National Endowment for the Arts Presents Great American Voices at Picatinny Arsenal, January 18

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

January 18, 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 Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton, New Jersey on Wednesday, January 18. 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 members of the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. These performers will sing selections from popular operas such as Verdi's Rigoletto, and highlights from classic American musicals including Rodgers & Hart's The Boys from Syracuse. Earlier that day, more than 400 local high school music students will attend an educational presentation at Morris Knolls High School.

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.

Washington National Opera performs for Picatinny Arsenal and Rockaway Township

The Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program will perform Great American Voices on January 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Morris Knolls High School Auditorium in Rockaway Township. This performance is free and open to the public as well as Picatinny Arsenal military and personnel. For more information contact the Picatinny Arsenal Recreation Department at 973-724-4014/4186.

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.

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506