Celebrate the beginning of the New Year at the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera's (Verismo Opera) annual Open House.

Verismo Opera, the house opera company of the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC), kicks off its 26th season with the annual Open House and a silent auction fundraiser on January 10, 2015 at 44 Armory Street in Englewood, New Jersey at 2:00 p.m. A snow date is scheduled for January 17 at the same location and time.

Artistic Director and Met Opera luminary Lucine Amara invites the public to attend the free event and learn more about the grand opera company's new season. The program will feature vocalists performing solos from Verismo Opera's 2015 and past productions. Opportunities will be discussed to get involved in the nonprofit opera company as supernumeraries acting in non-speaking and non-singing roles, volunteers working behind-the-scenes, and singers performing in the Verismo Opera Chorus. Exhibits will display memorabilia, costumes, and photos from Verismo Opera's 26 years of producing grand operas, sponsoring an annual international vocal competition, presenting concerts, holding master classes, giving operalogues, and training the stars of tomorrow.

To continue the grand opera company's work, a silent auction will feature a range of fine items available for purchase. Among the products available to bid upon will be opera CDs and records; ivory, alabaster collectible opera plates by Italian master Franco Ingargiola; prints; and several other fine items.

Ms. Amara, Verismo Opera Music Director/Principal Conductor Anthony Morss, General Manager/Stage Director Evelyn La Quaif, Associate Conductor/Chorus Director Mara Waldman, and President Dr. James Garvin, MD will discuss Verismo Opera's mission, vision, and history. They will introduce the grand opera company's new productions of George Bizet's Carmen and Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

The 2015 season will open with Carmen on Sunday, April 26, 2015 and continue with Lucia di Lammermoor on October 18. Both productions will be performed at bergenPAC, located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey, at 3:00 p.m.

The Open House site is handicapped accessible. A parking lot has a designated handicapped parking space. The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera is committed to ensuring its programs and services are accessible to all. Members of the public requiring a special accommodation or with specific questions about the physical features of a facility where Verismo Opera performs may call (201) 886-0561 at least two weeks prior to the event.
For further information about the program or Verismo Opera, call (201) 886-0561 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Funding
The 2015 season is made possible, in part, with funds provided by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, through grand funds administered by the Bergen County Department of Parks, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs. Other supporters include Children's Aid Foundation, Robert J. Campbell, MD, Cesare L. Santeramo, KSJ, Paul Weiss Matching Fund, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, Inc., and Vanguard Charitable Endowment Fund.

About New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera
For 26 years, the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera has been an integral part of the region's classical music culture. Led by Metropolitan Opera luminary Lucine Amara, Verismo Opera delivers a rich, grand opera experience for performers and viewers.

As the Bergen Performing Arts Center's house opera company, Verismo Opera provides performing opportunities for young musicians and artists through its semi-annual productions at the theatre and concerts held in community settings. Community members are invited to get involved as supernumeraries and volunteers. An annual international vocal competition is conducted in November with finals generally drawing artists throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Verismo Opera also organizes opera workshops, master classes and concerts and offers affordable, highly professional productions.

For more information, visit Verismo Opera's web site, www.verismopera.org; follow the company on Facebook, http://bit.ly/9JXTP8, or Twitter @NJVerismoOpera; or call (201) 886-0561.