Verismo Opera Presents Annual Open House to Announce Fall Season, Today

The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera (Verismo Opera), the house opera company of the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC), will hold its fall Open House on Saturday, September 10, 2016. The annual event will be held at 44 Armory Street in Englewood, New Jersey at 2:00 p.m.

Artistic Director Lucine Amara, a Met Opera luminary, invites the public to attend the free event and learn more about the grand opera company's fall season. The program features a 30-minute concert of vocalists performing arias and duets from Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto and past productions. Opportunities will be discussed to get involved in the nonprofit opera company as supernumeraries acting in non-speaking and non-singing roles, the 28th Annual International Competition, volunteers working behind-the-scenes, and singers performing in the Verismo Opera Chorus. Exhibits will display memorabilia, costumes, and photos from Verismo Opera's 28 years of producing grand operas, sponsoring the vocal competition, presenting concerts, holding master classes, giving operalogues, and training the stars of tomorrow.

Ms. Amara, Verismo Opera Music Director/Principal Conductor Lucy Arner, Stage Director Evelyn La Quaif, President Dr. James Garvin, MD, and others will discuss Verismo Opera's mission, vision, and history. They will introduce the grand opera company's new 2016-2017 productions of Rigoletto and Aida. The company will perform Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto on October 23, 2016 and present Aida on April 23, 2017. Both productions will be performed atbergenPAC, located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey, at 3:00 p.m.

The Open House site is handicapped accessible. A parking lot has a designated handicapped parking space. The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera is committed to ensuring its programs and services are accessible to all. Members of the public requiring a special accommodation or with specific questions about the physical features of a facility where Verismo Opera performs may call (201) 886-0561 at least two weeks prior to the event.

Funding

The 2016 season is made possible, in part, with funds provided by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, through grant funds administered by the Bergen County Department of Parks, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs. Other supporters include Children's Aid Foundation, Robert J. Campbell, MD, Cesare L. Santeramo, KSJ, Paul Weiss Matching Fund, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, Inc., and Vanguard Charitable Endowment Fund.

For further information about the program or Verismo Opera, call (201) 886-0561 or send an e-mail to info@verismopera.org.

About New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera

For 28 years, the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera has been an integral part of the region's classical music culture. Led by Metropolitan Opera luminary Lucine Amara, Verismo Opera delivers a rich, grand opera experience for performers and viewers.

As the Bergen Performing Arts Center's house opera company, Verismo Opera provides performing opportunities for young musicians and artists through its semi-annual productions at the theatre and concerts held in community settings. Community members are invited to get involved as supernumeraries and volunteers.

An annual international vocal competition is conducted in November with finals generally drawing artists throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Verismo Opera also organizes opera workshops, master classes and concerts and offers affordable, highly professional productions.

For more information, visit Verismo Opera's web site, www.verismopera.org; follow the company on Facebook, http://bit.ly/9JXTP8, or Twitter @NJVerismoOpera; or call (201) 886-0561.

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