• Puccini’s La Boheme
• Mozart’s Die Zauberflote (sung in German with English dialogue)
• Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.

A traveling Studio Artists production, TBA, will round out the season.

A Taste of Opera and Art and Opera, fast becoming OIO traditions, will return in 2012.

Art in Opera 2011 Postcard

For the third year in a row, Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point will host the Art in Opera Fine Art Group Show exhibit by Eureka Springs area artists during our 2011 performance season. Many of the artists donate prints of their work to the student performers, and also set aside a portion of the proceeds from their sales for a scholarship fund for our summer program. Twenty-one invited artists will participate in the 2011 show, exhibiting paintings in acrylic, oil, watercolor, beading, ceramic tiles, and fine art photography.

In the first year [of Art in Opera] there were just a few artists, but when Carol Saari took over the job of Chairperson, it really took off. She has such focus, dedication; and, best of all, she has an outstanding reputation in the arts community. She has done an absolutely wonderful job. — Pamela Jones, President of the Eureka Springs Opera Guild

The last two Art in Opera exhibits have been organized by Carol Saari, a Eureka Springs artist whose interest in opera comes from attending performances at Opera in the Ozarks. This past May, she exhibited art at The Queen Anne Show, the Cornerstone Bank “Bank on Art” show, “A Taste of Art” at Sparky’s Roadhouse and White Street Studio Walk at 10 White Street.

The show is for the creative opera people and for the public. A painting can contribute to the performer’s creative process as well as entertain the public at intermission. Sales of paintings contribute to the scholarship fund and I get satisfaction expressing appreciation for this excellent art form. — Carol Saari, Chairperson of Art in Opera

19 pieces were sold from the 2010 Art in Opera exhibit and artists are hoping for another successful season.

Artist Julie Kahn Valentine, who exhibited in 2010, donated prints of her Tosca painting to Opera in the Ozarks’ student performers. Photographers Edward C. Robison III, Richard Quick and Ron Lutz donated prints of their works last year, as did painters Larry Mansker, Susan DeRosa, Carol Saari, Jana Robison, Drew Gentle and Wendi La Fey. All of these artists will be exhibiting again this year.

Larry Mansker donated his original painting, “Don Giovanni,” the student performers’ favorite at last year’s exhibit, to Opera in the Ozarks to be hung in the new opera house when it is built. Larry also arranged the 2010 Art in Opera photo shoot with us for the artists.

John Robert Willer's Taxi to the Opera.
During the 2011 season, 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to the scholarship fund.

John Robert Willer donated 100% of the proceeds of his watercolor, “Lobby of the Theatre,” to the student scholarship fund and will be exhibiting again this year. All of the artists from the 2010 Art in Opera show donated 10% of their proceeds to the student scholarship fund.

The art is displayed along the back wall of the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony Theatre where our audiences can view it as they enter to take their seats. The area is lighted during intermissions to allow for viewing. The artworks for 2011 exhibit will be based on our season: Die Fledermaus, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Little Women. Many of the finished pieces are interpretations of photos taken by the artists of the performers, the stage sets, or the opera house itself.

All but three of the 2011 season performances take place at Inspiration Point in the intimate and outdoor Inspiration Fine Arts Colony Theatre, which allows theatergoers the opportunity to see and hear our performers up close. The three performances not in our theatre will take place at the Arend Arts Center in Bentonville. Art in Opera artists attend one or more of the operas and on any evening at least two of the artists are available to greet the public and answer questions about the works. Please see our calendar for all performance dates and times for the 2011 season.

In it’s third year, the Art in Opera Fine Art Group Show is already a tremendous success and we hope that the collaboration between its artists and our artists continues into a four, fifth, and 61st year.

Unfortunately, we’re still having some difficulties with our new system. If you’d like to order tickets for any of the shows in our 2011 season, please call 1 (800) 595-4849. Or you can visit our online ticking site here: opera.tix.com.

Ticket prices for performances at the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony Theatre at Opera in the Ozarks are $25 for the first four rows and $20 for the fifth row and back. For our Arend Arts Center performances, our tickets prices are $20 for Adults and $10 for students.

We apologize for any inconvenience our ticketing troubles have caused. If you’d like more information or if you have any questions, you may still call our office at (479) 253-8595.

We want to thank all of our supporters for their patience and we hope to see you all at Inspiration Point!

Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point 2011 Season Poster

Opera in the Ozarks Announces 2011 Season and the Appointment of Thomas Cockrell as Artistic Director

Eureka Springs, Arkansas (March 17, 2011) — For 60 years, Opera in the Ozarks, a non-profit organization, has provided talented young artists from across the nation with the opportunity to hone their operatic skills through its intensive six-week training program and annual month-long operatic music festival held at Inspiration Point – located a few miles west of downtown Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on scenic Highway 62.

These future stars hailing from across the country will be on our stage June 24 through July 22. This year’s stellar concert lineup includes 23 total performances of three popular operas: Die Fledermaus (The Bat), composed by Johann Strauss II; Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and Little Women, composed by Mark Adamo. With singers donning fabulous period costumes and accompanied by a full orchestra amidst masterful staging design, Opera in the Ozarks productions highlight the talents of these rising stars and provide a magical musical escape for audiences unlike any other throughout the region.

