Hello Opera Theatre Fans,
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As we reflect on  our first performance of the 25th anniversary season, I've been thinking a lot about flowers.  

The amaryllis bloomed very near to Christmas and now is blooming for a second time.  The plant, naturally, makes me think of each season that an opera company has.  The blooms are all unique and bring joy and beauty to the viewer.  And the beauty returns again and again, like my little amaryllis.  Opera companies go through many season in the literal sense, but it takes care and tending to go through the seasons of business-- boom, bust, transitions.

At my first board meeting for Opera Theatre as Interim Executive Director, each board member received an amaryllis as a gift leading into the holiday season.  Opera Theatre's dear friend,  Kathleen Fox Collins, had them delivered to us.  Still very new to the role, I had only met Kathleen once.  Subsequently, we had a couple of coffees together at her home.  She was incredibly supportive of my new role and provided lovely feedback on my activities with the company.

The amaryllis blooms again and again, so does an opera company... season by season.  And so also do the gifts we bring to the world.  I have only scratched the surface of gifts that Kathleen Fox Collins brought to Opera Theatre of the Rockies: helping found the company with Martile, supporting the organization as past president, and more.  The amaryllis gift of her presence bloomed again and again.

I look forward to seeing Opera Theatre and this musical community that you are a part of bloom again and again.

With a song in my heart,
Eapen

Hello Opera Theatre fans!
My name is Eapen Leubner and I'm the Interim Executive Director at Opera Theatre of the Rockies.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to join this company and support the 25th season of activities.  You may remember me as Nanki-Poo in "The Mikado". 

A little bit about me...
I began my singing career at age 10 (ish).  After that, I knew that the only thing I wanted to do was sing and have a career in music.  I've had a great time in the ensuing years pursuing this life.  I first received an undergraduate degree in Voice Performance at Ithaca College.  I have sung in the chorus with Seattle Opera and performed with their opera previews and studied as a young artist with Tri-Cities Opera (Binghamton, NY) and Opera Colorado.

Like many young singers, I moved to New York City and performed with numerous companies including Chelsea Opera, Encompass New Opera Theatre, Mid-America Productions, Bronx Opera and more.

My family, wife Kathleen, daughters Millie and Pearl, and son, Blaise, outgrew our one-bedroom apartment and found that Colorado was the right fit.  I continued to commute back to New York City and across the country for gigs.  The pandemic slowed that down a bit.

Luckily, I had founded Denver Art Song Project (DASP), a singer collective that made albums, performed unique art song shows combining video, storytelling, visual art, staging all designed to make Art Song accessible to new audiences.  The pandemic gave me time to grow the company into Art Song Colorado, a 501c3.  We have performed live from Colorado Springs to Denver to Ft. Collins and Grand Junction.  Our collaboration "Voices from the African Diaspora" with the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs was an epic experience.  Click here for a personal favorite piece from the show! We have now made five albums including the recent "El Rebelde" which has received national acclaim and stars Andrew Garland.

All this led to my connections with friends in Colorado Springs that again followed along to lead me to this role as Interim ED.  I'm amazed at the structure of support that Martile has created over the past 25 years.  The volunteers and board are passionate and driven to see this season be the biggest success it can be.

Over the next weeks, we'll be announcing many celebration events and our stellar cast members.  Please stay tuned here and find out how you can help honor 25 years of Martile's leadership and prepare Opera Theatre for the next 25 years of Pikes Peak opera.

I'm searching for a pithy closer... but for now...
Cheers!
Eapen