Opera Boston recently announced that due to a $500,000 budget deficit, they will be closing. This is not only sad news for opera lovers, but it could also have a significant impact on students choosing to study opera in Boston.
Students graduating from opera programs at Boston Conservatory, Berkley, and Boston University will have fewer places to find work upon graduation.There are other opera companies in Boston, but places like Boston Lyric Opera do not hire singers who have little professional experience, as often as Opera Boston did.
One of the reasons students come to Boston to study opera is the wealth of professional opportunities that exist after graduation.
Perhaps, students will reconsider coming to Boston for school because of Opera Boston’s closing.
And, how will this impact our own program at BU? For many of our own School of Theatre Students The Opera Institute offers the biggest production experiences available during their education at BU. If that were to change, would Design and Production students reconsider coming to BU? Would the quality of our program be lessened?
