Ardea Arts

Opera and Ice Cream

2010-07-15T10:33:00.001-07:00

We are getting very excited about one of our favorite events during the summer, Opera & Ice Cream at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton on August 5 at 4pm. This includes an exclusive sneak-peak of the upcoming CAT: The Opera-Musical. The audience will be singing experts by the end of the performance, as they will be taught a few songs from the show, making this a great interactive experience! Following the show, the audience have the opportunity to eat lots of ice cream donated by Southampton's Sip 'n Soda, enjoy the sun and mingle with the cast of CAT. Following, composer Kitty Brazelton will host a discussion with those audience members who are interested.

The cast of CAT will blow you away! With wonderful talent and enthusiasm, they are all very excited to perform this upbeat and inspiring opera-musical.

CAT will be making it's way around Southampton, with a performance at the Fresh Air Home on August 4 at 3pm. This is Family Opera Initiative's 5th consecutive summer performing at the camp!

Last year's Opera & Ice Cream was sold out, so get your tickets now! To purchase tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/120053

Neighbor Peek- Lyn Devon

2010-06-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

image from wmagazine.com

Downstairs from Ardea Arts lies a secret. We have an up and coming fashion designer right below our floorboards!

Lyn Devon is well on her way to becoming a fashion icon. Born and raised in NYC she studied at Parsons and designed women’s wear for Ralph Lauren while also designing and producing custon made pieces out of her living room for a private clientele.

Lyn presented her first Ready-to Wear collection in September of 2005 and was named Women’s Design Rising Star by Fashion Group International. Her work has been displayed in magazines ranging from Bazaar to Elle to Women’s Wear Daily and on the internet in Style.com. In an article in Vogue on Greta Gerwig the star was photographed in one of Lyn’s creations.

Her pieces incorporate precise tailoring and impeccable finishing while still being casual and ready to be lived in. Lyn Devon takes her inspiration from Audrey Hepburn and the collections of Geoffrey Beene and Bill Blass and we can see her name being as recognizable as any of them.

Webpage: www.lyndevon.com
Phone: 212.431.3777

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Hits The Stage Tonight!

2010-06-15T09:19:00.001-07:00

For the past three weeks, we have been lucky enough to hear the outstanding musical stylings of John Eaton's opera The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with Mr. Eaton along with the Pocket Opera Players, the very talented cast. Staged by the Center for Contemporary Opera, the cast rehearsed full time and in full force at the Ardea Studio to create a capturing and creative theatrical piece.

The cast and crew are currently primping and warming up in preparation to hit the stage tonight, June 15, 2010, for the world premiere of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Symphony Space's Sharp Theatre at 8pm. Be sure to attend for an unforgettable operatic experience!

http://composers.com/event/world-premiere-john-eatons-opera-curious-case-benjamin-button

Neighbor Peek- Palma

2010-05-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

Our closest neighbor is Palma, a unique women’s clothing boutique run by a husband-wife team Lenny and Yolanda. The store is beautiful. The clothing is beautiful. And Lenny and Yolanda are engaging, caring people who focus on suggesting items that will complement the shopper. This shop specializes in smaller designer workshops so that each piece is well made and almost one of a kind. These are not pieces you will run across on the subway!

Yolanda was the former manager of West Village antique-clothing boutique Odds West. Even through they have moved away from vintage, Yolanda hand-picks items from the collections of several emerging and established designers with an eye for classic silhouettes and antique-inspired prints, refreshing the selection on a weekly basis. Yolanda has a great eye and picks out some beautiful pieces--especially the dresses she selects. Beautiful cuts, great colors and style.

Palma also sells accessories and features Wendy Mink’s beaded jewelry in the glass cases by the register. Each item is beautiful and could be paired with eveningwear or a t-shirt and jeans (which they also have in stock).

Forget the chain stores on Broadway, stop in and visit this wonderful store.

Website- www.palmasoho.com
Phone- 212.966.1722
Email- info@palmasoho.com

Infinity Hall

2010-05-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of April we took a weekend trip up to CT to see Infinity Hall. Infinity Hall is in Norfolk CT. It is a 300 seat venue with a dedicated following. The new owner, Dan Hincks, has cultivated an amazing event calendar including Christopher Cross (who was playing the night we were in town) Patty Larkin, The Lovin' Spoonful and Sophie B Hawkins. Not only is it a fabulous place to hear music but the restaurant downstairs serves the most amazing hamburgers and fries among many other items.

Grethe and I had gone because our Board Member and friend, Michelle Childs, lives in Norfolk CT and frequents Infinity Music Hall. She had spoken to Dan Hinke about Family Opera Initative and he was interested in bringing in one of our shows. We started off small with Goodnight Moon or our new piece commissioned by Jane A Gross, A Cat's Tale but ended up discussing a possible performance of Fireworks this summer for the fourth of July!

Everything is still up in the air but it's a very exciting prospect.

Infinity Music Hall's website is www.infinityhall.com

Before Night Falls- Follow Up

2010-04-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last night we had an amazing time at the Salon Series: Wednesdays at Seven with Jorge Martin. He discussed his new opera "Before Night Falls" which will be premiering at Fort Worth Opera (fwopera.org) on May 29th. He described the history of the piece, how he connected with the materials and shared parts of the cantata written from the opera itself. The information was interesting, the history facinating, the music exquistie and Jorge is a great speaker. His latest CD "The Glass Hammer" is avaliable at BarnesandNobel.com

We were so enthralled we forgot to take pictures during the event so above I have displayed the image connected to his new opera.

Our next event will be held at the end of June. Make sure to sign up to recieve the informational emails. info@ardeaarts.com. Also follow us on twitter @ardeaarts and hear all about the event with #beforenightfalls

Before the event we happened to have the past and current Managing Directors in the office discussing the Opera and BBQ event taking place in June.

