Guests at the COYP Bacchanal, February 2025.
Photo: Paige Pederzani
We’re delighted to welcome Will Selnick, Cincinnati Opera Board Associates Chair, as a guest blogger this month. Read on to learn more about Will’s personal journey with opera and how it has influenced Cincinnati Opera’s efforts to create a welcoming place for newcomers to the art form.
Spring is one of the most exciting times for the Cincinnati Opera Young Professionals (COYP). As the company prepares for its 2025 Summer Festival, we’re already in the middle of our year-round programming. As I write, we’ve already hosted two of three of our beloved Singers and Spirits events—evenings of music in intimate and unexpected settings, providing community members with what is usually their first “up-close” experience with the power of the operatic voice. We also recently held our second annual fund- and friendraiser, Bacchanal, which exceeded our expectations in terms of both fundraising and attendance, and we’re already planning the third! In addition to these events, we still have our final Singers and Spirits on Tuesday, April 29 at Redtree Coffee & Art, our reimagined Divas and Diamonds evening of sustainable luxury at the John Hauck House on Wednesday, May 21, as well as our fabulous Opera is a Drag, which will again be a part of Cincinnati Opera’s Pride celebration.
These evenings come together through the work of our dedicated COYP board and the incredible Cincinnati Opera staff. This company has been a through line in our city’s history for over 100 years and has touched the lives of so many. I saw my first opera at Cincinnati Opera when I was three years old. This was before the recent renovation of our magnificent performance venue, Music Hall, and the old box seats consisted of small enclosures with small door frames, red velvet curtains, and brass fixtures—I thought it was the fanciest place in the whole world. As the curtain rose, my cousin Megan and I were totally transfixed, and neither of us squirmed nor spoke for the entire first act. It may have helped that the opera was Aida, and these were the days of the circus-style Triumphal March with, to my memory at least, herds of animals and units of soldiers parading across the stage in a seemingly endless line. The opera actually instituted a rule in the next year or so that children had to be six or older to attend, but we were quite literally “grandfathered” in due to our proven good behavior under the old rules. I haven’t missed a season I’ve been in town for since.
Divas & Diamonds 2024.
Photo: Paige Pederzani
When I was around 16, my younger sister wanted to take voice lessons, so I drove us to the Musical Arts Center, where voice instructor Karl Resnik proceeded to test both of our voices. Through just a few words and adjustments, I felt, for the first time, a taste of what it was like to produce that sound. He took me on as a student, and I later ended up at Northwestern for a degree in music with a focus in opera performance. I performed professionally for a while, and though I loved singing, I ultimately wanted to find another way to contribute to the art form that had given me so much. As Cincinnati Opera was preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2020, I was asked to co-chair the after-party for that year’s gala. What was originally a short-term commitment grew as it became clear that plans needed to shift due to the emergence of COVID-19, and the event was postponed. In the meantime, I was asked to join the Center Stage Board Associates—the young professional arm of the Cincinnati Opera Board—and I found a collection of people like me who gave so much of themselves to this company and this art form. When, a few years later, I was asked to consider becoming president for what is now known as the Cincinnati Opera Young Professionals, I said yes without hesitation because I knew the team we had built as a group was strong and ready for the challenges ahead.
Cincinnati Opera has provided me with inspiration and an artistic home that I feel proud of. The work we do changes lives. It changed mine, and I’m eternally grateful.
You’re invited to learn more about COYP and how to get involved here.