Meanderings Part Three

Well the flight gods were with me and I left Chicago right on time. I arrived in Cincinnati to find that while I had made it without any problems, my bag had not. Evidently, in my gate change my bag wasn't moved.

Well, it eventually caught up with me later that evening. Meanwhile, I caught up with Richard (Buckley)and Molly who picked me up at the airport.

An afternoon at the Cincinnati Museum of Art and a very nice dinner at a restaurant on the square downtown called Via Vite. I highly recommend if you are in town.

Saturday was a slow morning. The afternoon was spent hearing four young artists who are part of the program. Some good young talent I think even though most of them were tired from working on productions.

The performance of Don Carlo was excellent. The casting was superb and the conducting paced by Richard in his first Don Carlo showed the fine level of musicianship that you expect when he steps on the podium.

It is now early morning in Cincinnati and I am typing as I head back to the airport for an early AM flight. 4 hours of sleep will hopefully yield a nice nap on my flight to Houston. With any luck both my bag and I will be back in Austin by the early afternoon.

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Meanderings Part Two

Well, well 10 min early to Chicago. Perhaps those burnt offerings to the gods are working in my favor today.

After searching for a Coke Zero and see Trail Mix, no this is not product positioning in a blog, I am off to gate G6b except that is no loner my gate and I am route to gate H1b. Hmmm... Must not count the chickens too early.

Love Chicago. I spent three years here in the 90's working for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Great town. Love the Cubs. Can't stand the winters here. At least we don't have to shovel the heat in Texas!

Let's see if my flight will leave on time, 12:30 PM.

The travels continue.
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Meanderings of a traveling opera director

Lest anyone get the impression that since the opera season is over there is nothing to do until November I am going to be blogging about a little scouting trip to Cincinnati Opera.

The purpose of the trip is two-fold. First, our principal conductor Richard Buckley is conducting performances of Verdi's opera Don Carlo. Second, I will be auditioning several young artists.

I won't be entirely alone on this trip as I will be meeting up with a few of our Trustees who are also going to see Don Carlo.

So, let the odyssey begin. I have packed my bags, chosen lots of reading material for long flights and those inevitable airport delays, had my morning coffee, and said my prayers to the gods of flight and weather. Next stop Chicago and O'hara airport. Sorry no direct flights!

Let's go.
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Our 23rd Season... Just a Few Short Months Away.

Our 23rd opera season is just a few short months away. Don't miss out on the opening night of La Boheme on Saturday, 7 November. This season at ALO is going to be the place to see and be seen. Meet your friends, soak up the incredible sounds and artistry that is opera at ALO.

Austin Critics' Table Awards

The Austin Critics' Table Awards were held last night at the Cap City Comedy Club. The evening was colorful. It is great to be able to gather as an artistic community for these awards. The support that we all show each other is really fantastic.

There are always great moments. My favorite was when one of the theater groups got up to accept their award. They talked about their production and how they tried the best to give every audience member what they wanted every night. Suddenly, one of them dropped their pants and showed us how one audience member got the opportunity to tattoo their name on this guys butt!! I thought I was going to fall out of my chair I was laughing so hard.

ALO took home three awards, Best Opera for Dialogues of the Carmelites, Best Artist for Emily Pulley as Blanche de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites and and co-award with the Lyova Rosanoff, Steve Saugey, and Shaun Wainwright-Branigan for the script of The Bat, our own Austin-tacious version of Die Fledermaus.

I am always completely blown away by the talent in Austin and feel totally honored to be a part of this incredible culture.

For more information on all the winners read Austin Critics' Table Award Winners 2008 - 2009.

Thank you to the Austin critics and to the community for their support! Congratulations to all the award winners!

Critics Table Award Nominations

Austin Lyric Opera received 19 nominations from the Critics Table. They are:

The Bat (6)
Best Opera
Director: Rod Caspers
Scenic Design: David Nancarrow
Lighting Design: David Nancarrow
Costume Design: Susan Branch
Supporting Act: Ev Lunning Jr. (Frosch)

Cinderella (3)
Singer: Sandra Piques Eddy (Cinderella)
Singer: Michele Angelini (Ramiro)
Singer: John Boehr (Dandini)

Rigoletto (3)
Best Opera
Lighting Design: David Nancarrow
Singer: Lyubov Petrova (Gilda)

Dialogues of the Carmelites (6)
Best Opera
Director: Eric Einhorn
Lighting Design: Shawn Kaufman
Sound Design: Bill Mester
Singer: Emily Pully (Blanche de la Force)
Singer: Suzanne Ramo (Constance)

La Curandera (1)
Best Opera (Collaboration with the Butler Opera Studio)

Thank you to the Critics Table for these nominations. It is an honor just to be nominated.

The critics Table awards are Monday, 1 June at the Cap City Comedy Club, 8120 Research Blvd. Admission is free, and no reservations are required. Please put this date on the calendar and join us for the awards.

More information at:

Austin American Statesman
Austin Chronicle

Gina Ducloux Memorial

It was wonderful to have such an outpouring of support for Gina Ducloux. The memorial service was filled with people who loved this first ALO family, Walter and Gina Ducloux.

Their memory lives on in this company that was so important to them. ALO is their gift and legacy to the Austin community.

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