Shelley, Ben and Ray

Salon Series- Wednesdays at Seven

2010-04-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

You are invited to Ardea Arts Salon Series- Wednesdays at Seven featuring special guest Jorge Martín.

"Martín wields a sharp pen" - N.Y. Post

Mr. Martin will be joining our Salon Series on April 28th to discuss his piece “Before Night Falls” which will be premiering at the Fort Worth Opera on May 29th 2010.

The New York Times says "Mr. Martín's score is tonal and shapely. The piano writing - that is, the eventual orchestral score - uses Cuban rhythms and strong, active bass lines, but is not overtly folksy. Where tension is necessary - in solo arias by Rey (Arenas) and Ovidio (his mentor), and in prison scenes in which Rey is beaten and his manuscript is burned, the writing is muscular and dissonant. The vocal writing, though, is consistently lyrical, and these scenes included several memorable stretches, most notably a trio, Unhappy Island." (May 4, 2005)

This Salon will run from 7-9pm on Wednesday, April 28th. Tickets will be $10 for Adults and $5 for Students. Refreshments and Wine will be provided. RSVP’s are requested. This is an open event and people are encouraged to come and go as needed. Don’t miss this experience! We hope to see you there!

Guest Artist: Jorge Martín
Topic: “Before Night Falls- the Opera”
Date: Wednesday, April 28th 7-9pm (come and go as you please)
Location: 463 Broome NYC 10013
Tickets: $10 for adults, $5 for students- Wine and Refreshments Provided
RSVP: info@ardeaarts.com

For more information on Mr. Martín please check out his webpage at www.jorgemartin.com or follow his “Before Night Falls” adventure through his blog http://musicbyjorgemartin.blogspot.com

Follow us on Twitter! @FamilyOpera or @ArdeaArts
Our Blog: familyoperainitiative.blogspot.com

MATA Festival 2010- Emerging Composers

2010-04-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

This week we began hosting rehearsals for the 2010 MATA Festival: A Celebration of New Music by Emerging Composers. This Festival begins Monday April 19th and will run through the 22nd with 3 free events and 2 concerts with ticket prices starting at $15. All concerts will be held at Le Poisson Rouge at 158 Bleeker Street, NY 10012.

MATA describes its self as “ a non-profit organization that has, for the past thirteen years, been dedicated to commissioning and presenting works by young composers from around the world. MATA's directors are motivated by a desire to create community among young musicians, especially those whose work defies definition and doesn't fit into existing institutions. By providing young composers with a professional performance of their work, access to first-rate performers and valuable connections to colleagues, MATA nurtures their entry into American musical life.”

The works include MATA Sound Installation an audio/visual experience created by Matthew Wright and featuring special guest performers. This Installation runs from the 19th through the 22nd nightly from 6-7:30 at the LPR Gallery Bar.

On Tuesday the Calder String Quartet will be performing in the LPR Main Room. This Los Angeles based quartet will present works by Lisa Coons, Fabian Svensson, Daniel Wohl and a premiere of a work by Nathan Davis.

Wednesday night pianist Lisa Moore presents works by Jilian Day, Samuel Adams, Paul Swartzel, Timothy Andres and Missy Mazzoil. Ensemble Pamplemousse will be in the LPR Main Room presenting a number of works by diverse composers such as Natacha Diels, Rama Gottfried, Andrew Greenwald and David Broome.

And closing the Festival will be Argento Chamber Ensemble (NY) and L’Arsenale Ensemble from Italy. They will be performing together works from L’Arsenale Director Filippo Perocco, Michelle Lou, Alexander Sigman, Nicola Buso, Lorenzo Tomio and Stefano Trevisi as well as several others.

We feel very lucky to be able to have a private peak at the rehearsal process for this amazing festival. Judging from the sounds already coming from the studio, it’s going to be an exciting one.

For more information please visit www.matafestival.org

Rudy Music Store

2010-04-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Next door to us is a very famous music store. If you run out of the office for a cup of coffee you have a pretty good chance of running into a famous musician looking to pick up a new piece of equipment at Rudy’s Music store. Customers include John Mayer and Mic Jagger. Rudy Pensa has been providing excellent quality and service since to musicians in NYC since1978.

With Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame, Rudy is the creator of the Pensa Line of Guitars including the iconic Pensa “MK” which is played by professionals including Lou Reed, Eric Clapton and of course, Mark Knopfler.

Originally based on 48th street, Rudy moved to his new Soho location a few months ago and has created a beautiful “guitar gallery.” The 2,400-square-foot tri-level space— more musical shrine than guitar shop—contains over 100 vintage hand-built acoustic and electric models.

Although the store stocks many beautiful and expensive pieces the employees are welcoming and friendly to all patrons. Whether you are a professional, or just starting out, make sure to stop by Rudy’s Music on Broome Street in NYC.

www.rudysmusic.com
461 Broome Street
(212) 625-2557

March Updates

2010-04-02T17:01:00.001-07:00

We have some great news! Our former Managing Director Ben Kopit has been accepted into UCLA for graduate work! We are so proud of you Ben.

We have been quite busy here at Ardea Arts/ Family Opera Initiative. Last Monday we saw Attila at The Metropolitan Opera. The vocalists were excellent and the set design was very modern. On Wednesday night we attended the Making Connections Event at Opera America and learned all about fiscal sponsorship. (see blog below)

We also have quite a few conferences coming up. In May we will be attending New Visions, New Voices at the Kennedy Center followed by a stint down to Fort Worth Opera to see the opera “Before Night Falls” by Jorge Martin. Mr. Martin will be our guest artist at Ardea Arts Salon Series; Wednesdays at Seven on April 28th. Hope you can attend.

