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Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
The GuardianFriday, May 18, 2012
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
By Alan BlythThe GuardianFriday, May 18, 2012
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the distinguished German baritone, has died aged 86. His Protean career was surely unique, as he sang and recorded more vocal music than any who came before. In particular, he broached more lieder (German songs) than any of his predecessors of the genre, his recordings running into the hundreds. Many of these songs he recorded several times over: for instance, he made no fewer than eight recordings of Schubert's Winterreise cycle alone.
Facebook Advertising: 5 Things You Don't Know (& Should)
By Michael MothnerInc.Friday, May 18, 2012
As my company has been managing pay-per-click advertising since the dawn of the medium, I've been thrilled to turn its attention to the Facebook advertising platform's amazing targeting abilities.

We stumbled a lot at first, however, and went through millions of dollars of testing before we learned to walk (and finally run).

Here are the five biggest lessons we have learned about using Facebook ads.
9 Essential Steps for a Killer Kickstarter Campaign
MashableFriday, May 18, 2012
9 Essential Steps for a Killer Kickstarter Campaign
By Stephanie BuckMashableFriday, May 18, 2012
How does one cash in (literally) on the Kickstarter craze? For starters, it helps to have a unique concept, wicked ambition and one unforgettable pitch. The great news is that Kickstarter provides great tools to showcase all of the above.

We’ve read all of Kickstarter’s guidelines, FAQs and tips, and have researched testimonials from successful campaign alums to compile a set of tips that will help launch you into the Kickstarter hall of fame.
Who Should Direct An Opera Production?
Operavore (WQXR)Friday, May 18, 2012
Who Should Direct An Opera Production?
By Fred PlotkinOperavore (WQXR)Friday, May 18, 2012
For purposes of clarity, let us get our terms straight: In opera the person who directs the show and gathers a design team is known as the producer. This is a stage director who has an idea, a vision, a concept of how the opera should be staged and then finds the right people to create scenery, lighting and costumes and, when required, to do choreography. When a production is revived in later seasons, sometimes the original producer is brought back to stage it again. More often, an assistant to the producer or a stage director on staff of an opera company will follow the original production book (the notes on how the blocking—the movement—was done). 
Mattila Bows Out From Met Production
ArtsBeat (The New York Times)Friday, May 18, 2012
Mattila Bows Out From Met Production
By Daniel J. WakinArtsBeat (The New York Times)Friday, May 18, 2012
Karita Mattila, the Finnish soprano, has dropped out of a new production of Verdi’s “Ballo in Maschera” at the Metropolitan Opera planned for next season, the Met said on Thursday. Ms. Mattila, right, was to have sung the role of Amelia. “Karita was engaged for ‘Ballo’ five years ago, and she recently decided the role was not right for her,” said a Met spokeswoman, Lee Abrahamian. Sondra Radvanovsky will take on all but 1 of the 10 Amelia performances, the Met said, with the other replacement to be determined
Scottish arts shakeup to concentrate funding on one-off projects
By Severin CarrellThe GuardianFriday, May 18, 2012
Dozens of Scottish arts companies and art centres are facing deep funding cuts and job losses under a radical restructuring of spending by the national arts agency Creative Scotland.

The agency's new funding strategy puts far greater emphasis on theatre groups, art centres, galleries and festivals competing against each other for subsidies for one-off projects from next April to help it cope with a £2.1m cut in its funding from the Scottish government.

Social Media Secrets for a Sold-Out Event
Social Media TodayFriday, May 18, 2012
Social Media Secrets for a Sold-Out Event
By Katrina PadronSocial Media TodayFriday, May 18, 2012
You know that feeling when you see something really cool in action? You see it unfold right before you. Last Fall, I had the incredible opportunity of attending in NYC and saw social media and online marketing used so smartly to sell out an event with zero seats to spare and create an enormous amount of buzz for next year’s event. 

This is what every business needs to know about using social media for a sell-out event, including getting the word out in the first place, strategies for engaging your audience and how to create momentum after the event. 
How to Motivate Your Board to Raise More Money
The Fundraising AuthorityFriday, May 18, 2012
How to Motivate Your Board to Raise More Money
By Joe GarechtThe Fundraising AuthorityFriday, May 18, 2012
This is a tricky subject, and a difficult one for many non-profits to address:  How can you get your board to raise more money on your behalf?
For Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
The Rest is NoiseFriday, May 18, 2012
For Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
By Alex RossThe Rest is NoiseFriday, May 18, 2012
A monumental, vastly influential figure is gone. I can't help feeling shock at the news — a world without Fischer-Dieskau seems foreign and unnerving.  
Free is a Magic Number?
National Arts Marketing ProjectFriday, May 18, 2012
Free is a Magic Number?
By Tim Baker and Steven RothNational Arts Marketing ProjectFriday, May 18, 2012
When talking about price, it’s often easy to overlook one of the most important of prices: FREE! "Free" can be an incredibly powerful tool for generating demand, but may create more challenges than it addresses. This is particularly true for the arts.
Living Opera
Darren K. Woods, General Director, Fort Worth Opera

Original Content • 5/14/2012

Fort Worth Opera’s Darren K. Woods on setting a new festival agenda

I guess you could say that opera festivals are in my blood. My first opera job as a professional singer was as an apprentice artist for Santa Fe opera. I worked at Santa Fe most summers for the next 14 years, along with the festivals in Saint Louis, Chautauqua, Glimmerglass, Sarasota and several others, but eventually I retired from singing and became a general director. When I came to Fort Worth, the board charged me with breathing new life into our 60-year-old stagione company, and the idea of changing into a festival format was a natural leap for me — albeit an exciting and frightening one. It would necessitate altering our business model completely, trying something that had never been done in north Texas, and risking a patron base that was comfortable attending operas spaced out over the year. However, facing stiff competition from the hundreds of other arts organizations serving a population of over six million people in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, it was a matter of change or die.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
      

Spring 2012 Magazine Issue
  • Letter from the President/CEO
  • Opera Conference 2012: Creative Resurgence
  • Operatic Evolution and Natural Selection
  • The National Opera Center: Countdown
  • Developing New Work
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