KNOW: This longtime opera fan now leads Opera Carolina
Founded in 1948, Opera Carolina works to make opera accessible to Charlotte and the surrounding areas through community programs and educational activities. The company offers a trio of operas each season, with its first, Donizetti’s “The Daughter of the Regiment,” set to open Nov. 10. Beth Hansen, who has been on the opera’s board of directors since 2012, is its new executive director. Hansen, 46, answered a few questions for the Observer’s KNOW series; responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
What specific moment or aspect of the work you’re doing right now makes you most proud? I am most thrilled with our dedication and reinvestment in community engagement. We are addressing misconceptions about opera as an elitist art form and re-framing it rather as an elite art form that has something for everyone.
Can you offer an insider tip for people who are attending the opera this season? This is the ‘#SheSeason...’ With the stunning and full-bodied music of Donizetti, Bizet and Tchaikovsky, our heroines are well cast — strong, powerful women and definitely not tragic. We have several variations on this theme running throughout our programming... Our community dialogue series this year builds on a discussion of social justice, diversity and equity and incorporates key women’s issues.
Who inspired you to do this work? My family. My mother made sure my sisters and I were exposed to a cornucopia of cultural events. I still remember “Carmen,” my first opera, watching from the highest seats with field binoculars – entranced. My husband, who has had faith in me... My four children, who make it so easy to espouse the benefits of opera. Lastly, my opera family, the amazing and talented staff, including (artistic director) James Meena who believed in my ability to steward this beautiful organization.
What does the Charlotte arts scene need most right now, in your view? A sense of loyalty or support of fellow artistic organizations and our communities. There is so many challenging, sad and angry things focused on lately. We need to find increasingly innovative ways to engage the community with provoking, beautiful and uplifting art.
What’s secret or surprising to you about the Charlotte arts scene? My favorite part of the scene right now is the very intentional presence of art everywhere you go. From the Wall Poems of Charlotte to Time Further Out in front of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police station, to Passing Through Light at the I-77 underpass at West Trade Street, to my favorite, the Firebird Sculpture outside the Bechtler. Charlotte should leave anyone agog if they merely pause to gaze upon all the art Charlotte, and its surrounding areas have to offer.
This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with Thrive Campaign for the Arts
This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 12:58 PM.