HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/5/2017 Item 6, Asher
Christian, Kevin
From:Brian Asher Alhadeff <brianalhadeff@gmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday, July 05,
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:Sharon Dobson
Subject:Community Promotions GIA Funding: Opera San Luis Obispo
Dear City Council,
My name is Dr. Brian Asher Alhadeff. I am the Artistic Director and Conductor of Opera San Luis Obispo - a
position I have held since 2011. I want to thank you all for your hard work making San Luis Obispo such a
great place to live and produce beautiful art and music.
I am writing this email today to thank the PCC for it's recommendation for GIA funding and encourage you to
approve this recommendation for our fall Citywide Arts Collaboration production of Madama Butterfly, by
Giacomo Puccini. In the past I have given this request in person, however I was informed that sending an email
would help in freeing up the precious "live-time" available during a City Council meeting - for this I am happy
to oblige.
When OperaSLO produces a "Grand Opera", there is a tremendous positive economic impact on our city. For
about three months, our productions employ over two-hundred artists: orchestra musicians, chorus singers,
ballet dancers, internationally acclaimed leading artists, directors, set designers and builders, technical staff,
costume designers and seamstresses. In addition to enriching our community with their talents, these
professionals stay in hotels and/or are housed by locals. They buy groceries and supplies at supermarkets, eat
out at restaurants (sometimes 3 times a day - every day!), visit wineries, museums, Farmer's Market, coffee
bars, night clubs, and other popular attractions. Our artists perform outreach activities for thousands of patrons
as a form a cultural education and marketing towards the opera they are working on. Over 2,000 ticket buying
opera patrons ($85K in sales alone) then plan their weekend around OperaSLO's production: more tourism to
SLO, eating out, drinks at clubs afterwards, etc. For a city like San Luis Obispo, a "Grand Opera" performance
is just as much a grand "sales tax generating" production. On behalf of my Board of Directors and Executive
Director Sharon Dobson, we hope you see the value behind supporting this unique business partnership.
If you have not yet had the opportunity to experience an OperaSLO Grand Opera production, please take a
moment to review a link to an excerpt video below. If I may beg you to open just one video, I suggest our 2014
grand production of Show Boat where in the first 30-seconds you will see OperaSLO docking an 1890s
Mississippi Steamboat on the stage of the PAC! The elation you'll experience on your computer screen can't
even begin to promise how much more a live performance delivers.
Since 2011, Opera San Luis Obispo has professionalized from what in 1986 was a troupe of opera lovers
performing excerpts in Linnea's Cafe to one of only four "Grand Opera" producing companies in the state of
California (the others being San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco). OperaSLO is on a fast rising
trajectory to become an international destination for opera within the next 10 years - precisely because of your
love and support, and the tremendous vibrant arts culture which is the fabric of our community. Together we
have made this happen.
Thank you for your interest and consideration.
With kindest regards,
Brian.
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Dr. Brian Asher Alhadeff
Opera - Symphony - Ballet
American Musical Theater
Artistic Director & Conductor:
Opera San Luis Obispo
Lompoc Pops Orchestra
Principal Conductor:
State Street Ballet Santa Barbara
Civic Ballet San Luis Obispo
OFFICE: 805.541.5369
MOBILE: 714.856.5663
www.brianalhadeff.com
www.operaslo.org
www.lompocpopsorchestra.org
www.statestreetballet.com
www.civicballetofslo.org
2016 Collage from OperaSLO's "La Bohème"
https://youtu.be/IDLVtN3yWIA
2016 Collage from "Symphony at Sunset Pops" at the Vina Robles Amphitheatre:
https://youtu.be/I6iKazr6jQo
2016 Collage from OperaSLO's "30th Anniversary Gala"
https://youtu.be/m32jsEyuN2U
2015 Excerpt from "Nutcracker"
https://youtu.be/qcas07yLU_E
2015 Collage from OperaSLO's "Cavalleria Rusticana"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA_FvwnDqt4
2015 Collage from OperaSLO's "Pagliacci"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGwn11XHdXY
2014 Collage from OperaSLO's "Aida"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytMdDNdU3UM
2014 Collage from OperaSLO's "Show Boat"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slbXKYWYBPc
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