dell'Arte Opera Ensemble 2010 Standard Repertoire Project

CURRent applicants:
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Applications Are now closed for the 2010 Srp

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AUDITIONS

There is a $25 application fee for the program, which includes the use of our pianist for the auditions and call-backs if necessary.

In addition, ALL applicants will be invited to attend, free of charge, dell’Arte’s series of Master Classes over the course of the season.

We will make an effort to hear ALL first-time applicants in the first round of auditions. Singers are highly encouraged to use our pianist, but may bring their own [at their own cost].

We reserve the right not to hear previous applicants, in which case the application fee will be returned via US Mail.  Application fees will not be refunded in any other case.

THE PROGRAM

Through the STANDARD REPERTOIRE PROJECT (SRP), dell’Arte provides opportunities for emerging opera artists to thoroughly prepare complete roles and present a public performance with a full cast.  The program focuses on the process that prepares the artist, providing tools that will help with role preparation throughout an entire career.

Participants receive free coachings with dell’Arte Artistic Director Christopher Fecteau and/or other qualified staff coaches, followed by small ensemble and recitative rehearsals with supportive, talented and motivated cast members.

Full cast work including musical and staging rehearsals and a dress rehearsal with conductor and pianist precede the final staged presentation with piano.

Performances are attended by family and friends and other invited guests who provide a supportive audience for the singers’ first chance at an important role in their repertoire.  

Participation in the dell’Arte Opera Ensemble Standard Repertoire Project is free of charge to singers and the final presentations are free and open to the public. Coachings take place according to participant availability, and final presentations take place in July and August.

Schedule

Performances take place on Sunday afternoons from mid-July to late-August. All formal musical rehearsals take place during the approximately two week period prior to each reading, and but will be concentrated in evening and weekend times to accomodate those singers with other daytime commitments.  Small group sessions will usually be scheduled around the availability of participating singers prior to that window of time.  Individual coaching can begin as early as mid-April if the singer is available and interested. Repertoire and casting will be based on the February auditions, and the final schedule will be released by April 1. On the audition form, there is a space for the singer to note any scheduling issues which would affect casting. While we try to be as accommodating to the schedules of individual singers as possible, the size of the casts limits the flexibility we can have with scheduling.

We hope that interested singers will apply and audition for us, even if their summer plans are still uncertain.  If nothing works out this particular summer season, we will at least have heard the singer, and have their information and our impressions on file in consideration for future projects.

Eligibility

Singers in the project have ranged in the past from those just out of conservatory or graduate school (in ensemble, comprimario and supporting roles) to Met roster artists preparing for upcoming professional engagements.  Roles will be cast in three role levels plus ensemble.  ALL roles assigned should be a debut for the singer.  You may have performed portions of the role before, or in translation, or in concert, but the full role must be a staged debut in the original language

There is no age limitation on the program.  While there is no upper age limit, DELL’ARTE participants tend to be 21-40 and are poised to launch, or have already begun, operatic careers.

Please carefully read and take into account our expectations of the experience necessary to be considered for each role level.  Please see the breakdown of which roles we are considering in each category.

Principal
At minimum, some professional credits (not necessarily in leading roles) and some leading role credits at least in educational institutions or no-pay-no-fee situations.

Supporting
At minimum, some educational role credits. Pay-to-sing assignments (scene workshops, summer programs) will be considered for this level as well. If a singer is particularly qualified, they may be assigned multiple supporting roles across the repertoire for the summer season.

Comprimario
The smallest roles will be assigned to singers also willing to participate in the ensemble (chorus) for one or more productions. If qualified, they may also be assigned supporting role covers in other operas in the summer season.

Ensemble
Singers should expect to participate in one or more operas, and may be invited to participate in the entire summer season. Comprimario roles will be assigned mostly from the membership of the ensemble. Those wishing to participate should have some chorus experience.  Not all chorus members will be given comprimario assignments.

Covers
Covers must be as prepared as the primary singer assigned to the role. While dell’Arte generally does not provide free coaching to covers (unless that cover is called upon to move into the primary (performance) position.  Singers who have already performed a specific role and wish to be considered for cover opportunities will also be considered.

Singers participating at the Ensemble, Comprimario and Cover levels may also have opportunities during the following season to participate in community outreach programs (scene and aria concerts) both with excerpts from their studied role and in other repertoire.
Since principals will receive 5 – 6 free coachings, they should expect to be in residence in the New York area for at least 4 weeks. Out of town singers are welcome and encouraged to apply and audition, but travel, housing and meals are not provided by dell’Arte.

Covers are not provided with free coaching and are frequently selected from auditioning singers who have already sung a particular role.

REPERTOIRE

Repertoire for the 2010 Standard Repertoire Project will include
W. A. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Giacomo Puccini: Il Trittico (Il Tabarro, Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica)
and EITHER J. Strauss: Die Fledermaus (in German with English dialogue) OR Lehar: Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow, in German with English dialogue).

Singers will also be considered for dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's December, 2010 production (full staged, with orchestra) of Humperdinck's Königskinder.  This production will mark the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera premiere, and will be the first fully-staged complete production in New York City in nearly 100 years. 

GUEST CONDUCTORS

Guest conductors in the past have included Fiora Contino (former Artistic Director, Illinois Opera), Steven Jarvi (Associate Conductor, Kansas City Symphony, former Resident Conductor, New World Symphony and Associate Conductor, NYCO), John Yaffé, Music Director, 92nd St. Y Orchestra, and Daniel Kleinknecht (General and Artistic Director, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre). Each summer one or more guest conductors join dell’Arte Artistic Director Christopher Fecteau in leadership duties.

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