TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to Access Opera!

GETTING TO KNOW OPERA

Access Opera FAQs

A Little Opera History

What is Opera?

Anatomy of Opera

The Operatic Voice

ACTIVITY: Opera is Everywhere!

GETTING TO KNOW The Flying Dutchman

Richard Wagner – composer

The Story Behind the Dutchman

Austin Opera Cast and SYNOPSIS

The Leitmotif

ACTIVITY: What’s Your Theme Song?

EVALUATION

A Short History of Opera Opera as an art form began with the inclusion of incidental music performed during the tragedies and comedies popular during ancient Greek times. The tradition of including music as an integral part of theatrical activities expanded in Roman times and continued throughout the Middle Ages. Traditional view holds that the first completely sung musical drama (or opera) developed in Florence in the 1570s by an informal group of composers, musicians and artists known as the Florentine Camerata, which led to the musical setting of Rinuccini’s drama, Dafne, by composer Jacopo Peri in 1597. In the 17th century, Italian masters Giulio Caccini and Claudio Monteverdi developed a kind of musical entertainment where a story – including the events, conversations, and characterizations – is told through singing and orchestral accompaniment. Two key components of these entertainments became hallmarks of opera: recitative sections and arias. Recitatives are song-speech, and the words are sung but with little or no recognizable melody, and with a rhythm that imitates those of speech. Recitatives function to further the storyline of the drama. Arias (Italian for “air”) are main songs that reveal both the emotion of the characters, and the qualities of the soloists’ voices. Additionally, there were groups of singers called the chorus, who played background characters of the story. Their songs were usually a comment on the action, much like the chorus from ancient Greek drama. Opera gained popularity throughout Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries and Italian composers dominated the field (this is why operatic terms are often Italian words). German opera followed the lead of Italian opera through much of the 18th century, with composers actually producing operas to be sung in Italian. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an Austrian composer, wrote some of the first German-language operas in the mid 18th century, and also brought the technique of singspiel (“sing play” where spoken dialogue is used instead of recitative) to greater attention. Giaochino Rossini was the most popular composer at the turn of the 19th century, and his best-known works were comic operas (known as opera buffa). Giuseppe Verdi, the most prolific and influential operatic composer in the 19th century, emerged from the Italian bel canto and opera buffa styles to a new kind of opera, which focused on great emotion and dramatic portrayal of character, and began the path to realism in operatic stories. Also in the 19th century, German composer Richard Wagner introduced the idea of through-composed operas, in which the distinctions between aria and recitative were to be blurred entirely. He also used leitmotif (wherein musical motives and phrases represent characters, ideas, or themes, and are re-introduced throughout the work as a way of musically telling the story). At the turn of the 19th century, Giacomo Puccini followed his hero Verdi into the world of verismo opera, and told stories of common people with a depth of emotion and transcendence of musical lines that has not been surpassed. In France, George Bizet’s operas likewise focused on realistic characters and plots. Also at the turn of the 20th century, Austrian, British, and Spanish composers were extremely popular for their light operas (and operettas). Today opera continues to grow, both in new staging and productions, and in the creation of new works. American composers such as John Adams and Philip Glass are credited with breathing new innovation into the art form, and Aaron Copeland took American history for the sources of his operatic works. John Estacio, an Edmonton composer and John Murrell (an Albertan playwright) recently created an opera called Filumena, which tells the story of the last woman executed in Alberta, and it was performed by Edmonton Opera in 2005. Opera may be 500 years old, but it continues to captivate audiences and tell important stories today!

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What is Opera?

The word opera is the plural form of the Latin word opus (which translates quite literally as work). Today we use the word opera to refer to a theatrically based musical art form in which the drama is sung (without microphones!), rather than spoken, and is accompanied by a full symphony orchestra.

