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Grantee: Inland Northwest Opera (INO)

Project Title: 2022 Season Opera Truck
Year awarded: 2021, Round 3

Inland Northwest Opera (formerly Opera CDA) is a professional opera company serving Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington, which showcases world-renowned talent and emerging artists in productions that often rival larger companies in the northwest.

The Opera Truck is INO’s newest program: a 16-foot box truck, which has been converted into a mobile stage to employ artists, expand INO’s audience, and provide educational programs through Covid restrictions. INO debuted the Opera Truck on August 6, 2021, at a free community concert at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. INO reports, “We had an audience of over 300 people, and for many, it was their first time experiencing live orchestral music since the COVID-19 pandemic closed venues, and 25% of those who attended were hearing live opera for the first time.”

With SAGA funding, INO will collaborate with new and existing partners to bring opera and live theater to Spokane and the surrounding over six to seven months beginning in May of 2022. Programming will include “pop-up” performances of operatic and Broadway favorites and “Opera-tunities” – an interactive children’s opera along with accompanying educational materials. Each performance will feature professionally designed sets, costumes, and props, and feature professional musicians. The Opera Truck allows INO to present these programs beyond the classroom to community centers and public spaces.