History
When Rescia strode to the podium to conduct Brigadoon, the warm ovation recognized his three decades of dedication to the ideals and realization of great music.
Amanda Levreault brought flawless comic delivery, robust alto and winning, hearty presence to the part of Meg Brockie [Brigadoon], bringing the house down with her rollicking accounts of "The Love of My Life" and "My Mother's Wedding Day."
Commonwealth Opera will continue to serve and be heartily appreciated by the community. . .
Nothing moves an audience as deeply as a company that cares passionately about its business and delivers productions of such quality [as Commonwealth Opera’s].
–The Republican newspaper, Springfield, Mass.
View a comprehensive list of past productions. (PDF format)MISSION and GOALS
Commonwealth Opera of Western Massachusetts, a nonprofit regional opera company located in the culturally vibrant Five College area of Western Massachusetts, is committed to preserving the opera and musical theater art form by presenting to a demographically diverse public high quality productions of operas, musicals and concerts at affordable prices and with barrier-free access. We serve the widest possible audiences in Western Massachusetts and adjoining states - Northern Connecticut, Southern Vermont and Southwest New Hampshire.
Related goals are to provide opportunities for:
- Emerging artists of excellence on the road to their professional careers
- A broad range of production artists and personnel who participate in every aspect of production
- Production-related educational projects for adults, college students, and school children from K through 12 to encourage their comprehensive experience of opera and musical theater
HISTORY
Founded as Project Opera by Richard R. Rescia in 1972, the organization’s primary goal was to promote the art of grand opera. Activity in early years included concerts of operatic arias, ensembles and musical theater favorites, with piano accompaniment.
In 1976, the organization, then incorporated as Project Opera, Inc., offered its first full-scale opera production: Susanna, by Carlisle Floyd, which was produced to commemorate the 200th anniversary of U.S. independence.
In 1989 the Board of Directors formally changed the company’s name to Commonwealth Opera of Western Massachusetts, to recognize its geographic location and to emphasize the company as a regional asset. Since then, the company has produced one full-scale opera and one fully staged musical theater work every season, with audiences averaging close to 2,000 for each production.
Initially, all performers were volunteers. The company now engages young, well-trained opera professionals for almost all major roles, while continuing to provide opportunities for volunteer musicians, chorus members and singers in secondary and smaller roles.
Commonwealth Opera initiated its educational outreach program in four Northampton, Mass. elementary schools in 1980 with the opera Chanticleer. In 1984, the company expanded its educational outreach. Eight hundred (800) students from Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin Counties in Massachusetts (with total current populations of 688,500) were transported to the Academy of Music Theater in Northampton to see a fully staged production. Since then the company has brought thousands of students to see special productions of My Fair Lady, The Phantom Toll Booth, The King and I, I Pagliacci, Hansel and Gretel and The Barber of Seville. Before attending the performances, the students benefit from in-school instruction supported by curriculum guides, CDs, videos and books, which Commonwealth Opera prepares for each production and makes available to teachers as resource tools. In addition, the company brings singers into classrooms to perform excerpts of the opera or musical the students will attend.
A new (pilot) Apprentice Program for college students was initiated in 2004, in collaboration with the Department of Music at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Nearly 600 students from the department attended our November 2004 performance of Carmen and eight apprentice singers performed in the production. In future seasons, depending on funding, we plan to continue the apprentice program.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT and SERVICE
In addition to youth educational programs, the company seeks to stimulate the broadest possible community interest in fine music. Each spring it offers a free, widely promoted “Gala Guild Concert,” formally hosted by the Commonwealth Opera Guild. The concert generally features arias from operas and musical theater works, as well as innovative programs involving other musical genres such as jazz. The goal is to draw people in to the experience of fine vocal music. This well-received event usually attracts an audience of several hundred people, some of whom are experiencing opera for the first time.
Each winter at holiday time the company provides a major free gift to area communities with its ever-popular Messiah Sing. At this event, the audience participates with much vigor as the chorus as it supports the cast of professional singers and musicians. This event attracts more than 500 people—slightly more than the full capacity of the venue.
Ever a part of the fabric of our community, in August 2004 Commonwealth Opera was invited by the organizers of Northampton’s 350th anniversary celebration to give a gala public concert. The city was proud to present the only opera company in this part of the state in its celebrations.
TODAY and the FUTURE
Commonwealth Opera, founded 30 years ago as an entirely volunteer effort to encourage the performance and appreciation of opera and musical theater works, has evolved over the years toward an increasingly more professional community opera company. With the contributions of Guild members, sponsors, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, we continue to provide our outstanding public programs to the people we serve in Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire. As we strive to improve the quality and quantity of our productions, we constantly seek to engage more professional singers and musicians and to maintain the professional staff needed to carry out the mission-driven public programs of the organization. Operating under a 5-year transition plan as the company moves from its founder-artistic director leadership to new artistic leadership in 2006, the company is poised for growth and achievement in its fourth decade of service in the performing arts.“Commonwealth Opera will continue to serve and be heartily appreciated by the community. . .”
