Tag: film

What a way to start our second season!

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Thank you so much to all our participating artists, board members, volunteers, donors, and audience members who supported the kick-off of our 2024-5 season with our FALL 2024 GALA CELEBRATION! We had about 125 people in attendance and raised a total of $7,500 towards our $25,000 goal for our March 2025 production of Lucia di Lammermoor. These funds will help us to cover some of the production’s most essential costs and we couldn’t be more grateful for your support! We were also thrilled to honor local opera legend Frank Scinta, and to present our vision of “opera nouveau” not only with live performances, but cinematically produced videos, voiceovers, and words from Gala Co-Chairs Leslie Boldt and Louis Bryant, Opera Sacra Co-Directors Frank Scinta and Father Jack Ledwon, and our visionary Stage and Film Director Dr. Alex Huddleston.

Now, our team is due for a rest, but we will be back in your inboxes and socials soon to tell you more about what comes next as we work towards our grandest and most striking production yet. In the meantime, check out some Gala stills below, highlighting the beautiful artists at the heart of our collective, as well as the stunning staging and lighting conceived of by Alex in the beautiful space of our home base – the UU Church of Buffalo. Once again, we thank you all!

Jessie Downs and Helen Lowry as MADAMA BUTTERFLY and Suzuki in “The Flower Duet”
Ky Ver Hoef performing “Sin tu amor”
Jamie Gangemi and Erin Alexander as Frasquita and Mercedes in the CARMEN “Card Trio”
Helen Lowry as CARMEN in the “Card Trio”
Beth White and Jessie Downs as Adalgisa and NORMA in
“Mira, O Norma…Si, fino all’ore estreme”
Jessie Downs and David Freides as LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR and Edgardo performing “Sulla tomba… Verranno a te sull’aure”
Tim Flynn as Raimondo accompanied by our Gala chorus performing
“Dalle Stanze Ove Lucia” from
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Sotto Voce needs YOUR HELP this week!

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Our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, is distributing $1,000 to 20 different projects for their annual Spring Match campaign. Every donation made to Sotto Voce THIS WEEK ONLY – between Monday April 15 and Friday April 19, 2024 – gives us an extra chance to receive the $1k. Please consider making a donation of any amount to improve our odds, and be sure to share our fundraiser far and wide—every donation counts! Note also that Fractured Atlas is a non-profit arts service organization, and so contributions for the charitable purposes of Sotto Voce are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.


When you donate this week, your gift will support our June 2024 production of Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Check out a sneak preview of the show above, with Sotto Voce founding director Jessie Downs performing the famous aria, “Senza Mamma.” This video was directed and produced by Jessie’s co-director and partner Alex Huddleston with piano accompaniment by Sotto Voce Key Artist Jon Vogtle. Please check it out, like, comment, and subscribe! Anything you can do or give helps us so much! From all of us, thank you!

On our campaign page (linked above) you can also read more about this show and our “opera nouveau” take!

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!