Chicago Opera Theater Celebrates National Opera Week 10/29-11/7

The second annual National Opera Week takes place October 29-November 7, 2010. This country-wide celebration highlights the extraordinary quality and quantity of opera activity in the United States today. Chicago Opera Theater (COT) is partnering with the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs for two events - "Pop-Up Opera" and a double bill at the Chicago Cultural Center of Gustav Holst's Savitri and Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone. Opera Underground, Chicago Opera Theater's Young Persons Social Club, will bring back "Beers and Baritones" by popular demand.
National Opera Week is organized by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.

"We had such great success with National Opera Week last year, we are very excited to participate again," said COT General Director Brian Dickie. "As a company that only performs in the spring, we look forward to having Chicago Opera Theater out and about in the city this fall."

For more information on Chicago Opera Theater events during National Opera Week visit: ChicagoOperaTheater.org/operaweek.

The National Opera Week celebration will reach from coast to coast with over 100 opera companies from 30 states, and will offer a range of programs to the public, most of them free. National Opera Week has been created to bring the inventiveness and excitement of opera to a broader national audience.

CHICAGO OPERA THEATER/CHICAGO DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS
NATIONAL OPERA WEEK SCHEDULE

For more information on Chicago Opera Theater Opera Week events, please go to ChicagoOperaTheater.org/operaweek.

For more information on all National Opera Week events around Chicago and the country, please go to OperaAmerica.org/now.

All musical preparation for National Opera Weeks is by Scott Gilmore, Chicago Opera Theater Director of Musical Studies.

"Pop-Up Opera" Performances

When: October 29 through November 7, Times TBD
Where: At distinct Chicago landmarks TBD
Price: FREE!

Chicago Opera Theater and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs present "Pop-
Up Opera" around Chicago during National Opera Week - short performances of opera classics at iconic Chicago locations.

Tweet about "Pop-Up Opera" when you see it! Anyone who includes #popupopera in a tweet when they witness a "Pop-Up Opera" performance during National Opera Week will automatically be entered in a contest with fantastic prizes! Also, during National Opera Week, find out the time and place of each "Pop-Up Opera" on Twitter @ChicagoOpera or at ChicagoOperaTheater.org/operaweek.

A Double Bill: Gustav Holst's Savitri and Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone

When: Tuesday, November 2, 6:30pm
Where: Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center
78 East Washington, Chicago
Price: FREE!

Join us a for an evening of two short one-act operas in a unique cabaret setting in Preston Bradley Hall with wine and beer available for purchase. The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs presents Chicago Opera Theater's double bill of two-one act operas: Savitri and The Telephone.

Both operas will be conducted by Scott Gilmore, Director of Musical Studies at COT, and directed by Joanie Schultz, who earlier this year directed a critically acclaimed adaptation of Wagner's The Ring Cycle at The Building Stage. She also directed the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs' free summer opera last summer, Acis and Galatea.

Both pieces are presented in collaboration with the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

OPERA UNDERGROUND: "Beers and Baritones"

Details and prices TBD.

Join us for an evening of mingling, beer, meeting new friends, wine, networking, and, of course, opera! Opera Underground, COT's Young Persons Social Club, presents their first event of the 2010-11 season, "Beers and Baritones", during National Opera Week. Your "Beers and Baritones" ticket includes a short opera performance by COT Young Artists, as well as an open beer and wine bar at a local Chicago brewery.

Chicago Opera Theater's Opera Underground is a group of young people (ages 21-45) who get together for cocktails and opera throughout the year, in addition to attending the mainstage performances during the Spring Festival Season (April/May). Chicago Opera Theater is young, vibrant, edgy and contemporary-and so are our Opera Underground members!

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