10 Questions with Bethany Kois

Meet Bethany Kois, Tempo Committee Member

1. What’s your sign? 

Aquarius. And, it’s pretty obvious.

2. Favorite opera?

Rusalka. Especially if performed in June.

3. If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?

Travel guide and photographer.

4. What is your favorite dessert?

Crème brûlée.. because you must break the shell to get to the good stuff.

5. If you had to describe yourself using three words, what would they be? 

Curious troublesome fish.

6. What is your favorite holiday?

Can I choose October through December?

7. What was your first opera?

Carmen at Lyric in Chicago. Changed me forever.

8. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?

They very-seriously-probably-shouldn’t. But, if they did, it would be set in a forest, with moonlight, a pesky insect or two, and a shimmery pond.

9. Are you a morning or night person?

Well, that really depends on what time of day I intend to have the most fun. 

10. What’s your favorite thing to do in the winter?

 Hibernate. Perhaps a bear should be in my movie as well? 

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10 Questions with Thomas Bakken

Meet Thomas Bakken, Tempo Committee Member

1. What’s your sign? 
Cancer. Or “Jazz Hands.” Perhaps I don’t understand the question.

2. Favorite opera?
Le Nozze di Figaro

3. If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?
I admire the honest work of a skilled haberdasher.

4. What is your favorite dessert?
You can’t go wrong with a good Bananas Foster.

5. If you had to describe yourself using three words, what would they be? 
Tall, moustachioed, diabetic.

6. What is your favorite holiday? 
Fourth of July is always a good time. Ironic, as I’m not a US citizen.

7. What was your first opera?
That I purchased and heard a recording of – Le Nozze di Figaro. That I attended – Le Nozze di Figaro. I would gladly see this opera every night for the rest of my life (provided the cast/orchestra/conductor was good).

8. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?
“Waxing Philosophical,” about the endless search for the perfect moustache wax, a notion first hypothesized by Sartre in 1964.

9. Are you a morning or night person?
Nights are preferable.

10. What’s your favorite thing to do in the winter? 
Trying to motivate myself to put my road bike on my stationary trainer and ride for as few as 6 hours a week. Results pending…

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10 Questions with Regine Edwards

Meet Regine Edwards, Tempo Member

1. What’s your sign? 

Leo J

2. Favorite opera?

Carmen or Mozart’s The Magic Flute

3. If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?

Curator at a museum. 

4. What is your favorite dessert?

Café Latte’s Chips and Chunks Cheesecake

5. If you had to describe yourself using three words, what would they be? 

Quiet, foodie, eclectic

6. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas  - I love the decorations, the holiday music and the spirit. 

7. What was your first opera?

I think it was an operetta in Germany. 

8. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you?  It would probably be a romantic comedy about a girl’s mishaps in love and life, and in the end she finds her prince… hopefully.  I think I’d like Drew Barrymore to play me. 

9. Are you a morning or night person?

I think I’m more productive in the morning, but that doesn’t make me a morning person.  I definitely need my coffee first.

10. What’s your favorite thing to do in the winter?

 Going dancing.  It’s also the season to just chill at home with a movie or a good book.

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10 Questions with S.B. Hadley Wilson

Meet S.B. Hadley Wilson, Tempo Board Member

© 2010 Ripplinger Imaging

1. What’s your sign?  

Virgo: “Perfect is almost good enough,” according to Tarot.com.  Well-known traits are analysis and perfectionism.

2. What is your favorite opera?  

I’ve only seen nine operas so far, but my favorite is La bohème, which I saw here at the Minnesota Opera.  It moved me so much that I cried.  Seriously.

3. If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?

I would love to be a writer and split my time between San Francisco and France.  Or own a neckwear company.

4. What is your favorite dessert?

I don’t discriminate.

5. If you had to describe yourself using three words, what would they be?

Work-in-progress.

6. What is your favorite holiday?

New Year’s Day, not New Year’s Eve.  I enjoy being fresh and focused on the first day of the new year.

7. What was your first opera? 

Madama Butterfly at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, another fine company.

8. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you? 

It would be about enormous emotions – anger, envy, greed, love, lust, and pride – something that resonates with each of us.  Oh wait, did I just describe an opera? :-) As far as which actor I would want to portray me, that would be Chow Yun-fat.

9. Are you a morning or night person? 

Oh, neither.  I’m an after-work person.

