The Ballad of Baby Doe, Douglas Moore
Dead Man Walking, Jake Heggie
Susannah, Carlisle Floyd
The Tender Land, Aaron Copland

Opera Idaho will produce the opera that raises the most money as part of our 2011/12 season!  $1.00 = one vote, and Dead Man Walking already has an early lead! Vote early, and vote often to see your choice on the Opera Idaho stage!

Here’s the tally as of August 27th:

The Ballad of Baby Doe:      0%
Dead Man Walking:            49%
Susannah:                            9%
The Tender Land:              42%

Current voting percentages will be posted on our Facebook page* once/week through October 17th.  The winner will be announced during National Opera Week (October 29th-November 7th). 

*You do not need to have a Facebook profile to view our Facebook page!

Attendees also enjoyed an afternoon filled with music, featuring performances by voice teacher/voice student pairs from our Resident Company.  Hannah Hyde, one of Opera Idaho’s newest (and youngest) Resident Company members led off the program with “Aure amiche, ah! non spirate,” by Righini.  Her voice teacher, Chris Hatch, followed with “Hark! The echoing air,” from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen.

Michal Jarolimek, who will perform Frank  in Opera Idaho’s Our Town in October, sang “Warm as the autumn light” from Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe.  This was a perfect complement to the afternoon, as the luncheon also featured the kick-off of our “Made in the USA” Vote where the public will choose next year’s American opera – of which The Ballad of Baby Doe is a possibility!

Michele Detwiler then seduced the audience with her interpretation of “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen (click here to watch her performance).  As Michele and Jason Detwiler team-teach, they closed out the program with a surprise performance of “Dunque io son…tu non m’inganni?” from Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. 

The Kick-Off Luncheon is just the start of lots more fun to be had and  memories to make throughout our 2010/11 season.  Sign up to be a volunteer and join in the fun!

E-mail Amanda Campbell for a volunteer form.*

*an electronic form for Volunteer Sign-Ups will be available soon, please check back for updates!

Fill out the registration form and e-mail it back to Amanda Campbell.

Click here for the Registration Form

Dates: August 2nd-6th, 2010 (Monday-Friday)
Time: 9:00am-1:00pm
Location: Opera Idaho studio, 513 South 8th St., Boise
Ages: 10-18
Cost: $150

Register by July 12, 2010!

For more information on Camp Opera Idaho as it becomes available, please visit our webpage

Opera Idaho and the Egyptian Theatre have teamed up to bring you online ticket sales. Which means you can order single tickets for all of Opera Idaho’s productions and concerts wherever you have access to a computer and the internet: at home, at work, on your Blackberry or IPhone. The convenience of online ticket sales also includes the ability to order tickets when you want to instead of waiting for the box office to open, standing in line or being put on hold.

“We are very pleased with this new level of customer service for Opera Idaho patrons,” said Cheryl Haas, Opera Idaho director of marketing. “The online ticketing, combined with the Egyptian’s new software system, will give us more information about who our audience really is.”  The new software will allow Opera Idaho staff to track different levels of ticket sales and to better capture information about who attends the opera. 

Season subscription sales will still be made through the Opera Idaho office. Call 345.3531 x2.

To order online, follow these easy steps:

Composer Jim Cockey with Executive Director Mark Junkert

Become part of the creative process when Opera Idaho presents a showcase of a new opera work-in-progress by Idaho composer Jim Cockey on Monday, April 26 at 7:30 pm at the Opera Idaho Studio.

The evening will feature the 20 minutes of the work which Jim has composed thus far, followed by feedback from the audience, which Jim will take into account as he completes the piece.

Performing the piece will be:

Penny Odysseus – Michele Detwiler, mezzo soprano
Dee Motolemus – Tara Victoria Smith, soprano
Melanie Thius – Vernae Buck, mezzo soprano
Yuri Machus – Geoff Friedley, tenor
Andy Neus – Michal Jarolimek, bass
Phil Mius – Alex Burns, baritone
Calypso – Tara Victoria Smith, soprano
John Odysseus – Geoff Friedley,tenor

Accompanist – Felix Eisenhauer

The work is a modern re-telling of the Odyssey tale, says Jim. John, the hero, is a corporate CEO who, after war breaks out in the Middle East, is detained by terrorists for seven years. His wife Penny, acting CEO for the company, fends off several executives who are plotting a hostile takeover in John’s absence. Libretto is by Idaho playwright Bernadine Cockey.

Jim just returned from Hyannis, Mass. where his work, The Gift of the Elk, a piece for Native American flute and symphony orchestra premiered with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra. Jung-Ho Pak conducted the CCSO, which also commissioned the piece. We caught up with Jim and asked him about this new work, his first foray into composing for opera. (Watch for a story in the Statesman’s Scene Magazine Friday, April 23. 2010.)

Opera Idaho: What was the genesis of this work?

Jim Cockey: When I wrote Symphony #2, it had a scene that was quite dramatic and I had a blast writing it. Ever since then, I”ve wanted to write opera. I approached Mark Junkert and I got Berni on board as librettist.

Opera Idaho: Describe your composing process.

Jim Cockey: I like to be in my ‘composing space’ in my house. It helps to have a work habit. I like to get up in the morning and compose. By noon, either I keep going or I’m done for the day and keep the rest of my life going. Sometimes inspiration or deadlines keep you working all your waking hours!

Working in opera is great fun because I get to run around the house singing! It’s been a terrific experience — I absolutely love this medium. Bringing these characters to life allows me to be a writer and part director, roles I’ve never done before. When I talk about writing, I mean bringing the characters to life. Music is my way of giving them life.

Opera Idaho: How do you and (former wife) Berni collaborate as composer and librettist?

Jim Cockey: This is a full collaboration. We’ll work separately — she wrote the libretto alone and I composed the music alone, but we comment on each other’s work. Before we write, we do quite a bit of conceptualizing together. Then we get together and revise as need. So we meet before during and after we actually write.

Berni has also worked in production for several Opera Idaho shows this season. Her play, Night Among the Hunters, received third place in a national competition sponsored by Writer’s Digest.

Come and sing and dance your heart out!  Attendees will learn about all elements of opera, including costumes and props! Friends and family will be dazzled with a performance at the conclusion of the camp!

Dates: August 2nd-6th, 2010 (Monday-Friday)
Time: 9:00am-1:00pm
Location: Opera Idaho studio, 513 South 8th St., Boise
Ages: 10-18
Cost: To be determined

To register, call or e-mail Amanda Campbell at 208-345-3531, ext. 2

Please see Camp Opera Idaho’s website for more information as it becomes available!

Those who already have single tickets for Our Town will be contacted by Opera Idaho regarding compensation.  Additionally, season subscribers will have the choice between the following methods of compensation: 

• 2 extra tickets to South Pacific
• 2 extra tickets to one production of their choice in the 2010-2011 season
• A refund of 15% of the single ticket price (the savings from buying a season ticket).

Moving Our Town to the October slot in our 2010-2011 season allows us to save money in this fiscal year and keeps us within sight of our bottom line budget.  The costs of venue rental, music rights, performers, musicians and advertising will be deferred to our next fiscal year when, hopefully, the recession will have receded.

Opera Idaho remainds committeed to bringing an American opera to Boise audiences each year for the next five years.  Ned Rorem’s Our Town, based on Thornton Wilder’s Pultizer Prize-winning play, will initiate the series in October 2010.  The previews for the remaining operas under consideration will be presented in September 2010.  An online vote will take place in the month preceding Our Town to determine the People’s Choice for the American opera to be performed in the 2011-2012 season.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Opera Idaho at 208-345-3531.