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LISTENER'S BOX Response to Patrick Summers' WOT Essay in this issue April 1, 2003
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Thank you for allowing Pat Summers a forum to speak about the trials and tribulations of WOT. Indeed, we are pleased to be among the Adler Fellow/WOT alumni but more importantly, to have been a part of a great tradition and education about not only what it takes to be a singer, but to enjoy the delicious things that came of the travel and the exposure to great directors and master class artists that often directed the shows taken "on the road." We remain immensely grateful to those patrons who supported the programs all these years, too. We now continue to sing part-time, but have also taken the road of the teacher now. We find our students have little knowledge of the great artists of the past, think mostly of the "career" and getting an agent. As many regional companies do, we have started a program here to take arias into the schools and provide as much outreach as possible. The enthusiasm in the elementary grades has been overwhelming — only hampered by the budget cuts the arts face in these insecure times. Of course, no solution financial or otherwise can really be found. We take heart that during audition days here, we are flooded by applicants and students that want to make music their life. We hold on to the responsibility to pass on those great moments, warn our students of the pitfalls, remember the friends made and kept, and savor the many moments when you connected with an audience (young and old) — and found a great place for breakfast.
Kathryn Cowdrick
I'd like to thank Mr. Summers for sharing his wonderful reminiscences of his time with WOT; surely we are all poorer for its loss. For many people across the country, WOT was their only exposure to opera outside of a Met broadcast; surely this is even more so with fewer and fewer PBS outlets choosing to carry either a Met broadcast or telecast. As the saying goes, it is better to see once than to hear a thousand times; I've met many people for whom their first trip to the opera was more a pilgrimage than a performance. Certainly, WOT exposed many people to the magic that is a live opera performance who otherwise would never have the chance, opportunity, or inclination. As Mr. Summer's remembrances so clearly bring forth, opera is, and continues to be, an extraordinary event. As one of those people who used to see those performances "in the hinterlands," I'll miss them (the WOT troupes) and their presence, and most of all, their enthusiasm on stage (which more often than not seems to be lacking these days). These were people who were clearly singing, to a large extent, for the pleasure and experience as much as they were for the money. It also brings up another sad dichotomy of the San Francisco Opera company, however. WOT was cancelled largely due to financial issues, and because it wasn't a money maker. Yet, the director still insists that productions be scheduled into the regular season for reason of logic which defy description. Namely, that these are "important," if not popular works which we all "need to see" — yet, these are potentially performances which will never produce attendance significant enough to defray their cost. If it were up to me, I'd say let's fire up the bus, and go hit the road. It's been a while since I've seen Don Pasquale anyway. ___________Warren C. Stankiewicz
(SFCV welcomes reader commentary)
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