Ambitious Townsend Opera season reaches out to new Modesto-area audiences

Every day, Matthew Buckman asks himself the same question: “How do we get young people to come to the opera?”

Buckman, general director of Modesto’s Townsend Opera, will cast a wide net for the answer with a heavy 2015-16 season of shows, collaborations and special events that will play across the region.

“This pioneering new season was created with an ambitious goal: securing opera’s long-term place in our community,” Buckman said in an email interview.

“Knowing from experience that it is difficult to convince someone to take the leap from no experience with opera to a main stage production in a foreign language, our programming over the next 18 months is designed to engage people with smaller, more comfortable events while making the path to a main stage performance as easy as possible,” he added. “Our entire season is built around making it as easy as possible for people to experience opera in our community.”

The 2015-16 season includes two operatic performances of American works: Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” and Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking.” Among the highlights of the latter presentation will be an appearance in Modesto by Heggie and Sister Helen Prejean, author of the book on which the hit movie and opera are based.

In addition, the company’s 33rd season will feature the return of the company’s Opera Remix programs, a new recital series and partnerships with California State University, Stanislaus, as well as with regional poets and writers.

Buckman also will continue to also serve as general director of Fresno Grand Opera. The two opera companies entered a partnership in 2014 to split costs under Buckman’s direction.

Townsend’s Opera Remix Initiative is a grant-funded program that began in 2011, geared to modernizing the reputation of opera and removing the perception that it’s an inaccessible, stuffy art form. Two Remix programs, “Worlds Collide” and “Music & Verse” with the work “Hydrogen Jukebox” will be offered in the coming season.

In addition, Townsend will launch a recital series to highlight local singers, offered at Deva Cafe in downtown Modesto. The slate of offerings will put Townsend Opera programs in the community nearly each month beginning in September.

Buckman discussed the ambitious coming season:

Q: What does the “Worlds Collide” program include?

A: This program combines classic rock and opera, so we’ll have some of the best classic rock tunes and opera arias in the repertoire performed on the same program. Songs will include “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, “Quando Me’n Vo” from “La bohème,” “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles, Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma,” “Baba O’Riley” by The Who and “Habanera” from “Carmen.” All of the music has been arranged by professional composers for a rock orchestra and will be performed by opera singers in a casual setting.

Q: How have the Opera Remix shows been received over the years?

A: Generally speaking, the Opera Remix events have been well received by those in attendance. The events are created to engage different segments of our community who have not experienced opera while breaking down some of the negative perceptions that a lot of people have about going to the opera. Through our Opera Remix events, we have shown people that going to the opera can be a really fun experience.

Q: How did the collaboration with California State University, Stanislaus, come about?

A: We have maintained close contact with CSU Stanislaus to find ways to engage their students in the work of the opera, and as this idea developed, the chair of the music department at CSU Stanislaus expressed an interest in participating.

Q: Can you speak about the “Hydrogen Jukebox” program?

A: I am very excited about the Opera Remix: “Music & Verse” event. “Hydrogen Jukebox” is a really interesting chamber opera by Philip Glass set to Allen Ginsberg poetry, and we’re happy to be presenting the Central Valley premiere of this piece.

More so, I am pleased to be collaborating with the poetry community to present a really unique performance experience that highlights the role of the written word in opera while presenting both art forms to the community in one setting. It is my hope that opera patrons will be exposed to the power of poetry and the poetry community will come away with a different understanding of what opera can be.

Q: Why tap into the poetry scene?

A: The poetry community is a thriving group of young, culturally engaged people who actively participate in the creation of new art in their field. Since this season is dedicated to engaging young people with participatory activities in opera, and opera is an art form that combines music and words, we felt that engaging the poetry community was a great start for this exciting new program.

Q: What about the recitals, have you done this before?

A: While we have presented a number of recitals over the past few years, this series is new to our company. In presenting this series, we seek to celebrate some of the wonderful talent living right here in our community while providing more opportunities for our community to experience great singing in more casual environments.

Q: Speak a bit about each of the stage productions.

A: “Sweeney Todd” is widely considered one of the best pieces of music ever written for the American lyric theater. It is also considered the most operatic of all of Sondheim’s works, and is starting to be reclaimed by major opera houses around the country ... Our production will feature this great work in the tradition of grand opera, with no amplified sound and high quality operatic singers.

“Dead Man Walking” is by far the most successful opera written in the last 50 years. It has seen over 40 different productions since its world premiere in 1999, and is currently the most performed American opera in Europe. The opera has all of the elements you need for a masterpiece – a meaningful human story to which people can connect and wonderfully lyric music that is enjoyable to listen to.

We also have the unique opportunity to welcome Heggie, the composer of “Dead Man Walking,” and Prejean, the person at the center of the story and author of the book on which the movie and opera are based, to our community to speak about the opera and their life experiences that led to this opera’s creation.

“Dead Man Walking” is considered the next great opera to take a permanent place in the repertoire, so this is an exciting opportunity for our community to meet a composer who will likely be listed among the great opera composers in history.

Q: What else would you like readers to know about the new season and about Townsend Opera?

A: This is a season designed to welcome new audiences to the opera while still providing meaningful and fulfilling experiences for traditional opera audiences. I encourage audiences of all ages to go on this journey with us, as every single program this season has been carefully planned to be enjoyable for all.

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Ambitious Townsend Opera season reaches out to new Modesto-area audiences."