In the latest in a series of newly established affiliations, Temple University has launched a partnership with Opera Philadelphia ushering students into the world of opera.
Leaders from both groups envision a wide range of collaborations — from opera education for Temple Prep students as young as five years old, to recording Opera Philadelphia performances and distributing them via Temple’s record label as downloads (and, possibly, on once-again fashionable vinyl).
Temple sees the partnership as a way of facilitating its students’ transition between academic and professional life. Students will sit in on Opera Philadelphia rehearsals and attend master classes by opera artists, and emerging vocalists will have the opportunity to audition as cover artists (understudies) for small or non-singing roles in Opera Philadelphia productions.
Robert T. Stroker, dean of Temple’s School of Theater, Film and Media Arts, says that the partnership is still evolving.
“This is day one. The sky’s the limit,” he said.
Opera Philadelphia general director and president Anthony Roth Costanzo emphasized the importance of exposing students to professionals.
“When I was a student, the experiences I had in a rehearsal room, meeting an artist, understanding how that artist worked, those were really crucial to me, and I want to be able to provide that for Temple students,” he said.
At the same time, Costanzo said, the opera company is hoping to tap Temple resources. In addition to the recordings, he envisions working with film and media students at Temple to better understand how a younger generation can be engaged — “finding ways to say, ‘Hey, we’re looking to connect to people your age about opera. How should we do that and which of you would be interested in a project, whether it’s for socials, whether it’s for the website? How can we make something compelling?’”
The partnership between Temple and Opera Philadelphia comes via a signed agreement to “explore potential collaborations,” an Opera Philadelphia announcement said, and follows Temple’s 2025 acquisition of Terra Hall, far south of its main North Philadelphia campus.
Temple will be moving many of its music activities into the building at Broad and Walnut Sts., close to the city’s major concentration of theaters and concert halls, and has been establishing relationships with a number of arts and culture organizations.
Temple president John Fry traced the partnership between the school and opera company to his hearing Costanzo — a countertenor — sing at a benefit, “and I was just blown away. So I waited for him to come downstairs afterwards and I said, ‘Can we talk about what we might do together?’”
Fry took Costanzo on a tour of the Terra building, “and the ideas just started pouring out of him.”
“We want to obviously be associated with great people,” he said, “and want to provide every opportunity for our students to be in contact with, and learn from, and take advantage of the arts in Philadelphia.”
Temple is in the process of renovating Terra Hall, and while the project isn’t slated to be done before Sept. 2027, some spaces are expected to be usable this fall.
Already, though, Opera Philadelphia has held a rehearsal of dancers for its December production of The Seasons in Terra’s dance studios. Temple recorded the opera’s multi-composer Complications in Sue in February, and this month will record Sleepers Awake by Gregory Spears.
Temple’s record label, BCM&D Records, has released more than 65 recordings — garnering five Grammy nominations — since its founding in 2009. Students will work with professional staff on recording live opera performances, Stroker said. On the distribution side, the school works with music distributor Symphonic.
Fry said another kind of arts group he hoped to establish a partnership with is a dance troupe, and beyond that he was open to other ideas.
“What we’re trying to demonstrate is that we’re serious about the continued vitality of the Avenue of the Arts,” he said. “As the public university of the city, the educational anchor of Avenue of the Arts, we’re open to looking at relationships with all kinds of organizations. It just feels like it’s a nice way to connect with the diversity of what’s there but in a way not overly formalistic or legalistic.”
Temple’s relationship with the Library Company of Philadelphia is going to be a formal and legal one — a merger, pending approvals from the Pennsylvania attorney general and Philadelphia Orphans’ Court.
But Fry said that other affiliations, like the ones with the Opera Company, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, “are going to be organic partnerships that grow over time.”