Painted Sky Opera is (out)reaching new heights

Community outreach is on the agenda for Painted Sky Opera as it moves into its second season.

Owner Barbara DeMaio is hoping high school students will attend a free viewing of an opera performance.

"Outreach is a big part of what we do," DeMaio said.

On Oct. 5, high school students can get a behind-the-scenes tour and see a performance of "Tosca" in the Freede Theatre at Civic Center Music Hall.

There will be three performances for the public on Oct. 6-8.

DeMaio is hoping to attract students from across the metro area for the free student performance. She hopes to fill up the auditorium and give students an introduction to opera.

“If we can get them into the theater, we think they will like it,” DeMaio said. She thinks introducing them to opera during a live performance could help them better appreciate the art form.

Last year, the Painted Sky Opera took its programming to more than 700 students across the metro area.

The company also will perform "Three Decembers," an American opera about the AIDS crisis and how one family lives with it for three decades. Each scene explores a struggle the family has when the secret is revealed.

"We are really excited about this one because it is a brand-new opera," DeMaio said. "It has only been performed a couple of times and this is the Oklahoma premiere."

DeMaio hopes to include an American opera every season, along with one of the major top-20 operas.

"One part of our mission is that we want to promote American opera," DeMaio said. "We want to share American opera with people who do not know about it.”

On Nov. 10, the group will hold a gala on the 14th floor of the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.

"We are really excited about it and have been planning it all summer," DeMaio said. "We are hoping that people will come with the masks that you have on a stick.”

The event will include fundraisers such as a silent auction to help produce Painted Sky performances.

Tickets are $150, with a 10-person table for $1,200 or $2,500 for a VIP table.

Season tickets are on sale at the Civic Center box office, 201 N Walker, or at 297-2264. For more information, go to www. paintedskyopera.org.

[PHOTOS BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN] Barbara DeMaio performs while accompanied by Jan McDaniel during a lunch-hour performance by Painted Sky Opera at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Nicole Van Every, soprano, and Joel Burcham, tenor, perform during an Art Moves event at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Kevin Eckard, bassbaritone, sings during a performance by Painted Sky Opera.