Category: News

The classical arts have a special relationship to one another. In the world of grand opera, orchestration, song, dance and theatre all come together to create the final larger-than-life product. Take, for example, Opera Grand Rapids 2007 production of Carmen, which featured both the Grand Rapids Ballet on the stage and the Grand Rapids Symphony in the orchestra pit.

When marrying art forms, there are limitless creative possibilities. In combination, we create experiences that are richer than each independent art form.

On June 8, members of Grand Rapids Ballet join forces with Opera Grand Rapids’ Emerging Artists to share a unique coming together of art forms. Opera Fusion–a performance featuring a juxtaposition of operatic vocals, popular music, and unconventional orchestrations–includes elements of opera, visual art and dance.

Dale Schriemer, Opera Grand Rapids Emerging Artists Program Director, says that the element of dance in the performance will help to bring to life the narrative behind the music.

“What is suggested in the music and lyrics is realized visually by Yuka Oba’s choreography. We see the intense human drama where life and death meet.”

Providing choreography for the performance is Grand Rapids Ballet dancer Yuka Oba, a member of the company since 2011. Developing the choreography alongside the music was a new challenge for her.

“It was very interesting and challenging to build choreography around the opera music. When I choreograph a piece based on music, I usually choreograph dance movements that look like the dancer is playing the instrument, and for the parts where the singer’s voice is the strongest, I choose to choreograph simpler movement. Because opera already has such a strong expressive power, I realized that the dancer and singer each have an important, independent role to play—this is where the balance between the two becomes the magic of the piece.”

Other company dancers from Grand Rapids Ballet performing are Micaelina Ritschl, Connie Flachs, Clare Schellenberg, and Steven Houser.

Opera Fusion will feature Opera Grand Rapids’ talented young artists juxtaposing traditional arias with different musical genres. In addition to performances of your favorite opera arias, fresh operatic vocals will mash with popular songs to create surprisingly beautiful sounds. Tickets to Opera Fusion are now sale now through Ticketmaster or the Opera Grand Rapids Box Office, 616.451.2741. Learn more about Opera Fusion.

The Barber of Seville’s most famous aria is “Largo al factotum,” though Bugs Bunny fans may know it simply as “Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!” The title character, local barber Figaro, belts this tongue-twisting piece by way of introduction, establishing a personality at once bombastic, bold, and able.

Perhaps the barber had a taste of what Vivant was brewing.

Opera Grand Rapids has teamed up with Brewery Vivant to launch a beer celebrating the Opera’s upcoming production. Fermented with Biere de Garde yeast, the “Beer of Seville” is a Belgian dark amber brewed with Spanish orange peel. The beer features notes of caramel and raisin from the malt. Orange peel and Palisade hops lend a citrus flavor and aroma.

If you want a taste of this delicious beer, mark your calendar.

Brewery Vivant will host a “Beer of Seville” launch party, featuring live performances from the Opera Grand Rapids Chorus. The event will be held 5:00-8:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 23 at the brewery. Live music, beer, food and merriment: you won’t want to miss it!

Details on the event can be found at the Event Page.

 

A look back at Opera Grand Rapids Flash Mob at Brewery Vivant

Opera Grand Rapids and Brewery Vivant have a history of having fun together.

In December 2015, Opera Grand Rapids entertained an unsuspecting crowd of beer drinkers at Brewery Vivant’s 5th Anniversary Party with a surprise performance of the lighthearted operatic favorite, “The Drinking Song.” Opera Grand Rapids Emerging Artists jumped on the tables and encouraged the crowd to “Drink! Drink! Drink!” in celebration of the best beer city in the USA.

Watch the surprise performance here.

 

 

Meet Opera Grand Rapids Artistic Director Maestro James Meena. In charge of programming and educational initiatives beginning in the 2017-2018 season—the same season Opera Grand Rapids celebrates its 50-year legacy— Mo. Meena’s duties include selecting repertoire, hiring guest artists and production teams, auditioning singers, and ensuring the artistic excellence of all Opera Grand Rapids’ productions and programs.

Maestro Meena joins Opera Grand Rapids succeeding the departure of Maestro Robert Lyall, former Artistic Director and Conductor for the company since 1989. The decision to appoint Meena follows the completion of a recent strategic study and focus on the creation of a new five-year roadmap for the company.

