We had the chance to ask a few questions (virtually!) to Boulder Opera Board Member, Olga Correll. Olga is excited to help Boulder Opera in reaching their artistic, educational and financial goals. Through her work with Boulder Opera, Olga hopes to not only instill her love of the arts in her four children, but also share with the greater Boulder community.
Explore this informative Q&A below and get to know Olga and a little more about why and how you can support Boulder Opera.
Q: Tell us about yourself and how you came to love Opera.
Growing up in Munich with a breathtakingly beautiful opera house and very interesting and diverse productions, my parents took me to opera early on and regularly. Later, I took advantage of student ticket allocations which ran half the price of movie theater tickets.
Q: When did you join the Boulder Opera board? Why?
When I moved to Boulder a friend told me about the BOC and I attended a fundraiser in 2015. I immediately fell in love with what Dianela was building here in this little town. I soon asked her how I can help, and brought my family to every production since then. My goal is to help make opera accessible, rewarding, and affordable to everyone.
Q: Why should people support Boulder Opera on Colorado Gives?
The Boulder Opera Company has worked tirelessly to bring some of the region's finest cultural programming. Dianela has developed new formats and audiences for this old art form: children's productions, free community open air performances, opera and dining. She has brought opera to schools through her education outreach programs, and she brought in underserved communities through her ticket donation partnerships.
All this is happening in our midst, and all this does not come for free. Art production companies like the Boulder Opera provide opportunities to local singers and artists, and do need help from their communities, which they enrich. It is a moral obligation of communities like Boulder and surroundings to support those that work so hard to make those communities so desirable in the first place.
Q: What have been the most rewarding moments with BOC?
Every single time I attend Boulder Opera performances, with my head still halfway tangled up in my daily grind, with the very first note sung on the stage, I am immediately levitated into this world where deep stories explore the human condition from any possible angle - a feast for the eye, ear and the heart. Everytime I see, hear, and feel the world around me a little different when leaving their performances.
Q: What's your favorite program at BOC and why?
My favorite programs at BOC are those that break with the traditional formats: burger, beer and opera; open air performances with a picnic basket, children and pets in the park; productions adapted for the enjoyment of young audiences. Boulder Opera is tapping into those unconventional pairings, and I love it!
Q: What should Boulder Opera be doing more of? What do we need?
I think the Boulder Opera is catering to every possible audience, and exploring very diverse formats already. We need the community to recognize this and feel this heartfelt wish to support what the BOC is doing - so they can continue to be that cultural enrichment in the Front Range, and keep providing opportunities to local artists.
Q: What do you hope for Boulder Opera after the pandemic?
I hope that we are learning to provide new high quality formats - e.g. in digital form - that we can use beyond the pandemic. At our last pandemic-safe in person production before the new state order we heard from so many how much they longed for the real experience and enjoyed our show. I hope that we will be able to reach our audiences both in person again, and through online streaming - the latter hopefully established as a new and fully valid form to support the local arts.
Q: Thank you for the interview!
My pleasure!
