Glimmerglass reaches out to the community through events

Each season, Glimmerglass Opera brings in professionals from all around the country to produce high-quality operas. However, as geographically diverse as the opera is, it still has strong ties to the Cooperstown community.

When many people think of Cooperstown, they think only of the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. But there are many attractions outside of the sports culture like the Fenimore Art Museum, the Farmers' Museum, and of course, Glimmerglass Opera, that reflect the diverse interests of Cooperstown. Although many people travel from outside of Otsego County to visit Glimmerglass, much of the opera's business and its most ardent supporters come from Cooperstown itself.

In addition, many local singers participate directly in the operas. David Fahrquar, a Cooperstown resident and Glimmerglass Opera Guild Member, has sung in the chorus nearly every season since 1982.

"I sing with people here that I read about next year in Opera News," said Fahrquar. "I enjoy it so much that I wouldn't know what to do in the summer besides sing at Glimmerglass Opera."

Fahrquar and wife Donna, along with many other community members, also volunteer their time as ushers.

The Alice Busch Opera Theater itself hosts community events. For example the company hosts Fall for the Arts in September, where an assortment of local arts organizations held performances, demonstrations and workshops. Recently the theater hosted Cherry Valley High School's graduation.

But the majority of Glimmerglass' community contact comes form shows and events. For example, in July Glimmerglass hosted Family Day, where kids ate a picnic, played games and learned the cancan. Afterwards, they saw the opera "Orpheus in the Underworld" by Offenbach, a French comedic opera translated into English. Also, Glimmerglass presents free Young American Artist recitals in Cooperstown and the surrounding area.

Glimmerglass promotes opera in both the summer season and the off-season. During the long New York winter, Glimmerglass participated in Cooperstown's Cabin Fever Film Series by screening films with opera references in them. In the spirit of this year's Orpheus themed-season, Glimmerglass is hosting free film screenings of Jean Cocteau's Orphée and Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus at the Fenimore Art Museum.

Cocteau's Orphée plays:

August 16 at 3:30 p.m.

August 21 at 5:30 p.m.

Black Orpheus plays:

August 18 at 11:00 a.m.

August 24 at 3:30 p.m.

Another way Glimmerglass promotes opera is by hosting seminars. In March the Glimmerglass Opera and the Glimmerglass Creative Learning Center presented a series of seminars entitled Opera Unplugged, which covered a wide range of topics including opera music in film, languages in opera, the life of a singer, and voice types. During the season, Glimmerglass hosts classes through the Center for Continuing Adult Learning (CCAL) , giving participants a taste of life behind the curtain, as well as previews of upcoming operas, a tour, and access to staff production seminars.

During August, the opera also offers backstage tours on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. and production changeover talks on Saturday afternoons after the matinee performance.

For more information on Glimmerglass events, please visit the Special Events, Picnics, Previews & Recitals page.

For upcoming events, including Young American Artists Program Recitals, please scroll down to the bottom of the page.

All About the Journey: Jill Gardner, Offenbach's Newest Muse

After a brief illness opening weekend, leading lady Jill Gardner is back in the role of Eurydice in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. An alumna of Glimmerglass' Young American Artists Program, Gardner earned her bachelor's degree in piano, but decided to focus on voice instead after a fellow pianist recommended a voice teacher whose students he accompanied.
Offenbach's Eurydice is unique. In every other Orpheus opera Glimmerglass is producing this season, Eurydice takes a back seat to the heroic Orpheus, the center of the action. Offenbach puts a twist on the myth by placing Euridice as the heroic figure of the story--the only character who doesn't cave to the domineering Public Opinion. Jill sees the character of Eurydice as a multi-faceted, beyond the frivolous veneer usually linked with comic characters.
"It's easy to think that Eurydice is naive, that she doesn't know what she's doing. She's skirting the societal influence, that which is always trying to wield its sword over us in whatever guise. She is the only one that does not operate in this socially influenced way. That's why I find it interesting and that's what I ultimately want to bring to this portrayal, not just someone who sings a ton of high notes."


