National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $25 million in grants as part of the NEA’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.
Included in the announcement is an Art Works grant of $10,000 to OperaDelaware to support new productions celebrating Puccini’s Il Trittico (“The Triptych”) and composer Michael Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost.
“We’re delighted that the NEA has chosen to support our work for the third consecutive season,” said OperaDelaware general director Brendan Cooke. “In addition to providing part of the financial resources to produce great opera in Delaware, winning these highly competitive awards has served as a great seal of approval, which can help us share our mission and build additional support.”
The Art Works category is the NEA’s largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts, an OperaDelaware release stated.
“It is energizing to see the impact that the arts are making throughout the United States. These NEA-supported projects, such as this one to OperaDelaware, are good examples of how the arts build stronger and more vibrant communities, improve well-being, prepare our children to succeed, and increase the quality of our lives,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “At the National Endowment for the Arts, we believe that all people should have access to the joy, opportunities, and connections the arts bring.”
Building on the successes of its first two opera festivals, OperaDelaware will return to Wilmington’s Grand Opera House for the 2018 Festival, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Puccini’s Il Trittico (Triptych).
Featuring seven acts, this season’s festival aims to continue raising the company’s national profile while also growing audiences in the First State. The previous two festivals, which attracted over 1,500 patrons from outside a 30-mile radius of Wilmington and over 2,000 first-time ticket buyers, garnered national media attention and positive reviews.
Soprano Eleni Calenos, whom the Wall Street Journal recently lauded for her “searing performance…with all the necessary vocal range, stamina and fire,” will star as both Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and the title role of Suor Angelica. Wilmington’s Grant Youngblood (baritone) will sing the role of Michele in Il Tabarro, tenor Matthew Vickers (Amleto, 2016) returns to OperaDelaware to perform as Luigi in Il Tabarro, and mezzo-soprano Alissa Anderson will sing the roles of Frugola/La Zia Principessa. Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica will be directed by Crystal Manich and conducted by OperaDelaware’s new Music Director, Anthony Barrese.
In addition to the fully-staged Festival productions at the Grand Opera House, OperaDelaware will also offer A Flight of Puccini at the company’s Riverfront Studios (4 S. Poplar St., Wilmington) on May 3 and May 4. The final installment of this season’s “Opera Uncorked” concert series.
“We are beyond excited to present these thrilling and accessible masterpieces. There truly is something for everyone in these four operas, which feature some of Puccini’s most famous melodies and the full range of human emotion,” says Cooke. “A long-time opera lover will delight in the intimacy of the Grand Opera House and our extraordinary artistic teams. And those new to opera will find much to love about these timeless stories.”
Festival tickets are on sale now. Tickets start at $29 and can be purchased at OperaDE.org or by calling OperaDelaware’s Box Office at (302) 442-7807.
(A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that the grant totaled $100,000.)
