SF Opera Makes Podcast Partnership With MobileCast Media
Oct 3rd, 2006 | By Elisabeth Lewin | Category: Audio Podcasting, General
San Francisco Opera and MobileCast Media have announced a joint podcast project, the first of which features an interview with opera icon Deborah Voigt.
San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley’s interview with Deborah Voigt was recorded live on the stage of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, offers a personal glimpse into the life and talent of the opera star.
In the interview, Ms. Voigt talks candidly of her recent weight-loss surgery and discusses topics ranging from her international singing career, her dating life, and the love she has for her dog, Steinway.
The podcast series will also include San Francisco Opera’s 2006 – 2007 Season Preview — a synopsis of each opera written and narrated by David Gockley.
“Deborah Voigt is a major international star, and I imagine that her fans around the world will want to hear her discuss, in her own voice, the recent issues that have been so widely reported,” stated San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley. “I’ve always been a firm believer in taking opera out of the opera house, and we’ve begun that with our simulcasts.”
How did the SF Opera become involved with podcasting, and MobileCast Media in particular? John Houghton, CEO of MobileCast Media, is a former opera singer.
Houghton became involved with San Francisco Opera as an audience member and as an active board member of the Company’s young audience development group, BRAVO! CLUB.
“It’s the marriage of two of my life’s passions,” says John Houghton, who made the podcast possible through a donation of services. “I realized that I could literally reach millions through podcasting, and this perfect marriage of my passion and my profession came about. I fell in love with opera as a young music student and I cannot think of a better way to give back to the art form than by making it possible for opera lovers worldwide to access the programs and music of the legendary San Francisco Opera.”
San Francisco Opera tested this concept with an initial BRAVO! CLUB lecture called Opera 101, featuring conductor Sara Jobin. The podcast is available at the BRAVO! CLUB Podcast Page or from iTunes by searching for “Bravo Club.”
Plans for future podcasts are in the works, as are conversations about videocasting.
I hadn’t thought anything about the comment about Voigt’s surgery, until I went looking for a photo of the singer. The difference in her appearance pre- and post-surgery is really dramatic. I wonder whether that has (negatively or not) affected the quality of her voice?
They say that the opera ain’t over til the fat lady sings.
Does that mean that, post surgery, the operas will go on forever?
That’s only when they’re doing Wagner’s Ring of the Niebelung (or whatever.).
Or if they’re doing “Tales of Hoffman,” which isn’t that long — it just *feels* like it goes on forever.