BY STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—For the last five years, BARN OPERA has drawn people from all over Vermont to Brandon. Its trademark red barn on Pearl Street has become a haven for performers and music lovers alike, a generous serving of sophistication in a rustic setting. But founder, performer, and Artistic Director Josh Collier has set his sights on something bigger: the entire state of Vermont.
And so was born Opera Vermont, a new partnership among three highly esteemed cultural institutions that represent the geographic length of the state: Highland Center for the Performing Arts in Greensboro in the north, BARN OPERA in Brandon in the center, and Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester in the south. With this triumvirate, professional opera will no longer be a rarity in Vermont. Ultimately, with additional partners, the goal is “to provide an opportunity for every Vermonter to be within 30 minutes of a live operatic performance” at some point during the calendar year, said Collier.
To inaugurate the collaboration, BARN OPERA/Opera Vermont will be presenting a series of concerts at the partnering venues in September, featuring BARN OPERA’s own Josh Collier, Cailin Marcel Manson, and Nicholas Tocci. They will be joined by Vermont-based soprano Kyra Miller-Himmelbaum and newcomer Kathleen Echols Crumbacher, who participated in BARN OPERA’s vocal training program in Italy, Opera al Mare. The performers will be led from the piano by BARN OPERA’s principal pianist Claire Black.
The first of these concerts will take place on Thursday, September 14 at the Highland Center. Then on Friday, September 15, the ensemble moves to the Southern Vermont Arts Center. The program will be a mélange of opera and musical theater, with an opportunity to meet the performers after the concert.
On February 16 and 17, 2024, Opera Vermont will commemorate the centennial of Giacomo Puccini’s death with two performances of Tosca, the opera that christened the barn back in 2021. Tickets will become available immediately after the concerts in September.
In May, the Southern Vermont Arts Center (SVAC) will host Opera Vermont’s production of Rigoletto, which has never before been performed in Vermont. Italian soprano Scilla Cristiano and BARN OPERA’s baritone Nicholas Tocci will star. Tickets will become available at SVAC’s box office after October 1, 2023.
Then in September of 2024, will once again honor Puccini with a black-tie gala at BARN OPERA. Scenes and arias from Puccini’s most famous works will be presented: Madame Butterfly, La Boheme, Turandot, Tosca. There will even be selections from his lesser-known works as well, such as Edgar, Le Villi, and Manon Lescault.
“This will be a great opportunity to hear this repertoire in the acoustic brilliance of arguably the best acoustic barn in New England,” said Collier.
And to close out the 2024 season, BARN OPERA will present the world premiere of “Truman and Nancy” by William Zeffiro, which imagines a meeting between Truman Capote and Nancy Clutter, who was one of the murder victims Capote wrote about in his classic “In Cold Blood.” The work is based on the graphic novel “Capote in Kansas” by Ande Parks. Both Mr. Zeffiro and Mr. Parks will be in attendance. Mr. Parks has offered to discuss the creation of his novel on the evening of the second performance. Tickets for this production go on sale on BARN OPERA’s website in March 2024.
“We’re expanding but we’re not leaving Brandon!” said Collier. And BARN OPERA will continue its Christmas tradition, “Amahl & the Night Visitors,” at the Salisbury Congregational Church in December and will hold a New Year’s Eve event in Brandon as well.
For years, BARN OPERA has brought Vermont to the barn, and now it’s bringing the barn to Vermont through Opera Vermont. As the program grows and additional partnerships are formed, there will truly be no corner of the Green Mountain State where opera cannot be heard.
