“There’s a competition for opera singing?”  This is a question that I get asked quite a lot.  Yes!  There is a competition for opera singing.  In fact, there are hundreds of them around the world.  This week, it was our turn at Palm Beach Opera as it is our 41st Annual Vocal Competition and Grand Finals Concert.

The competition weekend starts with two days of semi-finals during which the competitors sing in front of our panel of judges.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the competition!

Here are some exclusive pics taken backstage at Don Giovanni:

A view of the stage which is basically a big white box (a blank canvas, if you will) that showcases the drama of the opera.

A view from backstage showing one of the entrances to the stage and lighting.  Light plays an important role in this production.

Masks and guns on the prop table.

Candelabras lined up on a prop table.

Buy tickets to DON GIOVANNI today www.pbopera.org

One of our Don Ottavios, our very own Vale Rideout took some beautiful photos in rehearsal the other day and I’d like to share them with you.  More are available on our Flickr as well.  Enjoy!

Rehearsals have started for our production of Otello (January 22-25) and I want to give you a first hand look at the rehearsal process.

Musical rehearsals have ended – this is where the singers rehearse just with Maestro Aprea and work out the musical aspects of the show.  Staging rehearsals have started – this is where the singers work with the director and Maestro Aprea to physically stage the show.

First the director (here is our director Bernard Uzan) talks to the cast about the scene that they are about to stage:

Then, he works with the cast and shows them where to go on the stage:

Then, the singers practice the directions they have just been giving while singing the music:

All of these rehearsals are accompanied by piano – in this case our Assistant Conductor & Chorus Master Greg Ritchey is playing:

Stay tuned for more exclusive rehearsal photos from Otello!

NOVEMBER 13-22

Nov. 14 – 8am-1pm: West Palm Beach GreenMarket

Nov. 15 – 2pm: The Great Poochini Story Hour

Nov. 17 – 6-8pm: Opera Talk & Reception

Nov. 19: Opera @ Old School, Old School Square

LEARN MORE ABOUT NATIONAL OPERA WEEK

DID YOU KNOW?

Ticket sales cover only 1/3 of what it costs to produce grand opera.

To make up the difference, we rely on people like you who make financial contributions throughout the year.

You can make a difference with a contribution of just $10!

Check out this video from our General Director:

AN INTERVIEW WITH VALE RIDEOUT

Palm Beach Opera: Tell us a bit about your hometown.
Vale Rideout: I grew up in Fort Collins, CO. It’s a town halfway between Denver and Cheyenne, WY. I was very fortunate to have a very musical family and a musical/theatrical community there. The school system was very supportive of the arts and I created many lasting friendships in the performing opportunities that were provided me. Fort Collins was a wonderful place to grow up for many reasons – my favorite reason being the accessibility of the mountains and all activities associated with them: Skiing, hiking, camping, canoeing, biking, etc.

PBO:What is your first musical memory?
VR: I remember singing with my parents and sister when I was very young. We would sing songs together as my parents would play instruments. I’m not sure of an exact moment, but singing around the campfire was always one of the strongest memories of mine growing up.

PBO: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
VR: I knew when I was 12 that I wanted to be on the stage. My parents got my sister and me involved with theater in school and in the community and I knew from an early age what I wanted to do.

PBO: What is your favorite music to sing?
VR: This is a difficult question to answer because I have grown to appreciate so many types of music. I also have performed quite a few different styles in my college education and the time since. In opera, my favorite composers are Mozart, Britten, Donizetti, Gounod and some of my favorite roles are Edgardo, Romeo, Peter Quint, Tom Rakewell, Belmonte, Rodolfo and Faust. I’m sure I’ve forgotten many, but the difficulty in coming up with a few favorites is that with the fantastic quality and variety of operas, the one you’re seeing or performing at the time has the tendency of becoming my favorite.

PBO: If you weren’t a singer, what career would you try?
VR: I have thought about this a number of times and there are a few careers I think would give me satisfaction (though not like being on the stage). I would enjoy being an architect, a sound designer, computer programmer, photographer, teacher of music or a lawyer. It is quite a varied list, but it reflects the range of things I think would challenge me like being a singer challenges me.

See Vale in our production of DON GIOVANNI in February 2010.

For the past few years, our face to the public has been defined by our stunning opera illustrations.  Many people inquire about them and who creates them.

All of the illustrations are commissioned by Palm Beach Opera from Mark Stutzman.  You probably have seen his work and not even known it.  He is best known for creating the “Young Elvis Stamp” for the US Post Office.

The artistic and marketing staff at Palm Beach Opera, along with our ad agency The Boner Group, work with Mark over the course of at lease a couple of months to create the illustrations.

The first part of the process is to have a phone conference wtih Mark in which we go over all of the upcoming operas including plot and character information.  From this inital conversation,  Mark creates the first pencil sketches.   Here is an example of an initial pencil sketch for last season’s Norma illustration:

From there, we make some slight changes and Mark submits a new “tight pencil” sketch.  You’ll notice that the illustration is much more detailed:

After this stage, we move ahead and Mark adds basic color to the illustration.  Here is the same Norma illustration with the rough color added:

Finally, we move to the finished product:

Our illustrations are then used in all of our print ads, web ads, brochures, postcards, and they are even turned into posters.

We’re currently working on the illustrations for the 2009-2010 season so stay tuned to our website on July 15 when they are unveiled.

All illustrations were created by Mark Stutzman and are property of Palm Beach Opera. Unauthorized reproduction of  any image contained in this blog post is strictly prohibited.