DELL’ARTE OPERA ENSEMBLE was created to provide emerging opera artists with training and performance opportunities necessary to bridge the gap between the conservatory and a flourishing career. The emphasis is on “learning by doing”, backed by the philosophy that superior craft creates great art. DELL’ARTE’S annual summer repertory season also attracts new audiences by offering high-quality, meticulously crafted opera presentations featuring rising young artists in intimate venues. The company’s programming includes a wide range of operas, ranging from standard repertoire like Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Bizet’s Carmen to seldom heard works like Salieri’s Falstaff and Hiram Titus’ Rosina.

Since its founding in 2000 by Artistic Director Christopher Fecteau and Managing Director, Karen Rich, DELL’ARTE has focused on integrating the skills all singers must master into a comprehensive role preparation process by:

• Providing role preparation guidance, from audition and casting, through coaching and rehearsals, to debut performances;
• Providing singers with a comprehensive professional context for effective collaboration with the highest expectations and standards.

Participants in our singer-development programming receive a unique and carefully structured curriculum of private coachings and masterclasses with industry professionals designed to address practice methods, diction, musical style, movement and character development, thus preparing them for a career in an increasingly competitive opera world. Unlike many other programs, ours charges no fees and does not require singers to leave New York City.

Since its inception in 2000, more than 400 singers have benefited from DELL’ARTE’s programs. Of these, more than 30% perform regularly in opera houses and concert halls throughout the US and internationally, including LA Opera, Sarasota Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Royal Opera House (London) and Bel Canto at Caramoor. At least 10 have had Metropolitan Opera debuts and many are now on faculty at universities around the country.