This summer Animal Tales has been chosen to be part of the New Works Sampler at the Opera America conference in Los Angeles. We are very honored to be accepted into this sampler and excited to see parts of The Ring Cycle and Long Beach Opera’s Production of Orpheus and Euridice which has been staged in a pool!

On the way back from LA we will be stopping in to see The Golden Ticket in St. Louis. So nice to see some family opera getting exciting press! AND of course we are busy here at home getting ready for our new touring opera production A Cat’s Tale as well as prepping for the Southampton Benefit, breaking in some new interns and planning the Lower East Side Opera and BBQ.

Whew! Gotta get back to work!

Making Connections Series at Opera America

2010-03-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Fundraising for the Artist
Opera America
March 24th

Panelists-
Anne- Opera On Tap (OOT)
Dianne- Fractured Atlas
Eve- Eggtop (Opera Singer)
Beryl- Organizational Consultant

This informative selection from the Making Connections Professional Development Series was focused on fundraising through fiscal sponsorship. Fiscal sponsorship is when a 501c3 company umbrellas individuals or projects in order to provide their donors with tax-exempt status. Fiscal Sponsorship is aimed at projects that produce non-commercial art.

Though this discussion we learned strategies to use when approaching potential donors. Fundraising is all about relationships and nurturing those connections. However the artist also needs to approach donors with a structured plan. They need to know how much they need, how much they already have raised and how it will be used. This information needs to be imparted to the potential donor in a way that allows them to have direct impact. They can see exactly where their donation is going and what it will purchase for the artist.

Potential phrasing includes- “I’m doing ____ and I was you to participate in my success by _____.” And “I’m interested in giving you and opportunity to be part of my success by_____.”

Over 31% of income for arts organizations in the United States is from Individual Giving. Americans enjoy giving to the arts. Most people are frustrated artists. If they can feel as if they are contributing to your artistic success they are interested in giving.

But how do you find these potential donors? Most donors come from your community of friends and family and then secondly through other artists. Create a focused short conversation about your goal and be prepared to work it into conversations when meeting potential donors. Many artists begin with their hometown community and work outwards. Laypeople do not know how much money it takes to hone your craft. Vocal lessons, research, travel, auditions, clothing- make sure they understand the cost and how their donations can help.

After you have a community of donors make sure to keep them updated. Perhaps you create a quarterly newsletter outlining what you have accomplished, phone calls or emails to your larger donors when you face successes. Even if their money didn’t directly go to that event make sure to include them in the celebration. Do not just contact them when you want something.

Finally, make sure to be diversified. Try not to tap the same donors over and over. Get out there and meet people. Again remember that Americans enjoy giving to the arts. If you think of it as begging you will not be successful. They aren’t paying for your groceries or your rent, they are paying to support your art.

Webpages/ Companies for more ideas/information-

FracturedAtlas.org – promotes fiscal sponsorship and has tools and information for artists

The Foundation Center – collection of artist grants. Free to browse in person in NYC, $20 a month to browse online.

Guidestar.org – Guidestar has listings of all non-profit groups donors and where the money is coming from.

New Beginnings...

2010-03-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

As we open our eyes to the warm summer sun, here at Ardea Arts we also open our eyes to some new beginnings…

July 1^st marks the start of our new fiscal year. And do you know what? We already have an amazing head start! Thank you so much for managing to squeeze us into your budgets. We greatly appreciate the donations that we have, already, received!
This summer also brings back some old traditions. We will, hopefully, be hosting our annual Opera BBQ, within the next few months. More details to come!
Sadly, our new beginnings don’t include two old friends. Our current Managing Director, Shelley Laabs Weber, and our Intern, Danielle Cammarata will soon be moving on. Shelley will continue her Management career in a different city with her new husband. And Danielle will just be beginning her Management career, here in NYC.
On a more hopeful note, FOI now has an internship opening! We look forward to finding a new artist to join our family.
And perhaps the most exciting news – Family Opera Initiative has been chosen for the Opera America Sampler! In June, we will introduce LA to our very own Animal Tales. Wish us luck on this new adventure!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter… http://twitter.com/FamilyOpera

Fundraising Time !

2010-03-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend and Supporter,

A major deadline is approaching for Ardea Arts/Family Opera Initiative: June 30, the end of our fiscal year.

Even with all of our nation’s financial insecurities the past year has been a remarkable season artistically for Ardea Arts/Family Opera Initiative, both in how much we’ve achieved and in how far we’ve managed to stretch our resources. We want you to know how grateful we are for your support this past year, and hope that you will continue to support us and the work we do - work that enchants, challenges, inspires, makes us laugh, makes us cry, and reaches deep into our souls.

I want to share with you our accomplishments this year:

• We completed our largest commission to date, Animal Tales, with a whimsical libretto by George Plimpton and a joyful score by the wonderful Kitty Brazelton. Since our concert performances in Fall 2008, we've been sharing recordings with opera and performing arts centers across the Americas and abroad. We have a number of theatres interested in presenting and as soon as we have plans for the premiere, you will be the first to know!

• The summer of 2009 saw FOI premiering composer Glen Roven’s Goodnight Moon & Plums- five songs for kids at our annual concert series in Southampton, NY as well as our annual free concert at Southampton Fresh Air Home, a camp for severely physically handicapped middle and high school children.

• A Cat’s Tale, was just commissioned by Ms. Jane A Gross and will be premiering within the next year or so! It is the final tale of George Plimpton’s Animal Tales conceived as a stand-alone opera for young audiences and we are hopeful that it will soon be touring to a school near you. A Cat’s Tale will workshop this summer in Southampton, NY. We are very excited about this opportunity to reach younger audiences and to complete the eighth tale!