Opera was born out of the belief that drama can be better expressed by music and text than by text alone. One of the unique things about opera is how it combines so many different art forms (music, drama, and visual arts) to create an artistic spectacle. Of course, the use of many art forms means that there are many people involved in the creation and production of an opera. These may include:

Composer: Writes the music Librettist: Chooses a story, writes or adapts the words

Conductor: Leads the musicians Director: Blocks or stages the entire production

Principal Singers: Have the leading and supporting roles Chorus: Sing as a group

Supernumeraries: Act but do not sing Repetiteur: Accompanies singers during rehearsal, plays the whole orchestral score on

piano Costume Designer: Designs the costumes for each character

Wardrobe/Costume Staff: fit, clean and repair costumes; help singers put costumes on Wig Staff: Make wigs and prepare make-up

Make-up Staff: Apply make-up for principal singers, assist chorus with make-up Set Designer: Designs the scenery for each scene

Lighting Designer: Designs lighting effects Prop Builders: Build/buy all the set pieces that are not structural

Stage Manager: “Calls the show” -- cues scenery changes, lighting and actors so that everything happens at the right time.

Stagehands: Move scenery; run lighting & sound cues Front of House Staff: Work in the performance venue: seating patrons, operating coat

check Artistic Director: Chooses which shows to produce and which artists to hire

Administrative Staff: Find funding (!); sell tickets; hire artists; take care of the business side of opera.

Audience: Enjoys and appreciates opera from a seat in the hall! Critic: Writes a critique of performance for newspaper, radio, or TV

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A Sound Anatomy of Opera There are many different kinds of songs in opera. Performers may sing alone, in couples (duets), trios, or larger groups, and there are also moments when no one sings at all – and each composer develops his or her own preferred combinations of these options. The following are the major musical components of an opera: The Overture An opera usually begins with an orchestral piece of music called the overture, which functions as an introduction to the opera. The overture generally includes themes that will be heard throughout the opera, and can be anywhere from five to twenty-five minutes long. Before 1800, house lights were not dimmed while the overture played, and audiences would continue to talk, drink, and even play cards. This changed in the nineteenth century when the overture began to take its place as an integral part of the operatic performance. Usually, at the end of the overture, the curtain rises and the story of the opera unfolds through a series of scenes, which are usually organized into acts. Arias Italian for “air” or song. Arias are solos performed to the accompaniment of the orchestra. They allow the character to express his or her feelings and reflect on the events of the drama. The focus of an aria is emotions rather than actions, and provides an opportunity for the singer to demonstrate his or her vocal or artistic skill. Some of the most successful composers of arias, such as Mozart, Verdi and Puccini were able to achieve a remarkable balance between memorable melodies that perfectly suit the human voice, and making the music reflect the drama of the text. Recitatives Recitative is a type of singing unique to opera, and is used when characters are conversing, or introducing an aria. The text is delivered quickly in a musical way that imitates speech, and has a very limited melodic range. It has no recognizable melody and its rhythms follow those of the spoken word. Recitative is meant to carry the action forward and can be accompanied either by a full orchestra, or, as is often the case in opera written before 1800, by a harpsichord or keyboard instrument. Ensemble (“together”) In operas, ensemble singing is when two or more voices of different ranges perform together. These include duets, trios, quartets, quintets, and in one or two instances, even a sextet! In each of these, the way the composer blends the voices will depend on the dramatic requirements of the plot. For instance, in a duet where the characters singing are in love, a composer may show this musically by having each performer sing different music at different times, and gradually bring both lines of music together in harmony as the duet culminates. Conversely, if the characters are in conflict, their music might never be brought together. Georges Bizet used this technique in Carmen: if you listen to the duets sung by Carmen and Don José, you might notice that their musical lines are never completely blended, and this foreshadows their tragic ends.

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Chorus Most operas include music sung by a large group of singers (sometimes as many as 40 or more) called a chorus. The chorus appears on stage most often in crowd scenes. The chorus can provide a stunning contrast to solo or ensemble singing. In one opera by Benjamin Britten, the chorus is played by a single male and a single female (this is in the tradition of ancient Greek theatre). Orchestral Music The orchestra is an important part of any opera, and not only because it accompanies the singing and introduces the opera in the overture. The themes (both musical and emotional) of the opera can appear in orchestral introductions and conclusions to arias, recitatives, and choruses, but sometimes the orchestra becomes a character in the story, and has music to play by itself outside of the overture or introduction. One of the most famous of these instances is the intermezzo (“in the middle”) from Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni (this can be found on youtube.com). In between the scenes of this one-act opera, the orchestra takes up the story through incredibly expressive and lyrical (singing-like) melodies, and through the voices of instruments rather than singers, brings to life the emotion of the characters, the foreboding conclusion, and also a sense of hope.

