"Sleep Chorus" & mask-making keep Minnesota Opera visible during pandemic

Interview

The company launched the "Sleep Chorus" to promote a special fund raising drive to compensate artists on and off stage during the pandemic shutdown while the protective masks went to organizations without access to traditional health care resources including assisted-living homes, veterinarians, blood services, shelters, and more

An opera librettist's quarantine film picks

How-To

"Probably my favorite comedy. No matter how many times I see this movie, I can’t help but laugh my ass off. I will go anywhere for Melissa McCarthy."

A week in at-home opera: editor's picks

Editorial

Online opera is all the rage, guys. And I don't know about you, but my super serious problem right now is deciding what on earth to watch in my jammies with my big wine glass and maybe some of the cookies I made as bribery tokens while my son is potty training.

We made a podcast!

Editorial

As the title suggests, this podcast is about finding bits of hope even when all your gigs are cancelled because there's a global pandemic. Schmopera editor Jenna Simeonov checks in with artists as they deal in their own ways with the loss of income, loss of motivation, and even the loss of identity.

6 out-of-the-box gigs for singers to consider

How-To

The most important thing to remember is being active on all social media platforms - it is super important right now to have an online presence so that people can see and respond to you. It’s also the easiest, fastest and a free way to advertise for any gigs!

Angel's Bone: I finally saw it and I'm never going to be the same

Review

Honestly, in that scene where Mr. X.E. takes a cleaver to the angels' wings, I think I had an "aha" moment. I thought I'd experienced that thing where the story is excellent and the music makes it even more excellent, but this moment was something else entirely.

Digital opera, growing pains, & critic's picks

Op-Ed

It's the kind of thing I imagined would happen within the performing arts - yes, even opera. True, the opera world isn't known for making sudden movements, but there are certainly minds in the industry who are staunchly forward-thinking; those people are experiencing some serious inspiration right now.

Orlando: gender bending and the sound of androgyny in Vienna

Review

Instead, composer Olga Neuwirth chose Woolf’s Orlando, her often funny faux-autobiography about a young nobleman in the court of Elizabeth I who awakens one morning as a woman and proceeds to roam about time and space for the next 300 years.

What the Met's At-Home Gala teaches us about evolution

Op-Ed

And speaking of the participating artists - I wonder very loudly how they felt about doing this for no fee, particularly those who found out about their cancelled Met contracts through social media posts. It's quite something for Peter Gelb to not call his contracted artists when COVID-19 shut everything down, and then ask them to come help "Save The Met" with a free performance at home. Yikes.

Isolation blogging: it's &@%#ed out there

Op-Ed

I guess the most humbling thing about this is realizing how utterly in love I am with something that the rest of the world just might deem unessential. Like, in the big-scheme, unessential; the line-up for government aid is already enormous, and priorities have already become clear. The performing arts are certainly a staple of human society...but opera?