The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: You can help produce a local concert production of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” with a small or large donation.

By Jacob Stockinger

Some loyal fans of this blog, longtime local businesspeople who are also loyal concert-goers and loyal supporters of local music, have informed The Ear about a very worthwhile project.

So The Ear gives a hearty Shout-Out and Thank You to Carol “Orange” Schroeder and Dean Schroeder (both below), the owners of Orange Tree Imports on Monroe Street who put their money where their ears are.

The project involves local soprano Jennifer Sams, who is using a public funding website – akin to Kickstarter, but called IndieGoGo — to launch a local early music project: A concert product (without sets and costumes) of the opera “Dido and Aeneas” by Henry Purcell (below). And if you wonder what it might look and sound like, listen to Jessye Norman singing “Dido’s Lament” at the bottom.

Here is a link to the contribution site:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/256868

Sams (below), who graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Music with a doctorate and who sang with the University Opera, has established a fine reputation for herself.

Here is a link to Sams’ website, which also a current biography and lists her upcoming concerts in Madison and Wisconsin:

http://www.jennifersams.com/jennifersams/Welcome.html

It looks like all she wants or needs to raise is $1,000 to get the project a green light, and has so far raised about half of that.

My guess with such a small sum is that she will have no problem raising what she needs.

I recall local performer and composer Jerry Hui using Kickstarter to raise enough money — $6,000, if I recall correctly — to stage his Internet opera, done for his UW doctoral thesis, “called “Wired for Love.”

Here’s hoping that Jennifer Sams has as much success.

Don’t be shy.

Giving a large amount would be great – she can always exceed the target – but lots of small amounts could help too. After all, that is how President Obama, raised a lot of money for his first successful run in 2008.