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The final (and finale) chorus of Falstaff from our 2007/2008 season Photo credit: Ellis Brothers Photography

The Operatic Voice

Being an opera singer is hard work! Singers need to be physically strong and have superb technique in order to sustain long phrases (musical thoughts): this means they have excellent control of both the inhalation and exhalation of their breath. Likewise, their voices must maintain a resonance (using the cavities in the face to increase the audibility of the voice, even when singing quietly) in both the head (mouth, sinuses) and chest cavities. All this resonance is necessary to achieve the volume required to be heard above the orchestra that accompanies the singers. Opera singers do not usually use microphones, so they must project their voices throughout a whole theatre using only their muscles and technique! All voices are defined by both the actual voice “type” and the selection of repertoire for which the voice is ideally suited. The range, pitch, and tone of a singer’s voice will determine what kind of role they will play in the opera. Below are a list of the voice types (and ranges) commonly found in operas: Female Voice Types

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• Soprano (“sopra” = “over”) The highest pitched female voice. Soprano voices vary by sound type: there are coloratura sopranos, who can sing very high notes and rapid passages with ease, dramatic sopranos, whose voices have great power, and lyric sopranos, whose voices have exceptional beauty and can sustain long passages. Composers often (but not always) write the female lead role in an opera for a soprano. • Mezzo-Soprano (“mezzo” = “medium”) Lower than the soprano and higher than contralto. Usually plays either the character of a young boy (this is called a trouser role) or a complex character with energy and awareness of life, or an evil character. Bizet’s Carmen is one of the most famous mezzo roles in opera, and is a rare lead role for a mezzo.

• Contralto (“contra” = “against” & “alto” = “high”) The lowest pitched female voice, these singers have a deep, well rounded sound. Contraltos more rare than sopranos or mezzos, and they are usually given the role of a maid, mother, or grandmother. Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is one such role.

Male Voice Types • Tenor (“tenere”= “to hold” - central notes of harmony) The highest sounding male voice: often the leading role. Tenors, like sopranos, can have lyric or dramatic sound quality. Luciano Pavarotti was one of the world’s most famous lyric tenors. Tenors typically play characters that fall in love with Sopranos, such as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. • Baritone (from the Greek term for “deep sounding”) Theses voices are more mellow-sounding and slightly lower than tenors. The roles sung by baritones are usually father figures or counts and other nobles, and these are often important roles in the story (like Rigoletto in Verdi’s Rigoletto). • Bass (“low”)

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Basses are the lowest sounding human voices, and they often play roles of wise and older characters in opera, like kings, emperors, or gods. They can also play profoundly evil characters, like Satan in Mephistopheles or Faust. The basso profundo is the lowest voice in singing, and is commonly heard in Russian opera. One of the most recognizable bass roles in opera is Leporello in W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Pol Plancon in the bass role of Ramfis in Verdi's Aida, cartoon by tenor Enrico Caruso

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Activity: Teacher Resource

Opera is Everywhere! Background: We don’t called it the greatest and grandest of art forms for nothing… the stories, characters and music from opera can be found in every corner of Western culture, from books and plays to hip-hop and cartoons. For students new to opera, a great starting point may be discovering all the places where they may have heard music from opera without even realizing it. Activity: Choose a famous piece of operatic music (a list is provided below for help), and go exploring with your students, to see where the themes, characters, and music appear in our culture today. Good places to start looking are musicals (Rent, for example, is based directly on La Boheme), cartoons (Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse were big opera fans), and movie scores, but the sky is the limit – you’ll be surprised where you find opera these days! Websites like Wikipedia, the Internet Movie Database, and “Opera goes to the Movies” are a great help, and can help to begin discussions about how music is performed in and outside of its original context. Some Questions to ask: What changes when opera is introduced in new places (like ads or movies)? What stays the same? Even the important question of genre: is it still opera if it’s used in a car commercial? And if not, what does it become?

