Syracuse Symphony Keeps Music Playing
The 50th anniversary of the 77-member Syracuse Symphony was nearly marred by a shortened season. Normally, the group performs 200 concerts in 17 counties of New York state over a 34-week season, but this is the second time within a year that the ensemble has been brought to the brink of financial disaster.
Luckily, the group was recently able to raise just under $500,000, which makes it eligible for a county grant. The government may award the orchestra an additional $100,000 because it raised more than $375,000 on its own. The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra’s “Keep the Music Playing” campaign hopes to raise $1,750,000 by the end of summer 2011.
blog.syracuse.com/news/print.html?entry=/2011/02/syracuse_symphony_orchestra_ra.html
Check Out the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow
Baritone Michael Mayes, aka “Mazer the Hazer,” offers a podcast of his off-stage operatic exploits as he sits down and chats with colleagues such as Michael Todd Simpson, Dean Anthony, David Adam Moore, and Emily Pulley. Far from a traditional interview format, the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow allows its listeners to sit in on that typical post-show chat when singers let down their hair and tell stories you won’t see printed in Opera News. For example, Emily Pulley tells what happened when a bear invaded her cabin, Dean Anthony recounts his rescue of a Manon costume from a thief, and David Adam Moore speaks about scandalizing the Transportation Security Administration.
www.texapolitanopera.com
From Private Luxury to National Necessity
In the midst of the Great Depression, on Christmas Day of 1931, Eleanor Robson Belmont noted that opera had grown from a private luxury to a national necessity. Thus, she asked for funds to keep the company performing at the first regularly scheduled broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera. She was looking for a national audience that would respond to her fundraising appeal and she was rewarded with donations, many of them small, from every corner of the broadcast area. It was through these appeals that the company’s finances were stabilized during those difficult years.
This year, the Metropolitan Opera celebrates 80 years of regular radio broadcasts and the various forms into which they have morphed. SiriusXM Radio broadcasts live Met performances three times a week as well as archived performances during other times. A movie theater in your nearest city has transmissions from the Met live in high definition. Not only do these live broadcasts reach all parts of the U.S., they now can also be heard, seen, and enjoyed by audiences around the world. Opera and the Met have come a long way in those 80 years, and they don’t intend to stop progressing any time soon!
www.npr.org/2011/01/22/132230934/opera-at-the-met-80-seasons-on-the-radio
Safety Tips for the Singer Who Runs
As more and more singers work to get fit, running is often a favorite exercise. Combine that with the constant travel a singer’s life entails, and knowing a few jogging safety tips are definitely in your best interest. When you jog, it is important to have your fully charged cell phone with you and to let someone know when and where you are going. Since you don’t need valuables on your run, it’s best to leave them at home. That goes for important papers, credit cards, jewelry, and large amounts of money. You should carry your passport if you are out of the country, however, and you may want a little money for a latte or another reward, but no more than that.
You should be sure to stay alert to all that is going on around you, according to both Guardian Self Defense and Ezine. Don’t let your music be the sole focus of your attention. Looking around you will make you seem much less of a target to any lurking predator. And running or jogging with your dog is good for you both. If you will be in a totally unpopulated area, you might want to also take a walking stick or pepper spray. Know your area and what is reported on the local news. Above all, use common sense.
www.guardian-self-defense.com
ezinearticles.com/?Essential-on-the-Street-Safety-and-Defense-Tips-For-Jogging,-Walking,-and-Running&id=2846289
Kennedy Center to Take Over Washington National Opera
The Kennedy Center will rescue the Washington National Opera from its debt crisis, according to the Washington Post. Previously it was thought that if such a union occurred, the company would lose money offered by a major donor who had said she would contemplate giving the money to the Met if the WNO merged with the Center. The problem has been worked out, however, and Betty Brown Casey will not withdraw her support.
The Center will actually take over for the 2012-2013 season. For now, the opera season will be limited to five productions, but Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser says that they hope to present seven or eight operas in future seasons.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012001924.html
