BCO will host its festive annual Silent Auction in conjunction with performances of Puccini’s Tosca on November 30th and December 2nd. This great opportunity for holiday shopping (and self-gifting) is being expanded this year to include online bidding in the weeks prior to the live event, giving patrons and friends maximum opportunity to bid and win! BCO also invites you to support our auction by donating auction items. Do you or a friend have a vacation getaway, Ravens tickets, dining [...]
Dear Friends, I write this letter to you from the comfort of Amtrak train 172 from Baltimore to Wilmington. If you missed our last e-mail, you may have missed the news that I have been named the General Director of OperaDelaware. It is a daunting proposition to fill the big shoes vacated by Lee Kimball, but my dear friends at the Baltimore Concert Opera have taught me never to back down from a challenge! I want to be very clear [...]
As we make our preparations for Superbowl Sunday, I am struck yet again by some big questions. Why do I love Football? Why did I walk around for two and a half weeks with a mustache, just because my home-town team’s quarter-back told me to? Here’s how I explained it to my kid: Why can we not garner the same type of support for the arts? These questions rang through my head, as I sat in front of the television [...]
Engineers Club Artist-in-Residence Baltimore Concert Opera brings a little madness to the Mansion with its upcoming performances of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor in March. In addition to world-class singing, audiences will have the opportunity to hear a rare and beautiful instrument, the glass armonica. Inspired by a 1761 performance in which a musician made glass goblets ring by rubbing the rims with his fingers, Benjamin Franklin set about inventing an instrument based on the principal. Franklin’s glass armonica included 37 [...]
Just wanted to share our video introduction of one of the stars of our March performances. Enjoy! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W5RDOJZh54]
See below for a letter from our Board Secretary, J Bitner. J (one of our social media gurus) has entered a contest to win a killer home-entertainment center, and catered superbowl party. J gives of his time so freely to the BCO, be a gem and give him five minutes of your time. J has had some help from his pals at the BCO, and this is a great chance for us to study social media marketing, while helping him [...]
Full disclosure. I am a rabid football fan. I love watching my Baltimore Ravens. There are few times in the year where I really allow myself to unplug, kick back, drink a few beers, and not feel guilty about not working…Sundays in September – January, I’m your typical NFL fan. I love it. LOVE IT. Why? What is it about professional sports that has us by the short-hairs? What is it that causes folks to fork out hundreds of dollars [...]
Recently, I posted a (perhaps) ill-advised status update on Facebook, marveling at what passes for classical music these days. It sparked a lively conversation about the general public’s perception of opera, and the idea that Paul Potts, Susan Boyle and Jackie Evancho might not be the most accurate representation of an opera singer. The sheer number of comments and types of comments that I received were quite interesting. Of course, a large percentage of my friends on Facebook have some [...]
As we forge ahead in our second full season and watch the operatic climate change in Baltimore before our very eyes (see previous post about opera in Baltimore) it is as important as ever for us at the BCO to be not only aware of our surroundings and how we fit in, but to remain true to our artistic vision or mission. This has been refined over the past two years, but the core principals have not changed. Our mission [...]
There has been a whole lot written recently about the state of opera in our fair city. Many major publications have picked up on the story, and it almost seems as though grand opera gets more attention when it’s something that we had, rather than something that we have. It seems that some are more interested in the drama behind the stage than on it, and I suppose that is OK if we subscribe to the theory that any press [...]
