Article: Gala"Con brio! Opera New Jersey celebrates a crescendo of growth"Princeton Packet (Christian Kirkpatrick) It was practically a birthday party Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency. Opera New Jersey — formerly New Jersey Opera Theater — was anticipating its fifth anniversary, which will come in just a few days. This upcoming event turned the 2007 Celebrate Opera Gala a commemoration, not just of another successful year, but of a milestone passed. Executive Director Lisa Altman laughingly commented that the organization had come a long The gala booklet provides some figures that show just how far the organization has come. A budget of $17,000 funded its first modest season in 2003. This year’s budget of $1.1 million makes it the largest opera company in the state. Opera New Jersey has received steadily rising grants from such organizations as the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, which has also awarded it two Citations of Excellence, the council’s highest honor. The public seems to like the company, too. Its performances were sold out last summer. “People were waiting like vultures at the box office,” remembered Development and Marketing Associate Patricia Kiernan Johnson. An important component of any nonprofit organization is the contributions of its volunteers. Opera New Jersey recently established a Founder’s Award to recognize some of these efforts. Princeton resident Michael Rappeport received its first such award Saturday night for the guidance and service he’s rendered the opera company as treasurer of its board of directors. “I enjoy being on nonprofit boards and have served as treasurer for many organizations,” said Mr. Rappeport, the managing partner of R.L. Associates. He says he’s found that the most enjoyable way to support an organization is to be active in it. “That’s much more fun than just writing checks!” Another part of Opera New Jersey’s success has been its ability to recognize unusual opportunities. Recently it agreed to partner with the PHS Senior Living Foundation, which brings arts and culture to its senior-housing facilities, which include Stonebridge at Montgomery and Meadow Lakes in East Windsor. Opera New Jersey performers will rehearse at one of the organization’s facilities, which will also house most of its guest artists. In return, residents at the facility will be able to sit in during rehearsals and attend enrichment programs sponsored by the company. The Celebrate Opera Gala offered a taste of what those residents — and New Jersey opera lovers — can look forward to in the 2008 season. In between courses of a truly delightful meal, five guest artists sang favorite arias and duets, several of which were from operas that will be performed next year. Singing in this mini-concert was baritone William Andrew Stuckey. The Lawrence resident usually appears with companies in far- flung locales, so he’s looking forward to performing in Opera New Jersey’s production of La Traviata this summer. He said that local friends who’ve never heard him Opera New Jersey will begin its season in February with Verdi’s Rigoletto. This concert-staged production will appear at Morristown’s Community Theater on Feb. 1, at McCarter Theatre in Princeton on Feb. 8 and at the State Theater in New Brunswick on Feb 10. Tickets are now available. During the summer, the company will stage Verdi’s La Traviata, Rossini’s Cinderella and Lehar’s The Merry Widow. “Opera is so uplifting and inspirational. It’s thrilling to think that people can make such beautiful music,” said gala chair Dede Nini of Princeton. “I’m glad that Opera New Jersey is bringing it to more and more people throughout the state.” Sponsors of the 2007 Celebrate Opera Gala included Johnson & Johnson, Emil and Ann Herkert, Philip and Susan Rinaldi, and Steginsky Capital. Return to the Reviews and Articles Archive.
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