Opera Grand Rapids Transforms Scalia/Ginsburg into Virtual Performance

In Face of Global Pandemic, Opera Grand Rapids Transforms Scalia/Ginsburg into Virtual Performance

The Show Will Go On: Grand Rapids Company One of First in World to Stage Comic Opera

Grand Rapids, Michigan, March 13, 2020 – While arts organizations around the country canceled performances and closed their doors, Opera Grand Rapids found a way to bring a performance safely to its community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rather than risk gathering a large audience in a confined space, the company received unprecedented permission from composer and librettist Derrick Wang to record and share the performance of Scalia/Ginsburg with ticket holders. The cast will perform in front of a very small audience at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center, where the production will be recorded by Aria Show Technology and then virtually broadcast to ticket holders.

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Collegiate Vocal Competition Finalists Announced

COLLEGE VOCALISTS TO COMPETE IN GRAND RAPIDS FOR ONE OF OPERA’S TOP PRIZES

Opera Grand Rapids is pleased to announce the finalists in its National Collegiate Vocal Competition, which offers one of the largest collegiate vocal prizes in the Nation.

For fifteen years, Opera Grand Rapids (OGR), Michigan’s oldest and longest-running professional opera company, has hosted a collegiate vocal consortium, giving experiential benefits and hosting a competition for collegiate members.  In this, the company’s fifty-second season, OGR expanded the competition to a National level and collected applicants from ten states.

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Learn more about the Collegiate Vocal Competition here.

OGR Welcomes Alexandra Galla as Box Office and Community Relations Manager

Alexandra Galla is a recent graduate of Western Michigan University with a degree in Vocal Performance. Ms. Galla has performed with Opera Grand Rapids as a Chorus member in The Magic Flute and La Traviata, was the winner of the 2017-18 Collegiate Vocal Competition, and has been a part of the Opera Grand Rapids Emerging Artist program. Ms. Galla works part-time in the Box Office, and will join the staff full-time in September as the Opera’s Box Office and Community Relations Manager.

Opera Grand Rapids Announces 2019-2020 Season

For its 52nd Season of great operatic spectacles, Opera Grand Rapids is excited to bring to West Michigan two stunning performances: Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado and Puccini’s Turandot. 

“We are thrilled to bring to life two iconic works for our Grand Rapids audiences for the up-coming season. By pairing Gilbert & Sullivan’s beloved satire The Mikado with Puccini’s final opera Turandot, Opera Grand Rapids offers two truly contrasting stories, continuing the company’s long-standing reputation for providing unique musical experiences to the community.”

– James Meena, Artistic Director at Opera Grand Rapids

Opera Grand Rapids will open the 2019-20 performance season with The Mikado, at St. Cecilia Music Center on November 1-2, 2019. The production will feature the robust voice and excellent comedic timing of opera “buffo” role expert Steven Condy, under the stage direction of rising star Eve Summer who has been described as having “a gift for translating classical symbolism into familiar detail.

Bookending the performance season, Opera Grand Rapids will present a fully-staged, traditional telling of Puccini’s deathbed masterpiece, Turandot, on May 1-2, 2020 at DeVos Performance Hall. Known for her “voice of true substance,” soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra will make her debut with the company as the legendary ice princess, Turandot.

Read the full press release here.

Opera Grand Rapids Announces a new Executive Director, Emilee Syrewicze

Opera Grand Rapids is excited to announce the appointment of our new Executive Director, Emilee Syrewicze.

“We are thrilled to welcome Emilee as our new Executive Director. She will bring experience, enthusiasm, great communication skills, and a fresh air to our organization. We feel very lucky to have found her and look forward to a successful and invigorating season with her at the helm.”         

– Diane St. Claire, Opera Grand Rapids Board of Trustees President

Syrewicze currently serves as the Executive Director of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior, she was Executive Director of the Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing (NMSH) in Traverse City, Michigan. Syrewicze, a classically trained pianist, earned a B.A. at Alma College, Alma, Michigan, in Political Science with concentrations in chemistry and music and a J.D. with a focus on nonprofit and environmental law/policy at Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vermont.

“As a native of West Michigan, I consider Opera Grand Rapids my home opera company. I’m thrilled to lead one of Michigan’s most elite performing arts organizations and help bring this complex and beautiful art form to a broader audience.”

– Emilee Syrewicze

Emilee will join the company on May 1, 2019 and will oversee the remainder of the company’s 2018-19 Season, including the Night with the Opera Gala on May 10 and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, June 14th -15th.

“We have every confidence that she will bring a firm commitment to excellence, the hallmark of our company. Opera Grand Rapids continues to move forward as a vibrant and important regional cultural institution, and with our new Executive Director in place, the company can excel for the benefit of our entire community for years to come.”

Maestro James Meena, Artistic Director

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