American Mezzo Jennifer Rivera has made us laugh with her Cherubino/Rosina, has turned us on with her Agrippina's Nerone -- frankly, a Christian Lacroix costume simply does that -- and has made us think (for years) through her personal blog, Trying to Remain Opera-tional.
She's one of the nine bloggers participating in the current Round III of Spring for Music's 2012 Great Arts Blogger Challenge and brought out the big guns for this week's post on arts in North America and the lack of a Secretary of Arts & Culture position in the U.S.
Four of the nine bloggers will advance to Round IV Finals this Friday and the power of voting the bloggers ahead is in the hands of the public (well, 1/3 public opinion, 2/3 of three guest judges). Anyway, voting for Round III ends at noon on Thursday, April 12.
Forty-two bloggers originally registered to enter the competition. First prize is $2,500 and two tickets for each of the six Spring For Music concerts at Carnegie Hall May 7-12.
Three cheers for the remaining good sports in Round III: Operation Opera, Classical Beaver, Neo Antennae, Seated Ovation, Also Sprach FraKathustra, Proust Eats a Sandwich, ArtBLT and The Glass.