All but three of the season’s 23 performances take place at Inspiration Point — poetically described as “a mountainous place not too many miles from Heaven” — in an intimate outdoor theater framed by the lush Ozark Mountains. Few opera houses, if any, offer three great operas in a four-week season. Also, given the intimate setting at Inspiration Point, Opera in the Ozarks gives theatergoers the opportunity to truly witness the emotions of the performers close-up. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. and comfortable attire is encouraged. For those who prefer an indoor setting, on July 3 Le Nozze di Figaro will be performed at Arend Arts Center in Bentonville; on July 10 Arend will host Die Fledermaus; and on July 17 Little Women will grace the Arend Center stage. Curtain time for Arend Arts Center performances is 4 p.m. (located at 1901 SE J St, Bentonville, Ark.).

Jim Swiggart, general director of Opera in the Ozarks since 1989, says, “There’s a lot of excitement about our upcoming season and the great lineup. Positive changes are happening at Inspiration Point including welcoming the very talented and energetic Thomas Cockrell as our new artistic director. Thanks to his hard work and the diligence of our board and staff we expect to have an outstanding 61st season.”

This year conductor Thomas Cockrell takes the reins as artistic director of Opera in the Ozarks. No stranger to Inspiration Point, Cockrell served as the Opera’s music director for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Cockrell is hard at work conducting auditions across the country and planning this summer’s 61st season of Opera in the Ozarks. “I am honored and thrilled to return to Inspiration Point as artistic director. I am committed to building upon Opera in the Ozarks’ rich tradition while helping to lead it forward in an exciting period of promise. I look forward to working closely with the general director, the board and the staff to grow our program, nurturing excellence in every performance and every artist.”

About Thomas Cockrell, Artistic Director

Cockrell’s opera credits include Il Barbiere di Siviglia, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Die Zauberflöte, Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi for Opera Theatre of the Rockies; La Bohème and Don Giovanni for Dayton Opera; La Cenerentola, Albert Herring, Il Tabarro, Lucia di Lammermoor and Il Barbiere di Siviglia for the Opera Colorado Artist Center; and Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Washington DC’s Summer Opera Theatre. For the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and South Carolina he has conducted symphonic, chamber and contemporary music concerts, as well as served as Assistant to the Music Director for Productions of Parsifal, Elektra and Salome.

In 1992, Cockrell made his debut as a Featured Young Artist conducting the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Following that success, Gian Carlo Menotti invited him to conduct his Maria Golovin at Spoleto Festival USA. He has served as the associate conductor of Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado, The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Spoleto Festivals. Equally committed to the symphonic repertoire, Cockrell has conducted the professional symphony orchestras of Dallas, Cincinnati, Phoenix, Tucson, Louisville and Boulder, as well as several orchestras overseas.

A dedicated and gifted educator, Cockrell is in demand as a teacher of emerging conductors, recently leading master classes in Europe, Asia and Mexico as well as in the U.S. He served as music director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra and as a member of the conducting faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.

Since 2000, Cockrell has served as director of orchestral activities at the University of Arizona School of Music in Tucson, where he holds the Nelson Riddle Endowed Chair and is the director of the Rogers Institute of Orchestra and Opera. As music director of the University of Arizona Opera Theater, he has conducted recent productions of The Rape of Lucretia, The Crucible, Postcard from Morocco as well as works from the traditional repertoire.

Cockrell is a graduate of Yale University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he received his doctorate. He is one of the last students of the legendary Franco Ferrara with whom he studied in Rome while serving as a founding member of La Camerata Operistica Romana. Cockrell holds a conducting diploma from L’Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy and pursued further studies at Aspen and Tanglewood.

ABOUT THE 2011 SEASON REPERTOIRE

Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée. The operetta premiered in 1874 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna , and has been part of the regular operetta repertoire ever since. After committing a petty crime, the Baron von Eisenstein is due to start his eight-day jail term. Even though he tells his wife, Rosalinde, he is going to jail he actually decides to delay jail one day in order to attend a fancy ball at Prince Orlofsky’s with his friend Dr. Falke. Meanwhile, Rosalinde takes advantage of the situation and invites over her lover, Alfred. Confusion ensues when the next day the prison guard arrives and mistakes Alfred to be the Baron and takes him to prison. This production will be sung in English. Shows are scheduled for June 24 (opening night), 29, July 2, 5, 8, 10, 15 and 21.

One of Mozart’s most famous operas, Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) is a continuation of the plot of The Barber of Seville, several years later, and recounts a single “day of madness” (la folle giornata) in the palace of the Count Almaviva near Seville, Spain. Rosina is now the Countess; Dr. Bartolo is seeking revenge against Figaro for thwarting his plans to marry Rosina himself; and Count Almaviva has degenerated from the romantic youth of Barber into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone. Having gratefully given Figaro a job as head of his servant-staff, he is now persistently trying to obtain the favors of Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna. He keeps finding excuses to delay the civil part of the wedding of his two servants, which is arranged for this very day. Figaro, Susanna and the Countess conspire to embarrass the Count and expose his scheming. He responds by trying to legally compel Figaro to marry a woman old enough to be his mother, but it turns out at the last minute that she really is his mother. Through Figaro’s and Susanna’s clever manipulations, the Count’s love for his Countess is finally restored. This production will be sung in Italian. Shows are scheduled for June 25, 30, July 3, 7, 12, 14, 16 and 20.

