Opera Company of Brooklyn

The Opera Company of Brooklyn (OCB) is an opera company founded in 2000 which performs in a variety of venues in New York City. It is a non-profit organization operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The company

Described as "virtual company", Opera Company of Brooklyn is led by American conductor, Jay Meetze. Other artists who have worked with the company include Gerard Alessandrini, Thomas Pasatieri, Joseph Rescigno, and Adam Silverman.

The company also has an educational outreach program as well as a Resident Artist Program (RAP) for singers, coaches, pianists and conductors. Artists who have worked with students on the RAP include Lucine Amara, Harolyn Blackwell, Catherine Malfitano, Ashley Putnam and Thomas Pasatieri

OCB was featured on the Jeopardy quiz show, Good Morning America with MythBusters and CNN. Other coverage include numerous reports on radio: National Public Radio's Day to Day, American Public Media's Marketplace, 1010 WINS, WNYC's Overnight Music and Soundcheck, and reviews and articles (some front-page and full-page) in the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, NY Post and Daily News (New York), New York Magazine, American Record Guide, Opera News and Crain's New York Business.

The company's CD on Albany Records and featuring music by American composer, Thomas Pasatieri was named one of the "Best of the year" by Metropolitan Opera's Opera News magazine.

Artistic trustees

Martina Arroyo, Steuart Bedford, Harolyn Blackwell, Simon Estes, William Hicks, Rhoda Levine, Elaine Malbin, Jane Marsh, Ashley Putnam, Barry Tucker, Frederica Von Stade, David Walker

2011-2012 Season

Autumn/Early Winter Repertoire

• Il tabarro and Suor Angelica
• Dido and Aeneas
• Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Late Winter/Spring operas

• Roméo et Juliette
• L'elisir d'amore
• The Tales of Hoffmann
• La traviata
• Die Zauberflöte

Performance history

• 2011 - Pagliacci, Tosca, Rigoletto, Carmen, Barber of Seville
• 2010 - The Medium, L'elisir d'amore, Die Fledermaus, Suor Angelica, La Clemenza di Tito, The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, Le nozze di Figaro, La bohème
• 2009 - I Puritani, L'elisir d'amore, La traviata, Don Giovanni, Susannah, Così fan tutte, Madama Butterfly, Amahl and the Night Visitors
• 2008 - Così fan tutte, Die Fledermaus, The Barber of Seville, The Magic Flute, Korczak's Orphans, Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, Amahl and the Night Visitors
• 2007 - Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, Roméo et Juliette, Korczak's Orphans, Un ballo in maschera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Fledermaus, Tosca
• 2006 - I Pagliacci, Suor Angelica, Giulio Cesare, The Impresario, The Medium, La Divina, Signor Deluso, La bohème, The Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, La Rondine, The Italian Girl in Algiers, Rigoletto, Carmen, Barber of Seville, Eugene Onegin, La traviata, The Elixir of Love, The Magic Flute
• 2005 - Lucia di Lammermoor, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, La Divina, Signor Deluso
• 2004 - Marriage of Figaro
• 2003 - The Abduction from the Seraglio, La Rondine, Rigoletto, Romeo and Juliet, Magic Flute, Carmen, Barber of Seville, Così fan tutte
• 2002 - Don Giovanni
• 2001 - Madama Butterfly, Amahl and the Night Visitors
• 2000 - The Impresario, The Medium

Collaborations/Venues

Art/NY's Fort Greene Auditorium, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater- The Joan Weill Center for Dance, Bargemusic, Brooklyn Bar Association: Annual Dinner at Marriott, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party, Brooklyn Heights First Unitarian Church, Brooklyn Museum of Art: Eternal Egypt Exhibition, Brooklyn Public Libraries: Main Branch and Brooklyn Heights, CAMI Hall, Freeport Memorial Library- Long Island, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Good Shepherd Catholic Church, ICO Art & Music Gallery, Katonah United Methodist Church, Liederkranz Club, Marymount Manhattan College: Adult Continuing Education course in opera, Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church, Northside Piers, NYC College of Technology's Voorhees Theatre and Klitgord Auditorium, New York City Public Schools, Phillipa Schuyler Middle School, Plymouth Church, Pratt Institute: Student Welcome Week, Science Skills Center High School, St. Ann's Episcopal Church, Saint James Church, St. Teresa's Church, Studios 353, The Young Women's Leadership School

Press

• 'Move Over, Zeffirelli: A New Opera Company Thinks Small', New York Times, HOPE REEVES
• 'Only the Voices are Huge', New York Magazine, Justin Davidson
• full-page review of OCB/Albany Records' CD, Opera News, Editors Choice, F. PAUL DRISCOLL
• Opera on the piers, with a touch of garage music, New York Daily News, Rachel Monahan
• Marketplace, American Public Media, Ashley Milne-Tyte
• Front page] of Crain's Business New York by Miriam Kreinin Souccar
• Opera Houses in Private Homes, Crain's New York Business, Miriam Kreinin Souccar
• Tips From The Top, CNN, Betty Nguyen
• Columbia University's Daily Spectator: 'Alternative Operas Bring Perspective to the Stage' by Ginia Sweeney [1]
• Jeopardy! TV quiz show features OCB: The category was HOPE THIS ISN'T AN OPERA CATEGORY: The gameboard. "Fuhgeddaboudit! The Opera Co. of this NYC borough performs in unusual venues, like people's living rooms" It was answered correctly, Brooklyn.

• Professionals and students study OCB in two new books:
  • Arts and Cultural Programming: A Leisure Perspective by Gaylene Carpenter, Doug Blandy
  • Performing Arts Management: A Handbook of Professional Practices by Tobie S. Stein and Jessica Bathurst.

• Francesca Zambello - "I support and applaud the OCB efforts and am grateful you are there making a small dent in creating a thirst for an audience of now and the future."
• The New York Times - "On Saturday the cast offered much to enjoy."
• American Record Guide Magazine - "This was a new experience, and I'm glad I had it."
• The New York Post - "This 'Flute', with minimum trappings and a futuristic setting suggested by slide projections, was a game and often witty theatrical effort, occasionally over the top, but endearing for its shoestring effort. Some good voices were on display."

Reviews

• American Record Guide, November/December 2003
• Opera News, November 2003
• The Wall Street Journal, Friday, 7 November 2003, p. A1
• The New York Post, Tuesday, August 12, 2003, p. 36
• The New York Times, August 11, 2003, p. E3
• City Tech News & Events, October 1, 2003
• Opera Jamboree December 1, 2000,

External links

• Home page for Opera Company of Brooklyn