FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 2023
Press Contact: press@operaontap.com

New York, NY— Opera on Tap is excited to announce their formal partnership with Adrienne Danrich’s Music as the Message™, offering interactive, hybrid performances. Music as the Message (MaM) was created in 2020 by Emmy Award-winning soprano Adrienne Danrich, in response to the need for communal sharing and healing, despite our physical isolation, during the height of the pandemic, and in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. MaM’s mission is to create shared musical experiences, celebrating the unifying power of music to inspire healing, joy, laughter, love and most importantly, community. Adrienne serves as host, inviting guest artists from a wide range of backgrounds, genres, and experiences to offer performances of songs, dance, and spoken word. Within the provided safe space, attendees are encouraged to choose their level of participation — whether quietly enjoying, or lifting their voices in tandem with the performers. Each episode also sees the premiere of newly commissioned works, as well as partnerships with charity organizations, sharing in the musical offerings and proceeds.

MaM was previously produced and presented by The American Opera Project (AOP) and Opera on Tap, in association with Broadway Presbyterian Church. AOP will continue to be involved on a per episode basis, while Opera on Tap will take over as lead producer and presenter. Adrienne states, “During the isolation of the pandemic, I, like many others, found myself in the darkest headspace that I had ever experienced. My joy of being physically surrounded by the people I love had been torn away. And then came the murder of George Floyd. I had never been struck so hard by a stranger’s death. I grieved for George like he was a part of my family, because, in his face I could see the reflection of the men in my own family. The only way that I was able to cope and heal was through music, and through an active practice of empathy and the discipline of gratitude. Music became my medicine, my comfort and my escape. Music as the Message began with my desire to pass on the healing medicine of music to others around the world, and create a safe space for all who attend to sing, dance, and be lifted up. I am ever grateful to my original producers The American Opera Project for believing in and supporting my vision, to Broadway Presbyterian Church for providing a platform for MaM to thrive, and to Opera on Tap for continuing to help MaM reach music lovers near and far.”

Executive & Artistic Director of Opera on Tap, Anne Hiatt states, “Adrienne and her team have developed a deeply moving and loving experience with Music as the Message.  To participate is to feel the warmth and connection alongside everyone there with you.  Over the course of the past two years, I have seen people of all ages visibly expand their chests, reach out to their fellow participants and share in the making of music together- a practice that has declined so much over the course of the last several decades in our culture. To participate in Music as the Message- whether as a contracted professional artist or audience member, is to heal through music and feel the strength of your community through music.  We all need to hear this Message!  It is an honor to support Adrienne’s work as Music as the Message enters into its next phase of development.  The program’s purpose perfectly aligns with Opera on Tap’s mission of engaging our communities through our artistic practice.   I look forward to supporting Adrienne’s work to expand the program’s impact to more and more communities, leveraging Opera on Tap’s unique, intimate and accessible approach to audience engagement.”

Beginning solely as an online experience, MaM has grown into a vibrant, interactive performance experience held live and simultaneously streamed via Zoom. The hybrid model fosters a greater global presence, reaching audience members from across the globe. Seeking to continue the expansion of its mission, MaM will soon announce new additions to its thriving programming offerings, including partnerships with Educational Institutions and Musical Retreats which focus on Music Making, Meditation, and Movement. 

MaM provides presenters with intimate and impactful opportunities to engage with their local communities and expand their audience base of all ages.  Opera on Tap is actively seeking co-producing and presenting partners to help further MaM’s mission and reach.  To explore partnership and to learn more, email Anne Hiatt at anne@operaontap.com.

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About Opera on Tap New York City

Opera on Tap (OOT) was born in 2005 at Freddy’s Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn and incorporated in 2007 to promote opera as a viable, living and progressive art form and to support the developing artists who continue to keep the art form alive. What began as a small monthly gathering of ambitious, classically trained singers looking for more performance opportunities, has grown into a producing organization that has gained a loyal audience base and national recognition as an innovative force on the classical music scene. Through its Chapter program, which now has over twenty vibrant national (and international!) chapters, OOT has created a large network of performers, creators, and supporters. Our mission is to expose new audiences to opera and classical music by taking opera and classical music out of the concert hall and performing it in alternative venues, to aid young performers in their development by giving them the opportunity to perform and to promote and support them through our organization and to help promote new classical works of contemporary classical and operatic composers. Learn more about our programs here: https://operaontap.org

About Adrienne Danrich’s Music as the Message:

Created and hosted by Emmy Award-winning soprano Adrienne Danrich, Music as the Message (MaM) is an interactive, hybrid performance experience held live at the beautiful Broadway Presbyterian Church in NYC and simultaneously streamed on Zoom. MaM celebrates the power of music to unify and to inspire healing, joy, laughter, love and most importantly, community. As Adrienne, guest artists, and commissioned composers lead a program of uplifting songs and spoken word, attendees are encouraged to join in and lift their voices, whether they are attending in person or on Zoom (on mute, of course). 

