Opera Charleston debuts with 'Carmen'

Opera Charleston, a new opera company in the city, debuts March 9 with a performance of "Carmen."

But how the new venture came to fruition, how its artistic and audience-building strategy is being forged, is the story of two former college roommates with an ambitious plan and of those who are pouring their energies and skills into helping make it happen.

Co-founders Scott Flaherty and David Templeton are launching the enterprise with a flourish, having secured the services of Metropolitan Opera star Denyce Graves and the collaboration of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Conducting will be the company's music director, Louis Salemno. The curtain rises on Opera Charleston's inaugural production, Georges Bizet's timeless tale of destructive obsession, at 7:30 p.m. March 9 and 3 p.m. March 11 in Memminger Auditorium.

Opera Charleston is founded on the conviction that a new arts enterprise in 21st-century America "must adopt a vision that resonates within the community on all levels."

Which is to say that Flaherty and Templeton have set themselves the task of not only presenting productions of international-caliber distinction, but of experimenting with form and structure, and expanding the core audience for opera through an emphasis on education.

"Our formative discussions had education at the top of the list," says Flaherty, a tenor who began his 15-year career with the New York Opera Company and is best known for the leading role in "Il Trovatore."

"Audiences need to be developed. And if you don't educate a new audience to come up behind your current one, that audience will die off," he says. "We have heard the argument that audiences (for the arts) are limited in Charleston, and it's a great argument, but in our opinion, not enough significant effort has been aimed at development. This takes a sizable commitment, and is part of a philosophy that also will take us into area schools. Programming is really just part of what is vital to the dynamic of an artistic vision."

Glittering cast

While Opera Charleston is very much a start-up venture, Flaherty and Templeton have no intention of putting a start-up on stage.

The principal cast of "Carmen," for example, features artists assembled from the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera and New York City Opera. Hardly an inexpensive undertaking.

"All of the artists coming in here have made significant concessions to help with our mission," Flaherty says. "While expensive, we have been able to bring in much greater product at a lower cost. This will be a big help early on. Singers as a whole really tend to understand the climate that affects the arts and fundraising in the United States and always have been first in line to help out when help was needed."

Over time, such noted talents will be augmented by gifted locals, the nucleus of an area pool from which Opera Charleston will draw understudies and supporting players.

"We want to have a nationally prominent opera company, but we have to explore that fine balance between utilizing the great artistic resources we have here and bringing in internationally prominent guest artists," says Templeton, director of opera at the College of Charleston since 2008 and president of Opera Charleston.

Templeton, a baritone who has performed with such companies as the Edmonton Opera, Opera San Jose and the Hawaii Opera, is most closely associated with the title role of "Don Giovanni." Neither he nor Flaherty intend to stay behind the scenes for Opera Charleston.

While paying homage to the European traditions and audience fealty to the most honored (and most popular) operas, the company also will innovate, not least to help change the demographic that customarily attends opera.

To that end, Opera Charleston has changed the setting of "Carmen" to Spain in the 1930s and given it an arena concert feel by adding such production elements as large-screen projections, real-time video and lighting effects.

It is the same approach that will be applied to such planned hybrid productions as a Summer "Popera," to restore the long-held connection between popular and classical forms.

Fiscal prudence

Flaherty, who moved to Charleston last year, says it will remain the financial mission of Opera Charleston to "cut the fat" out of the budgets that are typically associated with arts productions.

"The reason so many companies have declined or closed their doors is not due solely to the economic climate," he says. "Some companies in nonmajor markets are thriving."

Although costuming and makeup will be handled by such noted firms as Toronto-based Malabar Ltd. and Elsen Associates in Pittsburgh, with Production Design Associates of North Charleston overseeing scenic construction and real-time video, much of the crew and support staff engaged in the productions will be composed of volunteers.

"At this point, both Scott and I and our artistic administrator, Matthew Gardner, are wearing many hats, and volunteers are helping us fill in all the cracks," says Templeton. "No one in the office is drawing any salary of any kind this year. It is our desire to see this succeed in Charleston."

For more information, visit operacharlestonsc.org.

Reach Bill Thompson at 937-5707.