e-mail.
What is Online Learning?
Designed as a service for opera lovers and those who wish to learn more about the art form, our courses provide an in-depth understanding of masterpieces of opera literature using the unique capacity and convenience of the Internet.
Each online course features content that focuses on the historical background, musical style, literary source, and the dramatic structure of an opera. Course lectures are e-mailed to participants once each week for four weeks, allowing you to review the course material at your own pace. Audio clips and production photos are also provided, aiding in the study of musical style and analysis. Online bulletin boards are used to connect course participants to the instructor and each other.
About the Course
A retelling of the story of Cinderella, this opera has it all: an underdog, a love story, and two delicious villainesses. Rossini, the comic genius responsible for The Barber of Seville, wrote this opera in a little over three weeks; this course will take four weeks to consider the work's story, music, performance traditions, and productions over the years.
Meet Your Instructor
Denise Gallo is a specialist in nineteenth-century Italian opera. Formerly an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Music History Division at The Catholic University of America, she holds a doctorate in Historical Musicology. Active in arts education, she is a frequent lecturer for Washington Opera, the Baltimore Opera Company, Washington Concert Opera, the Smithsonian Associates, and Summer Opera Theatre Company. In 2006, she was a featured lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Education Series.
An active scholar, she presents her research at national and international musicological conferences. Her book, Opera: The Basics, was published in 2006 by Routledge. Other publications include a book on Rossini and a chapter on the libretto of Verdi’s Falstaff for The Verdi Sourcebook (Toccata Press). She is also preparing the volume of banda music for the Critical Edition of the Works of Gioachino Rossini, to be published by Bärenreiter Press in 2008 and is at work on a book entitled Walt Whitman and Music: “I and my recitatives.”
Dr. Gallo is one of the senior music specialists at the Library of Congress.
Ask the Questions You Want Answered
In addition the Web-based course materials, you will be able to interact with Dr. Gallo, and other course participants through our online discussion board, where new questions will be posted each week. You will have the opportunity to offer comments, and pose any burning questions you may have.
Registration
As a patron of Connecticut Opera, you can have access to La Cenerentola free of charge. To register, send an e-mail with your name, street address, and the e-mail address where you would like to receive the course information to aisaacs@ctopera.org.
2007-2008 Season
In addition to La Cenerentola, three other courses are available this season. To learn more, and register for these courses, click here.
The Education and Outreach Programs of Connecticut Opera
For over 30 years, Opera Express has traveled to schools, theaters, libraries, assisted living facilities, and other public places to bring the magic of opera to young and old alike. Our specially-designed programs provide an engaging and enjoyable introduction to opera for everyone from elementary school children to senior citizens. Programs vary in length from 30 to 45 minutes, and are sure to provide an audience-friendly experience with this unique art form.
Questions about Connecticut Opera? We'd be glad to help.
Events
October 16, 2006, 11:30 am – Tosca Lunch and Listen
The Town and County Club, 22 Woodland Street, Hartford
$30/person
Join the Connecticut Opera Guild for a behind the scenes look at the dramatic production of Tosca with Connecticut Opera Resident Artists performing selections by this brilliant composer, Giacomo Puccini. For tickets and information call Carol Rentz at 860-521-0007.
May 17, 2008, 12:00 pm – Connecticut Opera Guild’s 54th Annual Young Artist Scholarship Competition
$10, $5 for students and seniors
Enjoy an afternoon of your favorite arias and discover the opera stars of tomorrow as more than 30 hopefuls compete for $23,000 in prize money. The First Prize winner will receive $10,000. Contact Ruthanne Sullivan at 860-673-4279 or application information located here.
Connecticut Opera Association
226 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT 06105
Phone: (860) 527-0713
Fax: (860) 293-1715
Email: info@ctopera.org |
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