With the New York Opera Fest 2018 officially underway, OperaWire will be showcasing small previews for each major participant at the festival, as we did during last year’s event. However, we are doing things a bit differently this year and giving the floor directly to each company to speak to you, the reader, directly. Enjoy!

Ever wish that opera wasn’t just found in a big theater. Wouldn’t it be better if we could find opera everywhere we went? Or at least in social locales, like a restaurant or a bar?

Opera on Tap agrees with you and throughout this New York Opera Fest, the company will put on performances at a wide range of locations where you can just sit back, grab a drink, and listen.

Opera on Tap

May 10, 2018 – Opera on Tap presents Home Brewed Opera series: Freddy’s Bar and Backroom, 625 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY

May 15, 2018 – Opera on Tap presents a Pop-Up Opera Chorus: Von, 3 Bleeker Street, NY NY

June 1, 2018 – Opera on Tap presents New Brew Series: OOTmeal: Barbès, 376 9th St, Brooklyn, NY

June 13 and 14, 2018 – Opera on Tap presents Hansel and Gretel: The Playground Opera: The playground at Public School 129, 425 West 130th St, New York, NY

Tell us a bit about your company in general and what you’re all about!

Opera on Tap (OOT) was born in 2005 at Freddy’s Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn and incorporated in 2007 to promote opera as a viable, living and progressive art form and to support the developing artists who continue to keep the art form alive. What began as a small monthly gathering of ambitious, classically trained singers looking for more performance opportunities, has grown into a producing organization that has gained a loyal audience base and national recognition as an innovative force on the classical music scene. Through its Chapter program, which now has over 20 vibrant national (and international!) chapters, OOT has created a large network of performers, creators, and supporters.

Opera on Tap is opera for the people. We bring it directly into our communities and defy expectations of what opera is.

Tell us a bit about your production(s) and why you’re excited about them!

During Fest, we have four events. In May, we have our regular Homebrew opera show at Freddy’s in Brooklyn, and then our inaugural pop-up opera chorus event at Von winebar on Bleeker street (super excited about extending the OOT mission to engage the public in actually singing WITH us). In June, we have our Playground Opera, the fourth one ever and it’s going to be magical. We also have our OOTmeal-themed New Brew show at Barbes centered on new works all about food.

Tell us why you’re excited about this year’s New York Opera Festival!

We are so excited to share our ongoing bi-monthly series Home Brewed Opera with the rest of the alliance! It’s a series that started our organization and we love bringing new audiences to our informal, imbibing atmosphere!

We love this festival and have been very happy with the attention our org has received through it these past few years. It’s great!

What do you feel is the biggest challenge small opera companies face?

Budget – always budget!