As a non-profit organization with the mission to present high-quality, live opera to the community, you can imagine that we might need a few things each season. That’s where you come in!
This is a listing of just some of the materials Opera Grand Rapids needs to utilize each season to bring you the live art-form of opera. From office supplies to facility maintenance materials and as far out as wigs, glow tape, and sewing machines: there are hundreds of ways in which you can donate small items to make a big impact at Opera Grand Rapids.
An easy way to support Opera Grand Rapids’ needs list is through the Opera Grand Rapids Amazon personal page: http://a.co/5103YGD, or to pick up any of these items during your next shopping trip download the pdf here. If you shop on-line, follow the links to purchase and mail these needs directly to Opera Grand Rapids. All donated items are eligible for a Tax Receipt for the value you paid for each item.
For questions, please contact our Development Director, Angela Freier at afreier@operagr.org or 616-451-2741 ext. 106.
Fresh off the heels of celebrating 50 years, Opera Grand Rapids continues to elevate the vocal arts with its community-supported professional opera productions, creating opportunities for local talent to work alongside star-studded international artists.
Productions of Mozart’s final masterpiece The Magic Flute and Verdi’s La Traviata join other outstanding performances and programs to create yet another stunning season of opera in West Michigan. We asked Maestro James Meena to share with us why he selected these two classic productions for Opera Grand Rapids 51st season.
Why these selections, The Magic Flute and La Traviata, this year? What draws you to them?
These are two masterworks of the opera cannon that are beloved by opera goers across the globe, and which are excellent operas for first timers. Our Grand Rapids audiences have shown time and again that they revere Mozart, as do I, and we expect the opening of this new season to be a tremendous success with the production of his masterpiece The Magic Flute. Since the grand opera is being performed in English, at DeVos Performance Hall, it is the perfect opera to introduce young people. The Magic Flute is a comedy and for audiences to appreciate the immediacy of the piece, English is the right choice.
We have been considering performances at St. Cecilia for several months. Knowing that the company last performed The Student Prince there, we wanted to truly test the venue with a traditional opera. La Traviata is ideal to showcase great talent like Elizabeth Caballero performing her signature role of Violetta Valery in a setting that is intimate and immediate – just like Verdi’s great opera. Elizabeth and I performed La Traviata a few seasons ago. She is an exceptional artist and presenting exceptional artists in beautiful productions is our goal every time the curtain rises.
The experience of attending an opera performance is unlike anything else. Opera speaks to us on both an emotional and intellectual level at once. The timeless stories of the Opera speak to people of all generations and ethnicities. The music is iconic, familiar and moving, which is why we continue to perform masterpieces like Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Verdi’s La Traviata.
Since May, Opera Grand Rapids has continued to gain momentum in the transition and expansion of our Leadership and Governing teams. Long-time patron and Opera Grand Rapids Board of Trustees member, Win S. Irwin, has generously stepped down from his position on the Board to become the Opera’s full time Interim Executive Director. Win will serve in this crucial capacity during the Executive Search Committee’s National search for a new leader for the organization. Win is working to prepare the organization for the its up-coming 2018-19 Season and solidify major systems, plans, and processes.
The Executive Search Committee for Opera Grand Rapids’ new Executive Director was formed in June 2018 and has been meeting regularly to discuss the steps and progress of the on-going national search. The committee is made-up of local community leaders, major OGR supporters and investors, and other associated parties. The Search Committee’s aim is to begin interviewing candidates over the next 60 days with the goal to appoint the new Executive Director by October/November 2018.
Over the past 6 months, the Opera Grand Rapids Board of Trustees has gained 4 new, outstanding members: Mr. Peter Hahn – CEO of Metro Health – University of Michigan Health; Cassandra Hayes – Executive Communications and Corporate Affairs of Amway; Madelaine Lane – Partner at Warner, Norcross, & Judd; Thomas Bandyk – Community Volunteer. We are thrilled to have each of these valued community members join our Governing team and we look forward to the progressive and exciting work we will accomplish together for opera here in West Michigan.
