BRATTLEBORO — Earlier this year, Brattleboro Arts Initiative and the Brattleboro Music Center embarked on a joint venture to bring live, high-definition broadcasts of The Metropolitan Opera to the Latchis Theatre by this fall.
Now, thanks to the generosity and challenge of an anonymous donor, the project has an important boost to help raise the remaining funds needed.
The Metropolitan Opera's “Live in High-Definition” program enables audiences all over the world to experience performances at the same time as the audience sitting in the Metropolitan Opera itself by simultaneously transmitting them in HD.
Through the new joint venture, starting in October, Brattleboro audiences will be able to experience the live simulcasts at the Latchis Theatre on Saturdays beginning between noon and 1 p.m., with encore performances on Sundays at 11 a.m. Tickets will be $24 for Saturday performances, $22 for Sundays. The full schedule is on the Brattleboro Music Center's website at www.bmcvt.org.
Brattleboro Arts Initiative and the Brattleboro Music Center are now in the process of raising funds to outfit Theatre 3 with the necessary satellite, sound and projection equipment at a cost of $30,000.
With $15,000 already raised, BAI and the BMC put out a call to help raise the additional funds. As a result, an anonymous donor has generously stepped forward with a matching gift challenge. The donor will match all new gifts for the project, dollar for dollar, up to $7,500.
Gifts can be sent to the Brattleboro Music Center, 38 Walnut St., or Brattleboro Arts Initiative, 50 Main St., both in Brattleboro, VT 05301.
The Met's 2010-11 “Live in HD” season kicks off on Oct. 9, and will feature 12 diverse live events and 12 encores. To see the preliminary schedule visit www.bmcvt.org/metliveinhd.