2017-18 Cultural Festival

September

1st	Ghost Light with Christopher McBeth   Christopher McBeth, Utah Opera’s Artistic Director talked about Utah Opera’s 40th Anniversary Season on USUO’s podcast Ghost Light Podcasts still available at: http://www.utahsymphony.org/insight/ghost-light-podcast
2nd | 8 pm	Utah Symphony’s Great American Road Trip Split Mountain at Dinosaur National Monument   Returning Utah Opera Resident Artist Abigail Rethwisch performed with the Utah Symphony at Split Mountain.
5th	Trish Weinmann Social Media Interview Director Patricia Weinmann (Boston Opera Collaborative Graz, MIT Cultural) gave a Facebook Live video with the new Resident Artists to show off the staging they had prepared for Utah Opera’s school program Who Wants to be an Opera Star?
6th	Wardrobe shopping with Sue Allred   The female Resident Artists went shopping with Susan Allred for school program clothing.
7th | 7 pm	Random Act of Opera — Moka SLC Marmalade Library, 280 W 500 S SLC, UT   Utah Opera’s Resident Artists sang at the beginning of Moka’s “locals only” coffee and chocolate class at the Marmalade Branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library.
8th	Susan Memmot Allred social media post KUTV’s Holly Menino conducted an interview with Susan Allred, former costume designer for Utah Opera, to celebrate her designation as a Pioneer of Utah and look at her costume creations over the years.
9th | 8 pm	Classical 89 Utah Opera Rebroadcast – Carmen   Utah Opera’s October 2016 production of Carmen was rebroadcast on September 9th.
11th | 11 am	Who Wants to Be an Opera Star? preview Utah Opera Production Studios, 336 N 400 W SLC, UT   The Utah Opera Resident Artists gave a preview to USUO staff of the school program they will present more than 100 times throughout the 2017-18 school year. At 2 pm the same day, the program premiered at Blackridge Elementary.
11th | 4 pm	Music & The Mind David Gardner Hall   World-renowned soprano Renée Fleming and Dr. Norman Foster, a professor of neurology at the University of Utah, discussed the impact of music on the mind and how brain imaging as building a gateway for evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
12th | 7:00 pm	Gala Rehearsal Abravanel Hall   International opera sensation Renée Fleming rehearsed with UO Opera Chorus, Utah Symphony, and Resident Artist Christopher Oglesby.
13th | 7:30 pm	An Evening with Renée Fleming Abravanel Hall   International opera sensation Renée Fleming kicked off our 40th Anniversary Season, singing with UO Opera Chorus, the Utah Symphony, and Resident Artist Christopher Oglesby.
14th | 7:30 pm	Opera 101 premiere Channing Hall   UO Resident Artists add a second school program to their “Opera Star”, performing for students grades 7-9 at Channing Hall.
15th | 2:30 pm	Moby-Dick Presentation Utah Opera Production Studios   The artistic team for Utah Opera’s production of Moby-Dick, led by stage director Kristine McIntyre, presented current progress on building this new production.
15th | 5:30 + 6:15 pm	Art Access Gallery Stroll Art Access – 230 S 500 W, SLC   Utah Opera Resident Artists performed twice at the Art Access Gallery Stroll
16th | 8 am	Autumn Aloft Hot Air Balloon Launch Park City   As part of the 2017 Autumn Aloft Hot Air balloon festival, UO principal coach Carol Anderson and singers Clara Hurtado Lee and Chris Clayton performed opera selections while hot air balloons flew into the sky all around.
16th | 8 pm	Classical 89 Utah Opera Rebroadcast – Man of La Mancha   Utah Opera’s January 2017 production of Leigh’s Man of La Mancha was rebroadcast.
17th | 6 pm	Ogden Opera Guild Fall Social   The Ogden Opera Guild met to celebrate many years of support for Utah Opera and enjoyed a performance by the Utah Opera Resident Artists.
18th	La bohème rehearsals began
19th | 4 pm	Salt Lake County Council Meeting 2001 South State Street N2-200 SLC   The Utah Opera Resident Artists sang for a meeting of the Salt Lake County Council.
20th | 3 pm	Random Act of Opera Salt Lake City Public Library   Utah Opera Resident Artist Chris Oglesby, Abby Rethwisch Paulson, and Robert Bosworth performed an RAO  at the Salt Lake City Public Library
21st | 6:30 pm	Open House & Production Studio Tours Utah Opera Production Studios   Community members were invited to visit our production studios for a tour of our costume and scene shops. Attendees were able to see part of a staging rehearsal of La bohème in the rehearsal hall. Treats and samplings were provided by neighbors Red Rock Brewery and Mtn West Cider.
22nd | 8 pm Pictured: Ao Li, Michelle Peterson, Kelvin Peterson, and Leslie Peterson	Ghost Light Rebroadcast with the Peterson Sisters   Michelle and Leslie Peterson talked about the legacy of Utah Opera on USUO’s podcast Ghost Light. To listen to Ghost Light: https://soundcloud.com/utahsymphony/ghost-light-podcast-episode-37-40-days-of-opera-leslie-and-michelle-peterson
23rd | 8 pm	Classical 89 Utah Opera Rebroadcast – Lucia di Lammermoor   Utah Opera’s March 2016 production of Lucia di Lammermoor was rebroadcast on September 23rd.
25th to 27th	Utah Opera Resident Artists Tour to Cache Valley   The Utah Opera Resident Artists visited several schools in the Cache Valley area, serving nearly 1,000 students in 3 days. As part of the tour, they did a social media take over on Instagram on Sept 25.
26th | 1:30 pm	Osher Lifelong Learning Class UO Production Studios   Other Lifelong Learning students were invited to look inside the soul of an artist with Puccini’s classic depiction of struggling bohemians navigating love, life, and death in turn-of-the-century Paris. Class was taught by UO Education Director Paula Fowler and Principal Coach Carol Anderson.
27th | 2 pm	Savvy Seniors screening of Moonstruck Salt Lake Public Library Joining the Savvy Seniors film series, Utah Opera screened the 1987 film Moonstruckabout Loretta Castorini, a book keeper from Brooklyn, New York, who finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry. Not only is this film a beautiful story, but is deeply connected to La bohème as well. The musical score of the film is soaked in beautiful selections from Puccini’s opera.
27th | 7 pm	Opera and its Voices in Utah Logan LDS Tabernacle   Walter Rudolph spoke about the fascinating development of “Opera and Its Voices in Utah.” Guest tenor Stanford Olsen performed.
29th | 2 pm	Osher Lifelong Learning tour of Production Studios As part of an Osher Lifelong Learning special event, Education Director Paula Fowler gave a tour of the Opera Production Studios.
30th | 11 am	Downtown Farmers Market SLC   The UO Resident Artists sang in the rain as they offered a Random Act of Opera at the Downtown Farmers Market.
30th | 8 pm	Classical 89 Utah Opera Rebroadcast – Don Giovanni   Utah Opera’s May 2017 production of Don Giovanni was rebroadcast on September 30th.

