July 7, 2008 An article highlighting Opus 118's student performances at MusicFest 2008 appeared in the July 3rd edition of the NY Beacon. Read the Full Article (PDF).
May 23, 2008 Opus 118 is one of the featured nonprofit organizations supported by New York's Fieldston School's SHAPEfund. Watch the video at ABC News.
February 26, 2008
December 7, 2007 Alexander Smalls Named President and CEO of Opus 118 Harlem School of Music (New York, NY) December 7, 2007—Opera singer and author Alexander Smalls has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Opus 118, the school’s Board of Directors announced today. Smalls succeeds Phillip Willis, Opus 118’s former Executive Director. “We are delighted that Alexander has agreed to join us as President and CEO,” said Nat Sutton, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “He brings a passion for music and a personal understanding of what it means to be a professional musician. He will be an extraordinary role model for our students and our faculty.” “I can think of no greater pleasure or challenge than to participate in the education and artistic development of our children,” Smalls said. “I love being able to help each of them begin the process of discovery and learn the power and strength of their individual talent.” A native of Spartanburg, SC, Smalls is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He made his professional operatic debut in George Gershwin’s Tony Award winning Porgy and Bess. Smalls has received numerous awards, among them top honors in the prestigious Baltimore Opera Competition. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1994 and has shared the concert stage with such notables as Anna Moffo, Renata Scotto and Michael Tilson Thomas. After touring with Porgy and Bess, Smalls studied opera and culinary arts in Italy and France. Returning to New York, he launched Small Miracle, a catering and event planning business. The success of that venture led to his celebrated Cafe Beulah, a southern revival bistro in Manhattan, as well as two other restaurants, the last being The Shoebox Café in Grand Central Station. Smalls also published his memoir-cookbook, Grace the Table, which includes a foreword by his friend and colleague Wynton Marsalis. He is completing his second cookbook, entitled Southern Serenade: Sophisticated Recipes for Special Occasions to be published in early 2009. Opus 118 was launched in 1991, when 150 children in three East Harlem public elementary schools were in danger of losing their violin program as a result of public school funding cuts. Working with parents, other teachers and volunteers, Roberta Guaspari, their violin teacher, founded Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, a private, nonprofit organization, to save the program and to continue to serve public school students in low-income areas. Today, Opus 118 serves approximately 600 students in five New York public schools and students in the after school program. In addition, Opus 118 is rapidly expanding it’s Community Program division, offering performances and other educational activities to Harlem Communities. |
