New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera to Kick Off 2016 With Open House. Enjoy a Brief Concert.

The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera will hold its New Year Open House on Saturday, January 23, with a snow date of January 30. The house opera company of the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) will hold its annual event at 44 Armory Street in Englewood, New Jersey at 2:00 p.m.

Artistic Director Lucine Amara invites the public to attend the free Open House and learn more about the grand opera company’s new season. The program will feature vocalists performing arias and duets from Verismo Opera’s upcoming 2016 season and past productions.

Based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the organization will discuss opportunities discussed to get involved in the nonprofit opera company as supernumeraries acting in non-speaking and non-singing roles, volunteers working behind-the-scenes, and singers performing in the Verismo Opera Chorus. Exhibits will display memorabilia, photos, posters and other items from Verismo Opera’s 27 year history producing grand operas, sponsoring an annual international vocal competition, presenting concerts, holding master classes, giving operalogues, and training the stars of tomorrow.

To continue the grand opera company’s work, the New Year Open House will feature the Verismo Opera Boutique with a range of fine items. Among the products available for purchase will be CDs from opera stars, DVDs of Verismo Opera productions, books about opera and biographies of prominent singers, large photo posters personally signed by Lucine Amara, and other items. Funds raised will be used to support the volunteer chorus.

Auditions for Verismo Opera Chorus & Children’s Chorus

After the program, auditions will be held for the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera Chorus and the Verismo Opera Children’s Chorus. An audition appointment is required and must be made in advance. Male choristers, representing all vocal ranges and ages, are especially needed. Adult applicants should have a rudimentary working ability to read music and experience singing. Teenagers, ages 17 to 19, may also audition for the Verismo Opera Chorus.

Children, ages 10 to 16, are invited to audition for the Verismo Opera Children’s Chorus. Applicants must read music and have some prior vocal experience performing with a school, choir, or other performing group or organization. Previous stage experience and foreign language study are desirable. Applicants who have these skills and experiences will be given preference.

An application may be downloaded. For information or to schedule an appointment to audition for the chorus, call (201) 886-0561 or contact info@verismopera.org.

The New Year Open House will introduce the company’s new and first female Principal Conductor and Music Director, Maestra Lucy Arner. Ms. Amara, Stage Director Evelyn La Quaif, Associate Conductor/Chorus Director Mara Waldman, and President Dr. James Garvin, MD will discuss Verismo Opera’s mission, vision, history and opportunities to get involved in the nonprofit opera company’s productions, concerts, operalogues, workshops, and office.

During 2016, the company will premiere Amilcare Ponchielli’s La Gioconda on April 17 and present Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto on October 16. Both productions will be performed at bergenPAC, located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey, at 3:00 p.m.

Accessible

The New Year Open House site is handicapped accessible. A parking lot has a designated handicapped parking space. The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera is committed to ensuring its programs and services are accessible to all. Members of the public requiring a special accommodation or with specific questions about the physical features of a facility where Verismo Opera performs may call (201) 886-0561 at least two weeks prior to the event.

Funding

The 2016 season is made possible, in part, with funds provided by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, through grand funds administered by the Bergen County Department of Parks, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs. Other supporters include the Children’s Aid Foundation, Robert J. Campbell, MD, Cesare L. Santeramo, KSJ, Paul Weiss Matching Fund, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, Inc., Mary Casella Briggs Fund, and Vanguard Charitable Endowment Fund.

For further information about the New Year Open House or Verismo Opera, call (201) 886-0561 or send an e-mail to info@verismopera.org. Follow the company on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Visit Verismo Opera’s web site for updates and sign up for the organization’s monthly newsletter.

Photo Credit: Marilyn Monsanto