Arts Days: January 27, 1756: The Music Man
It's hard to imagine, but child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could play the keyboard and violin almost as soon as he could walk. He began composing original music at age five and was regularly invited to perform for European royalty.

At 17, he left his home to travel Europe in search of new musical opportunities. He stopped in Vienna, Paris, London, and Rome, where he observed and absorbed new musical forms and techniques.

Mozart's travels helped create his unique, versatile compositional language. He modernized the highly intricate Baroque style of music with advanced technical sophistication, enabling his works to reach new emotional heights.

In his lifetime, he created over 600 works and wrote in every major classical genre: symphony, opera, solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and quintet, large-scale religious masses, choral music, dances, divertimenti, serenades, and the piano sonata.
Composers, Innovators & Pioneers, Music Legends, Opera, Music, Orchestra

Arts Days: January 13, 1910: Turn It Up!
Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his 1896 invention of the radio, which was initially used by ships to communicate with stations on shore. Over a decade later, American inventor and opera lover, Lee de Forest, developed the radio receiver, bringing radio broadcasts to the public.

On this day in 1910, de Forest promoted the radio receiver by broadcasting a live performance of tenor Enrico Caruso from the Metropolitan Opera. At the time, only a small number of people owned radio receivers and could listen to the broadcast, which was sent over a telephone transmitter.
Inventions, Innovators & Pioneers, Math, Opera, Music

Arts Days: April 09, 1939: Let Freedom Sing

For more than 40 years, Marian Anderson’s supple contralto voice—lower than an alto or soprano—thrilled audiences the world over. She preferred singing in recitals to opera performance, though many opera companies tried to entice her to sing with them. However, it was the Daughters of the American Revolution’s refusal to let Anderson sing at Constitution Hall simply because of her race that set the stage for perhaps the most important concert of her career.

With an assist from President Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson gave a spellbinding public performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Some 75,000 people listened live in the chilly spring air, and millions more heard Anderson sing on the radio. In 1955, reconsidering her stance on singing in operas, she became the first African American to perform at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Her grace and beauty—to say nothing of that remarkable voice—made Marian Anderson an important symbol of the Civil Rights Movement.

For more on this historic concert, listen to Of Thee We Sing: Marian Anderson and the Music of the Early Civil Rights Movement.

Cuesheet: WNO Look-In: Aida
Theater, music, and dance come together in this introduction to opera and Verdi’s Aida, one of the world’s most famous operas. At this Look-In, students hear amazing performances; see demonstrations of behind-the scenes technology, lighting, and stagecraft; and get a glimpse into the many careers available in stage performance, both onstage and behind the curtains.
Opera, Backstage

2700 F St.: Alcina: Washington National Opera Open Rehearsal
Welcome to the island of illusions, where Alcina, a beautiful sorceress, turns her lovers into wild beasts or stone when she tires of them. When the dashing knight Ruggiero is in her clutches, his fiancée Bradamante takes on a daring disguise to free her beloved and break the curse. But is Alcina finally falling for the man of her dreams? In this cruel paradise, can anyone tell what is real?
Opera, Backstage

2700 F St.: The Little Prince: Washington National Opera Open Rehearsal
A young boy sets out on a quest across the cosmos to find new companionship after leaving his tiny home planet, where he spent his days protecting his only friend, a rose, from miniature volcanoes and ravenous baobab trees. Along the way, he meets fascinating intergalactic inhabitants, including a delusional king, a rich businessman, and a wearied lamplighter. Eventually, he meets a pilot on Earth who has crash-landed in the Sahara. The two become unlikely friends, learning lessons from the desert’s many creatures until the prince realizes just how special his rose really is.
Opera, Backstage, Young Artists, Literature

Cuesheet: The Little Prince
A young boy sets out on a quest across the cosmos to find new companionship after leaving his tiny home planet, where he spent his days protecting his only friend, a rose, from miniature volcanoes and ravenous baobab trees. Along the way, he meets fascinating intergalactic inhabitants, including a delusional king, a rich businessman, and a wearied lamplighter. Eventually, he meets a pilot on Earth who has crash-landed in the Sahara. The two become unlikely friends, learning lessons from the desert’s many creatures until the prince realizes just how special his rose really is.
Opera, Literature

Cuesheet: Opera Look-In: La traviata
At this Look-In, students hear amazing performances; see demonstrations of behind-the-scenes technology, lighting, and stagecraft; and get a glimpse into the many careers available in stage performance, both onstage and behind the curtains.
Opera, Tragedy, Europe, Backstage

2700 F St.: Silent Night
Based on the true story of a wartime ceasefire, Silent Night makes its WNO premiere in the centennial month of World War I’s end. The year is 1914 and the Great War has just been declared, dividing nations and sending millions into battle. As Christmas Eve falls on a battlefield near Belgium, soldiers in French, German, and Scottish trenches begin recalling songs of home, stepping into no-man’s-land for a spontaneous truce. Once sworn enemies, they trade their weapons for merriment and camaraderie—resulting in one miraculous night of peace.
Europe, Opera

2700 F St.: La Traviata: WNO Open Rehearsal
Including everything from the famous brindisi drinking song to heartbreaking arias, La traviata is one of the most beloved operas ever written. Violetta, a courtesan, is the life of every party. But she holds a devastating secret: she is sick and dying. When she meets the affluent Alfredo, happily-ever-after seems within reach— until his father condemns Violetta’s low social status. Now she must make an impossible choice before death claims her. This everlasting story of love and sacrifice captures Violetta’s unforgettable plight and illuminates tensions of social class that ring just as true today.
Europe, Opera

Cuesheet: WNO Open Rehearsal: The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me
Based on the award-winning children’s book by Jeanette Winterson, this heartwarming production returns with whimsical costumes, music from a Tony®-award winning composer, and a talented cast featuring the Domingo- Cafritz Young Artists and the WNO Children’s Chorus.
Animals, Literature, Opera