Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
CHAPTER I: Getting Started 5
CHAPTER II: Finding Venues, Booking Venues
And Communicating with Booking Managers 7
CHAPTER III: Recruiting Performers 10
CHAPTER IV: Communicating with All Artists 12
CHAPTER V: Communicating with Possible Donors 14
CHAPTER VI: Maintaining Databases of Performers 15
CHAPTER VII: Talking to the Media 16
CHAPTER VIII: Fundraising, Donor List & Communications 17
CHAPTER IX: Press Releases 21
CHAPTER X: Controlling Finances 22
CHAPTER XI: Coordinating Staff and Communicating
with National 23
CHAPTER XII: Communicating with the Media
(General Director) 24
CHAPTER XIII: Composing Flyers for Performances 25
CHAPTER XIV: Technical Duties 26
CONCLUSION: 28
APPENDIX I: OOT Email List Template 29
APPENDIX II: Press Release Sample 30
APPENDIX III: Setlist Samples 31
APPENDIX IV: History & Mission of Opera on Tap 38
INTRODUCTION
Greetings future Opera on Tap managers! On behalf of our entire staff and
our Board of Directors, I thank you for so valiantly taking on the responsibility
of organizing an OOT Chapter in your locale. With your help we can spread
the word of opera’s rocking-ness all over the country! Here is a
comprehensive guide on how our business operates so that you may
successfully set up an OOT Chapter quickly and efficiently and at the same
time keep the integrity of our intellectual property as an organization.
Depending on how experienced you are in Arts Administration, you may find
some of the information provided to be common sense. Please don’t read it
as patronization. Having had so little experience with administration myself, I
thought it would be great to gear this towards a beginner like myself. A clear
guide on some basic nuts and bolts of business is something I certainly would
have appreciated when we started OOT. I hope you find the information
useful, and if anything needs further clarification, don’t hesitate to contact me
for further assistance. I’m all ears!
Sincerely,
Anne Hiatt
General Managing Diva
CHAPTER I
GETTING STARTED
TECHNICAL DUTIES
Barbes is a dreamy place, however there are plenty of other venues that rock too.
Our two residencies are at bars with backrooms that are separate from the main
bar. Both venues also rely on live performances in their backrooms to draw in
patrons and promote live performers on their websites and in press releases.
The other important fact to note is that our venues our places where struggling
bands get showcased. They are slightly dive-like and casual. We don’t want
anything too shee shee. Our whole concept is to throw the elitist stigma of opera
on its own head for our listeners. We never pay a rental fee for performing.
• SPORTS BARS
Anyplace where the game is more important than the live entertainment is
very bad for audience attentiveness.
• BARS PRESENTING SPECIFIC MUSIC GENRES
Always aim for venues where they book eclectically. You’re trying to sell a
very eclectic product. A venue that focuses on heavy metal will probably not
be interested (although, opera has its heavy metal moments…). All of our
New York venues program diverse acts. For instance, at The Parkside
Lounge in Manhattan, OOT follows a comedy hour. At Barbes we are
followed either by a Brazilian jam band or an accordian act. Galapagos is
considered to be more an art space/ bar and Freddy’s has an event called
Diarama where women recite passages from their teenage diaries. I kid you
not.
Contacting Venues
The most effective way to contact a venue is in person. Upon studying the
venue’s website, you should be able to decipher who the booking manager is.
If you can’t decipher his or her name from the website, ask the bartender who
the booking manager is and if you can speak with him or her. Always have an
OOT press packet on hand to disperse. If the booking manager is
unavailable to speak with you, ask the bartender if you can leave it. Confirm
the booking manager’s contact info with the bartender and if you don’t hear
from the booking manager in a week, follow up and make sure he or she
received the press packet.
The second most effective way is to contact the person in the way they prefer.
This is very often noted on the venue’s website. If by phone, explain who you
are and what kind of event you’d like to present. Refer them to the Opera on
Tap website highlighting the fact that we have received a good amount of
press, promote ourselves well and feel confident that we can pack the bar.
More than anything the bar needs to know that the act will draw in a good
drinking crowd. That’s where they make their money. We are also a great
weeknight act! We don’t need to perform on Saturday night.
*By the way, it’s always good to become a familiar face at a venue. Sit down,
relax have a drink, talk to the regulars, talk to the staff! You’ll love it!
