In the Wings

As a new school year begins, we reflect on a summer of singing with youth and teachers across Boston. Through new and existing partnerships, BLO Teaching Artists immerse students and teachers into the world of creating an opera.

It may be impossible to talk about revolutions and opera without circling back to that iconic, endearing, clever barber, Figaro—an archetypal character who has transcended genres, charmed generations, and helped inspire a revolution.

Contralto Marian Anderson was thrust into the public spotlight after a controversial rejection from one of the nation’s prominent concert houses. She went on to make a landmark debut as the first black singer at the Metropolitan Opera and helped spark further action in the Civil Rights Movement.

Julie d’Aubigny led an incredible life full of adventure and defied expectations for “ladylike” behavior. She carried on public love affairs with both men and women; often dressed in men’s clothing; was once sentenced to death; and achieved acclaim on the leading operatic stages of Paris and beyond.

During the 12th Century, Hildegard von Bingen achieved great success as prioress and abbess, founding two convents in addition to being an author, composer, visionary, and prophet. She wrote the first non-liturgical musical drama, considered by many musicologists as one of the first operas.

In celebration of our 2018/19 Season, take a tour through opera history to find 7 examples that upended societal expectations, charted their own course, and imagined the world anew. Installment #3 – we turn to the Risorgimento in Italy and the mythic status of an unforgettable Verdi anthem.

The DISSENTERS & REBELS of opera: Jeanne d'Arc, Patron Saint of France. She defied her social status, her gender, and held firm in her faith that she was selected by God to win a war for France.

Who are the Dissenters and Rebels of opera? In celebration of our 2018/19 Season, take a tour through opera history to find seven examples who upended societal expectations and inspired others to imagine the world anew. First up: poor artists living la vie bohème in 19th-century Paris.

With the close of the 2017-18 school year, we look back on an incredible year of school partnerships in communities across greater Boston.

In "Crossing the Line to Freedom", opera and song bring the past to life, joining a long tradition of staged performances that dramatize the African American past. Black performing artists have long recognized that the stage is a vitally important platform for the telling of historical stories.