Like the weeds in my cement driveway, opera turns up in the darndest places. No longer is it the stuff of stuffed shirts and gilded opera houses. It's now literally all over the place - in movie theaters, on the street and in gyms. What? Meet Richard Blakeney, a sports equipment guardian at the fitness facility of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. He's a classically trained baritone who performs all over Charleston, including on the city's streets and - every now and then - at his place of employment. As if that's not enough, Blakeney also is the founder of Organic Opera, a program that teaches school kids in the Carolinas how to sing opera. So where should opera go next? How about to the laundromat? Or to Congress? Or maybe to my driveway - the weeds would make a great audience.
Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.