Opera on Tap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sunday, November 24^th at 3PM
Saint Timothy Episcopal Church, Creve Coeur, MO
Free Admission (Registration Required)

Adrienne Danrich, beloved hometown daughter and Emmy Award-winning, internationally acclaimed singer, composer and educator, returns to St. Louis for “Love’s Language,” the latest creation in her MUSIC AS THE MESSAGE (MaM) series on Sunday, November 24th at 3pm at St. Timothy Episcopal Church, 808 N. Mason Road in Creve Coeur, MO. Music as the Message is an imaginative hybrid experience including both virtual and in-person performances. Admission for attending in-person or simultaneously via Zoom is free. All guests must make a reservation at https://Music-as-the-message-loves-language.eventbrite.com. 

“Love’s Language” embraces a broad sweep of expressions of love through musical styles and genres including opera, operetta, contemporary gospel, meditative chant, musical theater, neo-soul and R&B. Ms. Danrich noted, “Music has the power to soften the hardest hearts and to heal those who are hurting. It reaches us in ways mere words will never do.” The cast features a stunning lineup of intergenerational, international and local artists, featuring: 

Danrich, alongside past and present Opera Theatre of Saint Louis artists Angel Riley Love, Chaz’men Williams-Ali and Robert Mellon, Washington University Ph.D. student Christina Smiley, Central Visual and Performing Arts alums Kagera Buckner and Kwamina Walker-Williams; young darlings Jordan Henley & Izabel Jones; the MaM Memorial Choir led by Harry Moppins & Cheryl Walker; the MaM Band, including New York-based pianist Gary Mitchell, Jr.; St. Louis’s own John Wallach, Billy Engel, Tim Moore, and Brit Lockart. 

Registration is open for this FREE public event at https://Music-as-the-message-loves-language.eventbrite.com. 

Danrich, an Opera Theatre of Saint Louis 2024 Thelma Steward Endowed Artist Alumni Award winner, will return next season to MUSIC AS THE MESSAGE partner, OTSL to perform in her second world premiere with the company; the first was in Tobias Picker & Aryeh Stollman’s AWAKENINGS, 2022. In 2025, Danrich will sing the role of Ida in Ricky Ian Gordon, Lynn Nottage, & Ruby Aiyo Gerber’s new opera THIS HOUSE. Danrich notes, “It is such an honor to return to my hometown, to sing on the stage of my hometown opera house, and to also have the opportunity to spread love, light and joy through my own work with MUSIC AS THE MESSAGE.”

“Love’s Language” is produced by Adrienne Danrich, Opera On Tap, and St. Timothy’s Episocpal Church, in association with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Washington University of Saint Louis. The program is dedicated to the memory of Rose-Marie Bell, an inspiration, beacon of love, an outspoken voice for racial reconciliation in the St. Louis community, and an angel supporter of MUSIC AS THE MESSAGE. 

For more information, contact Anne Hiatt at anne@operaontap.com.

ADRIENNE DANRICH / CREATOR, HOST, & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER BIO

As an award-winning singer, writer, composer, and educator, Adrienne Danrich is redefining what it means to be a creative performer. The voice of EMMY® award winning soprano Adrienne Danrich has been described as “fresh liquid-silver”, “radiant”, and having a “sensual timbre and dramatic truth” by Opera News. She has performed, covered workshopped leading roles with Lyric Opera Chicago, San Francisco Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Opera Company, Elphilharmonie (Hamburg), Cincinnati Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Pacific, Sarasota Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, Annapolis Opera, Opera Delaware, Baltimore Concert Opera and Fort Worth Opera. She has also performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall & Alice Tully Hall. Danrich also appeared in the NBC broadcast of The Sound of Music, Live! In addition to singing operas, concerts and recitals around the country, Danrich performs her one-woman show, This Little Light of Mine: The Stories of Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, which she wrote under a commission from Cincinnati Opera. This Little Light of Mine was nominated for an EMMY®, and, additionally, Ms. Danrich was personally nominated and subsequently won an EMMY® for on-camera talent as performer and narrator. Distinctive in her talent and charisma, Adrienne is known for going places other artists have not yet ventured.

