Behind the Scenes at Seagle

Some of our readers have been fascinated by Seagle Festival, where Tony Plog and I recently had a workshop performance of Theremin, our new opera. People asked to learn more about Seagle, so I thought I might share some of our experiences there.   

Seagle is the oldest opera instruction program in the United States—since 1915. The program is held every summer, with young singers performing classic operas, along with one or two new operas such as ours. The result, for us, is an unusual opportunity to hear new operas guided by outstanding leaders and performed by young, high-quality singers.

Tony and I prepared our early version of Theremin and traveled from Germany (Tony) and Nashville (Ron) to New York, then together drove 250 miles to Schroon Lake, home of Seagle Festival. The drive was gorgeous, as was the setting for Seagle itself.   

There we reconnected with Artistic Director Darren Woods and Managing Director Tony Kostecki. They and the young singers greeted us and showed us to our quaint quarters. A few hours later, we met conductor Chloe Kim (center with Tony left and Ron), pianist Neill Campbell, and thereminist Rob Schwimmer.  

For the next three days, the group of us plus four singers practiced our opera, piece by piece. On Friday night, we gathered in the Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater, built in the late 1800s. Our piece seemed to go well, but we were eager to hear the traditional Q&A with the very knowledgeable audience. To our surprise, virtually all of them liked it, and they seemed genuinely moved. Even Darren, always honest and sometimes blunt, had some ideas but nothing in the way of criticism.   

We stopped at the cocktail party and offered our thanks to the performers. The next morning we drove back to New York City and headed home, pleased with a new opera and another delightful stay at Seagle Festival.