The Met in Minneapolis? Drop-in on the Met Opera Regional Auditions this Saturday

Join some of your fellow Tempo opera-phites anytime between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2:30 this Saturday, December 3 at the McKnight Theatre in the Ordway Center for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions. Different auditions will be taking place during this time-span, and you are free to come and go as you please!

What are the Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions? They are the preliminary rounds for the National Council Auditions that will lead to fame, success and glory. Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council. Annually, approximately 100 former auditioners appear in Metropolitan Opera productions. For more information on the auditions, visit: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/auditions/national/index.aspx

Special appearances from friends of Minnesota Opera will take place at 11:05, 11.25, 12:25 and 12:45.

11:05AM- Victoria Vargas, mezzo soprano – Victoria is a resident artist with Minnesota Opera and a featured performer at Opera Tasting 2011.

11:25AM- Angela Mortellaro, soprano – Angela is a resident artist with Minnesota Opera and was featured this season as Despina in Cosi fan tutte and Madeleine in Silent Night.

12:25PM- Rudolfo Nieto, bass baritone – Rudy was a resident artist with Minnesota Opera during the 09-10 and 10-11 seasons, as well as a featured performer at OT 2011.

12:45PM- Brad Benoit, tenor – Brad was a resident artist with Minnesota Opera during the 08-09, 09-10 and 10-11 seasons, as well as a featured performer at OT 2011. If you attended opening night of Silent Night, you will remember Brad’s brilliant tenor voice filling in for a sick William Burden.

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20(s)? $20!!

Project 20-something (P20S) is a program designed by Minnesota Opera and funded by the Minnesota State Arts Board to give access to people in their twenties to attend the opera by offering them $20 tickets for opening night performances and related activities. The objective of this program is to build the next generation of opera-goers.

Can you participate?  Kristin Matejcek, Minnesota Opera liaison for the project says “all schools are welcome although we have active student liaisons at U of M, St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus College, Northwestern, Hamline, Bethel and St. Mary’s Minneapolis campus.”

The participants of the program will be invited to join Tempo ($50 membership fee) and receive membership benefits that include: discounted tickets ($30) and discounted subscriptions ($80-$120) as well as invitations to special events and educational classes throughout the year.

Are you a 20-something? Want a $20 ticket?! Contact Minnesota Opera at 612-333-6669 for more info.

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Tempo Sketch Artists: Thomas Boguszewski

Tempo invites sketch artists to dress rehearsals at MNOpera to create an artistic rendering of how they perceive each opera. Here is Thomas Boguszewski's vision of Silent Night (more available at http://thisisartinprogress.blogspot.com/2011/11/silent-night-at-opera.html):

"I am a history enthusiast and a fan of the film Joyeux Noel, which the opera Silent Night is based on.  I thought the staging of this opera was magnificent.  The costumes were spot-on, the stage (which used a rotating circular platform in the center) was ingenious, the acting and blocking were well-thought-out.  Any person who knows about or would like to learn more about the Christmas Truce of 1914 should see Silent Night.  Watching this production warms the heart a little, but also gives one a sense of the terrible irony of war —where humanity is looked upon as "weird" and violence is the norm.  I think the message of this play is not only that "Artists make bad soldiers" as Lieutenant Horstmayer points out at the beginning of the play, but also that good human beings make bad soldiers."

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Tempo Sketch Artists: Kate Saturday

Tempo invites sketch artists to dress rehearsals at MNOpera to create an artistic rendering of how they perceive each opera. Here is Kate Saturday's vision of Silent Night:

I'm always amazed by the strength and simplicity of the sets at MNOpera, but Silent Night went way beyond previous shows.  I was amazed by how viewpoint and sympathy could shift as the stage rotated, and how dropping a window onto the battlefield could transform it into a mansion while retaining the sense of lonliness and fragility.  ~Kate Saturday

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Silent Night Sketch Artists: Lee Blauersouth

Tempo invites sketch artists to dress rehearsals at MNOpera to create an artistic rendering of how they perceive each opera. Here is Lee Blauersouth's vision of Silent Night (also accessible at http://godseekercomic.com/2011/11/13/another-comic-artists-night-at-the-opera-events-pics/):

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Silent Night Sketch Artists: Ryan Dow

Tempo invites sketch artists to dress rehearsals at MNOpera to create an artistic rendering of how they perceive each opera.  Here is Ryan Dow's vision of Silent Night (also accessible at http://ryandow.com/ic/2011/11/14/sketch-night-at-the-opera/):

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