For several years now, the opera and musical theater program located in Schroon Lake has struggled to reconcile part of its brand, namely the word ‘colony’, with what it does and how it functions in the greater field of classical music. To better reflect the nature of its business model, the former Seagle Music Colony will now be known as Seagle festival.
While what we do will not change, we are excited to make this adjustment to better reflect our mission in our name. We will continue to serve as the premiere opera and musical theater company in our region, providing world-class training for emerging vocal artists, and cultivating new works of music theater.
With the safety of both our artists and audiences in mind, and guided by consultation with state and local health departments, Seagle Festival is excited to make the following announcements about the 2021 Seagle Festival Season.
Because audience gathering will likely not be allowed until sometime in the fall, we will once again be presenting virtual programming for our audiences. However, with the advantage of our residential campus that allows for our staff and artists to remain in a quarantine ‘bubble’ for the time they are here, the 2021 Seagle Festival emerging artist and staff will be working together on the Seagle Festival campus to present live-streamed performances. This will allow for something close to a live, in-person experience for our audiences, and will allow our emerging artists the opportunity to perform live, albeit through the camera.
With underwriting assistance from the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust, the Cloudsplitter Foundation, and the Touba Family Foundation, we are investing in high quality live-streaming equipment and technical personnel to ensure the audience experience is as close to a live performance as is possible under these circumstances. We are excited to join the world of live-streaming similar to so many incredible companies across the globe from the Metropolitan Opera to the Vienna Philharmonic.
In order to limit the number of people on our campus at once, and in accordance with anticipated pandemic guidelines, the 2021 Seagle Festival emerging artists will participate in-person in one of two four-week sessions this summer, along with virtual training for eight weeks. In each four-week session, the participating artists and staff will produce four productions, which will be live-streamed over a two-week period in a repertory schedule.
While the planned 2021 program is not back to our typical pre-pandemic level or schedule, we are proud to be able to offer these training and performance opportunities for the selected 2021 Seagle Festival emerging artist, and a full series of live-streamed performances for our beloved audiences.
Ticket sales begin April 1, 2021 online and by phone. For details about our planned series of production, our selected 2021 artists and more, please visit our website or social media channels.