Culture, Community and Collaboration My Vision for Opera Naples

INTERNATIONAL PIANISTS AND FOUNDERS OF THE BEAUX ARTS CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES TAO LIN AND CATHERINE LAN, WITH RAMÓN TEBAR AND DENNIS HANTHORN

Dennis Hanthorn, the recently appointed General Director of Opera  Naples, shares his vision for the decade-old opera company.
I’d like to say immediately how happy I am to be invited to reach out to  you in this way. I’m delighted to be working in such a welcoming community as  Naples, and to have an opportunity to be a part of and to make a contribution to  the extraordinarily diverse cultural landscape here.

I bring to Opera Naples 30 years of leadership with three other opera companies of stature. I plan for this knowledge not only to benefit Opera Naples  but the entire community through collaboration whenever possible with other  cultural groups and initiatives in town.

I’ve leaned that artistic excellence; innovative vision; community  relevance, and financial stability are the keystones of a successful cultural  enterprise.

So those are my goals for Opera Naples, and I will be working with  the Board and staff to build relationships and implement strategies to  achieve them.

And I hope I will be working with you, the members of this  community. Because ours is the city’s opera company, one we hope the people of Naples will look to with pride and will encourage and support us as we grow.

Why should you? There are many reasons. Of course, one is to  help keep the rich heritage of world-class opera alive and well.
Others are less obvious. For example, the presence of an opera  company is known to improve property values; another, is we are an important part of keeping the love of music alive and  well in the hearts of our children.

La Traviata

We are proud of our outreach programs in Lee and Collier  county schools, introducing thousands of youngsters to the wonders of song, music and theater, many  for the first time. The hundreds of letters we  receive every year from appreciative principals, teachers, parents and children motivate us to  do even better.

But as important as these initiatives are,  bringing exciting performances and talent to  Naples remains a top priority. So what do we  have in store?

First, allow me to take a quick look  back. Just a few months ago we brought the  extraordinary voice of Gregory Kunde to  town, generally regarded as one of the most  accomplished tenors on the world stage today.  This was an impressive coup, but not the first  or last.

In December and again in January, the  brilliantly gifted international pianists  Catherine Lan and Tao Lin were in concert  in our Wang Opera Center first with the  Shanghai String Quartet, one of the most  lauded chamber music ensembles of all time,  and then with the renowned Aspen String Trio.

Just before Christmas on stage at Artis- Naples, we presented the hilarious holiday Strauss classic Die Fledermaus with a host  of more stars, including Maria Aleida, the  vivacious soprano fresh from a world tour with Andrea  Bocelli, and tenor Chris Merritt, who has sung some  of the most challenging roles in opera in almost every  major opera house in the world.

We plan to keep up the tempo with an exciting  season of more shows and more stars, but let me tell  you about a couple of events in particular.

First, echoing the spectacular balls once held  by the Imperial Russian family, Opera Naples is staging a glittering Winter Palace Ball this month  on February 22 at the Grey Oaks Country Club.  It promises to be the most talked about gala we’ve  ever hosted, and we’ve had a few!

Next month, in March we’re staging La  Traviata, the most popular opera of all time,  in the glamorous setting of the Pavilion on the  lawns of the Ritz-Carlton Tiburon. I guarantee  it will be an evening to remember, but to make it  even more memorable a sumptuous gourmet dinner is being  offered beforehand. You’ll find more details about these very special events on our  website: www.operanaples.org .

I hope you’ll be as excited about our season’s program as I am. The success of  everything we do to enrich this community through performance and education  depends on us connecting with our audiences.

I look forward to building relationships at all levels in this community to develop a  better understanding of our public and the role Opera Naples can play in the city’s cultural future. I’m excited to be here and to be a part of shaping that very promising tomorrow.