EarRelevant Staff | 27 AUG 2021
ATLANTA, GA– As part of its ongoing commitment to military veterans and their families, The Atlanta Opera is offering active and retired military personnel free access to its Spotlight Media streaming platform and library of full-length operas, short films and star-studded concerts.
“We are grateful for the service our men and women in uniform provide to this nation, in our communities at home and overseas,” said Tomer Zvulun, the company’s general & artistic director, himself a military veteran. “It’s important to us, and to this community, that we tell their stories and find other ways to honor their service.”
Since 2015, the Atlanta Opera has offered free tickets to live performances of its productions at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in an award-winning partnership with The Home Depot Foundation. The free access to Spotlight Media is a natural extension of that program.
The Atlanta Opera’s Spotlight Media has grown rapidly in the past year, as fans of opera and classical music have turned to streaming services for new sources of entertainment. Subscriptions to Spotlight Media are $15/month or $99/year, with a la carte pricing on selected films.
In 2015, The Atlanta Opera began developing a program to lift up the stories of military veterans when it programmed David T. Little’s cycle Soldier Songs, which relied on interviews with five combat veterans for its libretto. Telling stories of veterans is important to Zvulun, who served as a medic for three years, from 1994 to 1997, in the Israeli Defense Force.
Intensity: David Adam Moore as the Soldier in The Atlanta Opera’s 2015 production of “Soldier Songs.” (credit: Raftermen)
To ensure that military veterans and the families of active service personnel were able to see Soldier Songs, which had performances that coincided with the Veterans Day holiday, the company created the free tickets program with the help of George Levert, an Atlanta Opera board member with deep ties to the city’s veteran community.
In 2016, the company programmed Silent Night, about the Christmas Eve truce of World War One, both of which were performed to coincide with the Veterans Day holiday. Originally planned as part of the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, the Atlanta Opera will present a filmed version and audio recording of Glory Denied, the story of America’s longest-held POW, that will be available on Spotlight Media.
The company’s Veterans Program has distributed thousands of tickets to veterans and the families of active military to attend performances at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and other venues free of charge in partnership with The Home Depot Foundation.
To take advantage of this offer, active and retired military persons can register at www.atlantaopera.org/veterans. In addition to name and contact details, the registration will ask for service branch and years served. A link to activate the account will be sent via email.
Matthew Worth as French Lt. Audebert and Craig Irvin as German Lt. Horstmayer in the Atlanta Opera’s 2016 production of “Silent Night,” based on the true story of a temporary, and unauthorized, Christmas Eve cease-fire during World War I. (credit: Jeff Roffman)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Atlanta Opera was one of the only companies in the world to create a full, alternative season, consisting of no less than 40 live performances in two different outdoor venues, including a revolutionary custom-designed circus tent. The fundraising goal was tripled, and four new productions were created, each of which employed 150 cast, crew and staff. The critically acclaimed productions and concerts were streamed in HD on the company’s newly created Spotlight Media streaming platform, allowing The Atlanta Opera to reach a global audience. National media coverage of the “pandemic season” included features in the Wall Street Journal and PBS Newshour.
For more information, visit atlantaopera.org ■
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