Feisty New Jersey Opera Theater Names Yamaha "Official Piano"
PRINCETON, NJ (October 15, 2004) Thirteen performances including four operas in two weeks would be daunting for even the most seasoned opera troupe, but imagine pulling off such a schedule using emerging artists as part of a summer vocal institute. Now, add master classes, a concert series, and an ongoing focus on educational programs in the schools, and you've got the New Jersey Opera Theater, a two-year old, mostly volunteer company in Princeton. Yamaha has been chosen as the official piano of the young company, co-founded by Scott and Lisa Altman, who are artistic director and executive director, respectively.
New Jersey Opera Theater used a Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano provided by Yamaha Artist Services Inc. for its inaugural summer season in the 190-seat Hamilton Murray Theater at Princeton University. The company's Summer Vocal Institute Master Class Series (July 27 - August 4) featured an impressive group of opera professionals who contributed their expertise to work with the emerging artists, including New York City Opera's dramaturg Cori Ellison, Metropolitan Opera conductor Daniel Beckwith, international stars James Morris and Susan Quittmeyer, Metropolitan Opera soprano Sharon Sweet, the Met's former artistic administrator Charles Riecker, New York City Opera conductor Steven Mosteller, and director Marc Verzatt, formerly of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
About 40 emerging artists were cast in four operas that ran August 16-22: Mozart's Don Giovanni (conducted by Michael Recchiuti of La Fenice and directed by Scott Altman); Britten's Albert Herring (conducted by Beckwith and directed by Marc Verzatt) and a French double-bill of Ravel's L'enfant et le Sortilèges and Offenbach's Ba-Ta-Clan (in a new World Premiere English version written especially for the New Jersey Opera Theater by Jonathan Shiff, conducted by Dan Saunders and directed by New York City Opera's David Grabarkewitz). The Festival's Concert Series, which ran August 8-19, featured varied performances ranging from German lieder and French chanson to fully staged musical theater as well as two evenings of arias and ensembles.
"We sold out nearly every performance, and even had to add an additional date for Don Giovanni," says Scott Altman, a bass-baritone who has appeared at Lincoln Center with the New York City Opera, among other venues. "Everyone who played the Yamaha CFIIIS absolutely raved about it, audiences too. They loved the timbre, the richness of color, its response. People came up to me after every performance and said they didn't miss not having an orchestra."
Jacobs Music makes its Lawrenceville store's recital hall available for rehearsals, auditions, meetings and workshops. "We are delighted to have Yamaha as our official piano," says Scott. "We'll be using Yamaha pianos for gala events as well. We are quickly developing into one of the most formidable opera companies in New Jersey. People are catching wind of what we're doing on a shoestring budget, and it's very exciting."
The Altmans, who both hold multiple university degrees in performance, launched the New Jersey Opera Theater in November 2002 with education in mind. From November through March, they tour schools, directly involving K-12 students in opera productions and engaging them with introductory programs such as "So, This is Opera?" For more information, please visit www.njot.org.
To learn more, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
 Michele Sexton and Benjamin-Edouard Savoie were accompanied by a CFIIIS concert grand in a recent production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. |
About 40 emerging artists were cast in four operas that ran August 16-22: Mozart's Don Giovanni (conducted by Michael Recchiuti of La Fenice and directed by Scott Altman); Britten's Albert Herring (conducted by Beckwith and directed by Marc Verzatt) and a French double-bill of Ravel's L'enfant et le Sortilèges and Offenbach's Ba-Ta-Clan (in a new World Premiere English version written especially for the New Jersey Opera Theater by Jonathan Shiff, conducted by Dan Saunders and directed by New York City Opera's David Grabarkewitz). The Festival's Concert Series, which ran August 8-19, featured varied performances ranging from German lieder and French chanson to fully staged musical theater as well as two evenings of arias and ensembles.
"We sold out nearly every performance, and even had to add an additional date for Don Giovanni," says Scott Altman, a bass-baritone who has appeared at Lincoln Center with the New York City Opera, among other venues. "Everyone who played the Yamaha CFIIIS absolutely raved about it, audiences too. They loved the timbre, the richness of color, its response. People came up to me after every performance and said they didn't miss not having an orchestra."
Jacobs Music makes its Lawrenceville store's recital hall available for rehearsals, auditions, meetings and workshops. "We are delighted to have Yamaha as our official piano," says Scott. "We'll be using Yamaha pianos for gala events as well. We are quickly developing into one of the most formidable opera companies in New Jersey. People are catching wind of what we're doing on a shoestring budget, and it's very exciting."
The Altmans, who both hold multiple university degrees in performance, launched the New Jersey Opera Theater in November 2002 with education in mind. From November through March, they tour schools, directly involving K-12 students in opera productions and engaging them with introductory programs such as "So, This is Opera?" For more information, please visit www.njot.org.
To learn more, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
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