Exploring Opera

Journey through some of the most beautiful music ever written while picking up insights, tidbits, and sometimes behind-the-scenes stories. Sessions include several video performance clips to bring the magic of opera into the discussion. Classes are perfect for the opera newcomer and the long-time fan!

Come for the music; stay for the fun!

In Our Language: British & American Repertoire

Two Thursdays, August 3 & 10, 2023

1-2:15pm (PT), 2-3:15pm (MT), 3-4:15pm (CT), 4-5:15pm (ET)

on Zoom

Both British and American operas are largely overlooked in the opera houses of both countries, let alone across the world. Yet, the operatic repertoire is replete with masterpieces in our own language!

Join Roger Pines for a 2-part mini series that explores this neglected repertoire.

Save! Get “Early Bird” ticket prices; register before August 1st!

Praise for Pines:

“Roger Pines has been a valuable dramaturg, historian, and writer to me. His encyclopedic knowledge of singers and singing is hugely valuable to both artists and presenters. I recommend him highly for any number of services.” — Renée Fleming

The British: Vaughan Williams, Britten, Walton, Tippett, Knussen (Aug 3)

With the exception of the best-known stage works of Benjamin Britten, we don’t know British opera in America nearly as well as we should! This is a feast of exciting repertoire, created by composers who reveled in the joys of setting English text.

From the folk-like melodies of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Hugh the Drover to the dazzlingly inventive vocal and orchestral colors of Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are, by way of masterpieces from Britten, William Walton, and Michael Tippett, we’ll walk a remarkable path encompassing both tragic and comic opera.

Each work exudes imagination, creating a connection with listeners that becomes possible when we hear our own language eloquently shaped by superb composers and brought to life by their definitive interpreters.

The American: Menotti, Barber, Floyd, Argento, Heggie, John Adams (Aug 10)

American opera is an absolute feast of brilliant music and theatricality!

We’ll cover many terrific highlights, beginning with the most compelling works of Gian Carlo Menotti (yes, Italian-born, but most of his operas were premiered by American opera companies or on Broadway). Barber’s dazzling Vanessa and monumental Antony and Cleopatra, Floyd’s riveting Susannah and intensely moving Of Mice and Men, Dominick Argento’s ravishing adaptation of Henry James’s The Aspern Papers, Jake Heggie’s devastating Dead Man Walking, and finally John Adams’s deeply thought-provoking Doctor Atomic — these and more will give a full sense of the infinite variety that is American opera at its best!

About Roger Pines

A familiar voice from his annual appearances on the Met broadcasts’ “Opera Quiz,” Roger has written extensively for major opera publications internationally, has lectured for such prestigious organizations as San Francisco Opera and the Curtis Institute of Music, and is a faculty member of Northwestern University, where he teaches the opera repertoire course of the Bienen School of Music. He served as Dramaturg for Lyric Opera of Chicago for many years. For more about Roger, click here.

Ticket & Notes:

“Early Bird” Mini-Series Ticket: $25 (re: $12.50 per class). Available until 48-hours before the 1st class.

Regular Mini-Series Ticket: $30 (re: $15 per class). Available until the start of the 2nd class.,

Tickets: All tickets are 1) are per device, not per person, on Zoom, and 2) are non-refundable & non-exchangeable. Single tickets are not available for this series.

The Fine Print:

Fortunately, we’ve had very few issues, but just to be clear…

Your Zoom “Event Link”: The Zoom event link will be emailed to all registrants automatically upon registration and then again 2-hours prior to each class. To help it land in your “inbox,” before registering, please add the following emails to your contacts:

• JCC Alliance — alliance@marinjcc.org
• Sean Fitzgerald — sfitzgerald@marinjcc.org

Registrants are requested to make sure the email w/link has arrived by the evening of Aug 1st If the email does not arrive, please see “Troubleshooting” below.

Have a Comcast email? Please refer to this guide: https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/spam-filters-and-email-blocking-new-experience.

Troubleshooting: We will do our best to remedy any issues. Registrants who have NOT received the email w/link are asked to check their email “junk” and “spam” folders. If found, please move the email to your inbox. If the email/link is still not there, please contact James (see below) immediately.

Late Troubleshooting: We will try our best – but cannot guarantee – help with Zoom links to guests contacting James less than 30-minutes prior to the event.

Live Only: In agreement with our guides, artists, instructors, special guests, etc., events are not recorded. Make-up sessions are unavailable. Credit/refund is not given for missed events.

Liability: While we will do our best to remedy any issues, The Osher Marin JCC & its Program Partners cannot be held responsible for 1) issues related to Eventbrite or Zoom, 2) ticket buyers not following the instructions above, nor 3) packing, shipping, or deliver services of food/beverages not received in time for tasting events.

Don’t ya just hate “the fine print?!!”

Questions? Email James at jsokol@marinjcc.org.

Exploring Opera is created by the Osher Marin JCC (San Rafael, CA) and offered by the National JCC Adult & Senior Alliance. See below for a full list of Alliance Partners.

ALL ARE WELCOME to join in our activities! JCC members, non-members, those who live near or far, people of all backgrounds, faiths, ethnicities, hair styles, fashion choices, chocolate preferences, etc. “The more the merrier!”