“Given his extensive expertise and proven accomplishments, Maestro Meena was a clear choice to fill our needs in the areas of artistic leadership with enhanced community engagement,” Opera Grand Rapids Board President Bob Evett said. “He will be instrumental in crafting and implementing our vision for the company.”

Revered for both his conducting and artistic vision, Mo. Meena consistently earns critical acclaim for his work at the podium. The breadth of his repertoire is represented by the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Puccini, Berlioz and Verdi. On opera stages, he has conducted legendary singers including Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, James McCracken, Mignon Dunn, Marilyn Horne, Jerome Hines, Diana Soviero, Jerry Hadley, Mark Delavan and Marcello Giordani.

Throughout his career, Meena has been committed to ensuring visionary excellence and advancement of the cultural institutions he leads. Opera Grand Rapids General Director Anne Berquist predicts a period of renewed growth for the company as a result of his leadership.

“Maestro Meena is not only an exceptional leader, his artistic vision is unmatched. There is no doubt that he will usher in a new era of excellence and creativity for Opera Grand Rapids and be a wonderful addition to the Grand Rapids arts community at large,” Berquist said.

Maestro Meena’s duties include choosing repertoire, selecting guest artists and production teams, auditioning singers alongside Opera Grand Rapids Chorus Master Dr. Patrick Coyle, and ensuring artistic excellence of all Opera Grand Rapids’ productions and programs. Meena is also expected to have a central role in outreach and patron relations.

Grand Rapids audiences can expect to see Mo. Meena at the podium, among other guest conductors.

Since becoming General Director and Principal Conductor of Opera Carolina, Mo. Meena has demonstrated exceptional leadership, vision and finesse in the area of philanthropic development, having expanded the Opera Carolina season from three to four main-stage productions, as well as adding an annual Gala Benefit Concert. He expanded the Education touring company from eight-weeks to 17-weeks, and, in the face of government funding cutbacks, generated twice the requisite private sector funding needed. Since 2000, Opera Carolina’s budget has increased from $1.9 million to $3.5 million, and has posted positive fund balances in each of these years.

Opera Grand Rapids hopes to experience a similar growth from Maestro Meena’s leadership. Meena has already begun fervently mapping the course for the company’s upcoming seasons with much excitement.

“West Michigan is a wonderful area brimming with creative opportunity. My mind is a buzz with ideas for broadening opera’s footprint and impact on the community,” Meena said. “There is so much that can be done to excite the hearts and minds of those we engage, and I am thrilled to be working to set these plans in motion.”

Opera Grand Rapids will kick off its 50^th anniversary mounting two large-scale productions at DeVos Performance Hall, a chamber opera at its home location, the Betty Van Andel Opera Center—featuring newly-installed theatre seating, a grandiose gala celebration, plus other activities. More details are to be announced this spring.

Beyond his leadership skills, Mo. Meena is a seasoned veteran at the podium. His conducting has been called “awe-inspiring” (Voix des Arts of Mo), “spot on” and “the best I’ve ever heard” (Opera Magazine).

Maestro Meena has been a frequent guest conductor with leading orchestras and opera companies in the United States, Italy, Taipei, Korea, Canada and Mexico, including the première of “Transit of Venus” by the Canadian team of composer Victor Davies and librettist Maureen Hunter, recorded for national broadcast on the CBC. His Opera Carolina performances of “Faust,” “Eugene Onegin,” and “Il trovatore” are captured on recording for “NPR World of Opera.”

His principal and resident conducting posts include Cleveland Ballet, Toledo Symphony, and Toledo Opera, and Associate Conductor for Pittsburgh Opera.

Other notable conducting appearances include the season-opening double bill of Rachmaninov’s Aleko and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci for New York City Opera last fall, a nationally televised Thanksgiving concert for the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony; performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan; concerts with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in the new Cairo Opera House; and symphony concerts with the orchestra of the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, the Orchestra Regionale Toscana in Italy.

Maestro Meena is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory of Music. His principal conducting teachers include Thomas Mihalak (New Jersey Symphony), Robert Page (Cleveland Orchestra), Rudolph Fellner (Pittsburgh Opera), and Boris Halip (Bolshoi Ballet), with whom he also studied violin. Mo. Meena was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by his undergraduate alma mater in 1997 for his commitment to visionary excellence and growth of cultural institutions.