Hailed by the New York Times as “a remarkably strong and diverse exploration of everything opera can be in the city,” the New York Opera Alliance (NYOA), with support from OPERA America, presented NYOANext: The Bronx, the first in a five-borough opera series spotlighting local artists and companies this past weekend.
The initiative began with a spotlight on the Bronx with a public showcase on Saturday, April 22, celebrating the borough’s vibrant and varied opera community. Alongside local Bronx singers, several opera companies from around the five boroughs performed together in the Bronx, including the Bronx Opera, New York City’s first disability-affirmative opera company Opera Praktikos featuring deaf actress Amelia Hensley, mezzo-soprano Shanley Horvitz and more. This performance was followed by a free Opera Jam for the local community on Sunday, April 23.
“We are thrilled to be launching this comprehensive borough-wide initiative that will encourage deeper exploration throughout the city’s diverse neighborhoods while supporting small opera companies and spotlighting local artists,” said Marianna Mott Newirth, president of NYOA. “Our aim is to bring this most complex of performing art forms to more and more people who never considered attending opera before. We are here to celebrate, rejuvenate and expand the very meaning of what opera is for all New Yorkers to discover.”
Through shared resources and collaborations, NYOANext is a multi-day event held three times a year in a rotating cycle through all five boroughs. This unique series provides a platform for the entire opera ecosystem to perform, network and connect to both each other and their patrons. Each borough-specific series begins with a general audition and showcase for local singers, followed by highlights of upcoming productions and ends with a community salon for the participants and neighbors to share resources, music and food. NYOANext plans to spotlight mid and upper Manhattan in f of this year, Queens in spring 2024 and other boroughs to be announced at a later date.
“After seven years of hosting the New York Opera Festival, we are repositioning our programming to better complement our mission of community building,” said Newirth. “Our field is changing and NYOANext is our response to the call. Now is the time for our opera community to collaborate and learn how to not only survive, but also thrive, in the present economy. There is strength and power in working together at the community level and NYOANext is a shining example of the benefit that results from it.”
NYOANext: Bronx began April 20 with a general audition and singers showcase, particularly for unrepresented opera singers seeking to break into the field. It was followed by the main stage performance on Saturday at the Lucius T Wasserman Auditorium at The Bronx House and the public salon event on Sunday at the Bronx Music Heritage Center. In the words of Opera News, “The Bronx Opera’s crowd, like the company’s enthusiastic, sonorous chorus, is (hearteningly) among the most racially integrated to be seen in New York; encouraging the attendance of so many young people marks a positive contribution to the art form.”
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