Courier August/September Courier | Page 48

COMPASS Southwest U.S. COMPILED BY KENDALL FLETCHER It’s arty time Every corner in Oklahoma City provides an opportunity for enrichment. “Oklahoma City’s rugged Western heritage and Native American past, paired with the modern metropolis it is today, gives visitors everything they’d want in experiencing arts and culture,” says Sandy Price, vice president of tourism with Visit Oklahoma City. “This includes everything from festivals and live music to art and culture at one of our premier museums around town to an entire district dedicated to the arts.” See the ballet Hear the music Experience the art The Oklahoma City Ballet is home to 45 dancers from all over the world. Each season the company presents a combina- tion of contemporary and classical ballets through its four mainstage productions. Some of the upcoming performances in- clude “The Nutcracker” in December and “Petite Mort: A Triple Bill” in April 2018. Visit the Civic Center Music Hall downtown to see the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. The company puts on performances September through May in a series of eight concerts of classics and six pairs of pops concerts. Upcoming performances include “The Songs of Elton John” in February 2018 and “Pink Martini” in March 2018. Oklahoma City is teeming with art galler- ies and museums, including The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum; the Paseo Arts District; the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, which is located downtown and houses rotating and permanent exhib- its, including a collection of Dale Chihuly glass pieces (shown above); and Exhibit C, a new downtown gallery featuring works by Chickasaw artists. For more information, contact Price at [email protected] or go to visitokc.com. Night at the opera The Santa Fe Opera offers preview dinners for guests at its Dapples Pavilion before each evening’s performance. Surrounded by the opera’s gardens, visitors dine beneath a large canopy with sunset views to the west and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east. The menus are ever-changing, but always include a farm-to-table buffet, wine selections, coffee and dessert. Groups are seated tog ether at reserved 46 August/September 2017 tables, and complimentary round-trip shuttle service is avail- able between the theater parking lot and Dapples Pavilion. Groups can also tailgate before the shows. They can set up tables in the parking lot and purchase tailgate dinners online, hire caterers or bring their own food. The Opera, established in a state-of-the-art open-air the- ater, has commissioned and produced many new American operas, beginning with “The Tower” in 1947. With 14 world premieres under its belt, the Opera debuted another in 2017: “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.” The 2018 season has been freshly slated and tickets are currently for sale. “It will be our 62nd year and include a very diverse reper- tory,” says Kathy Prenevost, the Santa Fe Opera’s group sales and advertising manager. “I personally think groups will enjoy ‘Madame Butterfly.’ It’s a beautiful opera, and (they) will rec- ognize the music. ‘Dr. Atomic’ will be interesting and exciting since the atomic bomb was developed at Los Alamos National Labs, our neighbor.” The 2018 season also includes “Candide,” “The Italian Girl in Algiers” and “Ariadne Auf Naxos.” To learn more, contact Prenevost at kmurphy@santafe opera.org or visit santafeopera.org.