New Venue: The Burren

Opera on Tap Comes to Somerville! April 2015

We are thrilled to announce our newest Venue: The Burren.  Deemed one of Boston “Top 10 Irish Bars,”  the local pub is named after the great rocky expanse in Ireland’s County Clare.  Open since January 1996, the Burren’s history reaches back farther than that. It is actually the realization of a dream shared by two young Irish musicians, Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello. Today people can gather to enjoy a drink, the warmth of good friends and the excitement of live entertainment. Check us out there every last Sunday of the month from 3-4:45pm in the backroom.
No cover!

images

 

Mozart Madness!

On Sunday March 22nd, 2015 OOT had a heart pounding and belly laughing round up of your favorite Mozart Melodies at Stellina Restaurant in Watertown.

The audience was thrilled with the feisty and sometimes boyish charms of mezzo, Christina English.
IMG_3093
While tenor, Christopher Smith serenaded the audience with the charming songs of love’s sweet breath and consolation.
IMG_3115
Valeksa Cambron portrayed the sweet maiden for the evening, singing Deh vieni, Bester Jüngling and Batti batti.
IMG_3127
Abigail Krawson, managing diva and soprano dazzled the audience with Blondchen’s fiery high E’s and Pamina’s sweet lament. She also proved to be a very coy, yet sexually charged Zerlina with baritone, Thaddeus Bell as her Don Giovanni.
IMG_3105
Thaddeus was the true star of the evening, with just 6 hours notice he stepped in to sing for another ailing baritone and wowed the crowd. His buffo in Se vuol ballare was equally matched to his seductive and slimy Don Giovanni.
IMG_3098
The ensemble was supported by the fabulous and talented, Sally VanderPloeg at the piano who found every nuance of Mozart’s playfulness and drama.
IMG_3152
All in all, a delightful evening, join us next time at Stellina on April 12th for Spring Awakening.
Photos by opera enthusiast: Sasha Sherman
5 reasons to go to the Opera… Tonight

1) You can afford it.

One of the biggest misconceptions most of us have about the opera is that it is expensive.  Honestly, elaborate productions with stunning sets, delicately crafted costumes, imaginative lighting, created by an all star team of creative individuals and performed by musicians who have dedicated their lives to producing the most beautiful sounds possible…  things can get quite pricy on the production end.  Fortunately as an audience member, you can see this all for the price of a couple of cocktails. Become a Boston Lyric Opera PRIMA member for free and get $35 tickets to any and all shows.  Too much for you?  Try one of their free outreach concerts.  Boston Opera CollaborativeOpera Hub, and Opera on Tap also regularly produce shows that are free and open to the public.

2) Support local artists.

That’s right, your ticket prices go to supporting jobs for Bostonians.  In addition to the orchestra and the singers onstage, there are stage managers, production managers, rigging, sound, lighting, costume, technical directors, and each of these departments have sub-categories.  Check out our recent blog post “we live among you.”

3) Unplug.

We all have heard the benefits of powering down for a short time every day, but it is becoming increasingly difficult.  Try turning off your phone for a few hours to tune into epic story lines and beautiful music.   Performing un-amplified, singers and instrumentalists are unplugged as well.

4) Eye Candy.

Think project runway meets Verdi.  As the curtain goes up the audience gasps and bursts into applause.  A team of costume and set designers has been working for months to craft a visual experience to match a sumptuous score. Richard Wagner often used the phrase Gesamtkunstwerk to describe Opera as a synthesis of the arts.

5) The Music

We at Opera on Tap like to call it “High Proof,” and nothing compares to the sound of  a full professional orchestra under the baton of a highly experienced, talented and hard working conductor.  Most of the time Opera on Tap brings the music to your local pub in a piano reduction, where the orchestral score has been ‘reduced’ for one player.  We like to think of ourselves as a gateway to the concert hall.  Whether you are aware of it or not, you have been surrounded by opera music your while life — from childhood cartoons, to airline commercials, to the imitative strains of modern film composers.  It is high time you heard opera up-close and personal in all of its live glory.

(Kathryn McKellar)


 

TBT 3.12.15

Throwback Thursday:

One of Boston’s favorite Tenors, Eduardo Antonio Ramos, knows how to dress to impress.  From 007 James Bond to the Corona Man…

007: Shaken not Stirred
Halloween at the Milky Way

We love you Eduardo!

Check out our upcoming EPIC events at The Burren and The Milky Way!


 

“Missed Connections” at The Milky Way 2015

Hey Folks!

We have a stellar line-up of events and singers for you this week both for “Carnivale Night” at Stellina and for “Missed Connections” at The Milky Way!

OOT singers bring you craigslist’s  missed connections… Operatically. Do you still yearn for the Uber driver who got away?  Did one smoldering glance from a police officer at Downtown Crossing ruin all other men for you? Can you no longer enjoy freshly brewed coffee without picturing the eyes of that sassy Kendall Square barista?

