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Mission
Statement
Granite
State Opera creates professional opera
in the state of New Hampshire for the benefit, enrichment and education
of its audience.
Our
Goals:
•
To create opera productions that embody the highest standards of artistic
excellence,
• to promote
the operatic arts in ways that make them accessible to a diverse
• audience,
• to provide
educational opportunities to develop tomorrow's artists and audience
• members
• to ensure
the future of the Company through fiscal management.
Affiliations
•
Affiliate Member, Opera America.
The
New Hampshire Opera Audience
Nationally,
4.7% of the population goes to the opera, buying on average 1.7 tickets.
The opera-going audience in New Hampshire is nearly
double the national number, at 8% (Source: New Hampshire Business
Committee for the Arts Survey, 1999). So when people we meet ask us "Opera
in new Hampshire"?, we can tell them. According to additional research
and audience surveys, we have found that most of these opera goers will
go out of state to attend professional opera.
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Growth
in Youthful Opera Audiences
Opera
is the only art form where the media age of the audience has decreased.
It dropped from 45 years of age in 1992 to 44 years of age in 1997. More
impressive is that between 1982 and 1992, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds
attending opera performances in the U.S. increased by 18%. According to
the National Endowment for the Arts, nearly a third of the U.S. opera
audience is under the age of 35 years old.
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Granite
State Opera Means Quality
On June 6, 2003 we had Frederica von Stade perform at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, and on April 30, 2004 we had Patricia Racette perform with the Granite State Opera Orchestra in Manchester. Bringing these types of professional singers to New Hampshire has allowed audience members throughout t hear top performers without driving to Boston or New York. We have also assembled an impressive orchestra that is undoubtedly one of the best north of Boston. And we are having a positive economic impact on New Hampshire creating quality productions here in the state as well as by attracting audience members from throughout New England and New York State.
On
June 6, 2003 we had Frederica von Stade perform at the Capitol Center
for the Arts in Concord, and on April 30, 2004 we had Patricia Racette
perform with the Granite
State Opera Orchestra in
Manchester. Bringing these types of professional singers to New Hampshire
has allowed audience members throughout t hear top performers without
driving to Boston or New York. We have also assembled an impressive orchestra
that is undoubtedly one of the best north of Boston. And we are having
a positive economic impact on New Hampshire by attracting audience members
from throhe state the opportunity to see andughout New England and New
York State.
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Community
Outreach Initiatives
Granite
State Opera has several Community Outreach Initiatives in its strategic
plan. One of these is the Education Program that includes opera programs
in schools, touring children's opera during the holidays, a Young Artist
Program, and a scholarship competition for 3 levels of singers: high school,
college, and young adult. We also want to use local children in our choruses
whenever possible. We have done this so far with Amahl and the Night
Visitors, Carmen and La Boheme.
Local performances in various communities will help develop an affinity
with Granite State Opera. These concerts will also introduce and reinforce
the beauty of opera in a friendly, accessible way to adults and children
alike. We have already developed many loyal followers, and we endeavor
to continue building our subscriber base and our audience.
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Granite
State Opera Organization: Members
Artistic
Director
Philip Lauriat
Board
of Trustees
Lilliane LeBel, President
Hugh Gardner, MD
Peter Labombarde, Vice President, Citizens Bank
Cherie A. LeBel
Michael Lenehan
James Ramsay
Katie Wells Wheeler
John MacLeod, Executive Director
Advisory
Board
Colin Cabot, Former Managing Director, Skylight Opera, Milwaukee, WI
James Curran, Former President, Monadnock Music and former
Board member, Granite State Opera
Susan Duprey, Attorney, Devine, Millimet and Branch
Paul Hodes, Attorney, Shaheen and Gordon
Mary Lynn, Executive Producer, Puget Sound Revels
Theodore Medrek, Partner, Howe, Riley and Howe
T. Holmes Moore, Past Chairman, New Hampshire Public Television
Honorable Walter Peterson, former Governor of New Hampshire
Ellen Rabiner, Contralto, The Metropolitan Opera
Willie Anthony Waters, Artistic and Executive Director, Connecticut Opera
And A Special Thanks
To Our Corporate Sponsors
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Center of New Hampshire Radisson, Devine, Millimet & Branch, Concord Holiday Inn, Laconia Savings Bank, MARKEM Corporation, Portsmouth Computer, Sheraton Harborside Portsmouth, TFMoran, Inc., Vital & Ryze, Inc.
Granite
State Opera Organization: About Us
Philip Lauriat has more than 20 years experience in the world of opera, as conductor, singer, producer and stage director. As a conductor, he has been in constant demand since making his theatrical conducting debut with Amahl and the Night Visitors in 1996 in Peterborough, New Hampshire. In July, 1998, he conducted Le Nozze di Figaro at the East Slovakian State Opera, Košice, Slovakia. He has been Music Director for La Boheme, Cosi fan Tutte, Let's Make an Opera, The Gondoliers and many other productions. The Keene Sentinel said of his Cosi fan tutte, "Philip Lauriat set a pleasing, brisk pace that moved the opera vigorously along." In the spring of 2000, he made his concert conducting debuts with the Roman Music Festival in Boston, and the Keene Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Brahms' First Piano Concerto, with Eric Stumacher as the piano soloist.
He was recently named Artistic Director of the Granite State Opera, where in the 2000-2001 season he conducts Passion, Peril and Pandemonium - A Wild Night at the Opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors and Carmen. Future seasons will bring La Traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, and many other operas.
Mr. Lauriat is also a lyric tenor who has performed nationally in opera, concert and musical theater. He has sung with such companies as The Cincinnati Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera, Longwood Opera, Merrimack Lyric Opera, Midland Music (MI) and many others. The varied roles he has performed include Rodolfo in La Boheme, Alfredo in La Traviata, Sam in Susannah, Belmonte in The Abduction From The Seraglio and Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte. Composer David McKay chose him to create the role of Anse in his opera As I Lay Dying, based on the William Faulkner novel. The Keene Sentinel wrote of his performances in Die Fledermaus, "Lauriat was the most charming and seductive Alfred I've seen."
He studied conducting with the late Dr. Georg Tintner, a student of Felix Weingartner and noted Brucknerian, and Mr. Lauriat was an Auditor in Conducting at Tanglewood. Having studied conducting and voice at The Eastman School of Music and Westminster Choir College, he was the first student to win both the singing and conducting competitions at Westminster. He currently teaches both voice and conducting in Boston and Temple, New Hampshire, where he resides.
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Granite State Opera Chorus
The Granite State Opera Chorus is comprised of accomplished singers who enjoy the operatic repertoire. In general the chorus is made up of adults who can sing well and who can move well and act, since they will be part of the onstage performances. Occasionally there will be a children's chorus as well, but this will depend on the specific opera that will be in production. Mr. Lauriat will be holding auditions at various times of the year. Please refer to this Web site, and the local media for details.
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Granite State Opera Orchestra
Mr. Lauriat hires the finest musicians possible for Granite State Opera's Orchestra. Many of these musician play for organizations such as New Hampshire Symphony, Boston Symphony and Boston Pops.
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