A press packet contains copies of articles written about OOT, a brief letter of
introduction detailing the type of performance we would like to present as
well as some materials about the history, mission and administration and one
or two press photos. All of this stuff is held together in a shiny folder with an
OOT sticker on the outside. Voila!
If your charms and persuasive powers have wooed the booking manager and
he or she would like to book you, congratulations! Book a date that gives you
plenty of time to put together a great show.
Part of our mission as a company is to promote singers in a way that they can
comfortably and safely develop their craft. At auditions, we make a point of
putting the performer at ease. Converse with them like a colleague not a judge.
Also, be sure to have them communicate to you what they are singing and ask
them to pretend as if they were explaining their piece to a crowd of drinking bar
patrons. If the performer is comfortable directly communicating with you they
most likely will be the same at OOT performances. This is a VERY important
skill for an OOT performer to possess. Of course, they also have to sing and
perform well!
If you feel your network is limited and you will be relying on auditions to draw
artists, be sure to emphasize the benefits of being an OOT performer in your
audition notices. Once they are accepted into the organization, they can apply
for our scholarship program and promote them on our website. They also get to
drink beer and wear jeans while they perform. The pressure for perfection is
completely alleviated. Most likely you’ll find a large pool of performers interested
in taking part in such a relaxed and supportive environment.
THE ORCHESTRA
If you find it difficult to find players interested in performing for charity, you can
always go to your local university and recruit students that need the performance
experience. Contact the career office of the music department at any given
university and they will most likely be able to help you get the word out to
students who might be interested in taking part.
Once the emcee is chosen (that person is your permanent emcee- you want your
emcee to be a familiar face for your regular audience and be a constant “face” of
the company), you can begin planning the musical program. The first thing you
and your staff need to do is pick a theme for the show (i.e. Baroque night, or
French night). We encourage you to be funny and creative with your themes.
One of our NY favorites was “Menstrual theme/ the grumpy women of opera and
the men that love them”. That show was a big hit, and unleashed the
imagination of our singers in terms of the rep they chose to present. Out came
Electra, Vitellia, Baba the Turk, the Tempest, Cavalleria Rusticana! Despite, the
majority of the pieces being non-greatest hits material, the audience ate it up.
Regardless of its familiarity, anything goes at OOT. You can pair Mozart and
Berg and the audience will listen to both with open ears. They are in a
comfortable environment where they feel free to be themselves and react to and
absorb the music as they wish.
Note the important fact that the singers participating choose the repertoire that
they will sing for the show. The administrators set the theme and decide on the
choruses and ensembles that will be performed. Allow the singers to be very
broad in their interpretation of the theme. We promise it makes for a much more
interesting and diverse show. We are open to art song at our shows in addition to
opera arias. A large part of our mission is to allow classical singers to recover a
sense of spontaneity and at the same time, control over their performances. So
rarely do classical singers have the opportunity to hold the creative reins! The
image of struggling singers finding the strength to pull together and produce a
show themselves strikes a cord with the media.
Each set is concluded with a “group sing”. You and your staff pick a chorus for
the evening. All the singers are notified in advance as to what the chorus is, and
what part they are assigned to sing. At the performance, someone on your staff
hands out extra copies of the chorus to audience members encouraging them to
sing along. Some decline, but many do not. Then every one raises their glasses
and sings a rousing opera chorus! One unforgettable night for OOT NY was
when we put together the Agnus Dei from Verdi’s Requiem. The soprano and
mezzo soloists led the call and response, the audience sang back the melody at
the appropriate time, and the other singers filled out the harmonies involved.
The music was owned by everyone in the room, including novices to opera. It
counted as a triumph to those of us on the OOT staff in making opera more
accessible to a broader American audience.
As Artistic Director you have a very important role to play in communicating with
possible donors. If your are valiantly taking on both roles of artistic and general
director, you’ll get more out of the GMD chapters regarding fundraising. But
never mind that stuff right now. We’re talking Artistic Director stuff!
