'A Night At The Opera'

You can't get a job until you have experience. And you can't get experience until you have a job.

Kierstin Blanchard Bible has discovered that starting a nonprofit is a lot like that old adage about joining the workforce. She can't get grants because she doesn't have a track record of performances. And she doesn't have a track record of performances because she can't get the grants to fund them.

Bible, however, remains undeterred. She believes completely in the mission of the Ozark Family Opera Company -- to bring "affordable, professional, family friendly opera to this region" -- and that the people of Northwest Arkansas will embrace the concept once they've been exposed.

"People perceive opera to be upper crust or boring. But if you can drag someone in, even kicking and screaming, nine times out of 10, they come out saying, 'That was cool.'"

So instead of fully producing two one-act Mozart operas this weekend, as Bible had originally intended, the Ozark Family Opera Company will once again introduce itself to its audience. "A Night at the Opera," set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Grace Point Church in Bentonville, will be "an opera showcase," Bible says, including scenes from "The Barber of Seville," "Lakme," "Carmen," "Die Fledermaus," "The Marriage of Figaro" and "La Boheme," along with the Northwest Arkansas premiere of "Spes Novus," a piece written by award-winning young composer Alex Williams in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the 2011 Joplin, Mo., tornado.

"We made the decision to pull the plug early enough to put something else in place," Bible says of the change of plans. "In talking with our conductor, Nicholas Gilmore, [artistic director and conductor of Heartland Opera Theatre in Joplin], we decided we needed to do something to show the community what we're capable of.

"What we did last November was an 'info recital,'" she continues. "This time, we're doing a gala to show [audiences] what this is going to look like with an orchestra and professional singers, not just a piano recital. We really need to take this to the next level."

Bible and Gilmore have recruited a volunteer orchestra and "a lot of professional singers." She wants to be clear that this will not be "community opera," even though she supports community theater.

"I want to cast professionally," she says. "We have a wealth of local talent coming out of the woodwork! There are so many professional opera singers in Northwest Arkansas, it's not even funny!"

Like many of those professionals, Bible says, she teaches voice but finds few opportunities to sing.

Bible discovered Northwest Arkansas as a college student who herself came to study at Opera in the Ozarks in 1994. In 1995, she earned an assistantship at the University of Arkansas as a master's student, graduating in 1997. She met her husband, moved to Kansas City to work on her terminal degree at the University of Missouri there and moved back to Northwest Arkansas in 2005.

"It's not in our official mission statement per se, but I want to give people a chance to perform. Once you get out of college, it's not easy."

She calls the repertoire for "A Night at the Opera" "opera's greatest hits," describing the arias as "all those iconic tunes that people know and don't know where they know them from."

"Everything is staged," she adds, "plus some big chorus numbers.

"We really want to get the community involved. This is your opera company. We can't get started without the community's support," she says. "Even if it's $25 or $50, small gifts go a long way. And if you don't have any resources to give me other than your time, I'll take it! We need volunteers.

"The idea is to show people we're legit, not a fly-by-night opera company that's not really that good," Bible concludes. "We want to show people we are worth supporting."

NAN What's Up on 06/03/2016