Anchorage, Alaska: Anchorage Opera has announced the start-up of an exciting series of happenings to bring performance art to the people of Anchorage where they live, work and play. FLASH MOBpera events will feature large groups of local singers ‘spontaneously’ performing famous scenes from well-known shows in venues not normally associated with grand opera. With the motto “opera when and where you least expect it” the non-profit organization hopes to increase the visibility of their own company while changing some stereo-typical perceptions of the art form itself.

“People often think stuffy, boring and elite when they think opera”, said General Director, Reed Smith, “but Anchorage Opera is out to share with the people of Anchorage how much fun it can be experiencing it with these ‘up-close & personal’ events. Imagine shopping for tonight’s dinner when suddenly that lovely young lady in jeans and a sweater standing next to you breaks into the famous drinking song from Verdi’s La Traviata, and twenty of her friends join in. You’re not hallucinating; you’re immersed in an Anchorage Opera FLASH MOBpera!”

The company’s inaugural flash mob event will take place on Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 2pm at the Anchorage Winter Market.  Organized by their fellow non-profit organization, Neighborworks, this first ever “Pop-Up Market” will be in an empty former car dealership in Fairview (1335 Gambell St), and will feature a variety of local vendors, a family-friendly atmosphere and fun activities in the parking lot.  The goal of the event is to temporarily transform a vacant space into a neighborhood destination and inspire others to do the same. “The minute I heard of the ‘pop-up market’ I knew it was the perfect platform to premiere our ‘pop-up opera’ happenings,” said Marketing & Development Director, Judy Berry.

Anchorage Opera is one of the largest producers of the performing arts in Alaska and the first opera company in North America founded in the circumpolar North in 1962.

For more information please contact Judy Berry at 907-279-2557 or jberry@anchorageopera.org