10. What’s your favorite thing to do in the winter? 

Drink wine by the fireplace and gab with good friends.

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Everyone Loves Boot Camp

Looks like the recruits enjoyed their time in boot camp:
Max About Town: Basic for future opera patrons - MinnPost.com
Minnesota Opera's Boot Camp - StarTribune.com

MinnPost photo by Max Sparber

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Love Your iPod? Thank Opera.

Yup, you read that right. In a six degrees of separation kind of way, the iPod owes a debt of gratitude to opera. Here's the fun fact you can use to impress your friends at cocktail parties:

Photo from Tokyo Five

Akio Morita was kinda a big deal. In the 1970s, he was the co-chairman of Sony (also co-founder). As you can imagine he spent many hours in the air (remember, he was a big deal). In addition to being a Sony head honcho, he was a big opera fan.\ and we wanted more than to enjoy a little opera on his long flights. So, being the head of a tech company, he asked his people to make it happen. And they did . In 1978, audio engineer Nobutoshi Kihara developed the Walkman so that his boss could fly the friendly skies in operatic bliss. Seriously, folks, opera. It's a gamechanger. 

Related articles

• Goodbye Walkman, Thanks for the iPod (cbsnews.com)
• AKIO MORITA: Guru Of Gadgets (time.com)
• Sony's pioneering Walkman finally plays its last tune (independent.co.uk)
• From Walkman to Facebook: How Tuning Out Led to Tuning In (blogs.forbes.com)
• Dave Pell: How the Walkman Led to Facebook (huffingtonpost.com)
• Confession #86: Walkman to Facebook: How Tuning Out Led to Tuning In (tweetagewasteland.com)

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Opera Goes Round and Round

Opera in the round! Make sure you take your Dramamine before traveling to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic where you can see a performance in a revolving theatre! 

Impressed? So are we. What else have they done in the round? Here's a little info about their 2008 season.: http://www.ckrumlov.info/docs/en/ad2008012403.xml

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A Shout Out from City Pages

City Pages did a little write up about tonight's event: http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2010/12/stand_at_ease_f.php

Don't miss it - it's like happy hour kicked up a notch! Food and booze, friends and fun, and a lil' opera - military style. Tickets are still available (phone or at the door).

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Ask Tempo

Q: A friend is dragging me to the opera in March. La traviata, I think. I've never been before, all I know about the opera is fat ladies and viking helmets. Plus it's so "fancy," do I have to wear a tux? I can think of a whole host of things I'd rather do on a Saturday night. Like go to the bar with my friends, catch a Wild game, or stay home and play Rock Band. But I gotta go (because I agreed), so what should I expect? - Classically Challenged 

A: Well, Classically Challenged, we're glad you asked. Actually, we're especially glad that you asked now. Why, you ask? Because we have the PERFECT answer to your question. It's clear to us that you like fun (Wild games), music (Rock Band), and partying with your friends (bar on Saturday night). We've got an answer that incorporates all 3 of those things.*

Next Thursday (December 9), get yourself to the Minnesota Opera Center for Opera Boot Camp. The evening starts off with happy hour (seriously). From 6 - 7, we'll all be mixing, mingling, and enjoying wine from The Naked Grape, beer from Summit Brewery, and appetizers from Toast Wine Bar. Then from 7 - 8:30 you get to meet Tempo and the United Way (double bonus), go through opera basic training (a quick and dirty lesson led by Angie Keeton), and you get to experience the music (not a full blown production, some military-esque arias sung by opera artists). All this for only $15 dollars. To enlist in Opera Boot Camp, all you have to do is call the Minnesota Opera's ticket office at 612-333-6669 (business hours, 9-6).

So, there you have it. The PERFECT answer to your question. Sure you've got to wait a little bit (only a week), but good things come to those who wait, right? Feel free to wrangle up your usual Thursday happy hour crew and bring them too (you seem like the kind of guy who might appreciate a regular Thursday HH). The more the merrier. 

Any more questions? Just ask.

- Tempo

* By the way, Tempo Night Out is a triple threat too - opening night at the opera, an intermission lounge for the "cool" kids, and a kick ass after party at Sakura (yes, we just said kick ass - it's THAT good). So, you should be glad that your friend is "dragging" you to the opera in March (clearly they are a good friend). And no, you don't have to wear a tux. Just come as you are.

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