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Act Too Studio Opera Workshop

Teen-powered opera

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Help us save Rinaldo!

We’re about to wrap up our third week of rehearsal for our summer production of Handel’s 1711 opera Rinaldo. It’s our most ambitious project to date—a new adaptation of a beautiful classic, full of difficult arias, heart-wrenching emotion, a beautifully queer updated libretto, and seven young singers with their noses to the grindstone while many of their peers are on vacation.

But as glorious as their hard work might be, our project is the most underfunded it’s ever been. We’ve been rehearsing in our own small studio, staging scenes in the front yard, and have yet to secure a performance space we can afford. With production week just a few weeks away, we’re excited, but drowning in uncertainty.

Thanks to your generous donations, we’ve raised over $1500 this week, which means that next week we’ll move out of the yard and into our beloved rehearsal space at All Saints Church! But we still need to raise $3500 more to get us into a performance space and to pay the artists whose brilliance and generosity we rely on to make our productions sound and look the best that we can make them.

Can you help us reach that goal? Even as little as $10 helps move us forward! Click here to donate online. If you prefer, you can also donate by check*.

Thank you for your support!

Act Too Studio Opera Workshop is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non‐profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Act Too Studio Opera Workshop must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” and are tax‐deductible to the extent permitted by law.

*Checks should be made payable to Fractured Atlas, with “Act Too Studio Opera Workshop” in the memo line. Checks may be mailed to Act Too Studio Opera Workshop, Attn: Melinda Beasi, 15 Cottage St. #418, Easthampton, MA 01027. Checks for $1000 or more must be accompanied by a Major Gift Letter.

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Week of Teen Opera, Day 2: “Opera Misconceptions”

Today’s theme in our Week of Teen Opera was “Opera Misconceptions,” for which our teens (and a couple of grownup cameos) submitted videos debunking common ideas about opera. For those who might have missed them, we compiled a YouTube playlist which makes it easy to catch them all in one place! Check it out below, and please consider supporting us during this fundraising week! CLICK TO DONATE.

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Giving Tuesday: Thank you!

Yesterday was #GivingTuesday, and we’d like to thank everyone who came out to support Act Too Studio Opera Workshop! Though we fell short of our goal for the day, we’re hopeful that we can make up that deficit as our Week of Teen Opera continues! Every dollar that was donated yesterday is vital, and we are so grateful to you all. If you missed out on yesterday’s flood of videos, we’ve collected them all here for you!

Each day this week comes with a theme, and for #GivingTuesday, our students recorded video testimonials about what the workshop means to them, and why they think it’s important. Even I got in on the action and recorded my own testimonial about what the *kids* mean to me! Check them out below.

We also received a written testimonial from one student, which I’ll share with you here as well:

So I’ve been sharing a bunch of links to this today, and here’s why I think you should donate money to this cause:

The Opera Workshop is an amazing cause and an amazing opportunity, there is nowhere else that I know of that does what Melinda Beasi does for us. When you search for high school opera schools and programs, none appear that aren’t related to the Met or Universities like Carnegie Mellon. Now, when I first started taking voice lessons at Act Too and Melinda and Janet Klump asked if I wanted to try a classical piece I resisted and worked a tiny bit on an easy little french piece, not giving it any thought. Melinda continued to try to convince me to do classical pieces to which I maneuvered my way out of, and then I saw the Opera Workshop’s production of The Medium. My view of Opera had been shattered and I was shown how amazing this art form was, throughout the next year I worked a little and a little bit more on classical pieces, and a year later, Melinda asked me to officially join the Workshop. It changed my life, I could perceive music in a whole new way, Opera helped me understand the history of the art form, and the importance, as well as the beauty of it.

But why should you donate money?

It is safe to say that Opera is a dying art form, barely any young people have any interest in it. The mission of ATS Opera Workshop, is to bring this huge part of the history of the world back, and to keep it alive, and show people what Opera truly can be. Donate money so that the Workshop can keep putting on productions that will captivate the community and revitalize the art form, as well as help teens find their voice.

– Brayden (16)

Our Week of Teen Opera continues today with “Opera Misconceptions.” Follow us on Facebook to enjoy the videos as they come! And please, if you’re able, consider a donation of any size to help keep this program alive and affordable for all our teens. CLICK TO DONATE.

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Student Stories: Brandon

Just 2 hours left, and we’re heading into the last Golden Ticket hour in this year’s Valley Gives! Here’s another student statement, from Brandon, who was one of the founding members of the workshop, and will be playing a major role in this summer’s opera before heading off to college!

“Hi I’m Brandon and I’m a current senior at Amherst Regional High-School. Act Too Studio Opera Workshop has meant the world to me. Three summers ago we had the first performance of scenes from the second act of The Marriage of Figaro. I signed up not fully knowing what I was getting myself into but ended up having an amazing time! I had done musical theater for years, but never opera and I had no idea that opera could be just as hilarious, thought provoking, and engaging as musical theater. I learned to love and respect an entirely different style of music that I have continued to learn and love over the past several years.

Melinda and Act Too Studio Opera Workshop provide something that is incredibly unique and necessary for The Pioneer Valley. There are plenty of opportunities for teen performers to participate in musicals, plays, or choirs where classical music is sometimes performed, but there is almost no other opportunity for teens to participate and get engaged in the world of Opera with a group of likeminded peers. While next year in college I will ultimately be studying Musical Theater, I will do so in a music centered program that still allows for me to sing and train classically as well as audition for operas. I would have not chosen or let alone been accepted to that program if it weren’t for Act Too Studio and The Opera Workshop, so truly this organization means the world to me. Please consider donating, it makes such a difference for an ever-growing amount of teenage singers in our community!”

Please consider Brandon and all our teens during these final hours of Valley Gives! DONATE NOW!

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Student Stories: Liam

2.5 hours left and it’s time for another student story! This one comes from Liam, a relative newcomer to the workshop who has come around to classical singing in a big way!

“My name is Liam, I am 19 years old, and I have been a member of the Opera Workshop for a little over a year. When I first started studying with Melinda, I didn’t realize how much of an impact our weekly lessons would have on me. Within a few months, I was hooked. I am now determined to pursue a career in classical singing. Opera is one of the most challenging, exciting and most beautiful art forms to study. When I first started taking lessons, it never occurred to me that being an opera singer meant not only knowing how to sing, but also acting and knowing multiple languages. It was both exhilarating and overwhelming.

Thanks to Melinda and my peers, at Opera Workshop, I came to be comfortable with the various aspects of opera singing. Please support us today, so we can continue learning our craft, and by doing so, continue to inspire other teens.”

Please consider Liam and all our teens as Valley Gives winds down this evening! There is still time to DONATE NOW!