Opera Company of Brooklyn Presents Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ at
 Long Island University’s Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts

Brooklyn, N.Y.—Opera will take center stage at Long Island University’s Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts in Downtown Brooklyn.

The Opera Company of Brooklyn presents Guiseppe Verdi’s opera, “Rigoletto,” on April 1, at 8 p.m. at the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts, located at the University’s Brooklyn Campus, on the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush avenues. Tickets are $25 for general admission; students, $15.

‘Rigoletto” tells the story of a lusty Duke, a devoted father and his usually dutiful daughter who falls in love for the first time with aforesaid lusty Duke!

The Opera Company of Brooklyn was founded in 2000 by Jay D. Meetze, who is also its artistic director. Active in the New York area, the company’s aim is to make opera affordable and accessible to people who do not usually have the opportunity to attend performances in conventional institutions. The company keeps production costs down and ticket prices low by performing in smaller venues that afford an intimacy not easily achieved in larger theaters.

 “By performing in smaller and less formal venues, we hope to break down the barriers surrounding opera as being exclusive, for the wealthy, and confined to Manhattan and demonstrate that it is a unique art form that can be appreciated and enjoyed by all members of society,” says Meetze. “This will be a great opportunity to bring opera to both the residential and student communities of Brooklyn.”

Meetze is also the principal conductor of the opera company and has been featured on CNN, ABC, FOX, ZDF (German public television), The New York Times, Wall Street Journal  and other newspapers. OCB was also recently featured on the front page on Crain’s New York Business.

Part of a versatile new performing arts complex at the Brooklyn Campus, the wood-paneled Kumble Theater features finely tuned acoustics and a Broadway-quality 40’ x 70’ stage and stepped seating that provides unobstructed views for an audience of 320.

For more information, call the Kumble Theater box office at (718) 488-1624, or visit www.kumbletheater.org.

Long Island University opened its Brooklyn Campus in 1926, welcoming a diverse population at a time when other major universities enforced quota systems against racial and ethnic minorities. Some 28,000 students currently are enrolled at the university’s residential and regional campuses, including more than 13,000 at the Brooklyn Campus. Located at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, the Campus is accessible to all major bus and subway routes and the Long Island Rail Road.