Library of Congress' Performing Arts Covid-19 Response Collection
We are excited to share that our “Tales from a Safe Distance” will be a part of the Performing Arts Covid-19 Response Collection in the Library of Congress! This collection will include works by nationally and internationally renowned creators to document the new work that performing artists created during the pandemic. We are very honored to have the work of our 86 artists and 9 member companies recognized and preserved in this special collection!
Quoting Jill Anna Ponasik, of Decameron Opera Coalition:
At a time when all of our work is evaporating and nothing seems to matter…this is nice:
The Library of Congress’s Music Division is curating a new collection: the Performing Arts Covid-19 Response Collection, and our recent collaboration with the Decameron Opera Coaliton has made the cut!
This collection will include creative works and projects of nationally and internationally renowned creators to document new music, jazz, theater, musical theater, and dance during the pandemic, with the goal of building a collection of original scores, scripts, and choreography inspired by quarantine and the pandemic, the contextual documents surrounding the creation and planning of these works, and a brief oral history with creators. Rachel Peters Margi Preus Jean Rodham SramekAnn GumpperBill MunsonJorell WilliamsMarjorie MaltaisGeorgia Evangelina JacobsonRaven McMillonErin AldridgeOra Jewell-BuscheAlex FlinnerChristina BaldwinKailyn Spencer
Best of 2020: OperaWire’s Top 11 Industry-Defining Moments of the Year (read the article here, but this is our bit):
5. Indie Companies Lead Operatic Innovation
If we look back at this year, we can all agree that some of the greatest innovation from around the opera world came not from the “big name” companies, but those with more flexibility. Faced with incredible challenges, almost every independent opera company showcased great resilience and innovation. Some projects that really stood out in this vein include the Decameron Coalition, which saw such companies as Bare Opera, Lyric Opera of the North, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, UrbanArias, Opera in the Heights, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, An Opera Theatre, Resonance Works, and Chicago Fringe Opera come together to create a unique, multi-faceted online opera experience.
