In the first post in our Auditions series, Claire DiVizio, Executive and Artistic Director of Chicago's Thompson Street Opera Company, shares some valuable insights about auditions from the standpoint of the person doing the casting: what she looks for, what she prioritizes (it isn't what you think), and what turns her off of a singer.

Six years ago, Ned Canty had a vision of bringing the visceral energy of opera to the streets and shops of Memphis, TN. That vision became the wildly popular "30 Days of Opera," which wraps up its sixth season this week. Caitlin McKechney, who took part in that initial season, brings us an inside look at the festival and what it has meant for opera in Memphis.

Jenna Tamisiea is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Glow Lyric Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina, a company devoted to placing opera and musical theatre at the center of difficult social and political conversations. In today's article, she reflects on the experience of starting an opera company — particularly one that is politically vocal in a region that holds largely opposing viewpoints — and what she learned when she went against conventional wisdom and followed her convictions.