Bel Canto: Contemporary Artists Explore Opera

In the spring of 2019, SITE Santa Fe presents, Bel Canto, an exhibition that brings together artists and works that explore the music, design, history, and architecture of the opera. The works in Bel Canto celebrate the beauty of opera while challenging the viewer to delve deeper into the history and narratives of opera that are often overlooked. The first large-scale exhibition of its kind, Bel Canto will engage opera aficionados and novices alike, offering unexpected glimpses behind the scenes and deep into the cultures and histories that have influenced this iconic art form over the years.

Opening Events

Friday, March 15, 2019
SITE Members Opening 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Please join us for the SITE Members Preview and Opening Celebration for Bel Canto: Contemporary Artists Explore Opera This event will include a reception in SITE's lobby with refreshments, and a first chance to experience our newest exhibition!

Saturday, March 16, 2019
Public Opening 10 am - 5 pm
Enjoy Free Admission all day to celebrate the opening of Bel Canto!

Friday, July 19, 2019
Bel Canto Gala Dinner Celebration 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Featuring the artists of Bel Canto, elegant gala dining in the exhibition galleries, special performances, and an Opera Ball and Dance Party.

Friday, July 19, 2019
Opera Ball & Dance Party 9 pm - Midnight
Join us late at night for an energetic DJ mash-up dance party that starts with classic waltzes and ends with your favorite dance music!

July - August 2019
Collaborative Public Programming between SITE and the Santa Fe Opera.
A few highlights will include: A Dialogue with R. B Schlather, Director of the Santa Fe Opera's 2019 staging of Così Fan Tutte, A special course for opera novices, Special CHATTER performances, and Opera-inspired Digest This! evenings.

Support Bel Canto and be part of this unique SITE Santa Fe exhibition!

Choose from a number of support opportunities, and help us realize this multi-disciplinary exhibition celebrating the rich intersection between contemporary art and opera. You can become an Exhibition Supporter at various levels, buy tickets or tables at our Gala, or you can do BOTH!

Exhibition Support Opportunities

Your support in this category is fully tax deductible and will be prominently acknowledged on the entrance wall of the exhibition, on our website, and in all printed materials that will accompany the show. Exhibition supporters will be invited to a special FIRST LOOK event to inaugurate the exhibition on March 15, 2019. Your contribution provides essential funding to support the artists and artworks in Bel Canto.

General Exhibition Support Opportunities

Exhibition UNDERWRITER $15,000
Exhibition DONOR $10,000
Exhibition SPONSOR $5,000

Directed Support Opportunities:

Exhibition Catalogue UNDERWRITER $15,000
This contribution funds the production of a beautiful publication for Bel Canto

Education Programming DONOR $10,000
This contribution supports our Education Department's Bel Canto programming for students

Artist Support SPONSOR $5,000
This contribution supports the participation of your choice of artist in the exhibition

R.B. Schlather Dialogue SPONSOR $5,000
This contribution allows us to bring Santa Fe Opera Così Fan Tutte Director R.B. Schlather to Santa Fe on July 31, for a special conversation about his unique relationship to contemporary art.

Gala Tickets and Table Purchase Opportunities

Plan to join the party of the season by buying a Table or Friends Tickets to our Bel Canto Gala & Opera Ball on Friday, July 19. Your support through your Table or Ticket purchase will be acknowledged in the event invite and program!

Friends Tickets $1,000 each
Table for SIX $5,000
Table for TEN $8,000

SITE Santa Fe is deeply grateful to the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation for its support as a Lead Sponsor of the exhibition.
 

SPONSORS
 
Marilee Caldwell & Marcus Randolph

Sande Deitch

Maria & Edward Gale

Robin Merlo & Michael Lescander

Chuck & Barbara More

Nancy Ziegler Nodelman & Dwight Strong

Cristophe Olson & Josedgardo Granados

 

DONORS
 

Christine & Bill Aylward

Jean & John Berghoff

Cornelia Bryer & Herman Siegelaar

Helen Kornblum

Marsha & Robert Jones

Bill Miller

Cindy Miscikowski

 

UNDERWRITERS
 
Avalon Trust

Steve & Karen Berkowitz

Marleen De Bode Olivié & Marc Olivié

Jim Manning & Dana Pope Manning

Andy Wallerstein & Mary Sloane
 

Passages Santa Fe

THREE SANTA FE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS COLLABORATE TO BROADEN ACCESS AND EXPOSURE TO OPERA ACROSS THE CITY

Three distinct Santa Fe cultural organizations—The Lensic Performing Arts Center, The Santa Fe Opera, and SITE Santa Fe—will partner to present Passages: Opera Across Santa Fe, a year-long programmatic and marketing collaboration designed to provide multiple dynamic and complementary experiences in the exploration and celebration of opera. The collaboration will promote Santa Fe as the premier destination for an immersive opera experience in 2018-19, share and expand respective audiences, and provide multiple access points to understanding and appreciating Opera in order to make this iconic art form enticing and accessible to both new and existing audiences.

This collaboration is funded in part by the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission’s Collaborative Arts Marketing Program.

PASSAGES’ JOINT PROGRAMS INCLUDE:

THE LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: OCTOBER 2018 – MAY 2019

The new Met: Live in HD season, which includes live simulcasts and encore presentations. Featured are Aïda, Samson et Dalila, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), Marnie, La traviata, Adriana Lecouvreure, Carmen, La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), Die Walküre, and Dialogues des Carmélites. Also at the Lensic: A live performance of No Tenors Allowed, starring Thomas Hampson and Luca Pisaroni (May 2).

SITE SANTA FE CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION: MARCH – SEPTEMBER 2019

Bel Canto: Contemporary Artists Explore Opera is an exhibition that brings together a celebrated group of artists and works that examine the music, design, history, and architecture of the opera. Featured artists include: Vasco Araújo (Portugal), Suzanne Bocanegra (US), Candida Höfer (Germany), Guillermo Kuitca (Argentina), Yinka Shonibare MBE (UK/Nigeria), and Matthias Schaller (Germany), among others.

THE SANTA FE OPERA’S 2019 SEASON: JUNE 28 – AUGUST 24, 2019

La bohème, Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), Così fan tutte, Jenůfa, The Thirteenth Child, and Renée Fleming in Recital
Each partner promotes a unique Santa Fe experience through its state-of-the-art programming. The Lensic’s diverse and dynamic productions within its historic landmark theater, The Santa Fe Opera’s world-class talent amidst Santa Fe’s breathtaking landscape, and SITE’s internationally-acclaimed contemporary art exhibitions in its award-winning building each attract visitors from all over the region and the world and amplify Santa Fe as a high-profile destination for the arts.

Beginning in the fall of 2018 through Summer of 2019, Passages will highlight the rich programming of these three organizations and showcase the diverse opportunities to access and interpret the art form of Opera through various media.

The collaboration will offer a new creative identity and marketing plan designed to promote each organization’s activities to audiences locally and nationally; develop a series of cross-promotional initiatives to drive audiences to partner productions and events; and create new collaborative content in the form of podcasts and public programming offering behind the scenes glimpses of Opera productions, interviews with artists, and vibrant public programs exploring cultural and historical context relevant to exhibited art and performances.