Upcoming Events in Wilmington, Delaware

Subject:  The Arts Take Center Stage in Greater Wilmington

Wilmington, Del (January 13, 2015)…As the weather warms, the arts take center stage in Greater Wilmington, DE.  Some are established favorites; others are new undertakings. OperaDelaware Festival (May 14-22) The OperaDelaware Festival makes its debut on two consecutive weekends in May.   The festival features two main stage opera productions at the Grand Opera House in the heart of Downtown Wilmington.  OperaDelaware presents the fully staged East Coast premiere of Franco Faccio’s lost opera, Amleto (Hamlet), which was discovered in Italy after 145 years and painstakingly reconstructed by Maestro Anthony Barresse.  OperaDelaware also performs Verdi’s timeless Falstaff basedon Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV.  In recognition of this prodigious undertaking, OperaDelaware has been awarded a $15,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.  www.operade.org Clifford Brown Jazz Festival (June 21-25) The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival is recognized as one of the largest festivals of its kind on the East Coast. This festival brings some of the most exciting jazz personalities to the stage in Wilmington punctuated by a mix of fusion, funk, blues and rock.  Sponsored by the City of Wilmington and held in Wilmington’s Rodney Square, this open air festival is free, open to the public and held rain or shine.  www.cliffordbrownjazzfest.com Delaware Shakespeare Festival (July 15-31) Pack a picnic, bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy Shakespeareunder the stars at beautiful Rockwood Museum & Park during the annual Delaware Shakespeare Festival.  This year’s featured production is Comedy of Errors.  Performances begin at 7:30 on Wednesday through Saturday and 6:00 on Sunday.  www.delshakes.org Nightscape: A Light and Sound Experience (August 3-October 29) Nightscape: A Light and Sound Experience returns to Longwood Gardens in August.  Using a patented mapping technology to synchronize moving images and light with an original music score, Klip Collective, a Philadelphia-based visual arts firm, transforms one of the world’s most celebrated display gardens into a living canvas where lights and shadows dance and music fills the air.  Nightscape takes visitors on an immersive, after dark journey through Longwood Gardens.  www.longwoodgardens.org The Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau is a non-profit organization founded in 1978, chartered by the Governor of Delaware, the New Castle County Executive and the Mayor of Wilmington.  Its mission is to serve as the community’s customer-focused destination marketing organization, generating economic growth through leisure travel and meetings development by aggressively marketing attractions, facilities, amenities and services for visitors.