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A ceremonial start

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Priests Will Botsford, Phil Nicolai, Riley Nahlik, Brad Lessen, Ky VerHoef, and Leo Mitchell processing us into the start of filming for Sotto Voce’s The Magic Flute!
Tim Flynn (Sarastro) at the heart of his temple.

This past weekend, our production of W.A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute got off to a ceremonial start! After an impressive first rehearsal with our Three Spirits (Rosa Vu, Jamie Gangemi, and Erin Alexander) and Pamina (Jessie Downs), as well as a fun coaching with our Monostatos (Shaun Doyle), the entire cast gathered for a table read of Alex Huddleston’s adapted screenplay. Laughter abounded as we read through his fresh new take on a classic tale. The very next day, our fabulous director and crew filmed the opening scene of the second act – featuring our regal Sarastro (Tim Flynn) and his Priests (Leo Mitchell, Riley Nahlik, Brad Lessen, Phil Nicolai, Ky VerHoef, Alexander Chervyavsky, and Will Botsford) along with our angsty Tamino (Tyler Huk). This weekend, we are gearing up for more music rehearsals and filming. Stay tuned for more updates as this magical production continues to unfold!

Our cast and crew hard at work, filming more Priestly rituals. FAR LEFT: Josh Dissek – Stage Manager / CENTER: Alexander Chernyavsky – Priest, Alex Huddleston – Director/ FAR RIGHT: Zane Merritt -Assistant Film Director.

Sotto Voce is now on YouTube!

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Sotto Voce now has a YouTube page! To see and hear what we’re up to, no matter where you are in the world, please like and subscribe to our channel.

Our first two videos are a preview of our upcoming February 2024 production of The Magic Flute…

And one of two original music videos by Alex Huddleston that were premiered at this fall’s re-launch event “Incantations.” Check them out and stay tuned for more releases in the coming weeks!

Thank you for helping us to make MAGIC with “Incantations!”

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Thanks so much to everyone who supported our 2023 relaunch spectacular, “Incantations!” The night was extremely well received by an audience of around 100, and many more were reached through some lovely news coverage. We also raised over 80% of our goal for the evening and are well on our way to funding our upcoming February production of W.A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute! Our team is already hard at work behind the scenes finalizing our casting, production schedule, and original screenplay for our unique take on this classic. Stay tuned for more information and sneak peaks!

Beth White performing “Diskana’s Lament” from The Second Sight by Jessie Downs – one of several sparkling virtuosic solo performances of the evening.
Jessie Downs performing the Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. Julia Anne Cordani also performed the Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute, and both performances were greeted with the audience’s awe!
The concert also featured several special duets, including the sprightly “Fear No Danger to Ensue” from Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (co-directed last May by Jessie and Alex)…
…and “Bei Männern” – the duet that marks the meeting of Papageno and Pamino in The Magic Flute!
Our co-directors were also very grateful to be featured on the WKRZ nightly news!!!

Filming begins for “The Magic Flute” and we enter the final countdown to “Incantations”!

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Jessie Downs (left) and Julia Anne Cordani (right) filming one of Alex Huddleston’s reimagined Magic Flute dialogues as Pamina and the Queen of the Night for Sotto Voce’s February 2024 production of The Magic Flute. One of these scenes will be previewed at our October 20th event “Incantations”!

We are now just under three weeks away from our October 20th relaunch event “Incantations” and our team is working hard to present the community with a truly magical evening. We have also begun filming the video elements for our February 2024 production of The Magic Flute, a preview of which will be shown at the October event. You won’t want to miss out on either, so see the links above to get your tickets today!

Beth White (left), Taryn Goehrig (center), and Helen Lowry (right) as the Second, First, and Third Ladies of The Queen of the Night, trying on their costumes after a rehearsal of one of The Magic Flute scenes they will be performing at “Incantations”!

Relaunch Rehearsals Have Begun!

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This past Friday 9/8/23, our new team of artists began rehearsing for our fall relaunch and gala event “Incantations”! Stay tuned here, as well as on our FaceBook and Instagram, for more “behind the scene” updates as this beautiful program comes together. You can also buy your tickets for the event on our Incantations eventbrite page.

Our “Incantations” Artist Team – from left: Rosa Vu (soprano), Jon Vogtle (piano), Beth White (mezzo-soprano), Jessie Downs (soprano/ director), Taryn Goehrig (soprano), Julia Anne Cordani (soprano/ director), Helen Lowry (mezzo-soprano), Brandon Mecklenburg (baritone), Tyler Huk (tenor).
Helen and Beth rehearse “The claw of the magnolia” from Kaija Saariaho’s “From the Grammar of Dreams” with support from Jon, Julia, and Jessie. “Incantations” will feature pieces like this one – from Sotto Voce’s origins, as well as music from recent non-Sotto projects from our directors, and excerpts from Sotto projects on the horizon – including our February 2024 production of The Magic Flute.

Sotto Voce is BACK!

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Dear Sotto Voce fans,

It’s been a while, but Sotto Voce is coming back to Buffalo THIS FALL! Founder Jessie Downs, founding member Julia Anne Cordani, and former Managing Director Alex Huddleston are teaming up to relaunch Sotto Voce with a twist – we will now be focusing primarily on producing operas, venturing into *reimagined* canonical repertoire, and incorporating both staged and filmed elements into our shows.

Sound interesting? Stay tuned to this website and our socials for more information about our relaunch extravaganza event THIS OCTOBER and the shows will be featuring in our 2023-24 season.

“Thank you!!!” for a successful opera premiere!

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FROM TOP LEFT: Claudia Brown (Freyaria), Jessie Downs (composer, here as Queen Spirit [also Sashatya/ Luciana]), Ola Rafalo (Diskana), Beth White (Water Spirit), John Clayton (Frog Spirit), Stephen Walley (Wind Spirit), Brandon Mecklenburg (Light Spirit), Julia Anne Cordani (Bird Spirit)

The Second Sight, a new opera by Jessie Downs was premiered by Sotto Voce on June 26th and 27th in Buffalo, NY. While we hope this premiere is the first of many performances for this exciting and complex new work, we are also so grateful for everyone who made this first presentation a success. Thank you to our amazing team of artists, production staff and volunteers, donors, and audience members. We couldn’t do any of this without you.

If you missed the live shows, also note that we will be streaming the recording until August 3rd. You can purchase access HERE, and please do not hesitate to contact us for technical support!

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Stephen Walley, John Clayton, and Brandon Mecklenburg

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This week we are thrilled to introduce the other half of the Spirit sextet – baritones Stephen Walley and Brandon Mecklenburg as the Wind and Light Spirits, joined by tenor John Clayton who will be taking over the role of the Frog Spirit, originally written for contralto Suzanne Fatta. Wind, Light, and Frog will be joining Jessie Downs as Queen Spirit, Beth White as Water Spirit, and Julia Anne Cordani as Bird Spirit in the premiere of The Second Sight – a new opera. You can read more about all our cast members on our Members page. Remember to get your tickets to see and hear all of our fabulous cast first hand!