Matt Gray, project director of the non-profitAmerican Opera Projects and Opera on Tap, is out to prove to the world just how vibrant and colorful opera actually can be.
On June 12, at DUMBO's Galapagos Art Space, Gray will present, “Opera Grows in Brooklyn: Opera of Color,” a three-act, 90-minute performance of African-American composers and opera singers.
To many who are unfamiliar with opera, often it is viewed as an old, stuffy and elitist art form. Gray would like to change people's opinions of opera while also show the world what kind of operatic pipes Brooklyn has to offer.
Gray, who has been with AOP since 2003, never considered himself a music scholar by any means before he took the job-- especially since his real passion is monologues and off-Broadway theater. In fact, he admits, he really wasn’t that into opera.
“[Opera] may have a lot of wonderful references, but if it’s between this and seeing ‘Spider Man 4,’ I’m going to go see ‘Spider Man 4," said Gray of his former opinion of opera. “I had the same musical background most people our age have, that being far removed from opera.”
Naturally however, after years of working with opera through AOP, Gray's appreciation for the art form grew in a much more intimate way.
“It’s an incredibly hard, creative process because it involves so much hard collaboration from so many different types of artists,” Gray said. “And yet, if all of those pieces come together well, it really is the apotheosis of all performing arts.”
Galapagos Art Space isn’t Lincoln Center or The Guggenheim, even though Gray has produced shows there before. But that’s the beauty of this kind of opera event: Instead of waiting for awkwardly choreographed claps, you can sip cocktails at a bar while the classical show goes on.
“It’s a much more fun atmosphere. It’s more cabaret style,” said Gray.
One of the performances will be a series of excerpts from a larger project by 40-year-old Adrienne Danrich, a soprano from San Francisco. The project entitled, An Evening in the Harlem Renaissanceelucidates icons like Langston Hughes and Bessie Smith. A 15-year veteran singer and Aretha Franklin romantic, Danrich said she wonders all the time about the role of opera in the African-American community.
“It has to do with what you’re exposed to. When I was growing up I wasn’t exposed to opera or classical music at all,” said Danrich. “People think that they know what opera is, and what I’m attempting to do with my shows is breakdown that stereotype and to show them what the actual range of sound you can get.”
