DECEMBER 22, 2003—Many cast members of the upcoming Cleveland productions of Dido and Aeneas and Gianni Schicchi at Trinity Cathedral are finishing their preparations wearing T-shirts and shorts. It’s not that they are impervious to winter weather; they are 5,200 miles away in a different season.

On January 30 and 31, 2004, at 7 p.m., student singers from the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music will present the two operas at Cleveland’s historic Trinity Cathedral, located at 2230 Euclid Avenue. Tickets for the Cleveland performances are $10 and $20 and can be purchased by calling Music & Performing Arts at Trinity at 216-579-9745 or visiting the group's web site.

The genesis for this educational and cultural exchange program goes back five years, when Governor Bob Taft signed an agreement between the State of Ohio and the City of Buenos Aires. A grant from the Ohio Arts Council has made the resulting international opera project possible.

"This opera project represents the first collaborative effort between performing arts organizations in Ohio and South America," says Oberlin’s Director of Opera Theater Jonathon Field. "This particular production of Dido and Aeneas represents a dynamic intersection of old and new: the ancient story is retold using innovative technology and video artistry. Composer Henry Purcell told the story of Dido through a filter specific to his time—17^th-century England. This production does the same for our time," says Field. "We’re creating softscenery—coined after the term software—to suggest that the witches in Dido have comprised a reality of light that all the other characters believe is real, but is ultimately as changeable as the images on the screen of your computer."

Field, who is also director of Lyric Opera Cleveland, will direct two mixed casts of Oberlin and Instituto students in the Cleveland and Buenos Aires productions of Dido and Aeneas. Trinity Cathedral’s Daniel Hathaway will conduct the opera.

Following Dido and Aeneas, students of the Instituto will present their production of Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, directed by Jorge DeLasseletta and conducted by Bruno D'Astoli. The Trinity Chamber Orchestra will accompany both operas.

Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral is an independent organization that seeks to enrich the life of the cathedral’s community and neighborhood through music and performing arts. For more information on Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral, please call 216-579-9745 or visit their web site.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865, is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States, and the only major music school in the country linked with a preeminent college of arts and sciences. Oberlin is renowned internationally for the intensive professional training opportunities it provides to aspiring professional musicians; its vocal studies and opera theater programs have earned the respect and admiration of critics and professionals throughout the world. More information about the Oberlin Conservatory is available online.

BACKGROUND

The International Opera Project: A Collaboration of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral, and Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón

Why Oberlin? Why Trinity Cathedral? The answer, says Jonathon Field, director and associate professor of opera theater at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, lies with Ana Maria Massone, director of the Instituto, which is the apprentice program of Teatro Colón, known as "the Metropolitan Opera of South America."

"Massone traveled to Ohio, touring and researching educational institutions with which she might collaborate," says Field. "She came to Oberlin when I happened to be directing Die Fledermaus and she sat in on our rehearsal. She was so impressed that she wanted to do the project with us. Earlier in the day she had visited Trinity Cathedral. The idea came to her to have performances of Gianni and Dido, featuring Oberlin students, staged at Trinity."

Mike Telin, executive director at Trinity Cathedral’s Music & Performing Arts (M&PA), explains why Trinity was selected. "Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral has a 25-year history of using arts programs to reach out to the larger community and to attract diverse audiences, using the Gothic architecture of the Cathedral in innovative ways," he says. "Ana Massone was clearly taken by the way the Cathedral is used as a performing arts venue for these purposes."

Telin, Field, and Daniel Hathaway, Trinity M&PA’s artistic director, visited Buenos Aires in August 2002 to meet with Massone and to further explore the possibilities for the international educational and cultural exchange that they were formulating.

The partners soon determined to undertake collaborative performances and educational activities on both continents. M&PA and Oberlin staff visited Argentina in May and August 2003, and Instituto staff visited Ohio in February and June 2003.

During these visits, the team worked out the details—including casting, set design, lighting, and other production matters—of an innovative, contemporary production of Dido and Aeneas, which, following its Cleveland run, will be staged at the Teatro Colón on March 31, 2004, with its Oberlin cast and crew. An additional performance is planned for presentation at the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Buenos Aires. The Orquestra Academica of the Teatro Colón will accompany both performances in Buenos Aires.

Why brave the complications of coordinating performances across two continents with different seasons, languages, and cultural expectations?

"Understanding each other's culture is good business, and the arts enable us to explore both what our cultures have in common and how they are different," says Wayne Lawson, director of the Ohio Arts Council.

"The OAC's International Program is committed to bringing together people from diverse cultural backgrounds to foster understanding and to increase Ohioans' access to international arts activities. We are pleased to support this project that uses innovative opera to accomplish those goals."

The cultural exchange has been invaluable to its North American participants, both musically and culturally. "Both the Teatro Colón and Trinity Commons are important venues in the center of their respective cities, and we are each exploring ways of making our space accessible to the community," said Telin. "We have learned from Argentinean public policy and public support for the arts, as well as the populist appeal of art forms like opera and ballet that in this country are sometimes considered elitist. We hope that this opera production and the educational programs that accompany it are only the beginning of incorporating what we learn from other cultures into the cultural life of Northeast Ohio."

The sets and costumes for Dido and Aeneas are being designed by Russ Borski, who is working with Cleveland video artist Kasumi to create a modern, sculptural look, fitted to the nave of Trinity Cathedral, with an innovative live and prerecorded video projection.

In addition to the opera performances, the project will host several other programs for the public during January.

Individual program and event information is as follows:

Friday, January 9 through Sunday, February 15:
An exhibit of photographs of scene designs and costumes chronicling the life of the Teatro Colón will be on display at the Gallery at Trinity Commons. (Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.;
Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ; By appointment: Call M&PA: 216-575-9745). Admission: FREE, Parking: $3 during the week. FREE on the weekends. The Gallery in Trinity Commons, 2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH.

Sunday, January 11 at 2 p.m.:
"A View of the Teatro Colón and its Place in the Soul of Buenos Aires"
A lecture by Ana Massone, Director Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón and Luis Pereiro, Archivist; Gallery at Trinity Commons (Admission & Parking: FREE).

Sunday, January 11 at 7 p.m.:
Vocal Concert, singers from Teatro Colón and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Kulas Hall, The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, 77 West College Street, Oberlin, OH (Admission & Parking: FREE, For info call 440-775-8610 or 440-775-6933).

Saturday, January 17 at 6:30 p.m.:
"An Evening in Argentina," A benefit in support of the project featuring Argentinean wines, food, and music. Honorary chair: Barbara Robinson. Co-chairs: Terry and Jack Southworth, Trinity Cathedral, (Tickets: $125, $250, $500. Tables of eight are available, For info call M&PA 216-575-9745).

Sunday, January 18 at 2 p.m.:
"Musical & Staging Concepts for Dido & Aeneas and Gianni Schicchi," a panel discussion by Bruno D'Astoli and Jorge DeLassaleta of the Instituto Superior de Arte; Daniel Hathaway of Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral; Jonathan Field of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. (Gallery at Trinity Commons, Admission & Parking: FREE)

Friday, January 30 at 7 p.m.:
Dido and Aeneas, Gianni Schicchi; opera performance, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, OH. (Tickets: $10 and $20, Parking: FREE. For info call M&PA 216-575-9745).

Saturday, January 31 at 7 p.m.:
Dido and Aeneas, Gianni Schicchi; opera performance, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, OH. (Tickets: $10 and $20, Parking: FREE. For info call M&PA 216-575-9745).