The Opera Guild assists local voice students, both undergraduate and graduate, with scholarships, grants, competitive prizes, and opportunities to perform for the community.
Arizona Opera Company’s hit Riders of the Purple Sage, which premiered in 2017 to sold-out houses, returns this season. With it comes a new full-length film documenting the creation and production of this instant classic. (Learn more about the film and AZ Opera’s upcoming performances.)
Kristin Atwell Ford of Quantum Leap Productions, Emery Award winning film maker, co-produced this documentary focusing on the collaborative process. The film travels from the untamed frontier that inspired Zane Grey’s iconic novel over a century ago to the intimate workings of the modern artistic process behind this new American opera.
You can see Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera on Saturday, February 22, at noon in The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., presented by the Arizona Opera League of Tucson. The cost is $15. Get your tickets by writing to Fran Loubet, 6153 N. Pascola Circle, Tucson, AZ 85718, enclosing a check made out to the AZ Opera League of Tucson.
And remember to attend the Opera Guild‘s free previews of the opera on February 28 in Tucson or March 2 in Oro Valley. Yes, there are two distinct organizations promoting opera in Tucson, with similar names. Both are worthy of your support.
If you missed 2019’s Quest, get some of the visual flavor with these photos by Howard Weiss. For the full experience, watch videos of all the graduate and undergraduate arias.
Congratulations to all the singers who helped make this year’s Quest for the Best an outstanding success. Thanks to the generosity of donors and attendees we awarded over $8,000 in prizes, with all singers receiving prize money. The top award winners are noted below; click on their names to go directly to videos of their arias. Or view (and download) all the graduate and undergraduate arias.
Left to right: Shainy Manuel, Crystal Kachevas, Erika Burkhart, Frannie Barrows, Chunghee Lee, Diana Peralta, Yuchen Luo, Kristen Lucas. (photo: Howard Weiss)
| Rank | Amount | Donor | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| First (tie) | $1250 | OGSA in honor of Patrick and Patricia Schifano | Chunghee Lee |
| First (tie) | $1250 | OGSA in memory of Stokes Tolbert | Diana Peralta |
| Third | $750 | Mary Casady in memory of Richard L Casady | Yuchen Luo |
Left to right: Simon Faddoul, Lylah Field, David Ingram, Bridget Marlowe, Jinzhou Jia, Kelsie Grimsley, Ezra Zurita, Emma Petersen. (Photo: Howard Weiss)
| Rank | Amount | Donor | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | $800 | Anonymous | Emma Petersen |
| Second | $600 | Carolyn & Russ Russo | Ezra Zurita |
| Third | $500 | Patrick and Patricia Schifano | Kelsie Grimsley |
OGSA previews Arizona Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro April 1 in Oro Valley and April 5 in Tucson. Past president Carol Garrard considers the socio-political background of the opera and the play it is based on.
When Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, he said, “So you are the little lady who made this great war.” And indeed, her book did play a role in marshaling Northern opinion against slavery. But how many Americans know about the role the French author Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais played in the role of helping the infant United States in their revolution against the British King George III? And even more astonishing, how many know the role his play, The Marriage of Figaro had in setting off the French Revolution which would not only topple the French monarchy but send King Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette to the guillotine?
Napoleon came to describe The Marriage of Figaro as “the Revolution already in action.” But was he referring to Beaumarchais’ play or Mozart’s opera? Exploring the answer takes us on a fascinating journey: where art ends, and history begins.
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