Operatic Excellence at Every Age

Debra Gilroy and her friends shared a similar experience: a slowdown in the number of roles they were offered as they aged. After a gathering in Gilroy’s living room, they decided there was a need for an opera company showcasing seasoned artists over the age of 55.

“Even though we were still studying voice, we were teaching voice, we were highly involved in everything, we weren’t being hired anymore,” Gilroy says. “It just got to be really depressing. It got to be really demoralizing.”

Following that meeting, Gilroy founded Raison D’Être Opéra as a 501(c)(3) in 2019, but the official launch was put off due to COVID-19. Delayed but not to be denied, Gilroy and her partners continued to work behind the scenes to bring the company to life and just completed their first full season.

“There’s such a hunger for excellence in the arts and for creative programming [in the Twin Cities],” Gilroy says, adding that there is already an audience for productions performed by older artists with PRIME Productions and Theatre 55.

“I didn’t want to duplicate something that already existed,” she says. “But we didn’t have anything for classical music. We didn’t have anything for opera or classical singing. I thought this is a great dovetail opportunity because those two organizations are really well attended and supported, and I felt this was a missing link.”

While the company’s mission statement is for singers 55 and older, some operas require younger members in the cast. This allows for mentoring opportunities, an initiative Gilroy says they will continue pursuing.

As performers audition, they specify which types of productions and roles they would be interested in. When casting for a recital, concert, or full production, those preferences come into play. “We then will go through those to see, okay, this person indicated they wanted to be chorus only, they didn’t want a solo role. Or this person really wants a principal role and they’re not interested in chorus,” Gilroy explains. “So then we’ll look through those to see how we can best fit the needs of the person to our needs as a company.”

Up until now, Gilroy admits, Raison D’Être Opéra has gone through auditions in a very traditional way, but she is very open to finding singers that may not fit the conventional mold.

“There are so many singers out there that are fantastic [at] 55-plus and at the same time might not think they are candidates for this type of organization because they don’t have the official training background,” she says. “Just because you haven’t gone someplace and gotten a degree in it, or just because you haven’t been cast in opera productions for the past 30 years, you’ve done other things that are equally as important and awesome.”

She mentions those who have done community theater or have a background in producing, among other creative outlets, including a student who performs cabaret. Gilroy adds, “That area of performers that wouldn’t necessarily typically think of this as an opportunity for them. But it really is, because it’s about the music and it’s about having that really fully released acoustic voice. And that’s classical singing — a fully released acoustic voice. And that’s what we’re looking for.”

Aside from the size and budget of an opera, the message behind it can also drive the company’s desire to produce it. “What’s going on in the world, in our world, in our city, and [we] try to find relevant pieces,” Gilroy says, referencing the women’s rights topic of next year’s “The Mother of Us All.” “Or, on the flip side of that, how do you take something that’s been written a long time ago and how do you make that relevant for today? When you look back at some of these more traditional operas, a lot of these operas still have content that is easily translatable to what’s going on in today’s society.”

According to Gilroy, audiences can expect to see unparalleled joy both on and off stage.

“Like any experience of anybody on stage, we’re always bringing our best to the front,” she says. “Then, taking it one step further, here are people coming to the stage that were thinking, ‘I didn’t think I’d be able to do this again.’ And, yet, here they are, and they’re successful and it’s bringing them so much joy and so much passion and so much excitement.”

She continues, “These are people that this has been their life. It’s something that they’ve worked with forever and they still have so much more to offer. These people are singing at the top of their game. They have lots of experience. And I’m just so thrilled that the company is now able to offer these people these types of opportunities.”