Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Smucker and Patricia-Maria Weinmann.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Boston Opera Collaborative (BOC) was founded in 2005 by a group of singers in order to provide more opportunities for opera singers after graduate school. The company was initially run by singers as well, with different members filling every area of production, fundraising, finances and administration.
Today, in our 12th season, we’re still dedicated to providing performing and administrative opportunities to young singers, but we have a core team that is charged with running the company. And where singing for BOC was once a volunteer gig, today we are offering fees for singers that are more in line with other companies our size.
Has it been a smooth road?
Running a non-profit arts organization is never easy! Hundreds of artists, volunteers and donors have poured their hearts and their time into helping the company thrive. Opera is one of the most expensive of the performing arts – it takes so many singers, musicians, stage technicians and others to make a show happen. Yet raising money for opera – and for small opera companies especially – is incredibly difficult at time when arts funding in general has been declining.
Our business model — where singers have run the company – has been difficult to maintain, in that there’s a great deal of turnover. But we’ve now got systems and people in place that can provide more stability year-to-year, and we’re well on our way to another decade of making great opera.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Boston Opera Collaborative – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Boston Opera Collaborative offers fresh opera experiences that put our audiences in close contact with the power of the human voice. We love the intimacy of our performances – you’re never more than a few rows away from the singers, so it’s much easier to be drawn into the storytelling. And hospitality is an important part of our mission, with food, drink and fascinating conversation with great people a central part of each show.
Our year-round performance calendar features Boston’s brightest young talent who come to us from the nation’s top conservatories, making Boston their home as they pursue the next stage of their careers. These are fearless young artists, which lets us be more adventurous on stage.
Here’s what we’ve got planned for 2017-18:
Opera Bites
November 10-12, 2017 at Longy School of Music of Bard College
Our third annual production of new 10-minute operas, fresh from the creative oven. Performed in a cabaret setting, this is an evening full of culinary and operatic treats. Produced in partnership with Longy and Boston New Music Initiative and accompanied by BNMI’s resident ensemble.
As One
January 25-28, 2018 at Longy School of Music of Bard College
Created by composer Laura Kaminsky, librettist Mark Campbell and librettist/filmmaker Kimberly Reed, this piece is one of the hottest and most timely operas in America today. Accompanied by string quartet, a mezzo-soprano and a baritone depict the experiences of the opera’s sole transgender protagonist, Hannah, as she endeavors to resolve the discord between herself and the outside world. Produced in partnership with Longy.
La Boheme
April 12-22, 2018 at 3 locations in Jamaica Plain
In this site-specific production, 60 audience members at a time will join our singers and instrumentalists in an immersive performance of Puccini’s classic opera set in a real artist’s garret, an adjacent bar and an art gallery.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
We love that Boston is a world-class music scene with so many opportunities to go to operas and concerts. And we love how vibrant the opera community is – there more than 30 companies and institutions producing opera large and small each year! We wish Boston had a real opera house and that it was easier to find places to perform.
Pricing:
- Tickets from $25, senior and student discounts available
Contact Info:
- Address: Boston, MA 02123
- Website: www.bostonoperacollaborative.org
- Phone: (617) 517-5883
- Email: info@bostonoperacollaborative.org
- Instagram: bostonoperacollaborative
- Facebook: @BostonOperaCollaborative
- Twitter: @BostonOperaColl
Boston Opera Collaborative – Indomeneo
Boston Opera Collaborative Boston MA – Handels brilliant opera – Rinaldo – March 26 – 29, 2015
Family Feuds – Boston Opera Collaborative – March 2016
The Boston Opera Collaborative – “Dangerous Liaisons” at the Plaza Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts March 24 – April 1, 2017
The Boston Opera Collaborative’s production of Our Town – June 2015 at the Modern Theater in Boston MA.
Image Credit:
Production Photos by Dan Busler
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