Sponsor of the Arts for 63 Years Helps Bring Opera to a New Generation Online
NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2002 – As part of its continuing commitment to the Metropolitan Opera, ChevronTexaco today announced the launch of the new online ChevronTexaco Opera Information Center. The site, found at www.operainfo.org and also available at www.chevrontexaco.com, is designed to make in-depth information about opera available to the general public and opera aficionados alike, as well as offering specially designed educational material for music and classroom educators.
“As a proud sponsor of the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts for 63 years, ChevronTexaco is committed to furthering the public's appreciation of and access to opera,” said Dave O'Reilly, chairman and chief executive officer of ChevronTexaco. “Through increased access to both the live radio performances and improved information resources through the ChevronTexaco Opera Information Center, we hope to bring a better understanding of the art form to new generations of listeners.”
The new web site contains a number of innovative materials designed to increase listeners' understanding of opera. There will be an in-depth collection of information about the ChevronTexaco Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts presented each Saturday from December to April to millions of people around the globe. The site offers brief descriptions of each opera, programs for intermission features, guidelines for participating in the popular on-air opera quiz, a station finder mechanism, news about upcoming broadcasts and an extensive archive of information from past radio seasons.
The site also contains an impressive set of learning materials aimed specifically at classroom teachers and created in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera Guild's education department. This portion of the site is available in four languages, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English, to allow access for the large audiences that tune in to the radio broadcasts in 41 countries. The teaching materials include synopses of each opera in the broadcast season, background articles about each work, a list of the cast and information about the characters and a special “Teaching Tools” section to guide teachers in exploring both the musical elements of the opera and the story elements related to various humanities topics.
“It is our belief at The Guild that opera can be used by educators to teach students a variety of subjects,” said David Dik, Director of Education at The Metropolitan Opera Guild. “By giving teachers the tools to use opera as a vehicle for education in their classrooms, we are giving them the ability to open up a whole new world to their students.”
At launch, the Opera Information Center will contain teaching materials for 20 operas including, “DIE FLEDERMAUS” (J. Strauss), “CARMEN” (Bizet), “IL PIRATA” (Bellini) “LA BOHÈME” (Puccini), and “OTELLO” (Verdi). As of April 2003, the list will have expanded to include teaching materials for 73 operas. It is anticipated that an additional 10 operas will be added for the 2003-04 season.
The 2002-03 season of ChevronTexaco Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts began on Saturday, Nov. 30, with The Season Preview featuring excerpts from the last 63 years of ChevronTexaco sponsored broadcasts. The initial opera broadcast live from the Met stage is Beethoven's FIDELIO on Saturday, Dec.7, at 1:30 p.m. (ET).
About ChevronTexaco
ChevronTexaco is a leader in the global energy business with wide-ranging activities in more than 180 countries. ChevronTexaco is the third-largest energy company in terms of global oil and gas reserves (more than 11 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent) and fourth largest in global oil and natural gas production (2.7 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent per day). It has the capacity to refine more than 2 million barrels per day, sells more than 5 million barrels of fuel and products daily and owns or has interest in more than 25,000 retail outlets under Chevron, Texaco and Caltex brands. It is the fourth largest company in the global lubricants business and the third largest in the global aviation business, it is an industry leader in the power and gasification businesses and has extensive technology operations, ranging from core business research and development to e-business and venture capital activities.
About the Metropolitan Opera
Founded in 1883, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest performing arts organization in the United States, and one of the premiere opera companies in the world. The Met gives over 200 performances of staged opera per year, with a repertory of around 25 operas each season. The Met's regular season at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center begins in September and runs through early May, for a total of 32 weeks, during which time the company performs seven times a week. Additional performing activities include concert performances at Carnegie Hall and at the Lincoln Center opera house, as well as international tours and summer concerts in New York City area parks. The Metropolitan Opera's most enduring and effective outreach is its 71-year-old tradition of live Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts, which have been sponsored for the past 63 years by ChevronTexaco in the most successful and longest-running sponsorship in broadcast history. The ChevronTexaco Metropolitan Opera Radio Network broadcasts 20 operas each season to a vast number of stations in 41 nations around the world.
About the Metropolitan Opera Guild
The Metropolitan Opera Guild was established in 1935 as an association to support America's national opera company and help insure its survival. Today The Guild is stronger and more active than ever in pursuing their mission to encourage the appreciation of opera generally, and to support the Metropolitan Opera financially through membership dues. Through its many activities, The Guild provides programs and services designed to further these goals. These programs include an innovative network of music and arts education programs to over 1,400 schools and communities worldwide through The Guild's Education Department; OPERA NEWS, a monthly magazine published by the Guild and reporting on opera around the world; a Members' Travel Program, providing custom-designed tours to the opera capitals of the world; and numerous other special events to raise proceeds in support the Guild's education programs.
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12/2/02
Contacts:
Bonnie Chaikind, ChevronTexaco -- +1 925 842 2573
Jessica Ryan Schweitzer/ John Mooney -- +1 212 885-0388 / 0622
Hill and Knowlton
jschweitzer@hillandknowlton.com