OC fan tutte, an adaptation of Mozart's Così,
leaves the original music intact -- and hits refresh on the plot.

Breathe new life and cultural relevance into the timeless beauty of Mozart. 

Support our June 2022 production of OC fan tutte, a modern, English adaptation of Mozart’s comic opera Così. 

While leaving every note of Così’s music intact, OC fan tutte replaces its 18th-century misogyny with current issues of gender equality and marriage rights.

Help us double-down on our commitment to making classical music relevant to a forward-looking society by commissioning an aria of your choice. 

Greatness, guaranteed.

This timely, hilarious, and much-needed libretto makeover is our love letter to Mozart. Così fan tutte's music has already stood the test of time for hundreds of years. Its plot? Let's just say it hasn't aged quite as gracefully.

This makeover isn't exactly an unknown commodity, though. Nationwide press outlets have praised librettist Vid Guerrerio's work as "audaciously entertaining," "fearless," "riveting," "pointedly topical," and "hilarious."  Of his 2014 adaptation of The Marriage of Figaro, the New York Times said: "Mozart would have loved this show." 

When it comes to commissioning new art, you never know what you're going to get. This commission is different. It's Mozart; you know the music is great. The unknowable here is how this music will hit you with a text that is far more relevant to the world we live in today. 

Consider the following Mozartian makeover.

Story 

Where Così fan tutte sends a message that “all women are alike” in their fickleness, OC fan tutte says that truly all of us - no matter our gender identity, orientation, or politics - have a lot more in common than we may want to admit. 

The “OC” of OC fan tutte is – you guessed it – Orange County. The OC was once among the most conservative areas of the U.S. It's now undergoing rapid demographic and cultural change. This makes it the perfect setting for our drama. 

Diving right into the widening gulf between right and left, OC fan tutte brings humor and irreverence to the culture wars. Mozart’s two young couples are now fundamentalist Christians. They're hell-bent on proving their moral superiority to social justice warriors… who have a righteous agenda of their own.  

A not-so-friendly bet challenges the “good Christian values” of the young couples.  Catfishing, sexting, swiping right, and other online shenanigans ensue. But it’s not long until the real-world effects are felt. 

This up-to-the-minute adaptation exposes how much all sides have to learn about the nature and value of true fidelity, commitment, and humility. 

Why now?

In recent years, we've all watched — and participated in — friction between the political right and left. OC fan tutte explores this friction with both humor and compassion. Its gentle satire illustrates how we all fall victim to self-righteousness.  

Our society is consumed with issues of equity: for women, for the LGBTQ community, for BIPOC, for marriage rights, and beyond. We're well into a post-#metoo era. We are still reeling from the fall-out — and attempting to make sense of it all. OC fan tutte serves this meaning-making process. 

The time is right for this piece to get this makeover. The time is right for Salastina, too. We're a small, locally-grown chamber music series with big ambitions. Producing this piece alone is a big win for us. Doing it right will put us on the map as an organization nationwide. 

COVID curtailed the June 5 - 7, 2020 performance dates we’d set early in 2019. Since then, the culture wars — particularly around gender — have only intensified. This show is feeling more relevant than ever.

Campaign

Your support is crucial to bringing this show to life. A donation of any amount brings us that much closer to our $50,000 goal, which itself reflects only a fraction of the cost of producing the piece.

Your donations will go directly toward the following:

• renting performance and rehearsal space 

• paying the 6-singer cast -- and covering their travel and accommodation expenses

• paying the 8-musician orchestra and conductor

• supporting our marketing and PR efforts

... and beyond! 

To be charged with the premiere of this piece is an honor. With that comes the responsibility to build a team of artists who will best bring it to life.  We cannot do any of this without your help!

OC fan tutte depends on the fulfillment of this campaign to support and complete the 2021/2022 season’s world premiere. If you believe in making classical music relevant to today’s world and are in a position to do so, we hope you’ll support those working tirelessly to bring this piece to life by commissioning an aria of your choice.

How It Works (read: the perks)

OC fan tutte contains 42 arias.

We’re dedicating the lovely tenor aria Where You Are (un’aura amorosa) to the memory of the late Warner Henry, a legendary philanthropist to whom so many lovers of classical music owe a great debt.

Because OC fan tutte sings an optimistic, pluralistic message of emotional and intellectual humility, we’ve opened the finale up to a Commissioning Collective. Anyone who gives $100 towards the production will receive the corresponding perks below.

All remaining arias are open to only one commissioner on a first-come, first-served basis. This campaign will remain open until all arias have been commissioned.

Choose Your Aria

While you’re welcome to browse the full catalog of arias, we suggest letting your personality guide the direction of your interest.

