Thursday, May 21, 2009

Fairy Godfather

The results are in and the winner of the opera twitter contest is Stephen Llewellyn, a former barrister who is now the blogger for the Portland Opera. His winning entry tweeted Wagner's Ring Cycle: “There was a young lady called Fricka Who... who... *snore* 'Wake up-- its over.' It's good, I just wish it were quicka.”

Many opera companies ponied up prizes for this contest, which had over 500 entries. Llewellyn chose a generous prize offered by the Washington National Opera which included tickets to the final performance of the season as well as to the annual opera ball.

Then he gave it all away.

He felt that he has plenty of opportunities to enjoy opera and decided to give the package to someone who might not be able to attend as often. He decided to give the prize to a music teacher as a way of thanking them for exposing children to the arts. With some help, he chose Priscilla Barrow who has been teaching music in the D.C. Schools for 22 years. She is passionate about teaching and every year goes out of her way to immerse her students in the arts, often seeking out partnerships with area arts organizations.

Llewellyn found a donor to take care of incidental expenses and arranged for the Washington Opera's costume department to provide a ball gown, so Barrow will truly have a Cinderella experience. I hope she has a fabulous time.

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