Spring 2013 Resident Artist Auditions

UPO Gala December 7, 2012 with Resident Artists and guests

Spring 2013 Resident Artist Auditions

Wednesday January 16, 2013, 6-9 pm

Bridge the gap between education and a professional career! 

The Underworld Productions Opera Resident Artist program transforms singers into full-fledged stage performers.

Guest Artists may also audition at this time, and must have one or more publicly-performed lead roles with orchestra to their credit.

The Spring 2013 RA program offers:

• 20+ hours of group coaching on traditional arias and contemporary fare 

• Performance in CrossCURRENT concert on March 8 

• 70+ hours of rehearsal for Scarlatti’s Il Trionfo dell’Onore 

• Lead roles and covers in Trionfo performances May 5, 17, 22 and 23

• “Presenting your Personal Best” with Amy Frawley, Concert Artists Guild.

Tuition: $1250. Some full and partial scholarships available as rebates upon successful completion of the program.

Just being fresh out of school, I am eager to get out and sing for as many people as I can. UPO provided great opportunities to do that. It was so rewarding to perform for such an encouraging crowd and to feel proud not only of my own performance, but of those of the other Resident Artists. With Gina Crusco’s and Elizabeth Rodgers' excellent guidance, I felt that we all succeeded on our own terms.

                           

 -- Elise Jablow, soprano, Fall 2012 Resident Artist

For audition consideration, please send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com.

Additional information

CrossCURRENT

A concert exploring the intersection of traditional opera and contemporary vocal music.

Performance March 8, 2013 at 7 pm at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU.

Rehearsals begin on January 23 and take place mostly on Wednesday evenings.

You will get dramatic coaching on 2 arias from your audition repertoire, at least 1 of which will be selected for performance at the March 8 concert.

Your core faculty is Gina Crusco, UPO Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Rodgers, pianist, Manhattan School of Music opera coach.

You may be provided with a contemporary piece to learn for the concert; it will not be necessary to memorize it.

Il Trionfo dell’Onore

Alessandro Scarlatti’s only comic opera in its New York premiere.

Keyboard performance May 5 at MOSA; orchestral performances May 17 at Casa Italiana, and May 22 and 23 at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, Symphony Space.

Dorian Bandy, music director; Gina Crusco, stage director; with Sinfonia New York orchestra.

Rehearsals begin March 12 and take place mostly on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Friday evenings in Manhattan.

Lead roles and covers are available for all parts (3 sopranos, 2 mezzos, 2 tenors, and 1 bass-baritone); some are travesty roles. There is no chorus in this opera.

Outreach performances

Additional outreach performance opportunities may be available to RAs.

Auditions

For audition consideration, please send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com.

If selected you will be provided with:

1. An excerpt from Trionfo to be sung (on or off-book) at your audition. Please also prepare one traditional aria and one piece by a living or recent classical composer.

2. An audition timeslot on Wednesday, January 16, 2013, between 6-9 pm.

3. Manhattan audition location details.

4. Instructions for submitting your $25 non-refundable audition fee, receipt of which will confirm your slot.

5. An accompanist at the audition. 

There is no age limit for this program.

Join Marcello Giordani at UPO Gala

Annual Gala Performance and Reception

Friday, December 7, 2012
6 pm
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo'
24 W. 12th Street
New York City

Meet our reception Guest of Honor 

Met Opera Star Marcello Giordani

We are excited to celebrate another year with our friends and supporters!

Hear the Sounds of the Season

A sneak preview of Scarlatti's Il Trionfo dell'Onore, festive Handel duets, 
favorite arias by Mozart, Gounod, Puccini, and more.

Performers include Guests and Resident Artists 

Guests: Isaac Grier, Stephanie McGuire, Alison McConekey
Residents: Danielle Bendjy, Aditi Chakravarty, Elise Jablow, Radoslav Lesay,
 Alicia Williams; Elizabeth Rodgers, piano

Tickets include wine reception with Marcello Giordani

$35 ($10 tax deductible) 

$75 donor ticket ($50 tax deductible) 

$125 supporter ticket ($100 tax deductible)

http://underworldprod.com/html/contribute.html

Exclusive Live Auction

Bid for Opera online beginning November 7

Bid live at the Gala, where winners will be announced!

www.32auctions.com/bidforopera2012

Escape to beautiful Santorini Greece. Take a backstage tour. 
Go for a night on the town to Carnegie Hall, the Philharmonic or the Metropolitan Opera. 
Discover fine dining and rare wines, personal French lessons, 
photography sessions, and travel advice.

