Flewelling honored for opera idea

    Phoebe Flewelling of Ashland and Exeter, N.H. was honored this spring as one of 12 finalists out of 400 applicants to be included in the newly formed “Creativity in Motion” Idea Bank in the University of Oklahoma. The letter from the Award founder and the Dean of the college of Arts & Sciences stated, “The imaginative and creative ideas presented in your project are exceptional.”     The Thatcher Hoffman Smith award “Creativity in Motion” prize, established in 2002, is a biennial prize honoring the creative process. It celebrates a visionary creative work in process, recognizing the power of original thought and expression, to enrich the world around us. The prize is open to all fields in both arts and sciences and carries a monetary award of $40,000. This award will next be presented in 2009.
    A versatile soprano, Flewelling began singing professionally at age 14. A graduate of New England Conservatory of Music, she did graduate study in Austria and the Peabody Opera Institute. Her spinto-dramatic voice performed roles and scenes in operas as diverse as “Marriage of Figaro”, “Faust”, “La Sonnambula”, “Madama Butterfly”, and “Tannhauser”. Her repertoire of over 1,500 works encompasses 10 classical vocal venues in Opera and Art Song. She has 26 performed roles and 70 solo scenes.
    Flewelling has been a winner in several international competitions. In 2001, she was presented a Gerdo-Lissner Encouragement Award, NYC. In 1998 and 1999, she was a winner in San Francisco Concerto Orchestra’s International Competition and declared over-all winner in 1999-exceptional-as she competed with both singers and instrumentalists. Her CD, Pheobe in the Presidio, was part of her award. Sample listening or purchase of the CD may be made at www.cdfreedom.com.
    Early in the 1980s, beginning the opera segment of her career, Flewelling created Shoestring Opera for Children, a program to introduce children and interested adults to opera. Singing all the roles in solo performance with piano and/or with selected children in assigned roles, Flewelling was seen throughout New England in many public schools, civic performances, on television and in public radio interview.
    Shoestring Opera was the project selected to be one of the 12 finalists for the idea bank. Of the three opera projects submitted, hers was the only one moved to the Twelve. These applicants are the first group to form the newly instituted “Idea Bank” housed in the University of Oklahoma for public perusal and creative resource. She was also interviewed on the popular Maine Public Broadcasting Network news show, “Maine Things Considered.”
    With Shoestring Opera, Flewelling became the first person in opera history to condense opera.