October

2nd | 6 pm	Inside Opera: La bohème Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre   Opera patrons got a behind the scenes peek into an actual opera rehearsal and learned ‘insider’ information from Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth, Director of Education and Community Outreach Paula Fowler, and stage director Kathleen Clawson.
4th | 1 pm	Opera Up Close East High School, SLC The UO Resident Artists visited East High School to offer the premiere presentation of their Opera Up Close for choir students.
5th | 7 pm pictured: Davis Jr. High teacher, Lorinna Allred, and students	Opera-tunities Night for La bohème Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre   The final dress rehearsal of  La bohème was open and free to all public and charter school secondary students.
6th | 2 pm	Voice Masterclass with Maestro Robert Tweten Westminster College   Conductor Robert Tweten gave a masterclass to voice students at Westminster  College. This event was open and free to the public. Maestro Tweten also conducted a masterclass at the University of Utah on October 4th.
5th – 7th	Staging for Freeze Frame: Elixir of Love Utah Opera Resident Artists worked with stage director Kathleen Clawson to stage intended for secondary schools.
7, 9, 11 & 13 | 7:30pm 15th | 2 PM	La bohème  Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre Utah Opera produced La bohème for the seventh time in commemoration of its first production of the same opera 40 years ago.
7th | 10 pm	La bohème Rooftop Garret After-Party Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre Roof The original Mimì from Utah Opera’s first Bohème, Billie Loukas Paulos, met Jenna Black, the Mimì who wowed audiences in Utah Opera’s 2017 version of the classic tale.
9th	Ghost Light with Kathleen Clawson Director for Utah Opera’s 2017 production of La bohème discussed the production with host Jeff Counts. Podcasts still available at: http://www.utahsymphony.org/insight/ghost-light-podcast
10th | 6:30 pm	AriaFest17  Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre Local university students sang arias at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre as part of Utah Opera’s first ever AriaFest. Three students were chosen to receive coaching with artists who will be singing with Utah Opera this season.
12th | 3 pm	Random Act of Opera Salt Lake City Public Library Utah Opera Resident Artists Jesùs Vicente Murillo, Melanie Ashkar, and Robert Bosworth offered a Random Act of Opera at the Salt Lake City Public Library.
13th	Libretti and Libations Bodega, Tupelo Park City, Pallet, Current Fish and Oyster Bar, Under Current, Stanza Italian Bistro and Wine Bar, BTG Wine Bar/Caffé Molise In conjunction with La bohème, local bars and restaurants offered opera-themed cocktails.