OPERA San Antonio announces updates to the fall 2020/2021 Season
San Antonio, TX, October 5, 2020 - OPERA San Antonio is pleased to announce the creation of the Texas Opera Alliance (TOA) - a unique partnership between Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Austin Opera and OPERA San Antonio.
“We are thrilled to be a founding member of the Texas Opera Alliance, a unique partnership that allows all of us to maximize our resources to forge new experiences for our patrons,” says General & Artistic Director E. Loren Meeker. “Our unprecedented collaboration will help set a new standard for creativity and lengthen our reach, both on and off stage. In the last few months OSA has embraced this opportunity by presenting two virtual masterclasses with Fort Worth Opera, and we are honored to unite with HGO and Austin Opera on Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera and The Impresario for the HGO Digital Season. These films push operatic boundaries and provide our patrons with exciting new content. The future is bright with endless possibilities!”
Vinkensport, or the Finch Opera, is a comic, one act opera composed by David T. Little with the libretto by Royce Vavrek. The opera is being re-envisioned specifically for film by Co-Directors E. Loren Meeker and Ryan McKinny. Vinkensport takes place in a small town, with six contestants in a finch-sitting competition. They sit in a row, approximately 8 feet apart from each other, with boxes containing their birds in front of them; it is silent save for the finch songs that can be heard, as the contestants solemnly mark down the tallies on wooden sticks. Some competitors are noble, some not. Some play fair, some don’t. But each finds comfort in the companionship of their bird, and joy in the mere potential of community. A work for our time, its spirit-lifting humor delivers us to moments of great empathy, as we - like these characters - long to feel that irreplaceable sense of togetherness. Vinkensport premieres Friday, October 23, at 7:30 p.m. CDT on Marquee TV and HGO’s website.
The Impresario, a rarely performed one act by Mozart, features warring divas, a show within a show, and one of the composer’s greatest overtures. Brilliantly updated in a new English version by playwright Jim Luigs, the man behind the hysterical musical Das Barbecü, based on Wagner’s Ring cycle. The work’s drama-filled auditions take place, appropriately enough, over Zoom. Conducted by HGO Principal Guest Conductor Eun Sun Kim and directed by E. Loren Meeker, The Impresario premieres Friday, November 27, at 7:30 p.m. CDT on Marquee TV and HGO’s website.
“The arts heal our souls and provide a creative escape during challenging times,” says Meeker. “Thanks to the power of virtual programming, OSA is able to share the extraordinary experience of opera with more members of our community than we can through live performances alone. We are embracing the new digital era and pushing our boundaries as a company with new repertoire, a new vision for digital programming, and with new partnerships thanks to TOA.”
Marquee TV, dubbed the “Netflix of the Arts” by The Financial Times, is a subscription-based arts channel that will host HGO Digital's brand-new content and allow users to access it for free through Marquee TV’s website or app, or through Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, and other platforms. Additional information on Vinkensport and The Impresario can be found at: https://www.operasa.org/upcoming-performances. Viewing information can be found at: https://www.operasa.org/marquee-tv