The Power of Opera to Change the World
OperAffinity, led by soprano Breana Stillman, is bringing classical music and the emotive power of opera to communities and children in need.
“I feel like I owe Italy so much,” says Breana Stillman. As a teenager, the Australian singer aspired to be in musical theater. “You know, to be a cool singer.” But then her parents took her to Todi, and she found her calling. “It was only when I came to Italy and I saw this history and this culture and how beautiful it was to be an opera singer, that I thought, ‘This is magical.’”
Breana has devoted her life since to helping people see that opera and classical music are not elitist, but rather “fun and evocative, emotional and relatable.”
In particular, she devotes her time to using the power of opera to inspire children and underserved communities around the world. “It’s nice for us to come together and make music, in a world where there is so much turmoil. Music is a universal language. It unites us. There’s nothing bad about it. Even when the music makes us feel sad, you need to have emotions, you need to have feelings, we need to inspire each other.”
In Rome, Breana’s charity, OperAffinity, partners with organizations such as Save the Children and the Jesuit Refugee Service (Centro Astalli) to conduct workshops with Ukrainian, Afghani, and Syrian refugee children. Music has an inherent therapeutic power, she says, allowing children to not only share stories of daily struggles and hardships, but to experience a new kind of self-esteem, and to dream.
It was in Kenya, where Breana also has family, that she first realized the potential of sharing opera with children. “I said I’m Breana and I’m an opera singer and you may not know what that is, but I’m going to show you now how I warm up my voice because in an opera house we don’t use microphones. I started singing, and they started almost breathlessly laughing. First I thought they thought it was just funny, but then it became apparent that they just couldn’t believe it. There was this excitement, and their faces lit up. And we all swayed like butterflies to the Barcarolle “Belle Nuit” from The Tales of Hoffman, and they all embraced it. It was beautiful. It was perfect. And in turn they taught me Kenyan music and Kenyan dance, so we had this great bicultural exchange.”
While OperAffinity is dedicated to promoting opera and classical music to wider audiences, what is it that their audiences get, specifically, from opera? “It’s so emotive,” says Breana. “Sometimes people can’t put their feelings into words, but when they sing and are able to emote, it gives a special kind of relief.” Too often, she says, we assume that many communities and age groups will not understand it because it’s opera. “But they do,” she insists. “They understand it. Their eyes light up. They can’t believe the power of this sound coming out of someone. And why shouldn’t kids and people everywhere be able to experience that?”
Working with a group of refugee women from Syria who were at first reserved and unsure, Breana began to sing Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro.” “And we taught them the first phrase so they could sing it with me, and then we all sang it together. Suddenly, everyone was crying. In the end, yes, we’re so different in circumstance and culture, yet we are able to come together and connect, emote together and feel.”
OperAffinity’s Kenya Project works with the Art of Music Foundation’s Ghetto Classics, a community program providing music education to hundreds of youth in need. Again, Breana wasn’t sure how they would react to her coming in to sing opera, but after teaching them the children’s chorus from Carmen, they began laughing together, having fun, and sharing stories.
From Italy, Breana continued working online with a young tenor from the program, David Mwenje. In January 2023, OperAffinity brought David to Rome’s Oratorio del Gonlafone to perform for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Australia. His performance of “Panis Angelicus” was a rousing success. “That is the best feeling, sharing your gift until people are moved,” said David. He credits Breana with introducing him to teaching greats in the world of music who have motivated him to become like them. David is now a music student at Kabarak University in Nairobi.
Breana’s newest project is the Todi Musica Festival. Over two weeks in September, workshops, concerts and pop-up, flash mob performances took place across Todi. Events featured a mix of world-renowned performers, local residents, and international visitors. “I wanted it to be about community and having fun,” says Breana. One event included a 50-minute gala of opera favorites. “I introduced each piece so that people could understand the emotion behind it. Then after just 50 minutes, we had this great party with older people, younger people, and very young people. There is something for everyone.”
For Breana, it’s all about connection. “No matter your age or your background, let’s get together, talk about and experience music and culture, make it fun, not stiff.”
What’s next for OperAffinity? The workshops and master classes Breana conducts for refugees, disability centers, and children can easily be transferred to different places, she says. Having worked in Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Kenya, she looks forward to bringing opera and classical music to even more people and communities. “Through my work I’ve met so many wonderful people who are all doing such good things and helping to share the power of music. This focus on giving and the beauty of opera is what the world needs to see and experience.”
Indeed, Italian opera singing has just been added to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage list.
This article first appeared in B-Hop magazine in Italy.
Great piece, Deanna! Thank you!