Second Act

It’s never too late to pursue your passion.

At the age of 76, 1962年的终身音乐爱好者玛莎·伯恩鲍姆在剑桥创立了自己的歌剧公司, Massachusetts, to produce lesser-known opera gems, often by famous composers, that deserve more attention.

在过去的一年里，她的剑桥室内乐团上演了两部歌剧: Venus & Adonis 17世纪英国巴洛克作曲家约翰·布洛的作品 Savitri这首歌是根据印度民间故事改编的，由古斯塔夫·霍尔斯特(Gustav holst)创作，他的管弦乐组曲更为人所知 The Planets.

伯恩鲍姆的日常生活中充满了一个经理无休止的职责. 曾是高科技语音处理领域的研究科学家, Birnbaum, 81, 雇佣经验丰富的专业人士和新兴艺术家, including music and stage directors, orchestra musicians, costume and lighting designers, and a choreographer. 她寻找场地租用排练场地和制作场地, 为她的非营利剧团筹集资金和捐款, and researches suitable operas to produce. That’s not all. 她甚至把剧本从德语和意大利语翻译成她的B.A. 德国语言和文学，从布林莫尔和博士.D. 布朗大学的语言学专业知识派上了用场——所以歌剧可以用英语演唱.

至于为什么她在大多数人都在的人生阶段创作歌剧, for lack of a better word, relaxing, 她解释说:“我必须从事一些能激发智力的工作, and it must be in the arts. I thought, ‘Opera: I can do it; let’s go for it!’ I’m an energetic person, and quite creative, so I was able to pivot from high-tech to my other love, music, which was always simmering in the background.” Unburdened by children (she has none), she funded her troupe’s launch through her savings, friends, family, and grants. 伯恩鲍姆说:“我可以这么做，所以我就这么做了.”

For 20 years before launching her opera company, 早在groupmuse——一个通过室内音乐会将古典音乐家与当地观众联系起来的在线平台——出现之前, 伯恩鲍姆一直在她位于剑桥的家中举办音乐会沙龙. Birnbaum often sang at her house concerts, 这要归功于她师从著名女中音歌唱家帕梅拉·德拉, who teaches at Boston Conservatory of Music, 并在新英格兰音乐学院学习巴赫和亨德尔的表演课程. 她还在剑桥社区合唱团演唱经典作品，并创办了表演工作坊, 一个每月一次的沙龙风格的系列，歌手们在一个专业钢琴家的支持环境中磨练他们的表演技巧. A board member of the New England Gilbert & Sullivan Society, she also served as stage director at Mass Theatrica, a Boston-area performing arts company for operas.

Music runs in Birnbaum’s family. Her father had his own jazz/swing band, The Crimsonians, composed of fellow Harvard alumni, and was a soloist and arranger at Emmanuel Music, 波士顿伊曼纽尔教堂的常驻乐团. 他的叔祖父，著名男高音约瑟夫·托玛斯，曾在圣. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev were students, 里姆斯基-柯萨科夫和肖斯塔科维奇是著名音乐学校的教授.

大三的时候，她在慕尼黑经历了一件改变人生的事, when she saw her first opera, Mozart’s The Magic Flute. 她说:“我听到了美妙的音乐，知道在某个时候我的一生都会奉献给它。.

首先是在语音识别和文本转语音软件方面的长期职业生涯, working for companies like AT&T Bell Laboratories and Comverse. 伯恩鲍姆于2001年退休，并成立了自己的咨询公司NetaRose.

In her career transition, 将她对音乐的热情和知识与她的领导能力和语言技能以及大量的勇气融合在一起, she relishes the demands of the performing arts world.

“这是一个首席执行官面临的所有挑战——你必须在整个事情上发号施令, musical challenges, financial, people. Being artists, they’re emotional— some drop out at the last minute, since they’re sick, or just ghost you,” notes Birnbaum. “我曾在自己的演讲咨询公司担任首席执行官多年，但这被放大了100倍. It’s incredibly exhausting but incredibly rewarding.”

Out of the Living Room

对于莫扎特的独幕剧来说，这是一个非常亲密的场景。The Impresario) and Caldara (A Game of Whist),

accompanied only by a baby grand piano, “你可以看到表演者的声带在振动,” Birnbaum says. 演出取得了巨大的成功，少数观众的热情鼓励伯恩鲍姆想得更远，并向大众文化委员会申请资助.

In June 2022, she staged Venus & Adonis, a three-act opera featuring a cast of 15, four dancers  plus 11 baroque chamber musicians, including a harpsichordist, in the Cambridge, Multicultural Arts Center, 位于一座历史悠久的1889年维多利亚风格的前法院. 这与她2017年首次演出的地方——客厅形成了鲜明的对比.

Digging into the Repertoire

Birnbaum works with Stephanie Beatrice, her music director, to develop themes, choose the operas, and hold auditions. Beatrice then assembles a professional orchestra, runs music rehearsals for singers and orchestra, and conducts the performances. This past year, they chose to tackle Holst’s  Savitri, 一个印度公主心爱的丈夫被死神夺走的故事, 并以一名衣着华丽的印度舞者伴着录制的旁白和印度古典音乐表演开场, to offer cultural context. Beatrice had previous experience with Holst’s other Indian-themed works; the English composer was fascinated by folk epics like the Ramayana and even read Sanskrit.

“玛莎真的很尊重我的艺术和视野，给了我艺术上的自由，让我选择我想要的音乐.拥有新英格兰音乐学院合唱指挥学位的比阿特丽斯说. “对我来说，这是一个机会，可以深入挖掘数百年来丰富的歌剧曲目，发现未被重视的瑰宝. 一般来说，同样的10到15部歌剧会被反复演出.” Her stage director, David Gammons, 他还担任过英联邦莎士比亚公司和波士顿剧作家剧院的导演, 是哈佛艺术学院导演项目的毕业生吗.

Inclusive and Diverse

伯恩鲍姆努力使她的歌剧公司对歌手具有包容性和种族多样性, directors, and crew. 她还希望为与会者提供一种负担得起的公共体验. Tickets are $45 ($35 for seniors and students). For Venus & Adonis, Adonis was performed by Junhan Choi, 出生于韩国的男中音，曾多次在国际音乐比赛中获奖, 从柏林国际音乐比赛到大众歌剧的声乐比赛. (In Savitri, he also played the role of Death.) The role of Cupid, who wounds his mother, Venus, with an arrow, causing her to fall in love with young Adonis, was performed by Wei En Chan, a Singaporean-born countertenor. Soprano Kate Wood, 谁曾与纽约爱乐乐团和费城交响乐团合作过, performed the role of Venus. All three are New England Conservatory graduates. Several children also danced and sang as Little Cupids.

In fall of 2023, Birnbaum’s next opera, Handel’s Samson届时，她将拥有迄今为止最大的演员阵容(约20人)和最大的管弦乐队(约15名音乐家)。. “这是我做过的最令人兴奋的事情，”伯恩鲍姆谈到她人生的第二幕时说. “我并没有从事音乐事业，但这是最接近的事情.”