Below are some very famous operatic pieces that can easily be found in popular culture (and on youtube) today:

“Largo al Factotum” from The Barber of Seville by Rossini

“Habanera” from Carmen by Bizet The Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana by Mascagni “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicci by Puccini

“The Flower Duet” from Lakmé by Delibes “Un bel dì vedremo” from Madama Butterfly by Puccini “Non più andrai” from The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart

“La Donna é mobile” from Rigoletto by Verdi “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot by Verdi

“The Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore by Verdi “Overture – part 2” from William Tell by Rossini

GETTING TO KNOW THE COMPOSER

RICHARD WAGNER (May 22, 1813-February 13, 1883)

By Franz Hanfstaengl - fr:Image:RichardWagner.jpg, where the source was stated as

http://www.sr.se/p2/opera/op030419.stm, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55183

FACTS ABOUT RICHARD WAGNER

(May 22, 1813 - February 13, 1883)

Born in Leipzig, Germany

Composer, Theater Director and Conductor

One of the finest composers of the 19th Century (along with Verdi)

Best known for writing operas, both the music and the libretto

Used a lot of leitmotifs – musical phrases associated with specific

characters, places or ideas

As a young boy he was very interested in books and loved the plays of

William Shakespeare

Lived in many European cities, including Paris, Lucerne, Zurich, London and

Venice

Died of heart trouble (in Venice, Italy)

His remains were transported by gondola and train to be buried in

Bayreuth, Germany

MAJOR WORKS:

The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Hollander)

The Ring of the Nibelungs (Der Ring des Nibelungen) – set of four operas

Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerrung

FAMOUS PIECES:

“Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin (the famous tune “Here Comes the Bride”)

** Fun Fact: Queen Victoria’s daughter chose Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” for

her wedding. That is why it is so popular at weddings today. It is normally

played when the bride enters the church.

“The Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre ( check out the famous

cartoon with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd)

FACTS ABOUT WAGNER’S OPERAS:

They are very long – the longest lasting over five hours!

They are very difficult to perform. The performers need to have a lot of

energy and stamina.

The “Ring” is a set of four operas. They are intended to be performed

together over four consecutive days. Over 15 hours of music!!

Unlike most composers, Wagner also wrote all of the libretti for his operas.

OTHER INTERSTING FACTS ABOUT WAGNER:

Wagner wanted new sounds in his music, so he designed some new

instruments to play them, such as the Wagner tuba. The Wagner tuba is

said to combine sounds like a French horn and a trombone.

He became involved in politics at an early age.

He was said to be arrogant (not very nice).

The Story Behind the Story

Like most great operas, The Flying Dutchman takes its story from somewhere else. In this case, many somewhere elses! If you’ve seen The Pirates of the Caribbean movies with Johnny Depp, you will have heard of the Dutchman and his cursed ship. The story is part myth, part history, part biblical parable, so what follows are only a few incarnations of a very popular story. According to folklore, the Flying Dutchman is a ghost ship that can never go home and must sail forever. Intriguingly, there is some confusion as to whether Flying Dutchman is the name of the ship or the captain. Like most legends, different tellings contradict each other and evolve over time. Here are a few early versions:

• The German version names Captain Falkenburg as the Dutchman, and states that in a bet with the Devil, Falkenburg threw the dice and lost his soul, thereby being condemned to sail the seas for all eternity.

• In the British telling, a Dutch vessel was attempting to navigate the Cape of

Good Hope when a terrible storm threatened to sink the ship. The Captain (in this case Hendrik van der Decken) refused to return to port, and apparently shouted, “May I be eternally damned if I do [return to port], though I should beat about here till the day of Judgment” (Blackwood’s Magazine May 1821), and he was cursed by the Devil to do just that.

• According to still other sources, the 17th century Dutch Captain Bernard Fokke is the model for the legendary ghost. Fokke was known for the uncannily fast trips he made from Holland to Java, and he was suspected of having made a deal with the Devil in order to achieve his quick trips.

Even Wagner’s sources are muddled: in one instance he claimed to be inspired by a stormy sea voyage he took in 1839, but in his autobiography he claims to have taken the story from Heinrich Heine’s The Memoirs of Mister Schnabelewopski (or Aus den Memoiren des Herrn von Schnabelewopski). This was a multi-layered fictional memoir in which a young Polish man recalls his life in Germany and the Netherlands. In the course of the story, the young man sees a play about the Dutchman, which some scholars believe was actually Edward Fitzball’s 1826 play, The Flying Dutchman. Heine also introduces the “Mrs. Dutchman” character, whose love would save the Dutchman from his curse.

