Distance: 5 miles, 2 miles
So, it has been a couple of days about young people making their way in the music world/business. Some actually, some fictionally. If you are an opera buff and know the names Patricia Racette, Deborah Voigt,, Brian Jagde or many others, you might not if they hadn't spent a youthful summer in the Merola Opera Program. Merola is the foremost opera training program for aspiring singers, coach accompanists and stage directors, providing twelve weeks of all-expense paid (including housing in some of San Francisco's most glorious homes) study, coaching and master classes with established opera professionals. To Ciwt's ears, all participants already sound extraordinary, but, in fact all these young artists have years and years of learning the complex (acting, language, dramatic delivery, movement, costume and more besides developing the gifts of their voices) art form before (hopefully) rising to stardom. Meanwhile audience members and donors find great pleasure in meeting and supporting talents early in their careers and then following them as they develop.
And then there were those four young lads from Liverpool...And an ambitious young singer-songwriter many years later who lived in a world that had never heard of the Beatles. That's the premise of Joe Boyles' Yesterday and, particularly if you are a Beatles fan, makes for a light, delightful hour and a half at the movies.