• We have updated our website and are now firmly enconsed in Social Media. Please follow us on twitter at ArdeaArts and FamilyOpera, become our fan on Facebook, visit our Myspace page for music and video samples, and read our Blogs at ArdeaArts.blogspot.com and FamilyOpera.blogspot.com. This is just the beginning of our efforts to connect with you more personally and bring you into the development process.

• We continue with the genesis of new projects, including our newest work
The Three Astronauts, an international collaboration based on the classic picture book by Umberto Eco and Eugenio Carmi. This project has received a challenge grant of $50,000 from the Jaffe Family Foundation that needs to be matched 1:1. The matching campaign was kicked off with a $5000 gift from the AKC foundation and another gift from an anonymous donor. We are now asking you, our loyal supporters, to become a commissioner and join our international journey of discovery! This exciting new work opens in Vienna in 2012.

• We have also instituted salons with Ardea Arts Open House Series. The first in November, celebrated National Opera Week with Making Opera: Animal Tales. Our second salon on Feb 24th with Guest Artist Roy Eaton, paid homage to Scott Joplin, who was one of the first composers to believe in an indigenous American opera. The third event in the series will be held in late April and we hope to see you there!

Though times are tough, we do not believe we can slow down in the creation of new opera and music theater works. New work is the very heartbeat of every art form, an imperative, especially in difficult times. We continue to commission composers, writers and performers alike. We involve the community, especially youth, in the process and performance of our work. With your support, next year promises to be especially exciting as we begin to tour our work.

So, please, if you have the ability and the desire to foster new work and reach out to new audiences both young and old, we ask that you help at this precious moment. Let's make sure that we finish this fiscal year poised to capitalize on all our artistic progress, and usher in a wonderful new season. We need your help.

Sincerely yours,
All of us here at Ardea Arts Inc./ Family Opera Initiative

Updates! Franco Colavecchia

2010-03-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

The scene designer for "Animal Tales", Franco Colavecchia will be honored at New World Stages on Monday for Artistic Achievement in Scene Design. Mr. Colavecchia has designed more than 100 opera productions for companies including New York City Opera, Lyric Opera, Chicago, Houston Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Music Academy at Lobreo, Monte Carlo Opera House,Julliard and many more. He has also designed productions on and off Broadway and in the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland. He was honored by the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences for "La Boheme, Great Performances. "Mr. Colavecchia teaches at North Carolina School of the Arts. Congratulations to Franco Colavecchia!

Our intern, Danielle Cammarata attends North Carolina School of the Arts and has been lucky enough to interact with Mr. Colavecchia. She will be passing him on the road as he comes to NYC for the awards ceremony and she goes back to school to participate in a job fair. Danielle hopes to find a position in Stage Management for Dance. We wish her luck this weekend!

Open House with Roy Eaton

2010-02-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday Feb 24th we had a very special guest artist visit the studio. His name is Roy Eaton and he is a pianist who specializes in the works of Chopin and Scott Joplin. He was gracious enough to share some of his expertise with a group of Ardea Arts/ Family Opera Initiative Patrons. The music was wonderful, the conversation intriguing and all in all we had a wonderful time.

Pianist Roy Eaton

For more information on Roy Eaton you can check out his webpage at www.royeaton.com or take a look at the article by David Gonzales that appaeared in the NYTimes edition on Jan 23rd, 2010 entitled "In Sugar Hill, a Street Nurtured Black Talent When the World Wouldn't." His amazing music is for sale at www.CDBaby.com/all/royeaton

Artistic Director Grethe B Holby and Roy Eaton

If you missed this Open House, please join us at our next one scheuled for April 2010. To keep informed watch this blog, check out our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @familyopera. Or you can send an email to info@familyoperainitiative.org to be added to the Event Mailing List.

See you next time!

Open House- Roy Eaton

2010-02-17T12:25:00.001-08:00

If you read the NYTimes article about Roy Eaton on Saturday, January 21, "In Sugar Hill, a Community That Nurtured Black Talent When the World Wouldn’t" by David Gonzalez, you're probably just as fascinated to meet him and hear him perform as we are. On Wednesday, February 24th from 6-8 pm, FOI/ Ardea Arts is creating that opportunity. Roy has consented to be our guest at our Open House at the Family Opera Initiative Offices. He will share his passion for Chopin and Joplin with particular emphasis on Scott Joplin's New York experiences.

Roy Eaton first performed in Carnegie Hall on Thursday, June 17,1937 as a Gold Medalist in a competition sponsored by the Music Education League of New York. Winner of the first Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award in June 1950, he made his American debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Chopin's F minor Concerto under George Schick in 1951. He was re-engaged to perform Beethoven's 4th concerto, and also made his New York Town Hall debut in 1952. His career was "temporarily" interrupted by two years in the U.S.Army, then approximately thirty years in advertising at Young & Rubicam, Benton & Bowles, and Roy Eaton Music. Roy Eaton’s life story is one of spiritual and creative triumph - overcoming significant difficulties and adversity. One of his missions has been to restore Scott Joplin's works to the domain that it was Joplin's intention that they live--as classical works in the tradition of the great European masters. He is on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and performs in concert throughout the world. December 9,2002 marked his return to Carnegie Hall as soloist with the N. Y. Pops Orchestra led by Skitch Henderson. His current featured recordings are Joplin: Piano Rags, Sony; The Complete Preludes Of Chopin, Gershwin, Still, Summit Records, Keyboard Classics For Children, Summit Records, and The Meditative Chopin, Rhahm Records. Olivier Dahan, the Academy Award winning director of "La Vie en Rose" has selected three preludes from the 24/7+7 album as background music for his upcoming film "My Own Love Son" starring Renee Zelwegger and Forest Whitaker.

