Opera Carolina
Website: www.operacarolina.org
Twitter: @OperaCarolina
Instagram: @operacarolina
Youtube: @ Opera Carolina
Facebook: @ operacarolina
KEY PERSONNEL
Artistic Director- James Meena:
Email: james@operacarolina.org
Director of Education & Community Programs-Ashley Lam
Email: ashley@operacarolina.org
Director of Community Engagement & Customer Service- Alina MacNichol
Email: alina@operacarolina.org
ABOUT: Founded in 1948 by the Charlotte Music Club as the Charlotte Opera, Opera Carolina is the largest opera company in the Carolinas; annually serving more than 65,000 people in North Carolina, South Carolina and Northern Georgia (excluding broadcasts); reaching an average of seventeen counties in the Carolinas each year through its Education & Community programs.
The company has a long history of excellent professional leadership including Artistic Directors Richard Marshall, Henry Janiec and Charles Rosekrans, and General Directors Bruce Chalmers and James Wright. Currently, under the leadership of James Meena, Opera Carolina has nearly doubled in size, and each season produces three main stage productions as well as an extensive array of educational programs, and the Opera Unlimited community performance and program series.
“We are an opera company dedicated to elevating the quality of life in the Carolinas through opera, community, and education programs. Our education programming addresses educational priorities such as literacy, college & career readiness; Our community programming uses opera as a means for positive, accessible family engagement and also as a platform for shared dialogue on community matters such as race, diversity & inclusion, and other issues pertinent to the partner, from which a the H:Drive program led by Novant Health sprang forth; all of these programs take place in Mecklenburg County and the surrounding region.” Ashley Lam, Director of Education and Community Programs
Community & Education Programs
Opera Xpress
The educational touring company of Opera Carolina, Opera Xpress has been sharing the wonder of live, musical storytelling with students, teachers, and families for 50 years. Our musical stories are designed for K-5 learners and are presented on-site and virtually, bring classroom curriculum and other learning goals to life.
Family Opera
The Family Opera series presents weekend performances by Opera Xpress, that are free and open to families all across the Charlotte region. These beloved children’s stories set to music are a perfect first experience with opera for the young and the young at heart.
Opera Carolina Academy
As Opera Carolina’s instructional arm, the academy offers local students grades 3 through college the training needed for all aspects of becoming a professional singing actor. These dynamic, age-appropriate opportunities are a must-do for students who are interested in pursuing this comprehensive art form in the professional world. Some programs include:
Music Drama Workshop
Private Vocal instruction
Academy Chorus
Residencies
This initiative uses arts-activated learning to empower education for students and teachers through classroom residencies that are designed with each school’s faculty and use an arts integration focus to introduce and reinforce curricular concepts.
Voices Engaged
Opera Carolina’s community dialogue initiative that uses the power of music as the catalyst for reflection, connection, and giving voice to perspectives on community issues. Participants in Voices Engaged have a shared music experience and then engage with fellow participants in facilitated small group conversation to express their own reflections and perspectives and discover those of others. Rather than focusing on big action, Voices Engaged is focused on personal awareness and understanding of others as a first step toward a more inclusive, accepting community.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Opera Carolina in Charlotte NC to return to live shows - Charlotte Observer
Opera Carolina Brings Beloved Carmen Back to Charlotte - Charlotte Magazine
Opera Carolina readies its next act - Charlotte Ledger
Opera Carolina's 'I Dream,' an R&B imagining of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last hours- Charlotte Observer
