As multiple videos are streaming from opera organizations during the Covid shutdown, a unique broadcast has emerged.
With a few weeks to go until the American elections, a group of singers are competing with arias as they ask for financial contributions to encourage voting.
Viewers pledge their dollars so they can vote for their favorite singers, and also vote for which aria they’d like each singer to perform. The audience’s selection of which arias to perform is a unique innovation. During the course of the Zoom-based Night at the Opera, viewers bid against each other to pick their personal favorites.
The proceeds go to an organization called Field Team 6, chaired by soprano Kala Maxym. She is one of the singers competing in the on-line contest. Funds contributed towards the event go to support progressive Black women running for elected office. Maxym and her colleagues put their efforts primarily towards encouraging mail-in voting. Their published messages do not specifically mention candidates by name, but the group is clear about its preference for progressive causes.
For further information, go to https://www.fieldteam6.org/mission.
In a related story, Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts is transforming its annual Giargiari Bel Canto Vocal Competition into an on-line virtual event because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
That contest, scheduled for late October, traditionally has pitted AVA resident artists against each other for prize money. In past years the Competition has seen such international opera stars as Angela Meade, Stephen Costello, Michael Fabiano and Ailyn Pérez sing arias to win prizes.
This year the singers will be in the music school’s Helen Corning Warden Theater at 1920 Spruce Street in Philadelphia while audience members will be in their homes as they will have the opportunity to participate in a live chat and vote on their favorite singer of the evening.