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ENEWS
September 2006
Roméo et Juliette
Receives Accolades!
3-Opera Subscription Packages Now Available!
Opera San José Receives
Second 4-Star Rating From Charity Navigator
OSJ Singers to Perform at Fairmont San
José's Winemaker's Dinner
Join the Opera San José Wine
Club!
Cisco Systems Awards $15,000 Grant to OSJ
Parking Alert for the California Theatre!
OSJ Brings Anti-Smoking Message to the
Schools
Tuesday Evening Previews Have Moved!
Performances supported, in
part, by a grant from
the City of San José.
Performances are supported,
in part, by a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts:
A
Great Nation Deserves Great Art
Performances are funded in part by the
California Arts Council,
a state
agency.
Click here to learn how you can support the arts in California.
Delta is the
official airline of Opera San José.
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Roméo et Juliette
Receives Accolades!
The headline in the September 11 edition of the San José
Mercury News says it all: "Roméo et Juliette
thrills and charms." "Opera San José,"
critic Richard Scheinin continues, "happily has found just the right pair
of decathletes to lead the way through this 19th century adaptation of
Shakespeare's sad story of ill-fated love. At Saturday's season-opening
performance at the California Theatre, soprano
Rochelle Bard, a newcomer to the company, and tenor
Christopher Bengochea not only didn't flag in their roles as the
young lovers, they also ripened as the action proceeded from marriage bed
to death bed."
Click here to read the entire review.
Mr. Scheinin has also reviewed the other
cast (September 13 edition, San José
Mercury News), and describes soprano
Talise Trevigne's Waltz Song aria as "...pearly lustrous and deep.
It was charming, a little coquettish, supremely confident and -- I'm happy
to lay on the adjectives here -- thrilling, making for one of those
moments when you again realize just how beautiful the human voice can be."
More....
3-Opera
Subscription Packages Now Available!
For as little as $165, you can have
subscription tickets (and all the benefits that go with being a
subscriber!) to three of the most popular operas in the repertoire:
Rossini's The Barber of Seville (Nov. 18-Dec. 3), Verdi's La
traviata (Feb. 10-25) and Puccini's Madama Butterfly (April
21-May 6). Being an OSJ subscriber gives you first choice of all
available seating annually. When others hear "I'm sorry, Madama
Butterfly has been sold out for weeks," your tickets are already in
hand. As a season ticket buyer, you get a $10 discount off the
single ticket price for each ticket in the package: that's a $30
savings for each package you purchase.
Click here
to order your 3-opera subscription package today!
Opera San José Receives Second 4-Star Rating From Charity Navigator
Opera San José just received notification from
Charity Navigator that for the second consecutive year, OSJ had
been awarded the coveted 4-star rating for its sound fiscal management.
According to Trent Stamp, Charity Navigator's Executive Director, "Opera
San José has earned our 4-star rating for its ability to efficiently
manage and grow its finances. Only 12% of the charities we've rated have
received at least two consecutive 4-start evaluations, indicating that
Opera San José outperforms most charities in America in its efforts to
operate in the most fiscally responsible way possible. This 'exceptional'
designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Opera San José from its
peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust. To view
OSJ's profile on Charity Navigator,
click here.
OSJ Singers to Perform at Fairmont San José's Winemaker's Dinner
 In
partnership with the Fairmont San José, Opera San José will be providing
entertainment at the upcoming
Winemaker's Dinner on September 29, 7 p.m. at the
Fairmont Hotel in downtown San José. OSJ artists
Christopher Bengochea and
Talise Trevigne will sing their favorite arias during the
cocktail hour, which begins at 7 p.m. Following their performance, Peggy
Flemming Jenkins and Greg Jenkins, and Daniel Maurice, the Fairmont's
executive chef,
 will
present a four-course dinner featuring the wines of Fleming Jenkins
Vineyards and Winery. The dinner, which costs $85 per person, will include
a bottle of 2005 Victories Rosé autographed by Ms. Peggy Flemming for each
guest to take home. 100% of the net profits after taxes of each bottle of
Victories Rosé purchased will be donated to charities supporting breast
cancer research. For reservations, please call (408) 998 3914.
Join the Opera San José Wine
Club!
