Dear Opera lovers,

Please enjoy our Summer 2024 issue of the Sacred in Opera Newsletter!

On behalf of the entire Sacred in Opera Committee, I am delighted to bring you conference recaps from our SIO breakout sessions at the 2023 and 2024 National conferences. In 2023 we presented several operas with Islamic themes, characters and histories and discussed some of the challenges and opportunities these works present, as detailed in this issue by Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller. Dr. Jon Truitt summarizes our 2024 presentation in which we discussed the importance of pursuing audience growth via community engagement. Performing arts organizations continue to recover from the worldwide pandemic and face questions regarding tradition vs. innovation as we also grapple with how to welcome more demographics to all facets of our performances. Follow up articles by Ruth Dobson and Dr. Jeffrey Springer provide repertoire suggestions and ideas related to partnerships between opera communities and communities of worship.

One of my favorite things about our gathering at the 2024 National Conference in Tempe, AZ was a session devoted to several composers and librettists sharing their work. In this vein, Ruth Dobson, Kelley Nassief and I highlight several composers and librettists in this issue: Timothy Amukele, B.E. Boykin, Jarrod Lee, Paul Richards, Wendy Steiner, and Bruce Trinkley.

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Personally, I have been involved in a late summer opera production and have gathered nightly with a few cast members and our host family to watch the Olympics. I’m reminded that behind the elation of every breathtaking medal performance is a litany of individual and team efforts: sacrifice, training, planning, vision, drive, resilience, resources, equipment, experts, and skills honed through countless hours of repetition, adjustments, and sheer willpower. Sound familiar?

As we approach upcoming production seasons and academic semesters, my wish is that you find inspiration and support when most needed and have a team of believers and supporters contributing to a beautiful vision.

The invitation is always open if you wish to join our committee presentations at the National conferences, or want to submit articles (or ideas) for this newsletter. We need writers, editors, interviewers, and researchers. We welcome those who wish to sing or talk/lecture for our presentations also. We will be featuring music of Lori Laitman/Leah Lax, Anthony Plog/Ronald J. Kidd and Bruce Trinkley/Jason Charnesky at the 2025 conference in Savannah.

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Warm regards,

Dr. Casey Robards

Chair, Sacred in Opera Initiative