[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 16, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PAYING TRIBUTE TO DR. DAVID DiCHIERA

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 16, 2017

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. David 
DiChiera, who is retiring from the Michigan Opera Theatre. While he 
began his distinguished and impassioned career in California, he became 
known in Michigan and beyond as Mr. Opera. He is retiring from the 
Michigan Opera Theatre, which he founded in 1971 and which he served as 
General Director and Artistic Director. After completing his 
undergraduate studies in musical composition at UCLA, David DiChiera 
continued his scholarship in Italy on a Fulbright scholarship, and 
returned to UCLA to join the faculty and to complete his PhD in 
musicology. In 1962, Dr. DiChiera was recruited to join the faculty at 
Oakland University as a professor. He later became chairman of music at 
the university.
  While at Oakland University, Dr. DiChiera created ``Overture to 
Opera,'' a program featuring local opera singers which brought opera to 
communities throughout Michigan, and which planted the seeds for the 
creation of Michigan Opera Theatre. As Dr. DiChiera explained in an 
interview, ``I would cast the wonderful local singers who otherwise had 
limited opportunities . . . we started taking this program to community 
centers--every year, I took it to The War Memorial and area schools. 
This was all throughout the 1960s. Then, in 1970, I thought it was time 
to do a full-length opera, and to create the beginnings of an opera 
company.''
  It is important to keep in mind the backdrop for Dr. DiChiera's 
efforts to create an opera company in Detroit. By 1971, when Michigan 
Opera Theatre was established, the city itself was experiencing a major 
loss of population and many people were skeptical that this endeavor 
could succeed. But Michigan Opera Theatre not only succeeded, it 
thrived--first at the Music Hall in downtown Detroit which was restored 
with the support of the Kresge Foundation and Detroit Renaissance, and 
later at the Detroit Opera House, which was formally opened on April 
21, 1996 with a performance by the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
  Dr. DiChiera's impact extends beyond his building of this important 
institution. He has been a vital center of gravity for arts and culture 
in and around the City of Detroit. He has been committed to nurturing 
and showcasing the broad diversity of talent in opera, something which 
he viewed from the inception of Michigan Opera Theatre as central to 
its mission. ``Building bridges into the community was a primary 
mission,'' he said in the Theatre's blog, ``making sure that the 
African American community, the majority of Detroit's population, was 
represented on the stage.'' In addition to producing works which 
reflect the African American experience such as Porgy and Bess and 
Tremonisha, the Michigan Opera Theatre commissioned and produced the 
world premiere of Margaret Garner, based on the novel Beloved written 
by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison. Ms. Morrison wrote the libretto for 
Margaret Garner, and the production starred famed mezzo-soprano Denyce 
Graves. Dr. DiChiera has ensured that Michigan Opera Theatre has 
performed works reflecting the rich cultural fabric of Metro Detroit, 
including the Armenian opera Anoush, King Roger and The Haunted Castle, 
which celebrate the region's Polish community, an opera based on the 
life of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, and The Passenger, an opera 
about the Holocaust.
  In addition to founding, building, and leading Michigan Opera 
Theatre, Dr. DiChiera is a noted composer as well. In further tribute 
to him, the Michigan Opera Theatre is featuring this month Dr. 
DiChiera's full-length opera, Cyrano, based on Edmond Rostand's 
timeless play, Cyrano de Bergerac.
  Mr. Speaker, like innumerable opera aficionados, I know that David 
DiChiera has brought boundless joy to experienced opera lovers while 
helping to create countless new ones. Along the way, he has nurtured 
young artists and has ensured that the Michigan Opera Theatre reflects 
the diversity of the community it serves. Dr. DiChiera built an 
enduring institution in Michigan Opera Theatre, and in so doing, he has 
established himself as one of Metro Detroit's true treasures. I 
encourage my colleagues to join me in congratulating and thanking much 
beloved Dr. David DiChiera for the immeasurable contribution he has 
made to the arts in Metro Detroit and far beyond.

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