Summer Opera Orchestras...and other festivals

climbingoddess · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2002 8:55 am Post subject:

Does anyone know of any summer opportunities (domestic or abroad) that are for opera orchestras rather than symphonic orchestras?

Also, what festivals would others suggest for symphonic experience? I spent a summer with the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, CO, and had a blast. What other festivals (besides Tangelwood and Aspen) have others had positive experiences with?

Thanks!

trumpjosh · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2002 9:58 am Post subject:

Not to get off topic here, but I was curious about your user ID. Are you a rock climber? I'm really into climbing and haven't met too many musicians who are into it.

Sorry for the digression...

- Josh

climbingoddess · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2002 10:36 am Post subject:

Yep, I do rock climb. It's been awhile though...I got into it in college with about 4 other trumpet-player friends of mine. We've since all gone our separate ways and Boston isn't the best for climbing--thought it's not that bad, i'm just lazy!

johntpt · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2002 2:00 pm Post subject:

When I was a student I played one summer at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and two summers the AIMS Festival in Austria. Both are great opera festivals in beautiful locations. AIMS is located in Graz, Austria's 2nd largest city located 2 hours south of Vienna in the mountains. Graz is a major city but is not mobbed with tourists like many other places. Venice, Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague are all a short weekend trip away. Spoleto is certainly one of Italy's prettiest small towns. It is located about 90 minutes north of Rome, again up in the mountains, and close to Florence, Assisi, Rome, and Naples. Both of these festivals will give you great memories for a lifetime!

John Urness

tcutrpt · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2002 5:04 pm Post subject:

http://www.festivalensemble.org/home.htm

Check out that site. It is a festival orchestra over in Europe. They have done opera type pieces the first two years. The group sounds terrific! I will probably be auditioning for it this year.

Matt

greenguy · New Member Joined: 21 Sep 2002 Posts: 2

I did Opera in the Ozarks a few years ago. I wouldn't recomend it though. Pay wasn't that great the living facilities where just a few steps above camping. Musically it wasn't all that bad, but there's much better things one could do with ones time when looking for a rewarding experience.

JGulyas · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2002 8:36 pm Post subject:

The Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC is one of the top summer festivals right up there with Tanglewood, Interlochen, et al. It's a 6 week festival with pretty much every type of musical opportunity you can think of. There are several concert bands, orchestras, small ensembles and just recently got a jazz ensemble going.

I spent 6 summers there during high school and college and got some of the best training of my career while in attendance. The faculty are outstanding and all are professional musicians with some of the top orchestras or professors at some of the top schools in the country.

Check it out at http://www.brevardmusic.org
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gb1 · Regular Member Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 35

There's an audition for principal with the Des Moines Metro Opera being advertised on the AF of M website right now. This festival runs about a month from mid-June to mid-July. Section pay is about $2300 for that time period, and I'd assume principal pay is a bit more than that. They have a phone number, whereby you submit your name and address, and they send you a packet of materials.

They ask you to submit a tape of the various excerpts they provide by December 1st, and then they make a decision sometime by February. Anyway, it's a principal job and the brochure they sent with the excerpt packet makes it look like a pretty high-class deal. Worth a shot. A freind of mine in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic has played there for a couple of years, and says it's pretty cool. I guess the group is mostly people who have jobs with orchestras that don't have summer seasons.

I think their rep for this summer is Verdi's "Falstaff" (good stuff), Gounoud's "Faust" (good stuff), and a newer one based on Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" (never heard it.)

Anyone else know about this gig? Any thoughts?