National Endowment for the Arts Presents Great American Voices at Fort Carson, January 25

		Contact: Sally Gifford 202-682-5606 giffords@arts.gov

January 25, 2006

Washington, D.C. - The National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the United States Army, presents a performance of opera and musical theater for military personnel at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Wednesday, January 25. The performance is part of the NEA’s Great American Voices Military Base Tour: Unforgettable Melodies from Opera & Broadway, which celebrates the best of American arts by bringing professional performances of opera and musical theater to 39 military bases nationwide.

The evening concert will feature performers from Opera Colorado, who will sing selections from popular operas such as Bizet’s Carmen and Mozart’s Così fan tutte, as well as favorite songs from classic American Broadway musicals.

In addition to the military base tour, the NEA also has produced a compact disc with opera and Broadway excerpts and commentary, to be distributed to audience members and teachers at participating schools. For the latest tour information and sample educational materials, visit www.greatamericanvoices.org.

Great American Voices Military Base Tour is presented in coordination with the Department of Defense and OPERA America. Great American Voices Military Base Tour is made possible by The Boeing Company.

Opera Colorado performs for Fort Carson

Members of Opera Colorado will perform Great American Voices on January 25 at 6:00 p.m. at the Freedom Performing Arts Center at Fort Carson (Building 1129). This performance is open to both military and the public. The Great American Voices concert is free, however tickets must be reserved by calling 719-526-1456.

Great American Voices Military Base Tour is the latest in a series of groundbreaking partnerships between the NEA and the Department of Defense. The Boeing Company also made possible the NEA's Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, an initiative that reached 44 domestic and overseas military bases and offered an open call for writing submissions to troops worldwide. The initiative will result in a federal archive of troop writings and an anthology to be published in 2006. As part of the largest tour of Shakespeare in American history, the NEA presented the Shakespeare in American Communities Military Base Tour, which brought performances by four Shakespeare companies to 18 military bases. For more information on these and other NEA programs, visit www.arts.gov.

About Boeing

Boeing is the world's leading aerospace company and the largest combined manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft. With additional capabilities in rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems, the company's reach extends to customers in 145 countries. In terms of sales, Boeing is one of the largest U.S. exporters.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

This year, the National Endowment for the Arts marks its 40th anniversary of leadership in the arts. The NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts - both new and established - bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

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National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
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