I’ve mentioned Opera Vista in this space before. If it sounded interesting to you, now is a good time to check it out. From the inbox:
Tickets for 2010 Opera Vista Festival On Sale Now!
Opera Vista, winner of the 2010 Houston Press MasterMind Award, announces the 2010 Opera Vista Festival, featuring the 3rd Annual Vista Competition for New Opera, will take place March 20th-27th, and are available online now at the Opera Vista website
Opera Vista focuses on bringing contemporary opera to Houston and the Vista Competition is an international search for ground-breaking new works by modern composers.
“The Vista Competition is unique in that it gives composers the opportunity to have their works performed by professional singers and instrumentalists,” says Viswa Subbaraman, Artistic Director of Opera Vista. “They have a wonderful opportunity to interact with many well-known people from the world of opera and classical music, but I think more importantly, they get an insight into how their work is perceived by the audience.”
In October, seven semi-finalists from three countries were selected, ranging from adaptations of a Japanese folk tale to a horror opera. Excerpts from each work will be performed on March 24th & 26th at the Czech Center Museum Houston, 4920 San Jacinto at Wichita, beginning at 7:30pm. A panel of judges, including world-renowned composer Daron Hagen and Leslie Dunner of the Joffrey Ballet, will critique each excerpt, and the audience will vote to select which operas will advance. In the final round, the winning excerpts will be performed again with a longer critique from the judges, but then the audience will get to directly question the composers. The audience then votes to determine the winner of the competition, which will be announced March 27th at the festival’s closing performance. The winner receives $1,500 and a full production of their opera at the next festival.
This year’s festival will also include the world premiere of the winning opera from the 2009 Opera Vista Festival, Anorexia Sacra by Line Tjørnhøj. Line couples the plight of a young woman suffering from anorexia with the writings of the 13th century nun Claire of Assisi. Anorexia Sacra will be performed at 7:30pm on March 20th and 27th at the Live Oak Friends Meetinghouse, 1318 West 26th Street. Finally, there will be an evening of chamber music composed by jury member Daron Hagen at 7:30pm on March 25th at the Czech Center.
“This event is great for Houston not only culturally, but also economically,” says Joe Carl White, Executive Director of Opera Vista. “We provide employment for some of the many top-flight musicians that are based here, and we are building an event that already draws interest from all over the world. When you think of new film you think of Cannes or Sundance. I want people, when they think of new opera, to think of Houston.”
This has been your moment of culture for the day. Now go get your tux pressed, and remember that the pleats of your cummerbund should point upward so they can provide a convenient place to hold those opera tickets. You’re welcome.