As Artistic Director, you and your dynamic personality represent the company
more than anybody else. It is extremely important that you don’t take donors for
granted. More often than not, donors will want to get to know you. Your chapter
will raise more money if you take the social side of mingling with donors
seriously. Keep your donors informed of exciting goings-on in your chapter and
the company as a whole. Much like investors, donors like to see some kind of
“return” on their investment. A lot of this is common sense, but, oh well, I’m
writing a manual, might as well try and not leave anything out. The best advice
I’ve ever received from a fundraising professional was this: “ The key to
successful fundraising is common sense and good manners”. We’ll de-construct
this quote in the GMD Fundraising chapter, but I think the implications for the
Artistic Director’s duties toward fundraising are apt too. Be friendly with those
that keep your head above water!
As Artistic Manager, you are the chief coordinator of a lot of people! Part of our
mission as a not-for-profit is that we will aid as many artists as possible through
our organization. OOT NY has over 50 artists on its roster, including singers and
instrumentalists. As your list of performers expands you have to make sure that
you keep track of everyone’s contact information, and are able to communicate
with everyone efficiently and effectively. Before that list gets out of hand, create a
“group” list in your email account entitled OOT Artists or something like that.
Add every artist that takes part in your show to that list. Depending on your
email account, you may have to break the group up if it gets really large in order
to send email blasts to all artists.
If you are able to bring in an orchestra manager to your Chapter, he or she may
be able to help you maintain your orchestra database.
You should also start and maintain a simple ‘artists contact sheet’ using Excel or
some other database/ word-processing program you may be more familiar with.
The sheet should include a column for email addresses, phone numbers, and
physical addresses. With Google Apps you can create the sheet online at the
Opera on Tap Google page and share it with your other organizers.
Here is another common sense tip: Be polite and attentive with prospective
interviewers and be yourself! You can never be casual enough for Opera on Tap.
We want to put the image out there that opera singers are normal people with
senses of humor and casual senses of being (well, at least OOT opera singers
have these qualities…).
As General Managing Diva/o of your local OOT chapter, one of your most important
responsibilities is to raise funds for the company. Being the resident GMD puts you in the
strongest position in the company to strengthen your Chapter. As a 501(c)3 company, OOT is a
tax-exempt organization. For the most part, the company relies on the generosity of corporate
sponsors, private donors and grant funds. On the national level, we will assist you as much as
possible. Here are some basic OOT fundraising tips.
Those regulars that keep coming back for more OOT may be your most important supporters in
the long run. Make sure you keep track of familiar faces, and introduce your face (and self) to
them. At every performance, have an email list circulating around the room. We will provide you
with the template. Soon after the show, enter the email addresses and whatever information you
are able to get, into the email marketing system we use. With this system, you will be able to
monitor who opens your email blasts about upcoming OOT performances. You’ll be surprised to
see the consistency of who opens your emails. The name of our free-to-use system is Vertical
Response. We will set you up on the system if you want to use it. Otherwise you are free to use
other systems like Mailchimp if desired. Pricing varies depending on the size of your email list.
There are many and I encourage you to do your research. The benefit of using an email
marketing system is that it allows you to send one email to a very large list of addresses without
having to break it up. You also can create professional looking press and performance
announcements using the system’s templates. Constant Contact and other e-marketing systems
like it, make deals with major domains like hotmail, yahoo , gmail, earthlink and aol so that your
email won’t be considered junk.
At every show, have OOT donation envelopes available and obviously placed around the room.
We will provide you with the OOT donation envelope template. You never know who might be
feeling generous in the moment, and throw a few buckaroos your way! The envelope includes
an area where the donor can provide name and address information. With that information, on
the national level we can provide the donor with a thank you note/ tax letter that qualifies as a
receipt he or she can hold onto for tax purposes. On the Chapter level, it would be VERY smart
to write a thank you letter yourself, and stipulate to the donor that the official tax letter will come
from OOT national.
III. Research local grant organizations and private foundations
The Foundation Center has a fantastic website where you can sign up for a
membership and have access to their online grant/foundation search system.
From there, you can type in your own locale and find possible local donors. Also,
your local arts council can be incredibly resourceful and helpful. Make a point of
introducing yourself to the Council and setting up a meeting with one of the
administrators. Friends in high places are never a bad thing!
V. Online donations
We can provide you with an online donation link for your Opera on Tap page.
VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Keep track of those who give! On your donor database
system make sure you have captured name, address, email, phone and when they
last donated. You want that list to grow, so that every year you have more and
more people to send fundraising letters. The simplest system and most basic to
use is Excel. With Excel you can use information about your donors and merge
it with a Word document to create a form letter. Donor database systems become
more innovative and convenient the more you are willing to pay. Once you have
a considerable list, you may want to consider investing in donor database
software that is specifically designed for Not –for-Profit organizations. The price
is higher, but the benefits of such systems are incredible! You can document all
kinds of information about your donors. It’s a little scary! Check out
www.donorperfect.com if you would like to see an example of such
software.
At least once a year, send your donors a fundraising letter. In this detailed and
personal letter, you want to include as much information as possible about your
If you don’t get what you asked for, don’t express your disappointment too
loudly! Perhaps you need to cultivate the relationship more with this individual
than you had initially thought. Keep this person informed as to what’s going on
with the company. Who knows? He or she might jump aboard next year!
Be prepared for rejection by both grant organizations and individuals. If you are
a singer, I’m sure you are more than prepared for this situation! Try and make
something good come out of it. Perhaps your materials about the company need
to be strengthened. If a foundation or individual is willing to provide feedback,
this is a wonderful tool! It also shows prospective funders that you are serious
about developing the company.
Be extremely courteous and friendly with your donors! A wise piece of advice I
received from the General Director of a major opera company: “They’re not
giving to your cause, they’re giving to you”. You are the best representative of
the company, through your personality and sincerity. Communicate with your
donors beyond company matters. Drop them a friendly line. Show you care for
them as individuals as much as you care for their checkbooks. Also, keep them
informed of exciting new events and projects coming up. The more they feel they
are in the loop and part of the organization, the more they’ll be willing to
contribute.
PRESS RELEASES
Yes, sometimes the press comes to you, but more often than not, you have to
seek it out! Send a press release out once a month to every publication in your
area detailing your upcoming OOT performances. A press release is a one-page
document written in a specific format that the press is used to seeing. As part of
the appendix section, I am attaching an example of a press release. We can also
provide you with a template for an OOT press release.
The best way to find out information on to whom you send your press release is
to call the publication. Ask the operator who in the arts department reads press
releases regarding opera events. Usually, you’ll be connected to the writer’s
voicemail. Sometimes, the writer will include in his or her voicemail message the
best way to make contact. If not, re-connect with the operator and ask for the
email address of that person. The second best way to find out information is the
publication’s website. More often than not, on the “contact” page, there will be a
masthead list of staff writers with possible contact information. Take whatever
contact information you find and include it in your press database. Yes, you need
a press database too. OOT NY has over 200 press contacts now that receive a
monthly release from us.
Depending on the publication’s preference, you can send the press release via
email or snail mail. Most publications prefer email nowadays. Using the email
marketing system detailed in Chapter VIII, you can customize a press release
using one of the system’s templates. We will provide you with examples of
templates we’ve used to create NY press releases. Using the system allows you to
see who in the press opens your emails. It’s always good to know who is the best
candidate for writing a feature on you eventually! Sometimes the writer prefers
receiving press releases via regular mail. The press release provided in the
Appendix can serve as a template for snail mail press releases.
Once you’ve been listed in a publication, you may want to extend a personal
invitation to the writers in the arts department to attend one of your upcoming
shows. You therefore increase your chances of having a feature story written on the
Chapter. If writers do write you up, be very thankful and appreciative and keep in
contact with them. Keep them updated on cool things happening in the company.
It’s always nice to have relationships with the press. It keeps you visible!
We have national bank accounts at a few of the major banking institutions to which you can
deposit your revenues.
As a Chapter administrator, you are responsible for depositing all revenues into the bank
account, and National is responsible for paying out your expenses upon request. We share
expense/revenue tracking for each Chapter on an Expense/Revenue sheet that is made
specifically for your Chapter. It is your responsibility to note all expenses and revenues on the
sheet that your Chapter incurs and to also email us with payout requests.
Keep track of every transaction you make and hold onto every receipt! In order to maintain
clean books, be sure to document whom you pay (pianists for example) and what services they
rendered. The expense/revenue sheet we will create for you will have clear column descriptions
for you to use.
On the national level we will create an account code in our books so that we too can track your
Chapter’s banking activity. More detailed information on finances will be sent via email to you
and you are always welcome to email Anne Hiatt (anne@operaontap.com) with questions. Our
bookkeeper’s email address is finance@operaontap.com.
