Singing On: Opera North Reveals Three Productions for Summerfest 2025
Opera North is wearing its 42 years with verve, and with bold plans for the upcoming season.
Before a crowd of well-wishers at AVA Gallery on Tuesday night, this professional opera company that makes its home in the Upper Valley announced the line-up for Summerfest 2025. Louis Burkot, Artistic Director, did the honors:
THE LITTLE PRINCE is a relatively new opera by Rachel Portman based on the well-known book of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Burkot described the opera as a mix of “new age, classical, and fantasy.” Two items of particular note: 1) As it did in its recent production of Carmen, ON will partner once again with the Upper Valley Music Center to include children in the performances. 2) Circus artists (who have previously appeared in partnering roles in a kind of variety show format with opera singers) will, under the direction of Mark Lonergan (Big Apple Circus), be integrated into the actual production.
THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO receives an update, set in the 1920s (“think Downton Abbey,” advised ON Director Evans Haile.) Though a recent production of this classic opera was an unusual version featuring a single performer, ON’s will be more traditionally cast.
THE MAN OF LaMANCHA. Who doesn’t love it? Sing along, maybe just in your head, to The Impossible Dream.
Opera North has been a long-standing tradition in the Upper Valley, and has transformed itself under Haile’s directorship with its acquisition of Blow-Me-Down Farm in Cornish NH as a performance venue. It’s opera under the “big top,” and it has become more inclusive and family-friendly. In fact, when opera seems to becoming the province of those of us with gray (ok, or graying) hair, Haile noted that ON audiences in recent years have changed the demographic, partly because of families who bring children to the performances. There is often a food truck or two on site to facilitate picnicking before the show.
The Metropolitan Opera has succeeded in lowering the average age of its audience from 57 to 52, presumably by including new, more contemporary operas by living composers. Average age of opera goers varies by location. In Paris: 48 years, in Houston, 65 to 72 years. Broadway audiences are considerably younger at 40 to 45.
Consistently impressive is the talent. Some well-established opera singers are brought in for certain key roles but the heart of ON is its Resident Artists Program. Burkot travels the country “from Boston to Bloomington, Indiana” and places between and beyond, auditioning young singers—approximately 700 of them—who are starting out in their opera careers before he chooses a dozen or so each season. Attendees at AVA Gallery’s fete were treated to a performance by Carlyle Quinn, a Resident Artist from ON’s previous season. She was mesmerizing and soulful; more than one audience member wiped away tears while listening to her sing.
Subscriptions for the 2025 season go on sale on November 15, and despite the fact that summer seems eons away, it’s never too early! Performances are often sold out. For more information, click here to view ON’s website.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.