Kickstarter

The American Chamber Opera is looking to raise funds to finance the remainder of our 2012 season. We have had a very successful beginning in regard to ambition and talent. We now want to make our productions more visually appealing, as well as generate the funding to market our shows to larger, more diverse demographics. We are also looking to build a summer musical theater program for high school students, none of which we can do without the help of music enthusiasts!

First: we bring opera to the American people. Opera has been plagued by an elitism, and ineffective marketing strategies, that have not only failed to bring opera to the forefront of American entertainment, but has made it unappealing to many in younger generations. We are looking to bring opera back into the mainstream, and encourage young people to explore the genre rather than dismiss it in favor of the stereotypes it engenders. We carefully craft our own English libretti, and modify foreign language texts, to contemporary English, and do our best to stage, costume and add digital media to the performances in ways that would make sense to 21st century audiences.

Second: we look to bring the youth back into classical music, not just in the audiences, but on stage as well. We work diligently to seek out the most talented and dedicated emerging artists, and give them opportunities to build their resumes and learn roles frequently reserved exclusively for older performers whose mentalities contribute to the decline of opera, this beautiful art form.

With this funding, we are hoping to meet several goals, including securing a permanent performance venue and covering rental fees, build the budget to assemble sets and costumes for our performances, create a marketing budget for print and online advertisements, and set up a Musical Theater Summer Intensive for children. Our summer program will provide many opportunities for young singers to hone their craft on their collective journey toward successful musical careers , including private voice lessons, acting lessons, audition technique training, dance classes, and the opportunity to be in a full-scale musical. We will also create a unique mentorship program between the students and current working professionals in the industry, in order for the students to have a strong support system of mentors invested in their artistic future.

If we can exceed our goal of $15,000, our additional goals include: hiring a larger orchestra, which is essential to effectively communicating the musical scale of opera,  obtaining a projector to display texts and images, which would allow us to unobtrusively aid in providing translations, background media and other clarifying elements to our productions, obtaining a home theater venue, which would allow us more security as a company, and setting up a performance tour, so our singers may find as many opportunities as possible to perform in full productions in a tour setting, which puts young singers in performance scenarios that provide industry-level experience and time management fostering a self-actualization essential to a successful music career as an adult.