Friday, May 29, 2015

The Glimmerglass Festival Spring Gala 2015

Left to right: Sean Panikkar, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Soloman Howard, Andrew Stenson, Jacqueline Echols, Young Artist Sean Michael Plumb, Carin Gilfry, Rod Gilfry and Dwayne Croft. Photo: Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival.

TD and I recently attended the Glimmerglass Festival Spring Gala at the swanky Metropolitan Club on Fifth Avenue at 60th Street. We are big fans of this music festival which is located upstate in Cooperstown, and features operas and musical theater in the summer months. It's the second largest summer opera festival in the United States,

This year Glimmerglass is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Before the Gala's musical performances, Artistic Director Francesca Zambello talked about "the visionaries in the village of Cooperstown who created an opera company which is a miracle in a cow field." She noted that, "the festival now presents one hundred offerings every July and August in harmonious natural surroundings." One offering this summer will be Candide by Leonard Bernstein. At the Gala, Bernstein's daughter, Jamie Bernstein, introduced "Make Our Garden Grow," which is the emotional and powerful final number of the opera. TD and I played "Make Our Garden Grow" at our commitment ceremoney in 2000, and it made me cry as I held TD's hand. It was wonderful to hear the artists of Glimmerglass, pictured above, sing this rich moving song up close.

Get your tickets for the Glimmerglass 2015 season and enjoy one of summer's pleasures.