Meet the Team:

Adrienne Danrich, creator, host & executive producer
Meagan Brus, lead creative content producer
Joelle Lamarre, lead creative consultant
Anne Hiatt, Opera on Tap producer

Music as the Message is produced by Adrienne Danrich and Opera on Tap, in association with Broadway Presbyterian Church. Free to the public, goodwill offerings accepted. Learn more here: https://operaontap.org/music-as-the-message

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 2023
Press Contact: press@operaontap.com

Opera on Tap (OOT) is thrilled to announce a major grant from Infosys Foundation USA to fund an addition to the Playground Opera program, OPERA MAKER LAB: a space for our education team to work with Makers and STEM-based educators to introduce students to STEM/STEAM through imaginative, magical, and operatic ways.

Launching officially in January of 2024, OPERA MAKER LAB is a collaborative effort by OOT and its inaugural partners, Makey Makey/Joylabz (JL), and Professor Adam Maltese and the MILL Makerspace + Uplands Maker Mobile of Indiana University’s (IU) School of Education. Students will be encouraged to create their own music and invent their own instruments by using the JL team’s Makey Makey Music Education Activity Kits: a developed set of projects, activities, products, and free online apps that music educators around the country will find engaging and easy to implement. With Professor Adam Maltese’s team, OOT will collaborate with IU’s famed School of Education and other organizations to create a hands-on summer camp for ‘opera-maker’ learning, serving rural communities surrounding the University and leveraging OOT’s OperaCades as a tool for maker and theatrical production-learning.

Through our inaugural partnership with Chibitronics and Infosys Foundation USA, OOT has already begun to deepen its commitment to Computer Science and Maker learning by welcoming the Playground Opera program to 12 U.S. States and 400 Title 1 classrooms. OPERA MAKER LAB will benefit from the vast distribution network we have already put in place and are continuing to build to expand STEAM-based learning tools to classrooms across the country.

OOT is currently developing OPERA MAKER LAB collaborations with Elementari to allow students to create narrations for the opera films they help us produce, along with Deaf Kids Code, who will assist us in integrating curriculum resources (i.e. sign language, tools for rhythm via visual cues) and musical methods for non-hearing students.

ABOUT PLAYGROUND OPERA 

Playground Opera is a 2021 Infymaker Award-winning STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) interdisciplinary program that emphasizes music and media concepts with life and career skills. The cornerstone of this popular Opera on Tap program is the National Education Foundation’s “Four Cs”: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity–and prioritizes active learning in order to create a participatory, interactive experience for a broad and diverse student community. To create a more active student engagement beyond passive viewing of videos, we explore innovative approaches to real- time interaction between students and our teaching artists, and our episodic curriculum is thoughtfully designed to be accessible and relatable to the 21st century learner by immersing students in every aspect of the creation, production and performance of an opera. In upcoming productions we will be utilizing game engine design and using virtual world-building tools to further immerse our students into the art form. 

ABOUT INFOSYS FOUNDATION USA 

Infosys Foundation USA was established in 2015 with the mission of expanding computer science and maker education to K-12 students and teachers across the United States, with a specific focus on increasing access to underrepresented communities. The Foundation achieves impact through delivering professional development programs for teachers, partnering with leading nonprofits, and delivering innovative media campaigns that inspire everyone to be creators, not just consumers, of technology. To learn more visit: https://www.infosys.org/infosys-foundation-usa/about.html 

ABOUT MAKEY MAKEY/JOYLABZ

Makey Makey was originally conceived as an academic and artistic project initiated by two students at MIT Media Lab under the advisorship of Mitch Resnick. Now, it’s both a business and a project with thousands of community collaborators, with more joining the ranks of inventors everyday. The creators believe that everyone is creative, inventive, and imaginative, and that everyone can create the future and change the world. In fulfillment of this belief, they have dedicated their lives to making easy-to-use invention kits.

ABOUT PROFESSOR ADAM MALTESE

Professor Adam Maltese’s current research involves collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data regarding student experiences, performance and engagement in science education from elementary school through graduate school. He currently teaches courses in secondary science methods and graduate seminars at the School of Education around making and the development of interest in STEM education. In addition, he leads a seminar for doctoral students in STEM fields who plan to pursue academic careers and are interested in improving their teaching practices based on research.

ABOUT CHIBITRONICS 

Chibitronics blends circuit building and programming with arts and crafts. They make circuit stickers and other tools for educators, artists and crafters so everyone can create and design their own expressive electronics. Through Chibitronics’ community, tutorials and resources, educators can seamlessly integrate art, STEM, social studies, and language arts. Students can create interactive artwork, illuminate haikus, map the stars and the world around them, invent cardboard arcades and paper cities, and much more. To learn more visit: https://chibitronics.com/ 

ABOUT OPERA ON TAP 

Opera on Tap began as a small monthly gathering of ambitious, classically-trained singers looking for more performance opportunities. OOT has grown into a producing organization that has gained a loyal audience base and national recognition as an innovative force on the classical music scene. Through its Chapter program, which now has twenty-five vibrant national and international chapters, OOT has created the world’s largest network of operatic performers, creators, and supporters. Visit our chapter page to view our chapters. Along the way, Opera on Tap has developed the Immersive Opera Project, New Brew, and other programming that commissions living composers, and performs works of contemporary composers. Our flagship education program, Playground Opera, educates children in the world of opera, music and theatre across the globe. We are headquartered as a national organization in Brooklyn, NY and, in addition to supporting our chapters around the world, present locally produced programs intended to adhere to our mission of community engagement through opera. 

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For more information visit https://playground.operaontap.org 

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