LAYLA VINSON
Staff Writer
In a tasteful afternoon sharing songs and snacks, Chautauqua Opera Guild hosted its annual picnic July 24 outside Norton Hall. Members of the Guild and Chautauqua Opera Company enjoyed a lunch celebrating the history and future of opera at Chautauqua Institution and beyond.
“This is how all of my work here at Chautauqua has moved forward,” Steven Osgood, general and artistic director of the Chautauqua Opera Company and Conservatory, said expressing heartfelt gratitude toward the support of the Guild over the years. “Whenever there was an idea that seemed like it really had energy and fire underneath it, but needed a little bit more money, I could come to the Opera Guild and ask for that support.”
Fondly reflecting on the season’s productions, spanning from opera invasions to art song recitals to the triple-bill performance in the Amphitheater, Osgood outlined the home stretch of the remaining weeks. With an upcoming orchestral workshop for Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and two approaching pieces presented with piano accompaniment — 10 minutes from Anne of Green Gables and 30 minutes from A Prayer for Owen Meany — the Company will end their season with just as much vigor as it began.
A few of the Company’s Young Artists — Lindsey Weissman, Christopher Walters and Gabriel Chona Rueda — restaged and stitched together a few selections from Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Joined by Music Administrator and Chorus Master Carol Rausch as the pianist, the performance treated the audience to an entertaining, bilingual translation of scenes.
During the event, which was made possible through the support of the Guild, Co-president of the Chautauqua Opera Guild Deanna Johnson announced the Guild’s success in raising approximately $1.8 million in support for the Company. Despite coming short of their three-year, $3-million campaign goal, Johnson regarded the support as more than a monetary success: a symbolic display of the indispensable art of opera at Chautauqua.
“Because of your generous support, we’ve demonstrated to the Institution that Opera has a strong and committed community behind it, and it is essential for the four pillars,” Johnson said. “Over the past two years, the Institution has supplemented the Opera season, and we are pleased that this partnership is expected to continue.”
Co-president Eileen Conroy expressed further gratitude toward the financial support from the Institution over the past two seasons as well as the monetary aid from the Guild. Composed of a 14-member board that meets monthly, the Guild focuses its efforts on tapping into the excitement of its members and continues to seek out new ways to involve the community.
“What we’re going to do is maybe have small gatherings at our homes to reduce the intimidation factor and just say, ‘Look, this is how opera started. It was the popular form of entertainment when it started,’” Conroy shared.
To conclude the picnic, Cynthia Norton highlighted the origins of Norton Hall and its ripple effect, which continues to grow with time. Initially donated by Norton’s great-grandmother, Lucy Coit Fanning Norton, and further advanced in architectural design at the discretion of Lucy Coit Fanning Norton’s son, Ralph Norton; Cynthia Norton holds the building in high regard on both a personal and global scale.
“My vision is that Norton Hall could become better known as an example of beautiful visionary architecture and thus a more valuable asset to Chautauqua Institution and to the world of architecture in general,” Cynthia Norton said, referencing the work of Ralph Norton in creating such a monumental and monolithic structure, which garnered widespread attention at the time of its origin in 1929. “Let’s use this inspiring DNA and this bold vision to help complete Chautauqua Opera’s capital campaign to raise $3 million by the end of this year.”
The importance of Norton Hall was further emphasized by Osgood, who said at the June 19 Opera Guild Gala that productions will take place in Norton Hall instead of the Amphitheater next year. While harboring a deep appreciation for the opportunity to bring opera to an incredibly wide audience in the Amphitheater, Osgood has consistently sought ways to host productions within the building and to honor the rich history of Norton Hall.
“There have been hundreds and hundreds of productions that have sounded inside those walls,” Osgood announced from the stairs lining the entrance.
“That kind of legacy is something that we cannot walk away from.”
