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Fall '24 Recap
Where I’ve Been and Where I'm Going
As I continue to prepare for 2025, I am shocked at how fast the year has gone by. 2024 proved to be a place of growth for Opera Talks and the new magazine launch.
As I enter 10 years of presenting opera in 2025, I learned many things. One thing I learned the most is that opera outreach is not for every community. Even the Newsday article that featured my work said that it was a hard sell for some communities. However, when it fits in a community, it is an instant hit. Fitting in a community has to do with how the library markets the program to their customers. I experienced this in Poughkeepsie for the local library’s event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights movement. When the librarian contacted me in April about presenting Marian Anderson, I was pleasantly surprised about the occasion because I never thought that Marian Anderson would be presented for a Civil Rights occasion. However, the program fit the theme and was quite successful because Marian Anderson broke many barriers in a quiet and monumental way. She was a witness and testament of the trials and struggles of the Civil Rights era. I presented the program in a local church on an October night. The fact that it was Friday night, and the church hall was packed proved that great programming involves teamwork between the librarian and the programmer. The marketing angle proved to be a tremendous success for the library because the audience understood the importance of Marian Anderson not only as an opera singer but as an American Icon.
Left: Marian Anderson Opera Talk presented on October 4 for the Big Read 2024 at Poughkeepsie Library
Port Washington Public Library was another experience that used excellent marketing that drew a decent crowd. The opera talk I presented in late September was Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. While this opera is not as popular as La Boheme, the library offered it as a way for patrons to learn something new. I took that idea and added material to the program that compared the opera to the previous opera talk I presented in March.
Marketing matters the most when offering new programming to the community… especially opera. The angle must connect to the audience in a special way that connects to their memory or curiosity. Bronxville Public Library proved that opera can connect to a person’s memory and pique a person’s interest in opera. When I presented Luciano Pavarotti in Bronxville, the audience was so curious about the opera industry and even taught me facts about Pavarotti according to their experience hearing him live for the first time.
Luciano Pavarotti was the most popular opera I presented in the fall. I presented it 7 times for libraries and assisted living locations. The Luciano Pavarotti program will return in February at Larchmont Library on the same day as the Grammy Awards. Did you know that Pavarotti was a multi-Grammy Award winner?
As I look to the future and prepare for 2025, I am grateful for a successful year. A year of learning where Opera Talks belongs and where it does not fit. A year of being open and receptive to the aappreciation for bringing excellence to all communities the best way I can. I am thankful for all of the new locations that hired me as well as my favorite locations that welcomed me back once again.
It always feels like the first time.
Thank you for a wonderful year.
Cheers.
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