Letter from Audrey Luna Inter-Cities is always happy to share good news from soprano Audrey Luna, one of our past competition winners. Below is a recent letter from Audrey, our first-place 2006 Competition winner. Read it and smile with us: Happy New Year! It’s been a while since I last updated everyone so I thought I would share some new developments. I have been so happy since signing with my agent, Herbert Barrett Management, this past spring. They are really great people who I trust and in whom have confidence. I know that we will have lots of success working together in the future. There are a few jobs that haven’t been signed on the dotted line, and I feel that I should make that clear before sending off this e-mail, but here is a list of my future engagements: The Controller in Flight by Jonathan Dove, The Pittsburgh Opera, Feb 2008 Giulietta in I Capuletti ed I Montecchi by Bellini (COVER) + 1 matinee performance, The Pittsburgh Opera, May 2008 Anne in A Little Night Music by Sondheim, Hawaii Opera Aug 2008 Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart, Opera Ontario, Oct 2008 Soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, with Bethesda (Maryland) Philharmonic Orchestra, Nov 2008 Blonde in The Abduction of the Seraglio by Mozart, Hawaii Opera, Feb 2009 Cunegonde in Candide by Bernstein, Toledo Opera, May 2009 I will be hitting the competition circuit again this spring with Jordan, who is also doing very well. After he has completed his job with Chicago Lyric Opera next month, he will be headed to the Metropolitan Opera again to cover Kallenbach in Satyagraha by Philip Glass. In the fall, he will be covering Oppenheimer in Doctor Atomic by John Adams, also with the Met. We’re ENGAGED and will be getting married this summer in Hawaii! Love, Audrey

Letter from Nili Riemer Dear Friends at the Altamura Foundation, It has been a while since I updated everyone about recent news and upcoming seasons. Your generous support of young artists has been a major factor in my ability to pursue a professional opera career, and I want to thank you and also let you know of some wonderful opportunities that I have been involved with. I recently signed with my first management company, Guy Barzilay Artists, who will be representing me worldwide. I am very happy to work with this dynamic office of professionals who believe in my future career. After singing as a Resident Artist with the Minnesota Opera in 06-07 (Olympia, Lakme, Barbarina), I made my European debut singing Cunegonde in "Candide" in the summer of 2007. I returned to the US to make my mainstage performing debut with Minnesota Opera in September, singing Oscar in "Un ballo in maschera," after which I sang my first Blondchen in Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio" with Anchorage Opera in November. I spent my post-audition season on vacation in Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto) after being named the third place winner in the Queens Opera Competition as well as a recipient of an Anna Sosenko Artist Assist Grant. My upcoming roles include Rosina in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" (Tri-Cities Opera), Despina in "Cosi fan tutte" (Chautauqua Opera), and in 2009 I'll be making my debuts singing Clorinda in "La Cenerentola" with Florida Grand Opera, and Mabel in "Pirates of Penzance" with Lyric Opera of Kansas City. I thank you for your continued support, and I hope to continue to share good news in the future. Very sincerely, Nili Riemer

It is good to remind oneself of the why, what, and who of a company. Ours, Inter-Cities Performing Arts, Inc., is a New Jersey/New York-based, philanthropic arts company founded for the purpose of improving ethnic, social,professional, and cultural relations. We like to think we serve as a window on the human family.

In our many programs, staffed by world-class artists, we take great pleasure in the accomplishments and growth of young, emerging artists, for whom our programs exist. But our company goes beyond individual performing careers and accomplishments. It is our goal to offer a transformative experience - something that enlarges the person as well as the artist.

We try to listen carefully to what is being asked of us.

In reviewing the company's origins, which began as an urban New Jersey arts school for children of expatriates fleeing totalitarian governments, we learned we didn't have to look very far to offer something of value. Because the arts are positive, life changing and transformative, Inter-Cities offered a window of light to children who otherwise would not have been able to develop their talents. Over 50% of the school's participants were on scholarship.

As our company evolved, we began to challenge some of the rules that prohibited young artists from reaching their goals. For instance, our competition, the Altamura/Enrico Caruso International Voice Competition, abolished age limits. As a result, a 35-year old with four children who left his Christian ministry to participate in (and win) our 1991 competition - a feat that would not have been possible elsewhere with age limits usually set at 31 - is currently one of the Metropolitan Opera's leading baritones. In going against the current, we followed what we knew to be true - that singers with larger voices often develop later than other musicians. The purpose of our competition is to not only award and support excellence, but to create possibilities where none existed.

In 2001 we were able to bring a full orchestra from Romania to New York State -- an orchestra that had dreamed of performing in the United States. Upon returning to their homeland, they were afforded new opportunities -- the Minister of Culture rewarded them with a new concert grand piano and a sizable grant to refurbish their hall. They enjoyed newfound prestige, whereas before, they were under-appreciated and earned only $50 per person per month. At the Altamura Center, Summer Institute participants profited from the experience of performing with a first-class orchestra.

Everyone wins.

In association with this wonderful orchestra and their country, the desperate needs of Romanian orphans was brought to our attention. In February, ICPA Inc. founder, Carmela Altamura, visited an orphanage for handicapped children in Bacau, Romania. Their needs were basic: a sewing machine (and patterns) on which to make clothes and sellable crafts (beautiful embroidery), shoes and socks, a computer on which the children could learn skills, and a blender. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." We would agree.

Our work continues. A young soprano who triumphed over adversity - cancer of the brain - joined our 2003 Summer Institute. A blind musician who triumphed over ignorance, a totalitarian government, hunger, and indifference will be brought to the United States to undergo an operation to regain his sight. A violinist who suffered severe and multiple fractures in both arms in a car accident performed in our 2003 commemorative concert to the 9/11 victims.

I once heard that faith means "Fantastic Adventure In Trusting Him." The Word has been a lamp unto our feet.

Following this guidance, we felt compelled to find ways to further help artists here in our own community. We have networked with physicians and other medical professionals to provide gratis consultations to artists who are enrolled in our programs, in need of a medical office visit, and who truly are unable to pay for such services. Our benefit concerts help raise much-needed funds for these services. Over time, we hope to build more programs of this kind into Inter-Cities.

In serving outstanding young artists and the communities from which they come, it is we who have been transformed. Inspired by the teachings of the world's spiritual masters, we have received far more than we could have imagined. Not counting cost or risk but relying on our faith, we go forward to discover and support the finest young talent, provide first-rate programs for both them and the communities in which we live, and make available resources that otherwise would not exist. We know our efforts will return a thousand fold -- they always do.

Until love calls unto us, we are only a possibility.

The possibilities are limitless.