By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Brandon’s BARN OPERA is a restless, voracious creature. Barely settled into its home on Pearl Street, it has forged new partnerships and begun new programs that extend the company’s influence well beyond its trademark barn.
For a second summer, Artistic Director Josh Collier and his team, including Musical Director Cailin Marcel Manson and Assistant Director Nick Tocci, have taken a group of students to Italy for an intensive course of voice training titled Opera al Mare in a town called Cesenatico. Of that experience, Collier said, “I have no words to express how spectacular this place and these people are.”
But closer to home, two new developments will keep BARN OPERA thrilling audiences in Vermont.
First, BARN OPERA has offered structural support to Otter Creek Music Festival (OCMF) as OCMF assumes responsibility for what was known as the Salisbury Summer Series at the Salisbury Congregational Church.
Overseen for decades by Glenn Andres, professor emeritus of architecture at Middlebury College, the Salisbury Summer Series has focused on chamber music and will continue to do so under the new name of Otter Creek Music Festival (OCMF) and under the new direction of Josh Glassman, whom Mr. Andres handpicked as his successor after having him perform in the Summer Series last year.
Glassman comes to OMCF with a good deal of experience under his belt. He has degrees in music education and performance from the University of Michigan and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He’s taught music at the University of Pennsylvania and at various high schools. He’s currently Assistant Conductor and Individual Giving Officer at the Boston Children’s Chorus.
He realized during the pandemic, however, that he still longed to fulfill his dream of producing chamber music, so he jumped at the opportunity that Glenn Andres was offering to take over the Salisbury Summer Series.
“I sat with Glenn at his house, over strudel and coffee, and talked about what this transition would look like,” said Glassman. “His one condition was, no matter where else we make music, that we not remove music from the Salisbury Congregational Church. The acoustics in there are excellent.”
But he understood that he wouldn’t be able to take on this project alone.
He had a longstanding relationship with Point CounterPoint (PCP) Music Camp on Lake Dunmore, where he had spent time while in college. Jenny Beck, the Executive Director of PCP, brokered a meeting between Glassman and Josh Collier, which resulted in a partnership between BARN OPERA and OCMF. An established nonprofit, BARN OPERA will be able to help OCMF through the early stages, providing necessary infrastructure and the benefits of a 501(c)(3) status. The series would also be reduced from the entire summer to two weeks, to accommodate Glassman’s continued obligations in Boston. BARN OPERA will not be involved in any of OCMF’s creative or artistic decisions.
Though the term “chamber music” is most often associated with classical music, Glassman defines it as “music on a small scale” and wants to expand the experience beyond the classical repertory. In fact, the concerts coming up this weekend—some in Salisbury and some in Brandon—cover a wide range of musical styles.
On Thursday, August 3, at BARN OPERA in Brandon, OCMF will present Manouche Urbain, a “gypsy jazz band.”
On Friday, August 4, at the Salisbury Congregational Church, OCMF welcomes Atlantic Crossing, a local folk band specializing in acoustic music of the British Isles and Quebec.
On Saturday, August 5, in Brandon, BARN OPERA’s resident pianist Claire Black will offer a program that includes works by Clara Schumann, John Field, and Bela Bartok.
On Sunday, August 6, in Salisbury, the sixteen-member Nightingale Vocal Ensemble will present a selection of pieces composed by the ensemble’s own members, drawn from works it has performed over its 5-year existence.
“All of these performances will be amazing, but I’m particularly excited about Sunday,” said Glassman. “It will be absolutely stunning.”
Tickets for all upcoming performances can be purchased at barnopera.com and are 50% off with the code OCMF50.
BARN OPERA’s second big development of the summer is its partnership with the Southern Vermont Arts Center (SVAC) in Manchester and the Highland Center for the Arts (HCA) in Greensboro to create Opera Vermont, an opera company “for all of Vermont.”
“The goal for this expansion of BARN OPERA is to ideally, within 3 years, provide an opportunity for each Vermonter, within each calendar year, to be within 30 minutes of a live operatic performance, as well as to provide educational opportunities to students across Vermont,” wrote Josh Collier in an e-mail.
To celebrate the partnership, an inaugural series of concerts will be held on Sept 14 and 15 at HCA and SVAC, respectively. Josh Collier, Nick Tocci, and Cailin Marcel Manson will all be performing, as well as soprano Kyra Miller-Himmelbaum and soprano Kathleen Echols Crumbacher. Claire Black will accompany on piano. Tickets are available at barnopera.com.
Other performances are scheduled for 2024, including Tosca, Rigoletto, and a gala celebration of Puccini.
2023 is shaping up to be a banner year for BARN OPERA and there are no signs that 2024 will be any less dynamic.