Mark Adamo’s Little Women is adapted from American author Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel of a young woman’s understandable but doomed struggle to prevent life from taking her beloved sisters away from her. The story focuses on Jo, the second of four teenage daughters in a freethinking New England family during the Civil War era. Energetic and headstrong, Jo cherishes her perfect family life and doesn’t want it to ever change. However, as life progresses with its joys, tragedies, conflicts and resolutions, Jo comes to realize that the only way to the future is to accept the past as the past, no matter how happy yesterday was, because it can never come again. As she accepts this sad wisdom, a romantic interest enters her life. This production will be sung in English. Shows are scheduled for June 28, July 1, 6, 9, 13, 17 and 22 (final performance).

ABOUT OPERA IN THE OZARKS

With roots dating back to 1928, Opera in the Ozarks was officially founded in 1950 as the unique training program and annual operatic music festival held at Inspiration Point in Eureka Springs, Ark. The effectiveness of training received through Opera in the Ozarks has been demonstrated many times over by the success of its alumni: several are internationally famous, with more than a dozen having performed with the New York Metropolitan Opera and the majority of others with companies from Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Switzerland and Germany, as well as those who perform their art in orchestras and through educational institutions. Over the past 61 years, the esteemed faculty has included such greats as Dr. Isaac Van Grove, the renowned composer, conductor and vocal coach. He, along with his wife, Joan Woodruff, an internationally known choreographer and ballet instructor, served Inspiration Point for over 25 years.

Conceptual work has been completed for new theater facilities at Inspiration Point, and the board and staff of Opera in the Ozarks continue to work on making these plans a reality. Last year, in recognition of its longstanding success, the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism honored Opera in the Ozarks with their Grand Old Classic Special Event Award – an award presented to a festival, fair, or other special celebration which has “stood the test of time” and become an established example to follow for all that come afterward.

Opera in the Ozarks is a very special experience where opportunity, music, artist and audience meld with the beauty and splendor of the Ozark Mountains to create an evening to remember. For more information, including full performance schedules, Taste of the Opera dinners, community outreach programs and ticket information, visit www.opera.org.

Thomas Cockrell, Artistic Director

Conductor Thomas Cockrell (artisticdirector@opera.org) was appointed artistic director of Opera in the Ozarks in October 2010. No stranger to Inspiration Point, Cockrell served as its music director for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Cockrell is hard at work planning the 61st season of Opera in the Ozarks next summer. “I am honored and thrilled to return to Inspiration Point as artistic director. I am committed to building upon Opera in the Ozarks’ rich tradition while helping to lead it forward in an exciting period of promise. I look forward to working closely with the general director, the board and the staff to grow our program, nurturing excellence at every performance and in every artist.”

Cockrell’s opera credits include Il Barbiere di Siviglia, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Die Zauberflöte, Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi for Opera Theatre of the Rockies La Bohème and Don Giovanni for Dayton Opera, La Cenerentola, Albert Herring, Il Tabarro, Lucia di Lammermoor and Il Barbiere di Siviglia for the Opera Colorado Artist Center, and Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Washington D.C.’s Summer Opera Theatre. For the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and South Carolina he has conducted symphonic, chamber and contemporary music concerts as well as served as Assistant to the Music Director for productions of Parsifal, Elektra, and Salome.

Cockrell made his professional debut as a Featured Young Artist conducting the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. Following that success Gian Carlo Menotti invited him to conduct his Maria Golovin at Spoleto Festival USA. He has served as the associate conductor of Cincinnati Opera, Opera Colorado, The Colorado Symphony Orchestra and the Spoleto Festivals. Equally committed to the symphonic repertoire, Cockrell has conducted the professional symphony orchestras of Dallas, Cincinnati, Phoenix, Tucson, Louisville and Boulder, as well as several orchestras overseas.

A dedicated and gifted educator, Cockrell is in demand as a teacher of emerging conductors, recently leading master classes in Europe, Asia and Mexico as well as in the US. He served as music director of Denver Young Artists Orchestra and as a member of the conducting faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Since 2000 Cockrell has served as director of orchestral activities at the University of Arizona School of Music in Tucson, where he holds the Nelson Riddle Endowed Chair and is the director of the Rogers Institute of Orchestra and Opera. As music director of the University of Arizona Opera Theater he has conducted recent productions of The Rape of Lucretia, The Crucible, Postcard from Morocco as well as works from the traditional repertoire.

Cockrell is a graduate of Yale University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he received his doctorate. He is one of the last students of the legendary Franco Ferrara with whom he studied in Rome while serving as a founding director of La Camerata Operistica Romana. Cockrell holds a conducting diploma from L’Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy and pursued further studies at Aspen and Tanglewood.