Everyone involved with the Community Butterfly Drive at Kids in the Rotunda on Saturday had a great time! We collected well over 200 butterflies to go on display in the Overture Cente
r lobby during performances of
Madama Butterfly, and it was a ton of fun to see all of the kids in costume stopping to make art with Madison Opera. A big thank you is due to the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center, our co-sponsor for the event, and to the Overture Center staff as well for being so accommodating and getting out those few stray scribbles left on the wall (sorry about that!). For now, I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the winners of the first annual Opera Honors. Congratulations to Carlisle Floyd, James Levine, Richard Gaddes, and Leontyne Price!
Happy Halloween! If you have kids or find yourself strolling down State Street after the Farmers’ Market tomorrow, stop on by the COMMUNITY BUTTERFLY DRIVE, a cooperative arts project in celebration of Madison Opera’s Madama Butterfly. In partnership with the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center and Kids in the Rotunda, we’re inviting children from the community to decorate butterflies to go on display in an aerial collage in the Overture Center lobby during performances on Nov. 21 and 23.
The info:
- Nov. 1, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., decorate butterflies in the Overture Center lobby, 201 State Street
- Kids in the Rotunda on Nov. 1 is offering a rock’n’roll costume party, featuring performances by The Madgadders at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.
- Everything is FREE!
It may have snowed yesterday in Madison, but in the office things are just beginning to heat up. Artists begin arriving next week, text and art for the Butterfly program are due Thursday, ads are popping up everywhere…this all has meant a slight deficit in blogging, but stay tuned for all sorts of multimedia behind-the-scenes action when rehearsals get started next week!
Italian Maestro Leonardo Vordoni makes his US debut in Madison Opera’s Madama Butterfly next month, and if his debut at Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland is any indication, we’re all in for a treat. Helming the renowned festival’s production of Perdotti’s Tutti in Maschera, The Stage (UK) says, “Leonardo Vordoni conducts a spirited account of the score. An unmissable delight.” Kudos!
UPDATE 10/22: “Conductor Leonardo Vordoni delivers all the zest and exuberance in the score and the opera is exceptionally well cast.” –Irish Independent (Dublin)
UPDATE 10/27: “Conductor Leonardo Vordoni draws a scintillating performance from the orchestra, keeping the textures crisp, even in the beguiling Act III duet between Vittoria and Emilio…” –The Independent (UK)
r lobby during performances of Madama Butterfly, and it was a ton of fun to see all of the kids in costume stopping to make art with Madison Opera. A big thank you is due to the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center, our co-sponsor for the event, and to the Overture Center staff as well for being so accommodating and getting out those few stray scribbles left on the wall (sorry about that!). For now, I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
