A rainbow must have ditched its pot of gold and signaled the way to the Hailstone Event Center on Monday as St. Patrick’s day songs echoed through the building. 

With Jordanelle State Park as the backdrop, the event attracted new and returning guests to the Park City Opera’s performance lineup. One, visiting Park City with her family for the week, said she decided to attend after reading about the event in the paper, especially because her 5-year-old granddaughter loves to sing.

Two of the three co-founders of the Park City Opera — Benjamin Beckman and Lena Goldstein — were among the performers, including two guest singers, tenor David Silvano and soprano Clara Hurtado Lee, both Park City residents. 

“We’ve done more than 20 events in over 16 different venues around Park City,” said Goldstein. “Always showcasing the natural beauty that Park City has to offer and bringing opera outside of the Opera House in an attempt to make it fun, approachable, casual and interesting for people who both love opera and know it like the back of their hand, or people who have never heard opera live with classical music.”

Beckman, the pianist, also served as a guide throughout the performance, offering descriptions of some of the songs to enhance the audience’s understanding of their meanings.

The musical program featured Samuel Barber’s “Hermit Songs,” which features 10 poems by Irish monks from the ninth to 13th centuries. The opera performed the English versions of these poems, which were originally written in Gaelic.

That first song performed was “at St Patrick’s purgatory,” which Beckman said describes a monk’s journey in a pilgrimage to St Patrick’s purgatory, which is a giant medieval basilica on an island in Lough Derg in western Ireland, he said.

The second song of the evening was “The Church Bell at Night.” 

“It is the first of a few songs in the cycle that take a bit of a sarcastic or ironic tone,” said Beckman. “This one in which a monk describes how he would rather be with a church bell on a cold and windy night than with a woman.”

Song after song, the performers brought a sense of stillness to the room, their voices filling every crevice with a reverence that seemed to make the space itself pause and listen.

Before the final two songs of Barber’s “Hermit Songs,” Beckman performed Nocturne No. 5, by Irish composer John Field.

“While Irish music has had a massive influence in the world of popular and folk music, and Irish poets make up many of the authors of the text that you have heard tonight, Irish music has not really made its mark in the world of classical music and opera,” he said. “But with that said, John Field is perhaps the most famous historical Irish composer, and he is most known for inventing and popularizing the form and idea of the nocturne.”

Goldstein’s performance of ‘Danny Boy,’ a well-known Irish ballad, brought the night to a close, leaving the audience with a solemn note.

Over the past year, the Park City Opera has offered pop-up concerts and recitals like Monday’s performance across the Park City area. The concert series will continue in the summer, returning to locations such as the library patio, the greenhouse at Park City Gardens, and several other venues.

In addition, the opera is approaching a milestone with the production of its first full-length main stage production featuring a full orchestra and a cast of nationally acclaimed singers who are coming to stay in Park City during August, said Goldstein.

The event will be held at two venues: the Santy Auditorium on Aug. 24, and Premiere Park City on Aug. 29 and 30. Tickets will be available to Membership Circle members starting April 1 and to the general public in May.

“If you love opera, or even if you love classical music or you just love live music in Park City, there’s really never been a more important time to support the things that you love and help ensure their future,” said Goldstein.

For more information visit parkcityopera.org.

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The Park City Opera will host a special holiday celebration at Jordanelle State Park’s Hailstone Event Center from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, March 17.

Taking place on St. Patrick’s Day, Opera on the Jordanelle will feature a program dedicated to Irish music, folk songs and compositions inspired by Irish heritage. 

The event will begin with a reception sponsored by Park City Brewing, adding to the traditional flavor of St. Patrick’s day, said Park City Opera Co-founder and Development Director Lisl Wangermann.

While each of the organization’s programs is tailored to its venue, season or holiday, this event marks a unique milestone for the organization, which is approaching its first anniversary this month, as it is the first time they will present a St. Patrick’s Day-themed event.

