(photo by Dion Ogust)
It took the organizers of the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice a whole day to design a schedule for rehearsals and sound checks to accommodate 60 soloists, 110 choristers, and 40 orchestra musicians. Fifty-five local residents have offered space in their homes to accommodate visiting performers, while the orchestra members will spend their one overnight in rooms donated by Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson.
As Louis Otey and Maria Todaro put together the fourth annual festival, the largest one yet, the logistics are mind-boggling. The couple depends upon the grace and generosity of numerous volunteers, indispensable to keeping the cost of tickets at affordable rates. Most shows are $15 or $25, with lower rates for children. The event will be held in Phoenicia from Thursday, August 1, through Sunday, August 4.
Besides bringing in audiences to hear singers who perform around the U.S. and internationally, Otey and Todaro say their project is designed to build community. The couple has sung for the Phoenicia Business Association — not to solicit donations, but to establish a connection. Interns from Shandaken, Saugerties, Kingston, and Italy have thrown themselves into administrative tasks. Young Mary Sorich of Mount Tremper, who wants to be a journalist, recorded interviews with three artists for posting on the festival website. After members of the Bruderhof religious community heard Todaro sing at the lighting of a Christmas tree in Kingston, a series of meetings resulted in their offering to build the festival stage.
“It takes all these organizational things, people donating goods and services and time,” said Otey, “but in the end, it’s all about the music. We cut a wide swath that narrows down to the singing that everyone will hear — that’s why we do it.”
The 2013 program observes the bicentennials of Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. The Saturday night opera is Verdi’s Rigoletto, starring Otey, soprano Nancy Allen Lundy, and English tenor Barry Banks. The Festival orchestra will be conducted by Steven White of the Metropolitan Opera.