As artists ourselves, we truly understand and empathize with the difficulty of becoming an artist, especially in the formative years of artistic development: The self-doubt, the constant pressure to create, the crippling nerves, and unrelenting fear of failure - especially when taking part in a traditional Young Artist Program. All of these elements of the historical industry are part of the toxicity that we are hoping to remedy at Opera Vermont and, by extension, Opera al Mare.
We believe that the holistic artist deserves a safe place to explore, learn, develop, grow, and even - maybe most importantly - fail. We believe ardently that failure is not a character flaw, or a harbinger of judgement or disqualification, but rather the most visceral way one enters into a period of radical growth. The nurturing and support of all artists, wherever they are on their artistic journey, is the goal, and we look forward to supporting and watching the participants of Opera al Mare flourish and thrive in the future as a result of the long-term support they receive from their experience with Opera al Mare.
If you are an artist that seeks to: grow in your understanding of the Italian language and culture; expand your personal repertoire; learn a full operatic role from the canon; meet and work with some of the best and most supportive faculty; be a part of a tight-knit community of artists just like you…
Yes, Opera al Mare is for you.
We know that while all of this is well and good, the cost and stigma of the “pay-to-sing” program is at the forefront of the conversation of equitability and accessibility.
Firstly, Opera Vermont is a non-profit arts organization in Vermont whose mission it is to break down the socio-economic barriers that are often extant in the opera industry, and provide a transparency that is not found elsewhere, so that interested artists can be comfortable and informed in the decision that they make to attend Opera al Mare.
Our tuition of $5,500 is broken down as such:
*$4300 of that cost goes to private artist housing, food, wine, taxes, etc.
*$750 of that cost goes to faculty stipend (divided by 7)
*$450 of that cost goes to incidental cost such as theatre tax, props, set, costumes, excursions (ie. Trip to Arena di Verona), etc.
All of this is also subject to adjustment based on the conversion rate between the USD and the EURO.
As you can see, each student’s tuition is very clearly allocated. The faculty at Opera al Mare, who are performing in some of the world’s most notable theatres and events, are with us because they love the mission, and they fervently believe in supporting the next generation of operatic torchbearers, rather than simply to line pockets. While we could have each show double or triple cast, as some of our colleague programs, we collectively decided that in order for each artist to receive a curated, specialized, and immensely valuable opportunity, we are choosing to single cast productions and maintain a boutique participant group of between 15-20 people only.
We hope that it is clear that our ambitions are to change the narrative and the paradigm surrounding the traditional summer Young Artist Program, and provide a meaningful, personal, and individualized experience equally balanced with music and language, such that upon returning home, each artist will carry a piece of Cesenatico, a great deal of musical and linguistic knowledge as well as the love of all faculty members, with them.
Please feel free to send us an email if we can be of any help in clarifying any of these figures, or explaining rationale behind anything that we do, and we hope that we have the chance to work and make life-long memories with you in Cesenatico very soon.
