The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Opera company to debut at FAA
New York-based company to premiere first performance April 22
The opera is coming to Willoughby. And it makes perfect sense.
After all, who else would have a hand in bringing a professional opera company in residence to the Fine Arts Association other than a “hometown” mezzo-soprano veteran of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City?
Heidi Skok, who also teaches voice at Fine Arts and privately, sang in the troupe from 1991 to 2003, realizing her dreams, and is now sharing them with Northeast Ohio.
Resonanz, a successful training and production company, has moved from Albany, New York, to the Cleveland area, now known as Resonanz Opera. Resonanz offers fully staged
operatic works, featuring an international cast of professional singers. The new opera company offers a full calendar of mainstage productions throughout the year, including avant-garde theater, shows for families, school appearances, recitals and traditionally staged
operatic masterpieces.
Resonanz Opera’s first performance, “La Voix Perdue,” opens its premiere season at Fine Arts Association, 38660 Mentor Ave., at 7:30 p.m. April 22.
“I had come to New York City and I saw the show, ‘La Voix Perdue,’ and I said, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ we have to bring this to Resonanz, we have to make this a Resonanz event,” Skok said. “So when Resonanz came
to the Cleveland area, that was the first thought I had, that this had to be on our season.
“And the city of Mentor has invited us to give a performance at their new amphitheater in August at Wildwood Cultural Center. It’s really taking off. I’m trying to keep up. I think we’ve got something very exciting to offer the area. My whole goal for Resonanz is not only to give highquality
performances here at Fine Arts and in Mentor, but to champion artists, Cleveland and national talent. My hope is that Resonanz will become a summer destination nationally for opera. I’d like to see it be a Sante Fe (Opera) or a Glimmerglass (Festival). It would be great for people to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to hop over to Lake County to Resonanz to see what they’re producing.’ And with these facilities at Fine Arts and in Mentor, we have the setup. It’s stellar.”
According to a Fine Arts Association news release, Canadian composer Peter Skoggard’s one-woman show has been described as a “tour de force” for soprano. Resonanz brings the sold-out production from New York’s United Solo Festival to Fine Arts Association as part of its gala opening.
Canadian Soprano Bridget Hogan will reprise her role as “the singer” after her successful debut at New York’s United Solo Theater Festival in 2015.
Hogan described the Ohio premiere, and only the second performance of this work in the United States, as “huge.”
“It’s a special thing and I think every performer can relate to it, but I don’t think it’s performer specific,” she said. “It’s about a human being sitting down and having a conversation, almost a stream-of-consciousness, with other human beings.
“Two things make me want to do this piece over and over. One, it asks more questions than it gives answers, and the other thing is my score is a funny thing to look at, it’s a litany of women from Heidi, to my mother, to my grandmother. It’s sort of a celebration to what they all bring to the table. The character is strong with a lot to say.
“This (company) isn’t about notes and pitches, it’s about communicating, it’s about connecting with words and silences,” she said. “That’s why Heidi chose a piece like this to open the season in Cleveland. I couldn’t wait to get on board. Resonanz has gone from being a company to a movement in less than a year. I’m in from New York for the day and it’s so cool to watch this community rise up and say, ‘Yeah, we want this.’”
“La Voix Perdue” — “The Lost Voice” or “The Damned Voice”—explores and examines the question, “What if silence is real?” from a uniquely feminine point of view, the release stated. The audience hears in darkness the sounds of a newsroom and a journalist being given instruction for his upcoming interview. He later visits a retired operatic diva who has chosen the life of a recluse in her New York apartment.
Tickets for “La Voix Perdue” are $20, $30 and $50/ reserved seating. To purchase tickets, call the Fine Arts Association at 440951-7500.