Do you
believe fantastic opera and fine wine go together?
Welcome to the first Opera San José Wine
Club! You can now acquire the wine that was served and received rave
reviews from attendees at this season's Singer's Showcase event this past
July. Not only can you enjoy this wine whenever you want, you can support
Opera San José simultaneously. CMA Wines will donate up to 30% of the
proceeds back to Opera San José! All you have to do is order the wine you
prefer from the
CMA website. Any questions regarding this program may be referred
to Glen
Wong of Opera San José at (408) 437-4463. Salud!
 Cisco Systems Awards
$15,000 Grant to OSJ
Opera San José is a recipient
this year of
Cisco Systems Foundation's "San José Impact Grant Program."
According to the foundation, the program provides incremental funding to
well-managed and innovative non-profits within 50 miles of Cisco's San
José headquarters. Opera San José qualified under Cisco's Arts in
Education Programs, that are implemented at the school site and
directly integrate into K-12 educational enrichment. The grant from Cisco
Systems Foundation will be used to present Lets Make An Opera!
during the 2006-2007 school year.
Click here to learn more about OSJ's K-College Educational
Curriculum Programs.
Parking Alert for the
California Theatre!
There’ll be one less place to park in downtown San José when Roméo et
Juliette opens in September. Say goodbye to the parking lot next to
the theatre at Market and San Salvador streets, which also abuts South
First Street.
Be
sure to plan accordingly when you drive downtown for Opera San José
productions at the California Theatre this season. Click
here for a map depicting locations of remaining parking lots
closest to the California Theatre.
 OSJ
Brings Anti-Smoking Message
to the Schools
During
the upcoming school year, Opera San José will present fully staged
performances of a 40-minute one-act opera,
The Night Harry Stopped Smoking, for K–6 students at schools
throughout Santa Clara County. Five singers from the company’s resident
ensemble will perform in the opera, under the direction of OSJ’s director
of education, Douglas Nagel.
Composed by Ross
Dabrusin and John Davies, The Night Harry Stopped Smoking is a
clever musical theatre piece about Harry McGlaughlin, a heavy smoker, who
falls asleep one night only to find that he has been taken to a strange
place—his lungs. Guided by two nerve cells, Harry discovers how smoking is
affecting his heart and lungs and damaging his body. This crucial look at
his health makes Harry decide to quit smoking.
 Using
contemporary music and dance forms such as rap, The Night Harry Stopped
Smoking has proven to be immensely appealing to this age group of
students and an effective vehicle for delivering an important health
education message. Other opera companies such as Portland Opera in Oregon
and Southland Opera in Los Angeles have had great success presenting this
musical comedy to schools. Nagel’s Rimrock Opera (Billings, Montana)
recently presented 49 performances of The Night Harry Stopped Smoking
to more than 15,000 Montana students during an eight-week statewide tour.
Due to
the lack of funds schools have available to book in-school assemblies,
The Night Harry Stopped Smoking will be offered at a reduced charge to
encourage as many schools as possible to take advantage of this worthwhile
program. Ten performances will be offered free of charge thanks to funding
from
Kaiser Permanente’s 2006 Community Health Grants Program
($10,000). Opera San José has also received funding from the
Good Samaritan Community Benefit Program ($7,500).
For more information about The Night Harry Stopped Smoking and
Opera San José’s educational curriculum, contact Mr. Nagel at (408)
437-2229 or
(406) 698-6334
or
Douglas514@aol.com; or contact OSJ Education Coordinator Matt Siek at
408-437-4456,
siek@operasj.org.
Tuesday Evening Previews Have Moved!
Opera San José is pleased to announce that for the 2006–07 season our
popular
Tuesday evening Previews will take place at the Fairmont Hotel’s
elegant Pagoda Restaurant. The Fairmont is making the entire
restaurant—including the Bamboo Lounge and private banquet room—available
to us for these events. As usual, for each Preview the doors will open at
6:30 p.m. for wine and light hors d’oeuvres. Larry Hancock’s informative
hour-long lecture about each opera, with singing by members of the cast,
will begin at 7 p.m. Cost for each Preview at the Pagoda is unchanged at
$20. Reservations are still required; call 408-437-4450.
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