Fort Worth Opera Proudly Announces Launch of New Digital Initiative FWO Green Room, Part of the Company’s 75th Anniversary Season and Reimagined 2020

FWO Green Room features Metropolitan Opera soprano Jennifer Rowley’s six-week Virtual Audition Intensive for young singers;

Festival Artists Online, the company’s platform for concerts and compelling conversations; Frontiers: FWO Libretto Workshop, a two-night exploration of operatic storytelling; and an inspirational choral project featuring the stunning Fort Worth Opera Chorus.

FORT WORTH, TX — Fort Worth Opera (FWO) is proud to announce the launch of FWO Green Room, a new digital initiative to kick off the company’s 75th anniversary season. In this time of social distancing, as opera companies across the globe continue to explore innovative ways to connect with audiences and build dynamic relationships through technology, FWO is thrilled to offer a blend of entertaining and interactive online content for opera lovers and novices alike. The FWO Green Room will feature exhilarating performances, seminars, masterclasses, a two-night libretto workshop with an all-star panel, and round-table discussions with some of the most remarkable luminaries of the opera world.

Following an immensely popular weekend masterclass series with FWO this summer, Metropolitan Opera soprano Jennifer Rowley will offer an exclusive, six-week Virtual Audition Intensive to prepare young opera singers for the fall audition season ahead. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, physical auditions have been replaced with video submissions and virtual performances for audition panels. Over the course of six sessions, Ms. Rowley and her renowned guests will offer invaluable guidance each week on how to deliver an impressive audition, while navigating the current digital landscape successfully.

Beginning August 22, Jennifer Rowley’s Virtual Audition Intensive will be held on Zoom each Saturday through September 26, and simultaneously streamed to FWO and Ms. Rowley’s Facebook pages. These insightful masterclasses and seminars will discuss vocal health and fatigue, the audition circuit in Europe, and the anatomy of a perfect video audition with special guests David and Francisco Salazar of OperaWire, and production company La Cuarta Productions. FWO is also delighted to announce that E. Loren Meeker, General and Artistic Director of Opera San Antonio, will return after the first summer session to hold another fantastic acting masterclass. Additionally, Ms. Rowley will host classes and talks on young artist programs, mainstage auditions, international competitions, and acquiring management, but with a twist — live audition panels featuring top industry professionals.

While Fort Worth Opera was saddened to announce the cancellation of the 2020 Festival, this unforeseen global crisis has truly invigorated the company. Now is a time ripe for reinvention. Challenges have yielded opportunities to connect with our local and artistic communities in ways that had rarely been mined before the pandemic. FWO looks forward to the moment when these extraordinary artists can be flown to North Texas for live performances. In the interim, the company has invited many of the past season’s stars to join us virtually.

Starting the week of August 17, FWO will debut Festival Artists Online, the company’s digital platform for thrilling concerts, intimate living room performances, and fascinating discussions. Fort Worth Opera is honored to have internationally acclaimed artists Talise Trevigne, Emily Fons, Martin Bakari, Curt Olds, Vanessa Becerra, Luis Alejandro Orozco, Efraín Solís, Devon Guthrie, Donovan Singletary, and Abigail Levis as the project’s inaugural guests. Performances, IGTV interviews, and scheduled conversations will be announced on the company’s official website and social media platforms in the weeks to come.

FWO Green Room will also feature the return of Fort Worth Opera’s celebrated new works showcase Frontiers, in a slightly different format on Zoom. Stripped of any musical elements for this latest incarnation, Frontiers: FWO Libretto Workshop will highlight some of the most vibrant literary voices in contemporary opera, with a two-night exploration of storytelling led by Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Mark Campbell and a prestigious panel of librettists, directors, and singers. A call for submissions, further details, and the full list of panelists will be announced shortly.

The Fort Worth Opera Chorus has become a force to be reckoned with over the past two seasons under brilliant new Chorus Master Alfrelynn Roberts. Next month, FWO will unveil a stunning, inspirational choral performance from a revered 20thcentury American composer, arranger, and choral director. Forty-two choristers will be highlighted on the company’s social media platforms weekly until this virtual choral project premieres, and information will be forthcoming.

FWO Green Room is part of Fort Worth Opera’s ongoing desire to stay connected and engaged with ourcommunity during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This exciting initiative will evolve throughout the company’s 75th anniversary season, as FWO continues to foster strong partnerships with our devoted patrons, inspire the next generation of opera lovers, and support the incredible artists who are the lifeblood of the performing arts here in North Texas and beyond. Visit www.fwopera.org/greenroom to learn more.

ABOUT FORT WORTH OPERA: Founded in 1946, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest continually-performing opera company in Texas, and one of the 14 oldest opera companies in the United States. The organization has received national acclaim from critics and audiences alike for its artistic excellence. Beginning in 2017, Fort Worth Opera launched the second phase of its landmark, 10-year Opera of the Americas initiative with Noches de Ópera (Nights of Opera), a groundbreaking campaign that introduces powerful operas, each reflecting the diverse cultures of American audiences.

Fort Worth Opera is sponsored in part by awards from The Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, The City of Fort Worth, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and OPERA America. Additional Fort Worth Opera sponsors include: the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Burnett Foundation; the Amon G. Carter Foundation; the Sid W. Richardson Foundation; Visit Fort Worth; Adeline & George McQueen Foundation, J.P. Morgan, Trustee; Smallwood Foundation, J.P. Morgan, Trustee; Hattie Mae Lesley Foundation, Bank of America, Trustee; Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust, Simmons Bank, Trustee; Garvey Texas Foundation; Mary Potishman Lard Trust; Fifth Avenue Foundation; The Thomas M. Helen McKee and John P. Ryan Foundation; R4 Foundation; Red Oak Foundation; The Rea Charitable Trust, Wells Fargo Trustee; Wells Fargo Foundation; and Autobahn.

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