FOI/ Ardea Arts Inc.
463 Broome Street New York, NY 10013

A few exciting updates!

2010-02-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

First of all-

A Cat's Tale, one of the stories from Animal Tales has been commissioned by Jane A Gross for production in the near future! We are very excited that one of George Plimpton's tales will be turned into an hour long production for young audiences. A Cat's Tale will follow the story of Cat who is so proud that her name only has 3 letters. When the other animals point out that Rat and Pig and Dog also only have 3 letters, Cat is crushed. The Vet sends Cat out on a learning adventure to the public library where she discovers all the words that couldn't exist without C-A-T. We are hoping to premiere A Cat's Tale soon so stay tuned!

And in an intern update - former intern Kristin Rosenfeld is now the Music Director for the tour of Spring Awakening. We are so proud of you Kristin!

Follow us on twitter @familyopera and make sure to set aside Feb 24th to attend our Open House with Roy Eaton from 6-8 at the Studio.

IPAY 2010

2010-02-05T11:37:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago we attended the IPAY 2010 Conference. We met a lot of great people, saw some wonderful theatre, and enjoyed an exciting week in Pittsburgh.

Our hotel was located in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Golden Triangle. So in addition to a great view, we were able to explore Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. IPAY kept you going from Sunrise until Twilight, participating in classes and viewing showcases in at least eight different venues; from movie theatres, to proscenium stages, to the brand new August Wilson Convention Center. It was quite an adventure!

The last day of the conference was undoubtedly the best. It was finally our chance to participate in the Sunrise Spotlight Showcase. Our presentation featured Animal Tale’s set & costume renderings, video clips, workshop photos, and two arias, performed by our very own Jendi Tarde and Ryan Naimy. Needless to say, we were a hit!

IPAY 2010 was quite an experience and undoubtedly one that we will never forget!

Win Tickets to In the Heights!

2009-11-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

On Monday we launched our new Open House series! A huge thank you to everyone who came to kick it off. It was a magical evening of music, wine, conversation - and a raffle!

We'd still like to give you the chance to win two house seats to Tony Award winner In the Heights, in addition to the original cast album, poster, and full color program.

The drawing will take place on December 10th. Here's how to take part:

a $10 donation gets you one entry
an $85 donation gets you ten entries
a $150 donation gets you twenty entries

Make a donation now in support of Ardea Arts and the work we do! We're counting on you!

Send a check or money order to our offices at 463 Broome St, New York, NY 10013
Call us to donate by credit card at 212.431.7039
Use PayPal to donate from your bank account or credit card (email is ray@familyoperainitiative.org)

Remember: the more entries, the better your chances! Every donation is tax-exempt and goes directly towards supporting the Family Opera Initiative and Ardea Arts, ensuring that we can continue to bring you inspiring, quality operas for the modern day. We'd like to gratefully acknowledge our donor and Ardea consultant, Kim Vasquez, at Usnavi Broadway Limited Partnership.

Thank you, as always, for all your support! We hope to see you at our next open house! Details to come.

2009-11-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Family Opera Initiative/Ardea Arts

Announces the premiere event in its

Open House Series

"Making Opera: Animal Tales"

What does it take to make an opera? Come meet the creative team, performers who originated and helped shape their roles, designers, musicians and other collaborators and team members, participating in the open house discussion and presentation. Conceptual renderings and puppetry will be on display. Music and video clips will be performed and presented. Time to visit and speak with the artists in the Ardea Arts Studio, followed by reception.

Free to the public during National Opera Week. $10 donation requested.

music: Kitty Brazelton

book & lyrics: George Plimpton

dramaturgy & direction: Grethe B Holby

Monday November 16th, 5-7 pm
Location: Ardea Arts Studio
463 Broome St., New York, NY between Greene & Mercer Streets

Reservations suggested. Limited Capacity. RSVP@ardeaarts.com or call 212.431.7039. A $10 donation per person is requested, which earns a raffle ticket to win two tickets to the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, In the Heights. Courtesy of Grey Lady Entertainment, Inc.

Under the Goodnight Moon

2009-08-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Did you guys know that August 6 happened to be a full moon? We certainly didn't when we planned our event but I have to say, we took it as a great sign when we found out! Good omen or not, the Goodnight Moon pre-premiere was an incredible success! Here's the story (from my limited perspective):

Wednesday morning found Grethe, Allie and I driving out to the Hamptons with a car packed to bursting point with music stands, photos, postcards, music, luggage and generally everything you'd need to put on a spectacle like this. After a lovely drive and a quick period of settling in, I got to go pick up Charlotte Cohn (our lovely soprano) and Glen Roven (the composer). I have to admit, I was mildly terrified to meet these people. Charlotte has starred on Broadway and Glen is such an accomplished composer that I really didn't think I would be able to say anything for fear of making a complete dolt out of myself. Luckily, both our stars happen to be two of the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting. I took this another great sign.

That night was the Southampton Fresh Air Home performance, which, if I'm honest, may have been my favorite part of the weekend. The kids at the camp were so happy to see us; while Allie and I set up the equipment, a few of them pretended to be opera singers and belted out a few notes. Glen presented a great introduction to the piece; he explained the different themes in the music that the kids could listen for, letting them guess what different sounds represented. I loved this part because not only did the kids at the camp get a private talk from the composer of a specific piece, they got a quick introduction to composition from a famous composer! I have to say, though, I think they were most impressed when they heard Glen had worked with Michael Jackson. Of course the performance itself was wonderful, and Charlotte sang beautifully! After the performance itself, Allie and I served up the ice cream: mint chocolate chip and oreo from Sip N Soda of which we had the perfect amount for all the kids and counselors, thank goodness! (Definitely check out Sip N Soda if you're in Southampton. All of their stuff is so tasty!)