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

www.operaontap.org | www.facebook.com/operaontap.nyc | www.twitter.com/operaontapnyc | www.instagram.com/operaontap

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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 

Are you an educator who wants to see if your school qualifies for free programming?

Fill out the form here.

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

Opera on Tap is thrilled to announce the launch of the George Shirley Opera Access Fund, in partnership with and named in honor of the trailblazing operatic tenor and arts education activist. The Fund will support Opera on Tap’s popular Playground Opera education program to title 1 schools across America, and amplify the voices of a diverse group of opera singers, instrumentalists and composers who participate in Opera on Tap’s educational programming. Thanks to a major grant from Miranda Family Fund as the very first gift to kick off the Fund’s launch, the Playground Opera elementary education program will expand in the local Inwood and Washington Heights neighborhoods, free of charge to schools that qualify.

Professor George Shirley says “Using technology to stimulate children’s expressive, inventive nature forms the core of Opera on Tap’s unique Playground Opera Program that sonically and visually weds to music drama the child’s natural tendency to physically “make-believe” and “pretend to be,” thus becoming a vehicle for exciting a holistic desire for learning. Why opera? What better way than employing in this venture the “original instrument,” an organ implanted in the human throat capable of producing sounds that express deep-seated emotions in vocalizations that precede the acquisition of words and are arguably musical? Such vocalizations remain the primeval mode of expression in infants and young children before they acquire a usable vocabulary. Thus “sing the play” makes sense, making opera and musical theatre ideal vehicles for fertilizing nascent intellect. I applaud and support Opera on Tap for its innovative paradigm for nurturing mind and soul in this 21^st Century.”

Opera on Tap Artistic Director Anne Hiatt says “We are deeply honored to be launching this Fund along with Professor Shirley to ensure students across America who lack access to quality arts and music education can participate in our program.  And we are so grateful to receive this important leadership grant from the Miranda Family Fund to launch it. This gift from a family that is seminal to the performing arts industry here in NYC is a wonderful vote of confidence in the important work we are doing to provide free access to quality arts education, and performance opportunities.”

Patrons of arts and music education can learn more about the George Shirley Access Fund and make contributions here:
https://playground.operaontap.org/george-shirley-opera-access-fund/

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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. Every Playground Opera curriculum culminates in a “red-carpet event” where students get to perform, for their communities, alongside professional opera singers on the big screen. Designed specifically for 3rd-5th grade students, Playground Opera includes an interactive digital portal that allows teachers, parents, and caregivers to equitably facilitate arts education. Our episodic curriculum is designed to immerse students in every aspect of the creation, production and performance of an opera. By creating new children’s productions and re-imagining canonized repertoire to amplify diverse voices, we have created opportunities for a vast array of emerging and professional artists and Teaching Artists who face barriers in traditional models of opera and arts education. Learn more by watching the program trailer.

ABOUT GEORGE SHIRLEY
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 18, 1934, the American tenor and teacher, George Irving Shirley, began music lessons at age 6, when his family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. He was active as a vocalist at churches in the area and as a baritone horn player in a local band. He entered Wayne State University in Detroit as a music education major, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1955. He was drafted into the military the following year and became the first African-American member of the United States Army Chorus. 

After his discharge in 1959, he continued studying voice in Washington, D.C.; then he moved to New York where his professional career began. George Shirley made his debut with a small opera troupe at Woodstock, New York in a production of Die Fledermaus. He then traveled to Italy and made his European debut as Rodolfo Puccini’s popular opera, La Boheme. In 1961, he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions by performing Nessun dorma, beginning an eleven-year association with the house. While at the Met, he sang 28 different roles from 26 operas, especially those of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Wagner. He has recorded for RCA, Columbia, Decca, Angel, Vanguard, CRI, and Philips and received a Grammy Award in 1968 for his role of Ferrando in the RCA recording of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. George Shirley became involved with education, and taught at the University of Maryland from 1980 until he accepted a position at the University of Michigan in 1987. He remains a staunch advocate for arts education.