Get bargains and gift ideas as you help UPO! 

Join us for a wonderful evening!

Commedia dell'Arte Workshop

Rescheduled for Friday, November 9. Join us! Discover Commedia masks and new ways to animate your characters with UPO's Commedia dell'Arte Skills Workshop led by Lydia Biondi (read more about Lydia below...) UPO is proud to offer this internationally praised Commedia workshop to New York.  Lydia Biondi, an actor on stage and screen ("Eat Pray Love") as well as a director and choreographer for film and opera, comes to us from Rome. In this workshop she will show you how to: Analyze character through Commedia archetypes Move like a Commedia player Reveal yourself through Mask  Hone your skills in Commedia scenes Rescheduled:  Friday, November 9, 2012 6:30 - 9:00 pm Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo 24 W. 12th Street Guests by special arrangement Email us at underworldprod@gmail.com Free for current UPO Resident Artists "Commedia is the soul of the Italian language."  Lydia Biondi was featured in Miracle at St. Anna (2008) directed by Spike Lee; she can also be seen in Casanova (2005) directed by L. Hallstrom, in Letters to Juliette, directed by G. Winick with Vanessa Redgrave, and in Eat, Pray, Love directed by R. Murphy, with Julia Roberts. She works as a stage director and choreographer and as an assistant director and casting director in film and opera. She also teaches Commedia dell’Arte workshops around the world. Born in Tuscany, Lydia Biondi founded the non-profit MTM (Mimoteatromovimento), a theater school and company that became one of the most important private theater schools in Rome. In 1981, she joined Mummenschanz and toured with them around the world. Since returning to Rome in the 90s she has resumed direction of MTM, working as actress, choreographer, teacher and director.

Fall 2012 Resident Artist Auditions

Underworld Productions Opera 2012-2013 Resident Artist program offers emerging artists a bridge between education and a career in opera. Weekly coaching with core faculty, guest workshops with outstanding professionals in the field, and performance opportunities transform singers into full-fledged stage performers. For a full description of the program, visit www.underworldprod.com.

Auditions will be heard by appointment only on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 from 6-9 pm in Manhattan.  An accompanist is provided.  There is a non-refundable audition fee $25. Required repertoire:

-- One Handel aria from opera or oratorio with recitative

-- One contemporary piece in English

-- Two additional arias, one in Italian and one French, German, or Russian, etc.

To be considered, send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com. If you are selected to audition, you will be provided with a timeslot and the audition location.

Missed the Fall Auditions?

Join the list for the Spring 2013 Resident Artist program! Send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com. You will be contacted in advance of the general audition announcement.

What They’re Doing Now

Underworld Productions Opera Resident Artists earn Fest contracts, win competitions, record with composers they connected with in the UPO program, and do first-rate work.

Katie Bolding, soprano, 2010 Resident Artist, got a "Fest" contract in Germany and in the 2012-2013 season will sing Frau Fluth in Lustige Weiber von Windsor, Micaela in Carmen, Sophie in Werther, and other roles, plus the soprano solo in Beethoven's 9th.  She writes: "I wanted to say thank you for everything. I learned so much  my time with UPO and really benefitted from watching and listening to the other singers, especially in dramatic interpretation."

Lauren Alfano, Soprano

(Pictured here with Dewey Moss)

Masters Recital with Noby Ishida, Pianist

 Music by Monteverdi, Bach, Faure, Strauss and others

October 15, 2012, 8:00PM

Hunter College Lang Recital Hall

69th Street & Lexington Ave., NYC

Ms. Alfano performed the role of Signora Pasquale in UPO's 2012 Don Pasquale, and sang in the trio in Ben Yarmolinsky's Clarence & Anita with the company in 2011. 

More "What They're Doing Now" at the end of this blog.

