Press Contact: Jacob Pope Executive Director jpope@chamberorchestraofthesprings.org (719) 633-3649
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO (FEBRUARY 3, 2025) - Three of Colorado's most innovative arts organizations have announced a new strategic partnership that will bring five years of chamber opera performances to venues across Colorado Springs. The Opera 2030 Initiative includes the Colorado Springs-based Chamber Orchestra of the Springs and Opera Theatre of the Rockies, alongside the Denver-based Art Song Colorado, and was inspired by the Bee Vradenburg Foundation and Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region's Arts Vision 2030 plan.
The initiative comes after two previous, widely-acclaimed opera collaborations by the companies: Blind Injustice, a true story about six people unjustly incarcerated for crimes they didn't commit, before being freed by the Ohio Innocence Project, performed at Colorado College in July 2023; and Glory Denied, a true story about Col. Jim Thompson, America's longest-held POW, performed at the US Air Force Academy in April 2024.
"After the successes of Blind Injustice and Glory Denied, all three companies felt like we had an opportunity to commit to furthering and deepening this artistic relationship," said Jacob Pope, Executive Director of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs. "We knew we wanted to continue this powerful form of storytelling, but at first we weren't quite sure what form this partnership would take. That's when we revisited the Cultural Office's Arts Vision 2030 plan, and it all came together."
Under the Opera 2030 Initiative, the three companies have committed to co-producing at least one chamber opera per year for five years, dividing up the work of casting, artistic design, budgeting, marketing, and fundraising between the staffs of each organization. All three companies contribute financially, and will share in the profits and losses of each show, with the final show happening just before the year 2030.
"With my background in 21st century opera, Opera Theatre of the Rockies' sterling history and national reputation, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs' innovative approach to musical curation, we realized we could join forces to produce opera with less risk to each company," noted Eapen Leubner, Executive Director of Art Song Colorado.
The first performance of the Opera 2030 Initiative will be All About Love: A Flight of Operas, a one-day show that combines three short, one-act operas into a new performance telling a single, cohesive story about a woman's ups and downs in love and marriage. All About Love: A Flight of Operas will take place at Broadmoor Community Church, at 7:00pm on Saturday, February 22nd.
"This will be a memorable event of three short chamber operas, telling the story of one woman's search for love throughout her life," said Martile Rowland, Artistic Director-Emerita of Opera Theatre of the Rockies. "It's an exciting preview of things to come from our three organizations under the amazing conductor, Thomas Wilson. It's not to be missed, and it's just the beginning of a magical musical collaboration!"
After All About Love, however, the companies plan to return to military programming. The Opera 2030 agreement specifically calls for a regular focus on stories about military history or personnel, with the goal of returning to military installations like the US Air Force Academy's Arnold Hall whenever possible.
"One of the pillars of the Chamber Orchestra's mission is telling stories that resonate with our community, and in Colorado Springs that means honoring our active military and veterans by sharing art that speaks to their unique sacrifices and contributions to our freedoms," said Pope. "We'll go back to USAFA's Arnold Hall as often as they'll have us, because there is a huge, untapped repertoire of stories about not just active military, but veterans and military spouses that are all enormously compelling pieces of art that don't get played nearly enough."
"This is a golden opportunity to create professional opportunities for Colorado artists, while supporting new works with their second or third performances - bringing these future masterpieces to all three company's audiences," added Leubner. "We want to create an incubator for chamber opera in the Pikes Peak region."
For those interested in learning more, the Opera 2030 Initiative recently released an informational page, available on the Chamber Orchestra's website at www.chamberorchestraofthesprings.org/opera2030.
Ticket Information:
Tickets for All About Love: A Flight of Operas are available at https://www.chamberorchestraofthesprings.org/all-about-love.
Tickets start at $21.25 for youth and go up to $61.25 for VIP tickets, which grant ticket-holders access to a special pre-show reception with wine paired to each of the three short operas. |