ABOUT THE MIRANDA FAMILY FUND
For over 40 years, Luis A. Miranda, Jr. and Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda have championed community activism, through the Miranda Family Foundation, they have created and supported institutions focused on underserved populations in Upper Manhattan, communities throughout NYC, across the country, and in Puerto Rico. In order to develop a pipeline of the next generation of artists, the Miranda Family has created professional development and training opportunities for young artists of color through partnerships with arts institutions throughout the country. Closer to home the family is focused on improving access to arts education in their own neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood. To learn more visit: https://www.linmanuel.com/advocacy/

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 thirty-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, 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/george-shirley-opera-access-fund/

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

Opera on Tap and HERE are thrilled to announce a major grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to fund the development of  LOOKING AT YOU, an immersive techno-noir opera by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Rob Handel, developed with and directed by Kristin Marting,  which confronts the serious issue of privacy in our digitized society. In addition the grant will support the development of a research project around the opera, led by leading privacy expert Professor Alessandro Acquisti and the Privacy Economics Experiments Lab of Carnegie Mellon University.

Set inside a corporate headquarters, LOOKING AT YOU exposes urgent questions of our time regarding Internet privacy and surveillance capitalism in this highly charged story of love, espionage, and cyber-surveillance, fusing a 21st century whistle-blower with CASABLANCA. Integral to the opera is a provocative data-mining component where audience members’ data is mined before the show, then used in the show itself, weaving it into the story, viscerally alerting and exposing the audience to the reality of today’s digital world: a space where strangers may be identified in public spaces, where their data is publicly available; and where sensitive information may be inferred starting from entirely publicly available data. The opera’s message is to inform and sensitize individuals about the true capabilities of modern data-mining, privacy-eroding technologies, using the audience-data-opera interaction to enlighten viewers better than any websites’ privacy policies or traditional articles can ever accomplish.

The leadership gift of $250,000 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will support major advancements in the opera’s mining technology, along with critical research and educational components to inform the public about technology’s serious impact in terms of awareness, sensitization, dissemination, and privacy paradoxes. Opera on Tap’s Founder and Artistic Director, Anne Hiatt explained “The Sloan Foundation’s generous gift is truly a game-changer to foster more sophisticated technological components which are the hallmark of LOOKING AT YOU; these advancements will greatly elevate the immersive artistic experience for future audiences and will provide insightful research that could significantly influence how we implement privacy laws.”  

Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation stated: “LOOKING AT YOU fuses art and technology into a powerful platform for entertainment, education and social awareness about the continuing erosion of our privacy. Sloan’s program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology supports an array of multi-media art forms as well as special initiatives to protect consumer privacy and security in the digital age. We’re delighted to partner with Opera on Tap in this original and important project.”

Originally commissioned and produced by HERE, and co-produced by Opera on Tap in association with Experiments in Opera, LOOKING AT YOU was conceived by Kamala Sankaram and Rob Handel and developed with and directed by Kristin Marting (Founding Artistic Director of HERE). The opera premiered on September 6, 2019 and ran through September 21 at HERE in New York City. Kristin has 25 years of experience directing hybrid works of theatre that incorporate technology and live performance. Her works have appeared on national and international stages to critical acclaim. Of this work, Kristin stated: “Looking at You is an imaginative, engaging and innovative way into examining and combatting the steady and scary erosion of our individual privacy online“. Kristin is the Principal Investigator overseeing all aspects of integration of data-mining with the creative content, narrative, and experience of the opera.

