Updated on June 22: Brigitte Reinke reports she’s almost there with about $2,000 more n donations still to raise
Brigitte Reinke, a soprano and Bowling Green High School graduate, is ready to start her professional career. She received her Master’s in Voice Performance with an emphasis in Pedagogy from Texas Christian University and her Bachelor’s in Voice Performance with a German minor from Bowling Green State University.
She currently teaches voice lessons to undergraduate students at Southwestern Adventist University, is a section leader at First United Methodist Church in downtown Fort Worth, TX, and is in the beginning stages of launching her professional career.
That got a boost with her acceptance to AIMS (American Institute of Musical Studies), a prestigious opera program lasts six weeks this summer in Graz, Austria. AIMS in Graz focuses on individual technical development and a professional, strategic approach to music as a profession
The program offers Reinke the opportunity to work with world-renowned singers, coaches, agents, and directors—including her favorite artist and long-time idol, Barbara Bonney.
“This program will provide opportunities that will jumpstart my career,” Reinke said.
According to Reinke: “Bowling Green is where I discovered my love of the stage. I participated in plays, musicals, operettas, and operas with Horizon Youth Theatre, The Black Swamp Players, at Bowling Green High School, and at Bowling Green State University. The foundation of performance skills I learned in Bowling Green will carry me through AIMS, and I’m very thankful for that. AIMS is what I need now to get to the next level with professional skills and connections. Thank you all for your support over the years and for your continuing support.”
She has previously performed in operas, operettas, and opera scenes as Pamina and die Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte) Just Jeannette (Too Many Sopranos), ein Blumenmädchen (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Yum-Yum (The Mikado), among others, and has performed as a soloist in various recitals and benefit concerts. her solo career as a soprano.
Reinke has launched a fundraising effort to help her afford her travel to Austria and participation in AIMS. That included an April 24 recital in Texas.
“The program has been gracious enough to grant me a $1,000 scholarship and a $250 work-study grant, but I am still in need of significant funds to attend this excellent institution,” Reinke wrote in a recent email.
A letter supporting Reinke from the program states: “Although AIMS in Graz is considered the best value of any summer music program, raising the funds to attend a six-week program in Europe can still be a daunting task.”
Donations can be made at:
http://aimsgraz.com/product/donate/
https://www.belta.org/launchpad/201604/brigitte-reinke-aims-graz
For all donations will be acknowledge with a handwritten thank you note with photo upon return
Other incentives include:
- $25: Ringtone of me singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
- $75: Private voice lesson (1 hour)
- $200: Group voice lesson class (1 hour)
- $500: Private recital (30 minutes), given availability
- $1000: Private recital (1 hour), given availability.
