Saturday, October 16, 2010

Houston's Opera Vista


The story of how a Bangkok-based composer saved an American opera company from going bankrupt - by composing a new opera that requires an elephant! A true story of how artistic merit can actually be profitable. other opera companies should start taking notes:

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2010/10/the_silent_prince.php

7 comments:

  1. Steven ... only in Singapore is it possible to spin this story into an allegory of art and profit! Speaking of profit, I'm flying to Singapore next month to take advantage of Music Essentials' 50% off printed music sale ... let's meet for a coffee!

    Somtow

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  2. To Clarify: Opera Vista was not in danger of going bankrupt, but as we were a 3-year-old company, it came time to either decided to expand and solidify the company's base or to more on. That was the big decision we had facing us.

    What this production allowed us to do was truly be in touch with our mission and aim big. What is true is that it proves that you can do new opera and make a huge splash.

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  3. It's clear that opera vista and I were good for each other!

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  4. Well that was the impression I got from reading the story, how the new opera created a reason for an increase in fundraising, and thus prevented the company from closing. "Move to the next level or fold." to quote the writer. Anyway, I'm glad it was a success for all involved, and here's to an equal success when the production moves to Bangkok!

    As for coffee, I'm currently in Taipei unfortunately. Will be back home in mid January, will you be making another trip down here per chance?

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  5. It wasn't "move to the next level or fold" due to going bankrupt. It was "move to the next level or fold" due to the fact that we were tired of small-ish simple productions and simply eking out a small existence. We wanted to take Opera Vista to the next level and see if Houston would support that - and it did!

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  6. The reason for my vehement clarification - Opera Vista has been dead set on fiscal responsibility. We have constantly made sure that we could stay in the black and afford our productions. Bankruptcy and debt aren't issues for our company.

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  7. Thanks for the clarification,and apologies on the misunderstanding.

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