After the performance we all headed back to Grethe's house and ate dinner on the deck which was perfectly relaxing after the day. After dinner, though, Allie and I went back to work-mode and baked cookies for the next day's performance. We had thought about just buying cookies from the grocery store, but we wanted the event to be extra special and homemade cookies (from scratch mind you!) seemed like the perfect way to go. Fast forward to 1:30 in the morning and Allie and I finally went to bed smelling like chocolate, happy and exhausted.

The next morning was far more relaxed than I had expected. Grethe had a wonderful breakfast all prepared and and we went over to the Southampton Historical Society around 1:30 to set up everything. Of course, from there we switched into full-on work mode!

At least 120 people showed up (which is more than even we had hoped). People were so excited to see such a beloved children's book come to life that we actually had to offer standing-room only, and a few people even watched from outside on the lawn! As Glen put it, we were packed to the gills. Luckily we had plenty of lemonade and cookies to go around and more than enough ice cream. I think the best part of that day was seeing kids of all ages literally run for the ice cream table and then stay to play on the lawn of the museum. Honestly, I think everyone really enjoyed themselves: adults loved it because the piece is sophisticated and complicated enough to be a musical challenge to anyone, kids loved it because the music interprets one of their favorite books (and they got a free sugar rush). Clean up time came eventually and, flush with our success we hurried back to Grethe's house for a champagne toast, dinner on the deck, and general merry-making.

At this point we have to give a huge thank you to our dedicated committee who sent out invitations and made sure that everything went as smoothly as possible: Victoria Bond, Jane Comfort, Nick Hartman, Pam Michaelcheck, Katie Shah, Julia Carter, and Ray Wetmore (who also produced the whole thing!). Another thank you to Bookhampton and Stevenson's Toys, both of which were so excited for the project they put up some beautiful window displays for us. Stevenson's even gave us toys to sell at the event. Without their help our event would not have been nearly as successful! If you're in Southampton, both of these places are excellent to visit. Thank you too to Ansel Elgort who took all the pictures you're about to see and to his lovely girlfriend, Brittany, who served lemonade and helped us scoop ice cream.

All in all, quite a successful weekend.

Here are some of the pictures from the event, but we have loads more! You can see them on facebook!

Grethe and Charlotte

Glen addressing his many fans

Hi Charlotte!

Charlotte Cohn, Ray, Julia Carter, Glen Roven, and Grethe

Bowls of Mush (aka ice cream!)

Relaxing at Grethe's

Allie, Charlotte, Grethe, Glen, me (Kate), Ray, Eileen

The Blend

2009-07-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

We just thought we'd mention a great event that happens once a month at Le Poisson Rouge called The Blend. It's a gathering of young professionals in creative fields who get together to chat, see some great art and listen to music. A wonderful networking opportunity and a good time all in one. Ben went to the last one and had a great time, but here's a quick review anyway (make sure to scroll to the bottom of the photos!).

Hope to see you there!
Kate

P.S.
You didn't think I'd write a post without plugging our awesome event, did you? Come to Southampton for our Opera and Ice cream party! Remember, August 6th at the Southampton Historical Society. Call us (212) 431-7039 for tickets or stop by 17 Meeting House Lane (the Historical Society) around 3pm (1 hour before the event) for tickets. Seating is limited!

More Southampton Developments!

2009-07-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,
Just a quick update to give you links to our press coverage so far! Lauren Fedor at the Southampton Press wrote a lovely article which is online now: Click here for the story!

We also have a great article on BroadwayWorld.com which you can see here.

Isn't it all fantastic? People (other than all of us working tirelessly for it) love the idea of this project as much as we do! It's so exciting to see everything coming together; we don't even mind the overtime!

Hope to see you there!

Kate

Celebrate the Hudson's Quadricentennial!

2009-07-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

We at the office have been working on a project to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's original exploration of the Hudson River (happy birthday, New York!). Unfortunately, our plans had to be placed on temporarily on hold due to the passing of Frank McCourt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angela's Ashes. If you haven't read this book I highly recommend it. It's beautifully written and a pleasure to read.

Just because we have to take a break from doing anything formal does not mean we're not celebrating, and we encourage all of you to celebrate with us! After all, it's not everyday we get to celebrate a 400th anniversary! A replica of Henry Hudson's ship, The Half Moon, is sailing up and down the Hudson river in honor of the occasion; the ship is actually a traveling museum, so be sure to check it out and go inside! You can see the schedule here. We also want to say a huge thank you to one of our partners, the Hudson Opera House for their support of the project. It's the oldest theater in New York, how cool is that?! Here are some great pictures that Grethe took just a few days ago.
This is the inside of the theater itself. There are windows around the stagehouse! Cool, right?

This one happens to be my favorite. These are a few of the original seats; aren't they just beautiful? I love the metal work at the top; it looks like lace.

Our executive artistic director, Grethe Holby, is currently traveling to different opera houses around the country to talk to other people in opera about new and exciting programming. She's been to Seagle County and Glimmerglass, NY, Santa Fe, and is currently in Chautauqua. We're all looking forward to having her back in the office with us on Wednesday. Hope you enjoyed her photos!

Now, go celebrate the quadricentennial! If you do anything fun, take pictures and send them in; we'd love to see them!

Have fun!
Kate

Congratulations, Jenny Lin!!