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THE FLYING DUTCHMAN – CAST and SYNOPSIS

Composer and Librettist: Richard Wagner

Sung in German with English supertitles

Conductor: Richard Buckley

Stage Director: Eric Einhorn

Chorus Master: Julian Reed

Cast

The Dutchman — Wayne Tigges, baritone

Senta — Melody Moore*, soprano

Erik — Clay Hilley*, tenor

Daland — Peter Volpe, bass

*Austin Opera debut

SYNOPSIS

Act I

A violent storm has driven Daland’s ship several miles from his home on the Norwegian

coast. Sending his crew off to rest, he leaves the watch in charge of a young steersman,

who falls asleep as he sings a ballad about his girl (“Mit Gewitter und Sturm”). A ghostly

schooner drops anchor next to Daland’s ship. Its captain steps ashore and, with

increasing despair, reflects on his fate (“Die Frist ist um”): Once every seven years he

may leave his ship to find a wife. If she is faithful, she will redeem him from his

deathless wandering. If not, he is condemned to sail the ocean until Judgment Day.

When Daland discovers the phantom ship, the stranger, who introduces himself as “a

Dutchman,” tells him of his plight and offers gold and jewels for a night’s lodging. When

he learns that Daland has a daughter, the Dutchman asks for her hand in marriage.

Happy to have found a rich son-in-law, Daland agrees and sets sail for home.

Act II

Daland’s young daughter, Senta, is captivated by the portrait of a pale man in black—

the Flying Dutchman—while her friends sit spinning under the watchful eye of Mary,

Senta’s nurse. The girls tease Senta about her suitor, Erik, who is not a sailor but a

hunter. When the superstitious Mary refuses to sing a ballad about the Dutchman,

Senta sings it herself (“Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an”). The song reveals that the

Dutchman’s curse was put on him for a blasphemous oath. To Mary and the girls’

horror, Senta suddenly declares that she will be the one to save him. Erik enters with

news of the sailors’ return, and Mary and the others hurry off. Erik reminds Senta of

her father’s intention to find her a husband and asks her to plead his cause, but she

remains distant (“Mein Herz, voll Treue bis zum Sterben”). Realizing how much the

Dutchman’s picture means to her, he tells her of a frightening dream in which he saw

her passionately embrace the Dutchman and sail away on his ship. Senta exclaims that

this is what she must do, and the despairing Erik rushes away. A moment later, the

Dutchman enters. Senta stands transfixed. Daland quickly follows and asks his

daughter to welcome the stranger, whom he has brought to be her husband (“Mögst

du, mein Kind”). After he has left, the Dutchman, who is equally moved by the meeting,

asks Senta if she will accept him as her husband (Duet: “Wie aus der Ferne”). Unaware

that she realizes who he is, he warns her of making a rash decision, but she ecstatically

vows to be faithful to him unto death. Daland returns and is overjoyed to learn that his

daughter has accepted the suitor.

Act III

At the harbor, the villagers celebrate the sailors’ return with singing and dancing

(Chorus: “Steuermann, lass die Wacht!”). Perplexed by the strange silence aboard the

Dutchman’s ship, they call out to the crew, inviting them to join the festivities. Suddenly

the ghostly sailors are heard, mocking their captain’s quest in hollow chanting. The

villagers run away in terror. Quiet returns and Senta enters, followed by the distressed

Erik. He pleads with her not to marry the Dutchman, insisting that she has already

pledged her love to him (“Willst jenes Tag’s”). The Dutchman, who has overheard them,

loses all hope of salvation and goes toward his ship. Senta tries to stop him but he

explains that since she has not yet proclaimed her vows before God, she will escape

eternal damnation—the fate of those who betray him. His crew prepares to cast off

and he declares that he is the Flying Dutchman of legend. Senta ecstatically replies that

she knows who he is. As the ship pulls away, she throws herself into the sea, crying that

she is faithful unto death, therefore redeeming the Dutchman.