As each of our Leadership teams expands and advances, Opera Grand Rapids will continue to work towards its founding mission to provide high quality live opera to the West Michigan community.
Artists from Opera Grand Rapids andWest Michigan Opera Project performed a variety of music including opera, Spanish Zarzuela, and songs celebrating the rich and varied Latin culture Saturday, August 11 with 2 performances on theCalder PlazaStage.
Thank you to the Hispanic Center of Western Michiganfor inviting us to partake in this year’s Grand Rapids Hispanic Festival, their organizations annual flagship event. This year’sfestival ran August 10th through August 12th. As afree and open to the public event, the festival featuredstage entertainment, artisan vendors, Latin American food vendors, kids activities, and other unique events.
The Hispanic Center of Western Michigan is celebrating 40 years and is a non-profit organization serving the needs of the Latino and broader community to provide avenues for education and openness by promoting the discussion of the distinctions and values of different nationalities and
cultures.
Opera Grand Rapids enjoyed being a part of this celebration of culture in the heart of Grand Rapids on this beautiful and sunny day. Opera Grand Rapids would also like to thank Meijer for continuing to support Opera In the Community.
A glimpse into Rigoletto from Stage Director Stephanie Havey
Stephanie Havey
Verdi’s Rigoletto is based on Victor Hugo’s 1832 play Le Roi S’amuse (The King Amuses Himself), which centers on the excesses of a cynical and ruthless king who revels in the cruel treatment of his courtiers, particularly his jester. Hugo’s play was met with censorship issues from the beginning. The censors feared that the character of the ruthless king mocked the current king of France, and therefore banned the play after one performance.
To avoid Hugo’s difficulties with censors, Verdi moved the play from the French court to Mantua Italy and changed the king to a duke. He also changed the title of the opera to La Maledizione (The Curse) and eventually changed it again, to Rigoletto. Both titles shifted the focus of the story from the depravity of the master to the drama of his jester. The plot now focused on the tragic story of Rigoletto, who is trapped in an impossible predicament and who eventually suffers one of man’s most horrid fates.
Our production remains in the original setting of the Renaissance, with elaborate period costumes and painterly images. Hovering above our set is the pristine model of an unobtainable ideal city, based on a painting by Piero della Francesca. Below, we find ourselves drawn into the dangerous, corrupt court and that of a sinister, dark world around it. The shadowy world of the Duke is ruled by desire and the pursuit of power. The courtiers become voyeurs to the Duke’s entertainments and wait like birds of prey for their share of the spoils. Those who fall victim to the quickly shifting alliances at court will surely find dishonor, or even death. At the end of the first scene, Rigoletto and the Duke are cursed by Monterone, one such dishonored courtier. This curse represents a moment of mental collapse for Rigoletto and becomes the catalyst for the events of the opera.
The jester instantly begins to view the world through a lens of fear and paranoia that confuses nightmares with reality. Images from the Duke’s court reappear and become increasingly distorted and grotesque as Rigoletto is overwhelmed by his obsessive fear. Outside of the court, the world is dark and empty. In Rigoletto’s home, there is only an angelic visage watching over his daughter Gilda. This image represents the mother figure that Gilda so desperately clings to as a source of hope and salvation. In the final scene, there is only the image of a body with no face, representing both an object of desire and the indifferent fate of Sparafucile’s victim. The imagery becomes more heightened and focused until finally Rigoletto is left alone in the dark with only the ideal city to remind him how far he has fallen. This production is an exploration of the psyche of Rigoletto, while always seeking to honor Verdi’s idea of the character as “grossly deformed and absurd but inwardly passionate and full of love.”
-Stephanie Havey
October 13 & 14 | 7:30 PM | DeVos Performance Hall
As a non-profit organization with the mission to present high-quality, live opera to the community, you can imagine that we might need a few things each season. That’s where you come in!
Artists from Opera Grand Rapids and 
