A National Opera Center
OPERA America’s move to New York City in 2005 was just the first step in a bold new plan to create a ‘center of gravity’ for the field. New York is home to the country’s largest concentration of opera artists, companies and music businesses — including major companies and new works producers, artist managers, publishers and costume shops, and thousands of singers and other artists. Members from across the country and around the world travel to New York to conduct auditions and participate in a wide range of meetings. Despite this concentration of talent, no appropriate facility exists in which to conduct essential industry business. To increase the level of creativity, excellence and effectiveness in opera, OPERA America’s National Opera Center will provide unique and necessary services never before available in a single, purpose-built facility.
In February 2011, OPERA America signed a lease for the space that will become the Opera Center. The Opera Center will occupy 25,000 square feet on two floors in the same building that houses OPERA America’s current offices. In order to create a double-height, acoustically excellent Audition Recital Hall, concrete and steel will be removed between the two floors in part of the space. The location of the Opera Center, within a few blocks of 10 subway lines, three suburban railroads, Amtrak and the AirTrain to JFK and Newark Airports, will be convenient for visitors and New Yorkers alike. Market conditions have resulted in a unique opportunity to secure a long-term commitment for this space on favorable terms.
As OPERA America’s learning and networking services become more easily distributed using electronic media, the Opera Center will become the physical heart of an industry that is dispersed, but inherently collaborative.
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