Hello, dear friends, family, and colleagues!
As many of you know, I've been working toward a career in opera, and after making some great progress in the last year or so, I've been accepted to participate in the Emerging Artist program at Opera New Jersey this summer.
An Exciting Opportunity to Advance My Career
It's an incredible opportunity to get more experience on stage, receive further training, and build relationships that can help me progress in years to come. Here's a look at what I'll be doing all summer:
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Singing a mainstage role - I'll be singing the role of Dick Deadeye in all 4 performances of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore (I'm one of very few Emerging Artists who were given a mainstage role, so I'm pretty excited about this);
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Singing in two scenes programs - As Mustafa in the "Pappataci" trio from L'Italiana in Algeri and Bartolo in the Act III sextet from Le Nozze di Figaro;
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Participating in concerts - In addition to mainstage experience, I'll be singing in a musical theater concert, an operetta concert, and one or more concerts featuring operatic arias (specific repertoire TBA);
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Singing in an opera chorus - I'll add another opera chorus to my growing list when I appear as a chorister in the company's other major production, Verdi's Il Trovatore;
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Receiving lessons and coachings - I'll get lots of training from professionals from all over the country;
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Auditioning - As part of our residency at Opera New Jersey, the Emerging Artists are given an opportunity to participate in auditions for management and other opera companies from across the country, which will hopefully lead to mainstage roles or additional Young/Emerging Artist programs next season and beyond.
As I said: this is an incredible opportunity, and one for which I'm incredibly grateful. But it comes at a cost.
In order to make this possible, I need to raise some funds to offset the cost of housing in and travel to Princeton this summer.
The Nitty Gritty
Housing alone will cost $2,025 for the 9-week program, and I estimate all other expenses at between $1,000 and $1,500, which brings my total need to around $3,500. I'm setting the fundraising goal at $2,000 (after IndieGoGo takes out fees, that will leave me with about $1800, or half of the total expenses)—but I assure you that every dollar that I raise will be used faithfully toward career advancement. The pursuit of this career has a staggering amount of expenses associated with it: lessons, coachings, language study, audition tours/trips, promotional materials... I'd love to be able to count you as a partner.
What's In It for You?
I've tried to come up with some fun rewards for various pledge levels. These include anything from "Team BassoJames" stickers to posters from Hatch Show Print, to t-shirts and recordings—even private recitals! Check them out on the right hand side of the page!
[NOTE: Delivery dates listed are for all tangible rewards excluding CDs and DVDs of upcoming recitals. I will be in contact with you to inform you of the dates of these events (or to schedule your private event), and provide an expected delivery date for materials related to those events. -JH]
Thank You... Yes, You
If you've read this far, thank you. I'm thrilled to know that you care enough to read what I'm up to, and to consider supporting me. If you feel that this is a project you can get behind, would you read the funding/reward levels to the right and see if there's a level that works for you?
If you find you can't contribute financially, you can still be a huge part of the success of this project! Would you consider sending a link to my project along to friends via email, Facebook, or Twitter? The more people hear, the closer I get to Princeton!