Guest coaches are saying…

What a smart, talented bunch! -- Cori Ellison, opera dramaturg

Thank you so much for entrusting your students and performance to my music and my coaching.  It was a tremendous pleasure working with you, Elizabeth, Elena, the resident artists and guest artists!   – Justine F. Chen, composer

The performance of my Shakespeare & Jonson pieces was fantastic. It was truly one of the very best performances I've had; the vocalists were all of a caliber worthy of the best opera companies. -- Henry Papale, composer

I just wanted to say a huge thank you again for having me lead yesterday's workshop.  It was such an invigorating night for me.  They are very smart singers and are wonderfully open to new ideas and going out of their comfort zones. I was quite thrilled that they all made such unique and strong transformations.  – Elena Araoz, Glimmerglass and NYCO stage director

Boston Adventure:

An Interview with RA Diane Lynn

Photo by Claire Folger

When Diane Lynn, soprano, won the auditions and joined UPO’s Resident Artist program, she had a unique challenge: how to manage her commute from Boston!  She handled that obstacle beautifully, made rapid progress in her training, and worked her way up to a front-runner position to sing the role of Norina in Don Pasquale. Ms. Lynn hit it out of the ballpark in her performance of the role with UPO in Inwood Park in June 2012. Here we talk with Diane about her extraordinary experience with UPO.

How did you learn of UPO’s RA program? 

Last winter, I spotted an audition posting for UPO’s Don Pasquale as part of the Resident Artist program.  Norina was a role I had always hoped to perform.  I wasn’t familiar with UPO, but seeing that the RA program promised a full season of coachings, workshops with reputable professionals, and concerts in addition to the opera, I felt that it might be an opportunity worth investigating.  I also visited the UPO website and was jazzed to learn about the broad range of past productions, spanning the entire history of opera and giving familiar works a new twist.

How did you organize your time and energy to commute from Boston?

Photo by Teresa Tam

Fortunately, I had a supportive employer who understood how important this was to me and allowed me to reorganize my work schedule. The roundtrip commute from Boston totaled 9 ½ hours involving 2 buses, 3 subways, and a taxi. I managed to use the bus time to review the score and listen to recordings of coachings, voice lessons, and UPO rehearsals. Some late night bus rides back were a little sketchy, but fortunately my family, who are on the West Coast, kept me awake and entertained, and ensured that I arrived home safely around 2AM.

How did the RA program further your career goals? 

Until this experience, I had mainly been singing short supporting roles.  Norina in Don Pasquale was my first principal role, and it brought new issues to light in my training:  Instead of appearing on stage for short bursts of time, it became necessary to think more about the emotional trajectory of the character and the pacing of vocal reserves over the course of the 2 ½ hour opera.  The RA experience was invaluable in showing me how to do that, and has made me a more versatile and confident performer.

L to R: Diane Lynn, Peter Castaldi and Lauren Alfano in Don Pasquale, Inwood Park.

Photo by Ted Minos

What was the most gratifying aspect of being a UPO RA?

I loved how the Resident Artists celebrated each other’s breakthroughs and picked each other up on the rare challenging occasion, and how the UPO creative team provided gentle yet honest feedback and encouragement.

What was the biggest challenge?

We were on a pretty condensed schedule, so the pressure was on to incorporate new directions quickly.  Since there wasn’t a whole lot of rehearsal time, much personal preparation had to be done to stay on top of things.

What are your future career plans and aspirations?

My aspirations are to be the best performer I can be on the world stage.  I would love to return to UPO as a Guest Artist, as I sincerely believe in UPO’s mission.

More...What They’re Doing Now

2011-2012 Resident Artist Juliana Valente, soprano, featured in UPO’s CrossCURRENT program in works by Stefania de Kenessey, reprised her songs with the composer at the piano for a cable program.

Christopher Eaglin, tenor,

2011-2012 Resident Artist 

who was featured in UPO’s 

Don Pasquale, 

is performing with Opera Slavica 

.

2010-2011 Resident Artist 

Jenne Carey, soprano, 

who was featured in UPO’s production of Apollo & Dafne + Clarence & Anita, 

has won a Rising Star Award!