2009-07-23T10:21:00.001-07:00

Animal Tales Composer, Kitty Brazelton (left) and Jenny Lin (right) working on Family Opera Initiative's Animal Tales

Hello, hello! Allie McDonough (super-intern!) writing from Ardea Arts!

We would like to congratulate Jenny Lin, our pianist extrodinaire for Animal Tales on her fantastic performance at Le Poisson Rouge this past Monday! Ms. Lin's concert has earned a rave review in the NY times, who call her performance "beautifully attentive to the Neo-Classical formalities and elegance of the Shostakovich works, while bringing out the modernist twists and harmonic pungencies."

The concert also helped to promote Ms.

Lin's fabulous new two-disk recording released on July 14th: Dmitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87. You can order the CD on Amazon.com as well as Ms. Lin's other albums.

We encourage you to take a listen at her website: http://www.jennylin.net/

or! you can watch this video from her youtube channel:

The staff here is so honored to have worked with such a talented musician.

In other news!

It's full steam ahead towards our event in Southampton! It's only 2 weeks away, can you believe that?! I know, I can't either.

REMEMBER to donate for your tickets online!

What's that? You forgot the details of our event?! Ok, well here's the e-vite!

Please join us for Lemonade and Cookies at 4:00, performance at 4:15, and ice cream at 5:00! It'll be a fantastic time.

Bonsoir La Lune!

2009-07-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Apparently, Eileen's sister once translated Good Night Moon into French for a high school class. She would repeat 'Bonsoir la Lune!' (which means Good Night Moon!) over and over in a sing-song voice, and now Eileen has the habit. At this point my day is incomplete if I go home without hearing that phrase. As you can probably gather from that little anecdote, we're hard at work planning our upcoming benefit in Southampton (as a reminder, it's on August 6th from 4-6 at the Southampton Historical Society for a map/directions click here).

We promised you more details about our upcoming benefit in Southampton and here they are:

This is the lovely e-vite created by our very own Ali McDonough, and it has all the info you need! In its original state, the e-vite has a pay pal button to can click in order to buy tickets. Luckily, we can still offer the same convenience, just without the cool button. Clicking here will take you to our FOI site. Just click 'Support Us' and then the Pay Pal button. Remember to write how many tickets you're getting in the 'purpose' field. Why would I buy my tickets now? you may be saying to yourself. Here's why: you'll have a reserved seat, and since we're hoping to have as many people there as possible, a little planning ahead might make the concert that much more relaxing. In addition, your check-in to the event will be much shorter, none of that pesky dealing with money at the site itself. Now, if you're wondering whether or not you should even come to the event allow me to suggest that you think about these simple facts: 1. We'll have cookies and lemonade 2. Good Night Moon and PLUMS by Glen Roven (Glen himself is playing the piano!) 3. Broadway star extraordinaire Charlotte Cohn singing 4. Ice cream! Does a day get better? Plus, you already know how great our parties are; with so many amazing things happening, the question is really, why wouldn't you go? Now that I've thoroughly convinced you...see you there!
Kate

Good Night Moon

2009-07-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ah, summer. Long lazy days with chilly ice cream, tart lemonade and... opera? Yes, that's right, mark your calendars; it's time for another party! No, not an opera-barbecue bash (or even a black-tie water fight as was suggested) but something a bit more family friendly. This time it's Opera and Ice Cream in the Hamptons. Every year we throw a benefit performance in Southampton that the whole family can enjoy. This year we are so excited to be able to present an exclusive pre-premiere of four-time Emmy Award winner Glen Roven's new musical rendition of Margaret Wise Brown's Good Night Moon as well as a performance of Roven's PLUMS, Five Songs for Kids, which are based on 5 kid-friendly poems by poets William Carlos Williams, Christopher Logue, and Walt Whitman.

Good Night Moon, which Roven describes as a "lullaby," will have its official orchestral premiere in May of next year at Carnegie Hall with the Buffalo Philharmonic. Our slightly more intimate performance will be with piano accompaniment with Glen Roven himself at the keys. Singing for us is the lovely Charlotte Cohn, who starred on Broadway in La Boheme under the direction of the celebrated Baz Luhermann (you may have heard of his films? Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and Australia are the ones that jump to mind). Charlotte has a lovely voice and an impressive resume you can check out here. Cookies and lemonade, followed by the concert itself, and the ice cream finale, make this an event for the young, medium young and young at heart (which means the whole family, kids or no kids!).

The event will be on Thursday, August 6 at the Rogers Mansion Music Room, Southampton Historical Society from 4-6 P.M. For a map and directions click here. If you're already in the Hamptons, great! If not, isn't this a lovely excuse for a mini-vacation? Admission will be by donation with the minimum recommended donation being $20 for adults, $12 for children 3-10 years old and $15 for students, youth and seniors.

On a personal note, I cannot say how excited we are here in the office. Glen Roven is a such a fantastic composer, Charlotte Cohn has the perfect soprano voice for a project like this, and Good Night Moon is just about everyone's favorite book at some point in their lives, and let's be frank, do you ever really outgrow Good Night Moon? (I haven't.) I cannot wait to see the whole project come to fruition and, of course, we'll keep you posted every step of the way! If you are interested in the project and would like to help us out, we would love to have you on our committee! Let us know by sending us an email at info@ardeaarts.com or just let us know in the comments.

Hope to see you all there!!
Kate

Party Time!

2009-06-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
As you all know, we've been working hard for a while now on our opera and barbecue party: we've blogged, tweeted, emailed, and generally PR'd our hearts out. Well, the day finally came, and it can only be called a roaring success!

