Have you ever thought about having a career as a singer?  How about a career as an opera singer?  Join us as we meet up-and-coming tenor Jason Collins who sings the role of Cassio in the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Verdi's Otello in October, 2010. Jason will fill you in on what's it like to be a singer, from learning his craft to working in foreign countries and more.

This program is brought to you in partnership with The Opera Company of Philadelphia's Sound of Learning™ Program. The Opera Company of Philadelphia strives to develop programs which are student-centered and that meet each student's individual learning styles while offering the opportunity to process the knowledge gained into an integrated whole. The art and music activities of the Sounds of Learning™ program offer students interactive participation which begets ownership of the learning process. This program is multi-layered and infuses many concrete, fun-filled activities for bringing joy into the classroom.

Videoconference Outline

• Introductions and Welcome
  Mike Bolton from the Opera Company of Philadelphia will welcome everyone to the program and ask schools to introduce themselves. Please have a student representative at your school share the name of the school, name of the teacher, subject being studied in this class and something interesting about theirtown. School mascot is optional.
• Meet tenor Jason Collins
  Jason Collins will share his career and experiences with students. OCP’s Mike Bolton will ask a few questions to Jason about why opera singing is different than “pop” singing and to explain a bit about operatic vocal technique.
• Questions for Jason
  Students should come prepared with questions about Jason’s background, training, his career path to where he is today. They can also ask about traveling and being away from home.  What sort of research does he does when he sings an historic character.  Is he fluent in other languages?  And more. We will call on schools in alphabetical order during this portion of the program. Each school will have an opportunity to ask one question and then we will move to the next school. We will continue the rotation as long as time permits.
• Final Thoughts
  
Final thoughts on opera and opera singing from Jason Collins and Mike Bolton

Pre-Videoconference Activities:


• Introduce the plot in Otello: Jason will be singing the role of Cassio in the Opera Company’s production of Verdi’s Otello.  In order to have a better understanding of his role in the opera, students should have a grasp of Otello's plot by reading through a provided plot synopsis. A downloadable student guide to the opera will is available under "Resources."
• Familiarize students with Jason's biography and prepare questions: Students should review Jason Collins' biography (below) and come prepared with questions about singing, vocal technique, opera, his career, and his role in Otello.

A note about Program Resources:

If you are interested, The Opera Company provides a 40-page student workbook and an ancillary teacher workbook which is over 70 pages. Also included are a CD-Rom with additional materials and an audio CD of highlights from the opera. Please contact Michael Bolton at bolton@operaphila.org to obtain the guide. Materials are also available for download at http://www.operaphila.org/community/sol-prod1.shtml.

Are you in the Greater Philadelphia Area?

In preparation for this event if teachers would like to bring your students to see the fiinal dress rehearsal of Otello on September 29 at 6 PM in Philadelphia, please contact Michael Bolton at bolton@operaphila.org no later than September 17th.

About Jason Collins

The young American tenor, Jason Collins, is already beginning to attract the attention of the public both with his robust but beautiful voice and his commanding stage presence. This past summer he returned to the Seattle Opera in the Ring Cycle, and this season makes his debuts at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Katya Kabanová and the title role in Idomeneo at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro di Pavarotti in Modena, Teatro di Tradizione Dante Alighieri Di Ravenna, Teatro Municipale Valli and the Boston Lyric Opera.

Other recent opera engagements have included his debuts at the San Francisco Opera as Froh in Das Rheingold, Canadian Opera as Comte de Lerme in Don Carlos, and the Seattle Opera as Steuermann in Der fliegende Hollände, Arizona Opera as Erik in Der fliegende Holländer. He has also appeared at the Michigan Opera Theater in their production of Margaret Garner, the Kentucky Opera as Lenski in Eugene Onegin, the Austin Lyric Opera as Zinovy in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Steuermann, Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, and productions of La Traviata and Fidelio with the Pittsburgh Opera; Leo in Regina at the Bard Festival, Jove in Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and Schweik in The Good Soldier Schweik at the Chicago Opera Theater (a role which he also sang on the 2003 Cannes Awards nominated world premiere recording for Cedille Records); Malcolm in Macbeth with the Opera Company of Philadelphia; Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites and Beppe in Pagliacci with the Glimmerglass Opera; Narraboth in Salome at the Fort Worth Opera; Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress at Centennial Hall; Narraboth with Nashville Opera; and Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Anatol in Vanessa and Stravinsky's Les noces at the Curtis Opera Theater. and appeared at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia as The Drum-Major in Wozzeck.

On the concert platform Mr. Collins has appeared with the Pittsburgh Symphony, The Seattle Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Pacific Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, and the IRIS Chamber Orchestra in repertoire such as Beethoven's No. 9, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, and Handel's Messiah.

A native of South Carolina, Mr. Collins is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the 2007 Richard Tucker Career Grant, the 2005 Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the 2000 Mario Lanza competition, the Lucrezia Bori prize for foreign study, the Alice Tully scholarship, and the Tatiana Troyanos scholarship. He received his Bachelor of Music in Voice from the Juilliard School and Master of Music in Opera from the Curtis Institute of Music and is recent graduate of the Pittsburgh Opera Center.