Nashville Opera Association
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The Noah Liff Opera Center 3622 Redmon Street
Nashville, TN 37209
Organization Details

Programs

Budget
$41,100.00
Description
Nashville Opera uses our resources strategically to benefit HBCU vocal students. Together with our longtime partners Tennessee State University (TSU) and Fisk University, we identified specific program gaps at these HBCUs which Nashville Opera can help fill to increase access, promote inclusion, expand career pathways, and elevate the level of career readiness for developing Black singers.

Nashville Opera responded to the identified program needs by creating the HBCU Fellowship Program in 2020 in partnership with TSU and Fisk University, consisting of monthly masterclasses and roundtables. Nationally renowned Black artists provide coaching in diction, vocal technique, interpretation, and arts administration for a cohort of up to 10 TSU and Fisk University students -- 100% of whom recommend the program to peers. Now in its 4th year, participants receive college credit for the program.
Beneficiaries
Black/African American
At-risk youth
Economically disadvantaged people
Program Areas Served
Davidson and surrounding counties
Budget
$1,422,842.00
Description
Some say that Opera is the greatest of art forms, as it encompasses all the others - music, poetry, design, choreography, visual arts, acting, and beyond - to tell stories and reflect the drama of life. Nashville Opera creates immersive experiences that elevate our world, featuring nationally renowned singers, highly crafted sets and exquisite costumes. Four mainstage productions are presented each season, with performances at Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) and the Noah Liff Opera Center. The company uses a multi-pronged strategy to engage a broad and diverse audience by programming accessible repertoire, hosting post-performance talk-backs, and providing opportunities for free or discounted tickets.
Beneficiaries
General Public
Adults
Elderly and/or Disabled
Program Areas Served
Nashville and surrounding areas
Budget
$15,000.00
Description
Nashville Opera has a rich history of community engagement--67% of company activities are dedicated to education outreach for children and families who would never experience live opera otherwise--but the changing face of Nashville calls for a deeper civic practice. We believe the arts can help create economically-competitive, healthy, resilient, and opportunity-rich communities . . . and opera, an especially artful blend of storytelling and music, has a unique role to play in enhancing the quality of life, social cohesion and sense of place for Nashvillians.

In 2023, Nashville Opera's staff and board developed a new Strategic Plan with one question in mind: How do we grow our relevancy to the community? Nashville Opera is developing new relationships with non-arts community partners and deepening relationships with existing partners to identify and deliver services that strengthen the community.
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Opera 
Beneficiaries
Seniors
Black/African American
Adults
Program Areas Served
Nashville and Middle-TN
Budget
$150,000.00
Description
Nashville Opera aims to inspire life-long interest in opera and engage learners of all ages in thoughtful, educational programs by making the performing arts available to all--regardless of age, location or income.

EDUCATION TOUR--A fully staged children's opera travels to schools and community venues across Middle Tennessee, complete with teacher study guides and a toolkit that helps make the performance inclusive for special needs children.

MARY RAGLAND EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM--Four pre-professional singers and one pianist are selected through national auditions for a 3-month residency in Nashville to support their transition to a full career. Residencies include performance opportunities, vocal coaching, resumes, headshots and recordings.
Beneficiaries
Adolescents
Children
Adults
Program Areas Served
Middle-TN

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

In spite of Nashville Opera's significant reach, a major challenge is that many in Middle Tennessee have yet to experience opera. We have many valuable opportunities, and there is always a need for resources to build the audience of the future. As a result, NOA has made a commitment to education and outreach and is taking a proactive, multi-pronged approach to reach, educate and inform children, families, low-income persons and prospective new listeners through numerous concurrent efforts within Middle Tennessee.

Nashville Opera on Tour brings a short opera written for children to area schools to introduce elementary age students to opera on their own level.

For high schools and colleges, Nashville Opera brings students directly to TPAC for performances of its main stage productions with subsidized tickets.

For adults, the Opera offers lectures and demonstrations to all types of organizations and private groups. Our special events series OPERA@ is an audience development and awareness initiative which collaborates with community partners to broaden our reach via co-promotion and also to make opera more accessible; it has grown and will continue to expand in 2021.

All of these programs have significant costs. Yet the demand within the schools and community is many times larger than the available resources allow to be served. In many schools, the Opera program may be the only outside cultural experience the students have, and/or the only exposure to the professional performing arts. Funding these programs is increasingly a challenge as corporate funds diminish, many foundations have shifted support to basic human needs, and personal resources have been strained.

Supporting Nashville Opera offers the opportunity to impact the lives of children and adults, and to shape better communities through the arts, by allowing us to continue producing performances that entertain and inspire audiences throughout Middle Tennessee.