Despite much experience in opera and operetta, Orpheus in the Underworld marks the first comedic role for Gardner, a thrilling challenge for the young soprano. "That's another reason why I found it interesting to try myself out at this. I'm not a big TV-watcher, but I've taken the time to watch some Sex and the City and Seinfeld and even going back to watch I Love Lucy and The Carol Burnett Show. When you sit and watch it totally from the aspect of comedy--not the story, just how they deliver the comedy-- you realize how much real life actually operates in that realm. You see human nature in the most real kind of way. Your instincts are really driven to deliver the comedy in a timing and a specificity that is very multi-layered. This kind of comedic timing is very hard. I have a lot more respect for it than I did.
"When you're singing all the time, when you have music to suport your words, that already sets up a multi-layered dimension and the music often expresses so well the subjective aspect of a character. You realize with dialogue how much energy's got to be in it and how quixotic we are as human beings."

As well as being her first comedic role, this is Gardner's first opportunity to sing a show with her husband Jake Gardner. Jake plays Jupiter, the head god and one of the many men who fall in love with Eurydice. The pair sing the famous "Fly Duet" and share a few romantic moments on stage.
"It's been great. Jake and I have sung quite a bit of concert work and oratorio work together, so it's not like this is the first time we've worked together. We have a lot of respect for one another. There's a lot of give and take in our relationship that's a part of that respect. To be able to have a flirtation with one another as we do in the Offenbach is wonderful. It's fun, not only for us, but for other people as well. You want people to feel enjoyment, happiness, magic, lust, love, flirtation. There are pieces that we'd like to be able to do together where that flirtation isn't there. We'd love to be able to do Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, for instance. I think as long as that mutual respect is there and that we're always reaching for this artistic integrity, that's what guiding us. And then our mission is the same, whatever ego is there or need to control."
"Having this much time to be together with Jake is just nirvana. It's a real gift."

Opening Night!

Finally, it's the night everyone's been waiting for! Ticket holders, opera fans, and all the departments at Glimmerglass have been eager for the season to begin. The Orpheus season began July 7 with Offenbach's satiric comedy Orpheus in the Underworld. However, the opera wasn't the only thing patrons could look forward to!

The night began with an Opening Night Champagne Celebration, to kick off the season. Guests enjoyed light hors d'oeuvres as they mingled and discussed the exciting night ahead.

Every night, a staff member hosts a pre-opera talk an hour before the performance. Saturday's preview featured Lucy Arner and tenor Joseph Gaines, who plays Mercury. Gaines, a member of Glimmerglass' Young American Artists Program, sang an aria from the 1874 version of the score that was not included in the production. Arner explained the history behind the piece and some of the operatic trends of the time.

While patrons enjoyed the sights, sounds, and tastes of pre-opening night festivities, members of Glimmerglass staff were busy behind the scenes making final preparation for the night. Marketing staff manned the Guest Services desk and Gift Shop, Development staff coordinated pre-opera picnics, ushers prepared the house, and the production team focused lights and tested backstage equipment.

Finally the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived. The doors opened, seats were filled, and the orchestra began to tune. However, opening night did not come without its share of drama. Soprano Jill Gardner, who was slated to sing the large role of Eurydice, became indisposed the night before. Fortunately, Glimmerglass makes it a policy to cast covers (understudies) from the Young American Artists Program for every major role in each season's operas, so the show was not cancelled. Soprano Juliet Petrus went on instead and, despite the short notice, gave a masterful performance.

After the opera, singers, staff, guild members, and guests rubbed elbows at an opening night party. General and Artistic Director Michael MacLeod gave an opening address thanking each and every one of the staff, and expressing his excitement for the season ahead.

Putting it Together: The Tech Rehearsal

Glimmerglass productions get seven onstage tech rehearsals prior to dress rehearsals with piano and orchestra. Often, this means they hit the stage while still finalizing choreography and staging, and before all costumes and set elements are completed. This schedule gives the creative team a chance to see all of the elements together, which means if things need to change, there are still two weeks to fix them. This week it's Offenbach and Gluck on stage.

Gluck chorus member and Music Intern Dan Richards was surprised that adding technical elements made such a large difference in the way the show was performed. "Before we went to tech rehearsal, we ran the show at the rehearsal venue and it really felt like it was ready to be performed, but then we got into the space and we had to make the performance fit into that space," he said. "The artistic team tried some new ideas. Adding the set, lighting, and costume made everything come together, to feel more like a whole."

Both shows open the first weekend in July, so rehearsal time is crucial for everyone, both on-stage and off, to perfect their parts. The cast, stage and lighting crew, and creative team are in rehearsals six hours a day. Meanwhile, the other crews are still working away on props, costumes, and set pieces.

During tech rehearsals, many costumes are finished. However, there are some not quite finished and some that need to change. "It's all about being flexible--it's just adding and changing every time. Sometimes we have to make adjustments on stage, so the designers can see what it looks like," Shelby Newport, Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor, said.

