San Diego may have their Comic-Con, and Las Vegas, of course, has the Consumer Electronics Show, among many others, but for 2017 at least, Santa Barbara has the hospitality edge. On January 5-7, the Fess Parker DoubleTree Resort on Cabrillo will host the annual convention of the National Opera Association (NOA). Three full days of talks, workshops, performances, and competitions will have our waterfront echoing with some of the world’s greatest music.
Although the conference’s programming caters to the many opera professionals who will travel from all over the country to be here, there’s one event in particular that’s open to the public to enjoy at the bargain price of just $10 a ticket. The Dominick Argento Chamber Opera Competition will be at the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall on Friday, January 6, at 7:30 p.m. Portions of the three finalist chamber operas will feature talented students from UCSB’s Opera Theatre program, and a distinguished panel of judges will declare one of these compositions the winner of a prize that leads to a full production at next year’s NOA conference in New Orleans.
For UCSB Associate Professor Benjamin Brecher, NOA’s choice of Santa Barbara for its 2017 annual convention represents the culmination of years of effort developing the UCSB Opera Theatre program, followed by months of hard work planning the event. With the Dominick Argento Chamber Opera Competition at Hahn Hall, Brecher hopes “to show opera directors and producers from all over North America the quality of teaching and students we have here.” The Department of Music is bringing in Sara Widzer, a veteran stage and opera director from Los Angeles, expressly to prepare the students for their big night.
