The stone walls looming over the deep water of The Quarry Gardens in Schuyler do more than provide a scenic picnic destination 40 minutes south of downtown Charlottesville.
They also form a natural stage, where the Victory Hall Opera troupe performed everything from Mozart to Carly Simon last June in what Artistic Director Miriam Gordon-Stewart considers an acoustic collaboration with nature.
“It feels similar in some ways to singing in an opera house, as you are singing out across the water in these beautiful quarries,” says Gordon-Stewart. “But it is different in the sense that you also have the natural sounds. You have these beautiful bird sounds, and frogs, and all sort of critters that chime in as you’re presenting the music.”
Earlysville-based VHO will begin its seventh season with another unique collaboration. At Fry’s Spring Beach Club in the fall, Metropolitan Opera soprano Janinah Burnett’s Love the Color of Your Butterfly will intertwine soaring operatic vocals with soulful Americana piano in a groundbreaking blend of opera, blues, and jazz.
Australian-born Gordon-Stewart has performed everywhere from Sydney to Paris to Seoul, but she has never seen a performance like Burnett’s or an audience like Charlottesville’s.
“Engaging across disciplines and performing in alternative venues gives people a chance to experience opera in a way that they relate to, and that they can enjoy,” says Gordon-Stewart.