Founded by Wangermann, Executive Director Lena Goldstein and Artistic Director Benjamin Beckman, the group has brought more than 20 performances to more than a dozen venues across Park City in its first year.

The idea behind the organization is to “bring opera outside of the traditional opera house into venues where people love to be, and to present opera in approachable, fun and accessible ways,” providing people with an opportunity to rediscover a familiar location in a new way said Goldstein. 

She said this particular event is an opportunity to reimagine how people engage with the State Park and the Hailstone Event Center at this time of year. 

“For anyone who hasn’t been, it’s just stunning. It’s a glass pavilion, and the backdrop is the reservoir, the Jordanelle itself,” Goldstein said, adding that presenting music that reflects both St. Patrick’s Day and the natural beauty of Park City will make for a perfect evening. 

The event will feature three singers, including Goldstein, and an accompanying pianist, Beckman. The other two singers will be tenor David Silvano and soprano Clara Hurtado Lee, both Park City residents. 

“I’m especially looking forward to performing Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs, which set 10 poems by ninth through 13th century Irish monks (translated to English),” said Beckman. “It’s incredible how modern and prescient the poetry feels, despite it being a thousand years old, and Barber composes music with so much humor and charm to match.”

Beckman, along with fellow co-founders Wangermann and Goldstein, met while completing their studies at Yale University. The three have been working together since then. Goldstein and Wangermann are both soprano singers, while Beckman brings his expertise as a pianist, composer and conductor.

Wangermann said that, as a young musician passionate about classical music, she is often faced with the misconception that she is in the minority and that appreciation for the classical music genre is limited or that there is little demand for it. However, her contrary beliefs have been reaffirmed over the past year as the Park City community has embraced the organization. 

While their performances include some modern repertoire, much of the music they present has been performed for decades or even centuries. 

Still she emphasized that by creating engaging and different experiences, it is possible to attract audiences eager to explore and appreciate classical music regardless of their previous experiences with it.

“We’re doing it in a really unique and new way,” she said. “So you might have heard this aria before, but you’ve never heard it like this, and I think that that’s been a really fun part of what we have done.”

Wangermann, who is 50% Irish, shows a special excitement for the upcoming event as she takes great pride in her heritage and is excited for the opportunity to honor her background.

“Having pride in your roots is something that I feel strongly in my soul, and I’m really excited to translate that into a program of classical music,” said Wangermann. “I see it happen with other groups and other identities, but this is maybe one of the first times that Irish music has been presented, and this holiday has been celebrated through classical music. It’s a really unique way of celebrating St Patrick’s Day.”

The group has found music to be an incredible way to connect with different cultures and with different identities within the Park City community, all of which is part of their work, said Goldstein.

“For me, the most rewarding work that we’ve done is embark on a journey that’s additive to the vibrant cultural scene that already exists in Park City,” she said. “When you’re working with organizations that already contribute so much to the arts ecosystem, it’s easier to do right by the community and to design a product for the Park City community.”

The group shares a sense of pride for what they have accomplished so far and looks forward to the future with a steady determination.

“We’re really interested in what people want and what people think and their feedback, and bringing opera to places that are important to them, and so building with a community-centered approach, I think, is what I’m most proud of over the past year,” Goldstein added.

Park City Opera invites the entire community to come together and experience classical music, welcoming both newcomers exploring opera for the first time and longtime enthusiasts who have made it a lifelong tradition.

Goldstein emphasized their programs are designed to create an experience that is meaningful for everyone, regardless of their familiarity with classical music. 

“We believe there’s something in classical singing and classical music for everybody, and our programming intends to encapsulate that,” she said.

Tickets for the event are available on the Park City Opera website, with general admission priced at $30 and premium seating at $55. Attendees will also receive free entry to Jordanelle State Park.

Park City Opera: Opera on the Jordanelle

• When: 7 p.m., March 17
• Where: Hailstone Event Center
• Tickets: givebutter.com/pcojordanelle
• Web: parkcityopera.org

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