Activity: Teacher Resource

Background: Leitmotif and the Composers Who Love Them

Long before the signature entrances of Indiana Jones, Jaws, and Darth Vader, there was music that reminded audiences of a particular character, emotion, or theme. Short, recurring motifs (from the French “motive” and translating as “short theme”) in orchestral music began appearing in the 1700’s, although not in any extensive or systematic way. Although these musical statements were usually short melodies, they could be particular chord progressions or as simple as particular repeated rhythms. Composers Carl Maria von Weber and Beethoven, among others, used this technique (think of the opening movement in Beethoven’s fifth symphony – Beethoven’s biographer suggested that the motif represents “fate knocking at the door.”) The idea of a musical statement representing a particular feeling or theme was also used by Hector Berlioz in his Symphonie Fantastique, wherein the recurring motif represents the love of the central characters, even though there are no singers on stage representing those lovers. Berlioz called this idea the idée fixe. While this idea had been around for a number of years before Richard Wagner arrived on the scene, it is he who is most often associated with the term leitmotif (loosely translated meaning “leading motif”). He used leitmotif extensively in his music, especially his operas and it is from this usage that they have become so intrinsically linked to his name. He used them to represent characters, ideas, thoughts and feelings in his work, and in his longest work, Der Ring des Nibelungen (or the Ring Cycle), there are dozens of motifs! Since Wagner, many other composers have used this technique in their works: Sergei Prokofiev uses it in Peter and the Wolf, Verdi gave his title character one in Aida, and stirred audiences with the music threatening the entrance of the “bad guy” Scarpia in Tosca. Today, leitmotifs appear constantly in movies and plays, and the term is even used in literary studies! While Wagner never named his leitmotifs, one of his students went to the trouble of identifying in some of his works all the motifs and naming each one after its idea or them, such as the “fate motif.” There are several important leitmotifs in the Flying Dutchman, and we have reproduced some of them on the following page.

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Student Handout

Leitmotifs from The Flying Dutchman

Please note: Wagner never titled his leitmotifs; the names below are included only to assist with classroom identification and discussion.

Dutchman

Wanderer

Redemption / Senta’s theme

Fate

.

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Activity: Teacher Resource

What’s your Theme Song? Background: Wagner’s use of leitmotifs are in the same vein as popular musical themes in plays and movies today. Indiana Jones and Darth Vader always get their own refrain played when they are doing something particularly “them” – For example when “Indy” is escaping from an impossible situation, or whenever Vader marches in. In these cases, the music reminds the audience about something important in the story (in the case of Vader’s entry it usually means bad news for whoever is in the room). These are easily identifiable examples of leitmotif, and clearly demonstrate how it is not just the title track from the soundtrack that makes the theme, but something musical that speaks to the character that makes this a leitmotif. Activity: Play some popular theme songs (“Jaws”, “Darth Vader’s March,” “Indiana Jones” etc.) and discuss with students what they’re hearing and why it reminds them of the character or idea. For music students, this is an opportunity to discuss how, in Western music, ascending chord progressions can represent inspiration or triumph (among other feelings) and how descending progressions and minor keys remind us of sadness or can give us a sense of foreboding (Scarpia’s theme from Tosca is a great example of this). Of course, in non-Western cultures and musical traditions, these musical “clues” may signify something very different. Discuss with students which aspects of each theme speak to them, and why (or why not) they think the music works as part of the character, idea, or story it is meant to represent. Then pick your own! This can be done as a class, or individuals, depending on the level of students. Identify a theme, character, idea, or person from, history, popular culture, or another class unit, and either compose a theme on instruments available in the classroom, or choose one from other music studied. Discuss what elements are important to represent, and how each musical choice answers to those needs.

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EVALUATION

Thank you for taking the time to give us some insights on how

we can provide you and your students with a rewarding opera

experience. You may fill out the following form and mail a copy

to

Debra Erck, Education Coordinator

derck@austinopera.org

or

Debra Erck, Education Coordinator

Austin Opera

3009 Industrial Terrace, Ste. 100

Austin, Tx. 78758

You are also welcome to email me directly at

derck@austinopera.org . We value your feedback to help us as

we access our current programs and look towards creating new

programs in the future.

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