A weekend of opera concerts in NYC parks

[wp_caption id="attachment_74" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="J. David Jackson (left, with AOP Board Member John Buscarello) at the Metropolitan Opera's summer concert in Prospect Park, Brooklyn."][/wp_caption]

AOP conductor covers Met Opera's concert in Prospect Park

AOP conductor J. David Jackson (Darkling, Marina: A Captive Spirit) was the cover conductor for the Metropolitan Opera's concert in Prospect Park, Brooklyn that drew a crowd of 50,000 on the evening of June 20. The concert featured the soprano Angela Gheorghiu and the tenor Roberto Alagna performing famous opera arias and duets.

AOP presents its own park concert in Brooklyn

On Saturday, June 21, AOP held its own summer concert in a Brooklyn Park one day after the Metropolitan Opera's presentation. A crowd of less than 50,000 was on hand in Fort Greene Park to watch AOP and friends performing all new opera arias and duets as part of the free festival Make Music NY.

[wp_caption id="attachment_78" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Donna Smith performs C&V songs based on the potry of Walt Whitman"][/wp_caption]

AOP performed songs from this year's C&V composers based on the writings of Brooklyn's own Walt Whitman in between presentations from Opera on Tap, Collective Opera Company, and Rhymes With Opera. Greg Trupiano, Artistic Director of the Walt Whitman Project, introduced each of the songs with information about their source poems, including one poem that was written only a block away from where the performance was held.

The show was also held earlier in the day at Lincoln Square in Manhattan.