The data-mining integration within the show and the research project that is being developed around the presentation of the opera is led by Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross, both experts in the field of privacy and researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Privacy Economics Experiments (PEEX) Lab. Alessandro is the Trustees Professor of Information Technology at Carnegie Mellon University and will join our team for this project. His work has spearheaded the investigation of privacy and disclosure behavior in online social networks and the application of economics and behavioral economics to the study of privacy. Of this project, Alessandro stated “the ties between LOOKING AT YOU and privacy research on social media run deep – the very plot of the Opera relates to findings from studies on Facebook and face recognition Ralph Gross and I conducted at Carnegie Mellon University. We are excited to push those ties deeper – bringing the technologies we studied in our research into the very interaction with the live audiences of LAY.” Alessandro has testified before the US Congress on privacy issues. His findings have been featured in international media outlets, including The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Financial Times, Wired, CNN, and 60 Minutes.

ABOUT ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a New York based, philanthropic, not-for-profit institution that makes grants in three areas: research in science, technology, and economics; quality and diversity of scientific institutions; and public engagement with science. Sloan’s pioneering program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, directed by Doron Weber, aims to enrich people’s lives through a keener appreciation of our increasingly scientific and technological world and to humanize the lives of the men and women working as scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. The goal is to integrate the two cultures of science and the humanities by supporting an array of original works such as books, radio, television, film, theater, and new media and to support special initiatives that strengthen science as a social good. For more information visit sloan.org or follow @SloanPublic on Twitter or Facebook.

ABOUT HERE

Since 1993, HERE builds an inclusive community that nurtures artists of all backgrounds as they disrupt conventional expectations to create innovative performances in theatre, dance, music, puppetry, media, and visual art. By providing these genre-blending artists with an adaptive, flexible home for developing and producing their work, we share a range of perspectives reflective of the complexity of our city. HERE welcomes curious audiences to witness groundbreaking performances, responsive to the world in which we live, at free and affordable prices. To learn more visit: https://here.org

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 thirty vibrant national and international chapters, OOT has created one of the world’s largest networks of operatic performers, creators, and supporters. 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

AUGUST 2022 – Opera on Tap is thrilled to announce a major grant from Infosys Foundation USA to fund an augmented version of its popular Playground Opera education program. Reimagined as Playground Operatronics, the program will be available to 400 Title 1 classrooms, serving 12,000 students and 400 classroom teachers, at no cost to the participating schools. The Playground Operatronics curriculum includes all of the existing Playground Opera lessons plus the integration of new technology. Opera on Tap is excited to enter into a partnership with Chibitronics, also a longtime curriculum partner of Infosys Foundation USA for their signature Pathfinders Institute, to facilitate the creation and distribution of this new technology. Chibitronics blends circuit building with arts and crafts using paper circuits so everyone can create and design their own expressive electronics. Using Chibitronics tool kits, students can learn to code and create electronic costume and prop assets such as crowns that light up as well as background scenery that blink and illuminate their opera video performances for their final project.  The first of its kind, this exciting new collaboration between Opera on Tap’s Playground Opera program and Chibitronics’ circuit technologies will be delivered and promoted in partnership with the Infosys Foundation’s Pathfinders Online Institute digital learning platform.

OOT Artistic Director Anne Hiatt says “we are so honored to receive this important leadership grant from the Infosys Foundation USA. This critical funding will truly be an arts education  game-changer, allowing us to bring STEAM-based learning to more diverse communities, and provide every learner with direct access to key skill sets that will one day be highly-desirable in the tech and creative economies.” Kate Maloney, Executive Director of Infosys Foundation USA affirmed  “Infosys Foundation USA is committed to advancing innovative ways of bringing computer science and technology to the classroom.  We are thrilled to partner with Opera on Tap and Chibitronics to blaze a new trail at the intersection of the arts and tech – and to do so with laser focus on equity in Title 1 classrooms. . We have high hopes for this dynamic program that it will ignite that curious spark in a student’s life, and transform it into a life-long passion for the arts and sciences.”

Watch our info trailer here.

 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 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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