One thing is for certain--everyone's busy preparing what looks to be an exciting season!

Opera Extras in CCAL seminars

While the staff at Glimmerglass Opera is hard at work preparing each opera production, they are also whetting the appetites of operaphiles and neophytes alike with a variety of related events. The company holds seminars during the year about the operas, but for those who enroll in Cooperstown's Center for Continuing Adult Learning (CCAL) Opera at Glimmerglass course, the company offers a seminar on each of the four operas of the season. Participants hear talks about producing the operas and excerpts from the operas sung by members of the Young American Artists Program.

Last week, the group met John Conklin, set designer of the Gluck, and Kelley Rourke, titles guru and lyricist of the Offenbach. Conklin took them on an in-depth journey through the process of building a set for an opera, showing set models, costume designs, and his own sketches used to plan the set.

He discussed the initial conception of the show's design. "Always the question is 'is the Gluck an 18th-century opera?' Yes, it was written in the 18th century, but it's being seen with modern sensibilities, so in that sense one doesn't want to make it a historical, archeological object. We want to make it vivid and human, but still reflecting some of the ideas of the 18th-century world."

Rourke treated the audience to her take on translating and writing English lyrics for operas. The Offenbach, originally written in French, has undergone many translations, but Rourke created an original one for Glimmerglass to use this season.

"I'm careful about the word 'translate.' It is step one—the translation is one part, but it's not a direct translation of what is going on in the libretto." Rourke tries to stay as true to the libretto as possible, but sometimes the language is convoluted and wouldn't make sense in English. As an example, Rourke cited a line in the Gluck where Amour literally asks Orpheus in French, 'What do we owe you?' "I don't think it's actually true to the intent of the librettist," Rourke said.

After hearing excerpts from the opera, participants go to a production seminar, which is also attended by the staff and guild of the company. Here, the creative team for each of the operas meet and discuss their choices in producing the opera. Friday's rather lively discussion about Offenbach featured Kelley Rourke, Director Eric Einhorn, Set Designer Allen Moyer, Costume Designer Gabriel Berry, Lighting Designer Shawn K. Kaufman, and surprise guest Production Manager Matthew Kirby-Smith. Discussion topics ranged from Offenbach's off-the-wall plot, to the concept behind each set location (Olympus, Earth, and the Underworld), to creating crazy hell costumes.

Berry explained, "Luckily, I got the 'Orpheus goes to France.’ I mean, going in your underwear is fun, going to the underworld is better, going to France in your underwear to the underworld—that's best of all. I had a few mandates from the company and from [director] Eric, and one of them is that we're in the 19th century. I'm like 'great', because that's corsets and hoop skirts." Berry's designs are definitely not strait-laced Victorian, though, warned her audience to be prepared for "cleavage and the occasional studded leather garment."

"What I wanted to talk about with this particular team is pushing the envelope, because I think that that is the quintessential point of this show, whether it is scenery or lighting or costumes,” said Kirby-Smith, who pointed out the sheer size of such a spectacular and grandiose production, especially "the automated moving instruments that we have, the sheer number of costumes, and the thousands and thousands of pounds of scenery that somehow goes up and down."

For more information about CCAL, click here.
For more information about Glimmerglass events, click here.

Insider Rehearsal Report: All the way through Offenbach

Think opera is all about Viking hats, long-winded Italian sopranos, and extended death scenes? Think again! Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach is a satiric comedy, taking the traditional myth about the loving couple separated by death and standing it on its head. Sung in English, Orpheus in the Underworld is perfect for the newcomer to opera, as well as great fun for the veteran opera-goer.

Offenbach’s whimsical approach to the Orpheus myth seems to have affected the feel of the rehearsals themselves. Although the work ethic is no less focused than in Gluck rehearsals, the light-hearted nature of the opera shines through in the personalities of the singers and staff, which are as vibrant as the characters they portray. It's easy to see that the singers, conductor, and director love what they do and love planning gags that will make the audience laugh. The singers wear parts of their costumes and their shoes, creating an interesting mix of modern and antiquated clothing. Upbeat tunes and comical staging complete the eclectic atmosphere.

Today's rehearsal was the first run-through before rehearsals on the stage of Alice Busch Opera Theater. The run-through can give the cast and creative team (the lighting designer was in attendance) a better idea of how the show itself will flow, as opposed to perfecting tiny sections. The director and conductor can also assess which sections need the most work. In the next few days, the crew of Orpheus in the Underworld will add sets, costumes, props, and lighting to their rehearsals, so the cast and production staff have a better idea of how their production will come together.

