Erzsébet Opera Backing Info

Fundraising for Erzsébet: The Opera is ongoing through the summer of 2011. The opera/monodrama on the life and death of Countess Erzsébet Báthory will take place in three locations during late October 2011. It will star Lisa Jablow and the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble with stage design by Pavel Kraus and production and lighting design by Jan Herder. The Twilight films have nothing on this true story! For more details as they become available, jump down this page to the regular announcements.

There are now three ways to back the opera:

• Use PayPal (preferred)
• Use Amazon Payments
• Send a check

Backers are invited to join in to help meet the goal of $12,000 to produce the opera three times in 2011 -- and there are rewards for backing of any amount! I'll mark you for the reward, and your reward will go out right as soon as I pack it up. You will get an official confirmation email from the payment processors and you'll also get one from me -- but please be sure to include your email & shipping address in the comments box or email it to me directly -- that info isn't always provided by the payment processors! Also drop in your name as you'd like it to appear on the concert program -- as well as your size (S/M/L/XL) if your reward is the t-shirt!.

For those in the US, half of your backing amount is earmarked for the tax-exempt VCME. Documentation will be provided if requested for tax purposes.

68 backers as of September 1, 2010: Anonymous, Dan Albertson, Karen Amrhein, Paul Bailey, Gary Barwin, Megan Beecher, Eve Beglarian, Vincent Bergeron, James Bohn, Robert Bonotto, Caitlin Bright, Canary Burton, Lydia Busler-Blais, Lucianne Cardassi, Liz Carrington, Michael Caulfield, Kim Craft, Noah Creshevsky, Pam DeSimone, Willie Docto, Emily Doolittle, David Drexler, François Floc'h, Richard B. Fredette, James S. Grant, David Gunn, Greg Hall, Evan Hause, Jan Herder, Jim Hickle, Lisa Hirsch, Nancy Holzner, Zona Hostetler, D'Anne Hotchkiss & Brad W. Smith, Lisa Jablow, Steve Layton, Jakob Lehmann, Bruce & Linda Linthicum, Lisa Lucius (Nashua NH), Nicholas Maggio, Malcolm McAfee, Ann McCutchan, John P. Mello Jr., Ariane Michel, David Morneau, Walter P. Murphy (in memory of Gene Morel), Margaret Noble, James Parks, James Jeffrey Paul, Josh Perschbacher, Niels Petersen, Mary Ellen Petti, Francis Riesz, Epiphany Roa, Dean & Karin Rosenthal, Kay & Max Schlueter, Dave Seidel, Alex Shapiro, James V. Signorile, Aggie Birdsong Smee, Rich & Boo Smith, Laurie Spiegel, Richard F. Suitor, Margaret Swinchoski, Jeremy Van Buskirk, Samuel Vriezen, Von Wichert, Erling Wold.

• Back the opera with $2 or more: Download of the premiere performance recording and your name in the concert program. THIS REWARD IS NOW GONE.
• Back the opera with $5 or more: One official "Supporter" ticket to the premiere or first-run performance of Erzsébet, your name in the premiere concert program, and download of the premiere performance recording. THIS REWARD IS NOW GONE.
• Back the opera with $10 or more: Two official "Supporter" tickets to the premiere or first-run performance of Erzsébet, your name(s) in the premiere concert program, and download of the premiere performance recording. THIS REWARD IS NOW GONE.
• Back the opera with $25 or more: The Infamous level includes a copy of Kim Craft's authoritative new biography "Infamous Lady" or my own "Country Stores of Vermont" along with two official "Supporter" tickets to the premiere or first-run performance of Erzsébet, your name(s) in the premiere concert program, and download of the premiere performance recording. THIS REWARD IS NOW GONE.
• Back the opera with $30 or more: Published libretto to Erzsébet, with the text and photos, and autographed by the composer. This pledge also includes two tickets to the premiere or first-run performance, your name(s) in the premiere concert program, and download of the premiere performance recording. ONLY 35 LEFT.
• Back the opera with $50 or more: Published musical score of Erzsébet, autographed by the composer. This pledge also includes two ticket to the premiere or first-run performance, your name(s) in the premiere concert program, and download of the premiere performance recording.
• Back the opera with $100 or more: Black T-shirt with red-and-white image of the Bathory seal on one side, and "Erzsébet: The Opera" on the other, plus an autographed CD recording of the premiere. This pledge also includes two tickets to the premiere or first-run performance and your name(s) in the premiere concert program. Specify size S/M/L/XL. ONLY 60 LEFT.
• Back the opera with $500 or more (limited to 15): This benefactor level is a complete bundle of all the other rewards (concert tickets, your names in the program, libretto, musical score, t-shirt, CD recording) PLUS a dedication on the published score itself and in the concert program to the fifteen benefactors AND dinner with the composer and cast before the opening night performance.
• Back the opera with $1500 or more (limited to 1 set): At this pledge level you get the two xylophones made by Fred Carlson for David Gunn, one chromatic and the other using 10 tones per octave instead of 12. What? Yes, they were designed for a piece called "Bad Vibes" -- and it's time for them to go! David says, "three octaves each and lovingly handcrafted with Genuine Wood. The lowest note of the two chromos is an E, making them Phrygian in character." There are just two! Plus the t-shirt, score, dinner, etc.
• Back the opera with $3000 or more (limited to 1): Katherine Anne Porter's "French Song Book" limited edition, signed, given to me by Barbara Harrison of Harrison of Paris. Plus the t-shirt, score, dinner, etc. Not the xylophones, though.
• Back the opera with $5000 or more (limited to 2): There were fewer than 100 Ionic Performer Synthesizers made in the early 1970s. David Gunn and I have one each. We were going to put them on eBay, but instead we are offering them as rewards for a large pledge to "Erzsébet: The Blood Countess Opera". You'll of course get all the other rewards as part of the package, but these are so rare you may never see another one. Here's a link to my Performer Ionic page. Oh, and plus the t-shirt, score, dinner, etc., but not the xylophones or the Porter book.

The original fundraising video!