Opera on Tap has announced that it will be formalizing its partnership with Adrienne Danrich’s “Music as the Message.”

The company will team up with Danrich to create interactive, hybrid performances. The series, which Danrich created during the COVID-19 lockdown in response to the murder of George Floyd, was previously presented by The American Opera Project and Opera on Tap.

“Adrienne and her team have developed a deeply moving and loving experience with ‘Music as the Message,’ said Opera on Tap’s Executive and Artistic Director Anne Hiatt, in an official press statement. “To participate is to feel the warmth and connection alongside everyone there with you.

“Over the course of the past two years, I have seen people of all ages visibly expand their chests, reach out to their fellow participants and share in the making of music together- a practice that has declined so much over the course of the last several decades in our culture. To participate in ‘Music as the Message’ – whether as a contracted professional artist or audience member, is to heal through music and feel the strength of your community through music.

“We all need to hear this Message!  It is an honor to support Adrienne’s work as Music as the Message enters into its next phase of development.  The program’s purpose perfectly aligns with Opera on Tap’s mission of engaging our communities through our artistic practice.  I look forward to supporting Adrienne’s work to expand the program’s impact to more and more communities, leveraging Opera on Tap’s unique, intimate and accessible approach to audience engagement.”

To this point, “Music as the Message,” has been a solely online experience in which Danrich, as host, invites artists to perform and interact with audiences. The initiative will soon develop new projects, including musical retreats as well as other education activities.