My wife and I are both musicians. Early in our marriage, we could simply go wherever the work called us. After we became parents, that was no longer possible. She stayed home raising our children while continuing to teach her students at school and in her studio, and I continued traveling from contract to contract. We were still in the same profession but living very different lives.
             Here in Delaware, through OperaDelaware’s Company Artist model, that finally changed. For the first time, our work does not pull us away from home. It grows out of it. Having a true artistic home changes the way you work. Much like athletes perform differently on their home field, we work with a deeper sense of ease and confidence when we know we belong to the place where we are performing. As Company Artists, we help imagine, build, and carry productions to the stage ourselves. Because of that, we feel responsible not only for what happens inside the company, but also for how opera lives in the community.
             In opera, we often tell stories like Pagliacci, where a performer entertains while hiding real life behind a costume. Here, the opposite happens. Music is transparent and intimate. It reveals who we truly are. Programs like this allow artists to stay rooted in the communities they serve instead of passing through them. The relationships built here last beyond a single production. That continuity is what keeps opera present and meaningful in people’s lives.
            I took my name “Gerard” because singing Gérard in Andrea Chénier has always been a dream of mine. To bring that dream role to life here in Delaware, on the same stage where our children sit in the audience, is something only possible because this company believes in rooted artists. For us, OperaDelaware is no longer a company we visit. It is a place where we live as artists, as parents, and as members of a community. It simply feels like home.

Your support makes this home ground possible for Company Artists who belong to Delaware and who build opera here, not just pass through it. Thank you!