New Lifelong Learning Opera Course!
Opera Santa Barbara is partnering with Santa Barbara City College’s Center for Lifelong Learning to offer a new course on opera during the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 quarters. Titled “Opera in Performance”, the course will be centered around the three operas being performed in OSB’s 2016-17 season – Carmen, The Cunning Little Vixen, and La rondine – and on some of the operas that will be seen in the HD-Met transmissions – Don Giovanni, Romeo et Juliette, La traviata, and Der Rosenkavalier. The classes will meet on selected Mondays and will be taught by Simon Williams, who will also be inviting guest artists and lecturers to talk about their work and about the many different challenges of creating and performing opera. In lectures and discussions, the course will examine the music, libretto, and performance history of each selected opera. It will also explore the historical background, all with the intention of taking your experience of these masterpieces to a higher level. Both beginners and seasoned veterans of opera are invited to participate.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
October 17: Introduction to Don Giovanni
October 22: Don Giovanni on Met HD
October 24: Introduction to Carmen, including a visit with some of the artists
November 4 & 6: Carmen at the Granada
November 7: Discussion of Carmen
January 23: Introduction to Romeo et Juliette
January 21: Romeo et Juliette on Met HD
February 20: The Cunning Little Vixen, including a visit with some of the artists
February 27: Introduction to The Cunning Little Vixen
March 3 & 5: The Cunning Little Vixen at the Granada
March 6: Discussion of Vixen, introduction to La traviata
March 11: La traviata on Met HD
April 17: In-depth visit with some of the artists from La rondine
April 24: Introduction to La rondine
April 28 & 30: La rondine at the Granada
May 8: Discussion of La rondine and introduction to Der Rosenkavalier
May 13: Der Rosenkavalier on Met HD
Registration for this new series is available through the Lifelong Learning Center website – www.thecll.org.