Longwood Opera	Other news
42 Hawthorne Avenue Needham, MA 02492 Tel/Fax (781) 455-0960 www.longwoodopera.org Non-profit #043008633 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: J. Scott Brumit General Director encore@longwoodopera.org

LONGWOOD OPERA RECEIVES FOUNDATION GRANT

Will Help Launch 21st Performance Season

NEEDHAM, MA; December 28, 2006-- Longwood Opera, bringing "Opera to All" for 20 seasons, announced today it has received a grant from the Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation of Belmont, Mass. Funds will be used to help Longwood Opera defray costs and continue to stage series performances featuring some of the finest opera talent in the Greater Boston area.

"Between now and May of 2007, we will hear nearly 200 aspiring opera singers who hope to join the Longwood Opera roster," said J. Scott Brumit, Longwood Opera's General Director. "We are extremely grateful to the Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation for helping us launch our third decade of opera and for giving these artists the much-needed opportunity to perform in our fully-staged, local productions."

Following collaboration with another musical organization in a March production of Humperdink's Hansel & Gretel, Longwood Opera's 21st season will officially begin in June 2007 with Rossini's comical Barber of Seville. July and August feature the annual Tuesday evening summer concert series at Needham's Christ Episcopal Church. Johann Strauss, Jr.'s delightful operetta Die Fledermaus will round out the season on successive weekends at several venues this fall. For more information about Longwood Opera and its performances, log on to www.longwoodopera.org, or call 781-455-0960.

About Longwood Opera

Longwood Opera, Inc., was founded in 1986 to fill a void in New England's performing arts network. After students graduate from the universities and conservatories in the Boston area, they have the skills necessary to make a career as opera singers, but they lack the opportunity and venue to use their talents. Longwood Opera gives talented, Boston-based singers a chance to polish their performing skills so that they become successful artists. So far over 500 singers have performed as members of the company. In 1995, we adopted the slogan "Opera For All!"™. This expresses our goal to make opera accessible to everyone, especially to those who might otherwise not have access to this wonderful art form.

Longwood Opera programs are sponsored in part by the Needham and Acton-Boxboro Cultural Councils, local agencies, that are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

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