Aficionados may also choose an aria based on the character whose music they most enjoy. Click the names that follow for every aria in which each character appears: Felicia (Fiordiligi), Briella (Dorabella), Queen Thespina (Despina), Alonzo (Don Alfonso), Will (Guglielmo), Frankie (Ferrando)

Project & collaborators  

I (Co-Director Maia Jasper White) first met Vid Guerrerio in 2014, while playing in the orchestra for the premiere of ¡Figaro! (90210). I went into the first rehearsal with the snobbery of a purist. The concept itself ran counter to the sacred status I normally conferred upon The Canon.  

Within five minutes of the dress rehearsal, I was both stunned and humbled. What I was seeing was, in fact, truer to how Figaro must have played to audiences in the 18th century. It was hilarious, moving, and gave me a much deeper sense of what Figaro is really about. 

¡Figaro! (90210) made a nationwide splash. Shortly after its premiere in 2014, it enjoyed an LA Opera Off Grand production. Performances were added due to popular demand. It played two separate runs in New York’s Times Square. And it was performed just this past summer at the famed Chautauqua Institute.

All that is to say: OC fan tutte will have a life well beyond our premiere performances. Your support at its beginning will help it build momentum for its future. 

Selected press 

In praise of Vid Guerrerio’s Mozart adaptations:

“¡Figaro! (90210), an adaptation of 'The Marriage of Figaro' with a cleverly rewritten, stingingly contemporary libretto by Vid Guerrerio...predated the rise of Trump, and seems, in retrospect, to have anticipated it... Audacious and entertaining… laughs galore… Mozart would have loved this show.”
     -- The New York Times (Anthony Tommasini) 

““Figaro 90210” – It’s so relevant it feels like it could have been written for this morning’s New York Times editorial. It’s 2017, it’s right now, and it’s riveting. Vid Guerrerio’s libretto cleverly brings up all of these contentious political themes, but cushions them in humor. We are laughing all the way through, but there is a sharp bite underneath."
     -- New York Theater Guide

“In this version, fearlessly written by Vid Guerrerio... Susana and Figaro are undocumented Mexican workers employed by the Contis, a real estate magnate and his aging-actress wife... The stakes could not be more current, clear or urgent: Figaro and Susana face deportation if Susana refuses Mr. Conti’s advances. That ¡Figaro! (90210) remains uproariously funny under the cloud of such serious matters speaks to Mr. Guerrerio’s ingenious text and the smooth, clever production directed... by Melissa Crespo."
     -- The New York Times (Zachary Woolfe) 

“Vid Guerrerio’s brilliant reimagining of Le Nozze di Figaro is dynamic, thought-provoking, respectful, and, yes, hilarious. ... ¡Figaro! (90210) marries Mozart’s music to Guerrerio’s wickedly clever and pointedly topical libretto, translating the original’s revolutionary aspect into more meaningful terms for a contemporary audience... It works because he remains true to the spirit of the opera, even when revising the details, which in turn reinforce the consistent internal logic of his altered plot."
     -- Opera News 
 
 In praise of Salastina:

“This isn’t just an ensemble to watch, but one to support… This is the future of meaningful music.”
     -- Laurislist.net

"Afterwards, folks spill back out into the Highland Park night with a gleam in their eyes and lightness in their step—all warmth and smiles, lit up from the inside. This is what inevitably happens... you leave feeling like you just took part in something really special, something sacred that can never be recreated."
     -- Sirens and Scoundrels 

“Salastina is leading the way for the future of chamber music. With audience numbers shrinking and a general lack at interest from youth in classical music, String Visions has always applauded those who are bold enough to break with tradition… If classical music is going to remain relevant to our entire culture and not just a select portion of society, then we need to modernize the concert hall so that audiences won’t feel intimidated. Salastina does just that, and they’re not afraid to try just about anything to bring classical music to a wider public.”
     -- Ovation Press 

“Not only did [Salastina] assemble a thought-provoking program that was played with world-class polish, but they did what more classical music organizations ought to in their performances: Give the listener to something to think hard over even after the notes have long since vanished into silence."
     -- Crescenta Valley Weekly

Special Thanks

•  to Vid Guerrerio, for your brilliant vision -- and for entrusting us with it

• to our cast and creative team, for your dedication and flexibility as COVID-19 changed all of our best-laid plans

• to the donors and grantors we’ve already secured

• to Raulee Marcus, for her guidance throughout this campaign

• to you, for your consideration

Risks and challenges

OC fan tutte depends on the fulfillment of this campaign to support and complete the world premiere performances as they deserve to be done. It has been invigorating to work on bringing this to life for the past two years. In its scale alone, it's also been our greatest challenge yet. Its budget alone exceeds the cost of producing most of our complete seasons.

If you believe in making classical music relevant to today’s world, we hope you’ll support those working tirelessly to bring this piece to life.

Thank you for your support!