Everyone is looking forward to learning how the various production elements will enhance the cast’s already excellent work. Joyce Castle (Public Opinion) alone, in all her proselytizing glory, is worth the trip to Cooperstown, Jill Gardner's (Eurydice) high notes are sparkling--add in the other hilarious, consummate professionals and you've got magic!

To view more photos from rehearsal, click here.

Insider Rehearsal Report: Introduction to Offenbach

On a steamy weekday afternoon at Saint Mary's school all-purpose room, five free-standing doors replace neatly stacked tables, and rows of cornstalks line the walls, blurring the myriad of 1st communion pictures that adorn the cinderblock. It is clearly time for an Orpheus rehearsal, courtesy of the Glimmerglass Opera. The question is... which one? There are 5 distinct options this season, ranging from the avant-garde Glass to the traditional Monteverdi. Today's rehearsal however, has been reserved for Offenbach.

Filth, lust, beekeeping and showgirls are just a few of the topics touched on in this hilarious operetta that pulls at both hearts and funny bones as the myth of Orpheus is, well, transformed. The once happy marriage between Orpheus and Eurydice has become a mockery, and the chaos that ensues as the gods bicker for her affection will keep everyone laughing each minute. By the end of the show, every audience member will be dying to know: Who will Eurydice choose?! Well, you are just going to have to come see it because I certainly will not tell you!

Directing an opera has its own distinct and monumental challenges, and directing a comedy requires precision and incredible detail to timing. To seamlessly combine both is nothing short of a rehearsal colossus, but director Eric Einhorn is up for the challenge. His eclectic background, ranging from Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte all the way to Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, gives him the dramatic knowledge and the theater savvy that will guide the actors through the hysterical dialogue as well as the extravagant vocal lines. In rehearsal, Einhorn stays focused while constantly thinking up images to help the actors imitate the specific musical comedy style without overdoing it (unless it is necessary, of course!) One of my favorite images was when he asked the female chorus to "loom in like in West Side Story" on Pluto, a god who does not see them coming.

The actors are remarkably good sports, especially with such a brief period of time to put the piece together. Tenor Kurt Lehmann started rehearsal Saturday, June 9th, and by the time I saw him on Monday, June 11th, the script was out of his hands. For an opening on July 7th, time is precious and each second counts. A three hour rehearsal can fly by if time is wasted, but the synergy needed by both the staff and performers is crucial for making sure details are not ignored. A conductor, vocal coach, accompanist... these important staff members are at every blocking rehearsal to catch musical notes while the directing team is focusing on dramatic arc. At a break, an actor may receive a different note from each member of the staff and must implement it as soon as they can. There is no wasted time in operetta, no matter how clever the delayed punchlines may be!

A Work in Progress

It's about a month before the first production and already Glimmerglass is bustling with activity, off-site as well as on-site. Glimmerglass employs over 300 people in the summer and all are vital to the success of the season. During the season, designers, directors, stage managers, builders, administrators, marketers, costumers, conductors, and interns of all ilks descend on the Alice Busch Opera Theater and work furiously to bring their individual efforts into one cohesive piece of artistry.

Set building is well underway. The production crew saws and welds away in the scene shop, but often share the stage with the lighting crew, who must hoist approximately 300 lights over the stage of Alice Busch Opera Theater. The set is not merely built on stage, though. Smaller set pieces and props must be constructed, painted, and polished to be ready for opening night.

The costume shop is busy constructing and fitting costumes for four different productions. The racks overflow with over 200 costumes for the summer season.

The 29 members of Glimmerglass’s prestigious Young American Artist Program are busy as well. Several members have lead roles in the summer’s productions, but all are participating in smaller roles or chorus responsibilities. They also have to prepare for masterclasses, on-site auditions, and recitals.

Rehearsals began last week for Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice and Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. The singers came with their music already memorized (“off-book”), so the directors, choreographers, and conductors started work almost immediately on staging the opera. Singers rehearse daily in preparation for the opening night in three weeks.

While most of the staffers’ efforts revolve around the current season operas, plans are already in the works for next season. This week the director of Glimmerglass’s much-anticipated North American premiere of Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot, Nic Muni, toured the facility in order to explore the space in which he will stage the production.

It looks to be an exciting summer all around. For more info, please visit the Glimmerglass website, keep checking back here, or add us to your feed.