CHAPTER XI
COORDINATING STAFF AND COMMUNICATING
WITH THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Here is where you get to show off your amazing leadership skills! As General
Managing Diva/o, you are chiefly responsible for anything and everything that
happens to the Chapter. If a show is cancelled, it is you who needs to let
everyone and their mother know about it. If there are any major problems within
the Chapter, you need to feel compelled to solve them. Your signature is the
most important one on your donor thank you letter and is necessary at the end of
every grant application. Be comfortable delegating when there is someone on
your staff who is in a better situation to handle a certain task.
You are also the only person that will be directly responsible for communicating
with the national organization. Any correspondence will come first through you
and then be distributed to whomever can take action on the correspondence.
This is with the exception of the annual Board meeting. You may wish to
appoint someone other than yourself to be on the National Board. If that is the
case, Board-related matters will be communicated directly to National Board
members, not necessarily through you as executive director.
In staff meetings, you are responsible for creating the meeting agenda and
making sure that the points are all covered before the meeting adjourns. That’s
right, you get to hold the gavel and maintain order! It’s fun for all of us control
freaks!
At meetings, you need to designate someone to take notes. This document can
be extremely useful in making sure that any decisions made or projects conceived
are acted upon as set forth during the meeting. Save all of your meeting notes in
a file. There will always be situations where you’ll need to remind yourself what
happened or what’s supposed to be happening!
Same as with the Artistic Director! Be kind be courteous, and over-stress the fact
that OOT is a not-for-profit organization that ACCEPTS DONATIONS! You are
the chief representative for the business of OOT. So make sure the press
understands that you represent a business as well as an opera troupe!
In the event you have a creative type on your staff, you may want to delegate this
task to him or her. You will need to either have or gain, some basic know how on
computer design software. If you don’t have that already, it’s really simple! The
main flyer can be developed on the email marketing system, using the templates
they provide and customizing them as needed. Constant Contact even has a
“wizard” who can take you through the basics of HTML to better personalize
your flyer. Examples of NY flyers will be sent to you via email. If you would like
to design a poster-type flyer to hand out or post around town, these can be
designed using Word, Pages, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop or whatever
design software you prefer. Examples of NY posters will be added to the
Appendix and will be provided as templates for creating your own posters.
On every flyer you want to make sure that this information is clear:
Date of show
Venue’s address and contact information
Suggested donation
Performance theme
The link to your OOT Chapter page
Be concise but LOUD with your marketing! Don’t cower from bright colors,
especially on posters that you are posting around town. You need to catch their
eye more than anything then reel them in with a short but catchy message.
Part of your very important technical duties is to make sure the Viking Helmet
has been purchased and is being worn properly. I’m not kidding. Stop laughing!
The helmet is a part of the OOT image! It is also what we use in place of a hat to
pass when we ask the audience to contribute money ! You also are responsible
for acquiring a digital piano for your shows. If you don’t have one lying around
or a kind friend who offers one up to you for OOT performances, you may have
to purchase one. Do research before purchasing a piano. Make sure it has
quarter-inch cable adaptor ability and that the sound of the piano is up to your
standards. The prices on these things can really range. NY purchased a nice one
for $700, but it lacks a quarter inch cable insert (we had to purchase an adaptor
for it). But really good ones can be as expensive as $2300.00. Whatever works
with your budget! The least expensive option is to find venues where there are
already pianos. This can limit your venue choices considerably and I would
encourage you to pick the right venue for the look and feel of OOT rather than
pick a venue based on whether or not it has a piano.
II. Being responsible for sound equipment as well as sound and stage set-up
at performances.
Whoever assumes the role of technical director on your staff needs to have a
strong memory! He or she is responsible for such important items as your digital
keyboard and all of its small accessories. He or she is also the go-to person for
setting up equipment at every venue. Keep in mind that every bar has a different
set-up, and the technical director should always check ahead of time with the
booking manager at the bar about the technical set-up. Is there a PA system we
can plug into? Is there a real piano? How out of tune is it if it’s there? Does the
bar have microphones and cables with which to plug in microphones and
keyboards? These are all good simple questions that can alleviate possible
nightmare situations.