Join Opera on Tap for an evening of Missed Connections, as we honor the love stories that almost were.

Drink of choice: Signature Cocktail, Tried and True

Featuring:

 

Pianist – Sally Vanderploeg
Soprano - Joanna Ball
Soprano – Joanna Ball
Tenor – Joshua Collier
Soprano – Oriana Dunlop
Soprano - Christie Teeters
Soprano – Christie Teeters
Mezzo Soprano – Gina Razon

 

 

Bel Canto on the Rocks

We walk among you, and you may not even know it.

We’re next to you at a hockey game screaming at the refs, we’re posting selfies to Instagram and passing you on the running path, we’re swiping you one way or the other on Tinder and fighting you for a place in the checkout line at Ikea.  We’re sitting next to you at the bar pounding a drink.  Or several.  We are Opera Singers.

For some of you this will come as no surprise, but many others have never had the opportunity to stumble across the thriving community of young adult classical performers who lead perfectly normal urban lives but just happen to sing really epic music for a living.  And this is the mission of Opera on Tap: to bring this epic music, sung by these fun and down-to-earth people, to anyone and everyone.  We love opera and it often gets a bad rap.  Myths and misconceptions swirl around the art form, like the notions that it is hoity-toity, uber-expensive, or boring.  Come to an Opera on Tap show and watch these negative connotations melt away.  Sip a cocktail and enjoy a multi-course meal as a baritone serenades you across a restaurant, or swig an IPA at the pub as a soprano throws back a shot of whiskey and gets up in your face for some cabaret-style fun.  We put divas in dive bars and the overwhelming feedback from patrons as they shift from bewilderment to ruddy-faced enjoyment is that, hey, opera’s alright after all.  We see Opera on Tap as a sort of gateway drug to the world of classical music as a whole, and we can’t wait to get you hooked at our next show.

With this blog, we’ll post about awesome upcoming shows and events throughout the greater Boston area.  There will be giveaways, contests, polls and games.  There will be info about our super-talented performers, the rockin’ venues that host our shows, and the booze-makers whose wonderful products help break down the inhibitions of our artists and audience members alike.  There may be cool guest posts or interviews with opera notables.  If we’re bored we’ll likely muse on various topics relevant to classical singers and viewers (and drinkers).  Like, what exactly is “Tessatura,” an obscure Terry Gilliam film or a fancy word for the melting point of chocolate?  Or, why can’t I drink wine before/during auditions?  Or perhaps a discussion of the pros and cons of using a vibrator to massage your vocal chords.

In any event, welcome to “opening night” of Bel Canto on the Rocks, the Opera on Tap blog.  To rework the recognizable misquote about opera, “it ain’t over until we all have a bunch of drinks and sing some mind-blowing music then stumble home.”

 (Kathryn McKellar)

www.operaontap.com/boston
Serving up High Proof Music

 

 

Opera on Tap Boston Artist Roster

Sopranos:

Erin Anderson

Margretta Beaty

Sol Kim Bentley

Jennifer Caraluzzi

Alyssa Click

Lindsay Conrad

Sarah Joyce Cooper

Theodora Cottarel

Molly Crookedacre

Amy Dancz

Christina DeVaughn

Laura Ethington

Margaret Felice

Hailey Fuqua

Christie Gibson

Kirsten Hart

Luisamaria Hernandez

Katrina Holden

Stephanie Hollenberg

Kelley Hollis

Oriana Inferra

Jessica Jacobs

Aurora Martin

Kathryn McKellar

Sara O’Brien

Katie O’Reilly

Kirstin Olsen

Sarah Ryman

Rachele Schmiege

Christie Teeters

Rebecca Teeters

Emily Thorner

Dana Varga

Allie Whitfield

Mezzo-Sopranos:

Britt Brown

Alexandra Dietrich

Christina English

Caitlin Felsman

Heather Gallagher

Meghan Jolliffe

Elizabeth Kinder

Jamie Korkos

Rebecca Krouner

Sylvia Leith

Erin Moran

Gina Razon

Carrie Reid-Knox

Stephanie Scarcella

Migle Zaliukite

 

Countertenor:

Wei En Chan

 

Tenors:

Stefan Barner

Ethan Bremner

Brendan Buckley

Austin Hallock

Wesley Hunter

Alexey Kukharskiy

Tim McGowen

Tim Powers

Eduardo Ramos

David Rivera

Fran Rodgers

 

Baritones:

Kyle Bejnerowicz

Scott Ballentine

Ryne Cherry

Seth Grondin

Andy Papas

Nathan Rodriguez

Max Rydqvist

Aaron Styles

Zizhao Wang

Ron Williams