Our wonderful DJ Scott Neagle, aka The Mangoose, spun some great music while people enjoyed the delicious food and hung out on the "beach" outside. Speaking of the beach, we could not have been luckier with the weather. After what seemed like weeks of monsoon-like rain, mother nature decided to play nice and gave us a few dry hours. Once most of the guests had arrived, the performance began: Jendi Tarde, Hallie Silverston and Garrett Taylor all sang beautifully and our wonderful accompanist Rick-Hip Flores was brilliant- thank God we were able to find a last minute piano tuner

We also had a lot of fun with our silent auction and raffle: up for grabs were photographs by Arthur Elgort that I can not even begin to describe, so take please just take my word for it, they're gorgeous. We also had designer Josanna Blue's "East Village Opera Gloves" (which are long gloves with no fingers. I like to picture the Artful Dodger at the opera when I see them), and a three course dinner for two donated by Dynamic Cuisine as well as a beautiful charcoal piece by Safa's fiance, Renee Farkas. Grethe also generously auctioned her time-share in Snowbird Cliff Lodge in Utah. Up for raffle were two theater tickets to The Retributionists thanks to Playwrights Horizons, and four collections of works from the New York Tyrant from GianCarlo.

Huge thank yous to our committee members: GianCarlo DiTrapano, Sophie Elgort (who gets major props for the beautiful invitations), Zoe Feigenbaum, Ben Kopit, Eileen Meny, Amber Mills, Don Peavy, Safa Samiezade'-Yard, Ray Wetmore and Peter Wolfgang. Without your help we could not have pulled this off! We also need to thank our two wonderful grill masters, Warren and Ansel Elgort, and Zoe who took over the grill for the second half of the night and cooked everything to perfection; I definitely saw people go back for thirds! (Ansel also acted as entertainment during and after the party with his antics.) We also had some great volunteers, Emily Bennett and Devin Perera, both of whom made the party much more fun and made everything from the check-in table to clean up far easier. Thanks to everyone who helped!

And now for your viewing pleasure, some fun pics of the night:
We'll have more photos soon; Ben's friend, Nicole Concepcion photographed the whole thing, so once we get the images we'll share them with you.

If you were able to come to the party, we hope you had a good time

Thanks everyone for coming, we hope you had as much fun as we did! High fives all round:

...great photo, thanks Nicole!!

Happy Birthday Ben!

2009-06-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We had some fun here at the office and thought we'd let you know. Our wonderful managing director, Ben Koppit, had his birthday last Saturday. At this point I feel I should tell you that because of our amazing party coming up on the 23rd (get your tickets here!) he planned on postponing his celebration until next month. His friends felt otherwise and did a great job of surprising him (twice!) at dinner and at a bar afterwards, which by all accounts was lots of fun.

We here at the office also tried to throw a surprise party yesterday which we thought worked beautifully. Unfortunately, I found out today that Ben wasn't surprised in the least. Maybe after two successes, nothing birthday-related can surprise you for a year? Hypotheses anyone? (It could also be that we just were not quite as subtle as we thought.) Anyway, Grethe bought a beautiful cake and a great bottle of wine, I snuck out to grab some candles, and we had a lovely little party in our rehearsal studio. Being one of the newbies, it was nice to get to know a few things about the people I spend my day with. For example, did you know that Grethe can write perfectly in different fonts? Well, that's all for now! Here's a pic of the party for you to enjoy.

Eileen, Ben and Grethe (I'm behind the camera)

Hope everyone is having a lovely day!

Kate

P.S.

Yes, we got bubbles as party favors, how cool is that?!

Explode All Expectations!

2009-06-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to our new blog where we will be posting info about our upcoming events and commissions, as well as tidbits we think you, our loyal supporters, will enjoy. All of us (Grethe, Ben, Eileen, Allie and I) will be posting periodically, so be sure to check back often!

Today we were lucky enough to chat with Juliette Powell, author of The 33 Million People in the Room, about using the plethora of social media available to connect with all of you more personally and effectively. We were so excited to get started and you can see the results! In addition to this blog, there's another one for Family Opera Initiative (familyoperainitiative.blogspot.com) as well as Twitter accounts for both Ardea (twitter.com/ArdeaArts) and Family Opera Initiative (twitter.com/FamilyOpera) where we will be making mini-updates. You can also become our fan on Facebook and friend us on MySpace, where you'll find music and video. Finally, we have a completely new Ardea Arts website which will be live soon. There, you'll find everything you want to know about our commissions, past, present and those in development. We hope you will enjoy our technological overhaul as much as we do!

Me, Ben, Juliette Powell, Grethe and Eileen after our chat

(Credit goes to Allie for the great photo!)

Anyway, hopefully you've all heard about our BBQ and opera party happening June 23 on the Lower East Side, if not, we're telling you about it now! Come and have fun with us at The Suffolk (107 Suffolk Street between Rivington and Delancey). Ben, Allie and I went today to check out the space, and it looks incredible! There's a faded grandeur about the place (old chandeliers and curtains!) that gives it the perfect vibe for an opera BBQ, and there's even a beach in the back! It's going to be a lot of fun. If any of you want to help us out, we could really use a videographer and an extra BBQ chef! Let us know if you're interested in the comments! One more thing, if you do come to the party (and you should!) we would love it if you took pictures and videos and sent them to us! You'll see it on the blog(s), Facebook, and YouTube. We'll have an evite page soon where you can get tickets. In the meantime, here's the Facebook events page with all the info:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109016673139&ref=ts

Major credit to our resident photoshop genius, Allie, who designed the amazing poster!

Hope to see you all there!

At this point we would like to issue a huge thank you to Cole Wassner and Ryan Reich who worked tirelessly to create our Facebook, Myspace, and FOI website. Without their work last year we would be in no position to blog, much less tweet! Thanks guys!

Thats all for now! Hope to hear from you all soon, and remember to check back regularly!

Kate