The technical director is also responsible for organizing the transport of any and
all technical equipment. Ideally the keyboard at any given venue will be on site
and set up approximately a half of an hour before showtime. Of course, if there is
another act ahead of you, that cuts set-up time by half, but oh well, that’s the
reality of singing opera in bars! Sometimes things can be a little chaotic and
behind schedule. Patience is a virtue and it’s good to remember that poor
fledgling bands put up with these situations all the time and still love performing
when they can.
Someone on your staff must be responsible for maintaining and updating your OOT webpage.
We use a simple web development software system that anyone with computer proficiency can
use to update his or her website’s content everyday. We will work with whomever you appoint to
this task to keep your page constantly current.
The OOT website is one of your most important assets as a Chapter. Currently the website
receives thousands of hits a day. This company was found on the internet more than any other
way. We have garnered a lot of fans and a lot of media attention through our website. The site is
also where you can best promote your artists. The website includes an Artist page where you
can post headshots, and bios for each artist. You can also link individual artists’ websites to
your page.
CONCLUSION
Well, you made it to the end. Hopefully you’re not sleeping or worse, deterred
from forging ahead with your very own OOT Chapter! At the national level, we
will always be there to assist you, and again, we thank you for taking part in our
small revolution. We look forward to the day when there exists a large, diverse
and supportive community of classical performers that share the same desire of
seeing the art form they celebrate everyday be celebrated by more people than
ever imagined. Thanks again, and as they say in Valhalla… Ho jo to ho!
APPENDIX II
PRESS RELEASE SAMPLE:
Please visit this link to see a sample press release and the pertinent types of
information you should include when creating your own for your Chapter events:
http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/659834/ca614a1de0/284029319/4c1fd169db/
APPENDIX III
SETLIST SAMPLES
Home Brewed Opera Presents:
Opera Dinner Theater!
Featuring:
Hannah Goodman, soprano | Rachel Duval, soprano
Brittany Fowler, mezzo-soprano | Heather Jones, soprano
Nick Hay, bass-baritone | Eric Sedgwick, pianist extraordinaire
PROGRAM:
Sing for Your Supper from The Boys from Syracuse Rodgers & Hart
Rachel
SHORT INTERMISSION
OOT New Brew: Home Brewed Opera
Friday, Feb 1st – 8pm Thursday, March 14th – 9pm
Barbès Freddy’s
376 9 Street, Brooklyn
th 627 5 Ave., Brooklyn
th
PROGRAM:
Or sai chi l’onore from Don Giovanni W.A. Mozart
Samantha
SHORT INTERMISSION
Home Brewed Opera: New Brew
Thursday, March 21st – 8pm Friday, April 5th – 8pm
Inwood Local Barbès
4957 Broadway, Manhattan 326 9 Street, Brooklyn
th
Featuring:
Vocalists: Joanie Brittingham, Kayleigh Butcher, Alex Guerrero, David
Gordon, Anne Hiatt, Michael Hoffman, Sara Noble, Cameron Russell,
Kamala Sankaram, and Krista Wozniak
The Dirty Sexy Ensemble: Ezra Gale, Jeff Hudgins, Mitch Marcus,
Kamala Sankaram, Jesse Simpson and Adam Smale
.
SHORT INTERMISSION
Queen of the Rumba W.A. Mozart/arr. Kamala Sankaram
Kamala and the band
O tu che in seno agli angeli from La Forza del Destino G. Verdi/arr. Mitch Marcus
David and the band
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai R. Schumann/H. Heine/arr. Kamala Sankaram
Michael and the band
No More Toots Camarata/Bob Russell/ arr. Jeff Hudgins
Kamala, Jeff, Adam, Mitch
Una furtiva lagrima from L’elisir d’amore G. Donizetti/ arr. Mitch Marcus
Alex, Ezra, Mitch, Jesse
Santa Baby Davits, Springer & Springer
Anne, Cameron, and the band
Upcoming Opera on Tap Events:
Mission
Opera on Tap (OOT) is a not for profit corporation with 501(c)3 status. Our
organization is formed for educational purposes including:
1) Educating the public on culture and the arts
2) Providing support and performance opportunities to young opera singers and
classical instrumentalists.
Our mission is to:
● Expose new audiences to opera and classical music by taking opera and
classical music out of the concert hall and performing it in alternative venues
● To aid young performers in their development by giving them the opportunity
to perform and to promote and support them through our organization
● To help promote new classical works of contemporary classical and operatic
composers