Who’s Afraid of Opera? I Hear American Singing: American Opera in Mid-Century and Beyond (A Salute to Modernism Week!)

It’s grand. It’s glorious. It’s over the top. It’s Opera! As a comic once remarked, “Opera is where a guy gets stabbed, and instead of bleeding . . . he sings!” Well yes of course he sings. It’s all about the beautiful vocalism, as intense human emotion comes to life in dramatic storytelling onstage. San Francisco Opera’s Dramaturg Emeritus Kip Cranna will share his 40 years of experience as he explores the wonderful world of opera, using video examples (with English subtitles) to illustrate how opera got started and how it continues to have such power to stir our souls and touch our hearts. No previous experience necessary. Just watch, listen, and enjoy. (paragraph) Clifford (Kip) Cranna is Dramaturg Emeritus of San Francisco Opera, where he served on the staff for over 40 years,30 of them as Director of Music Administration. He has managed the commissions or co-commissions of more than 20 new operas. In 2008 he was awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal, the company’s highest honor, and in 2012 he received the Bernard Osher Cultural Award for distinguished efforts to bring excellence to a cultural institution. In 2014 he received the Star of Excellence Award for outstanding service to the programs of the San Francisco Opera Guild. He holds a B.A. in music from the University of North Dakota and a Ph.D. in musicology from Stanford University. For thirty years he was Program Editor and Lecturer for the Carmel Bach Festival. He lectures and writes frequently on music, and teaches at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at U.C. Berkeley and Dominican University. He was Dramaturg for the 2016 production of Wagner’s “Ring” at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. This series is presented in partnership with the Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert and is made possible by a generous gift from The Bartush Family Foundation.