A Message to our Community
​June 2020

Along with the entire world, Victorian Lyric Opera Company (VLOC) has watched the protests unfold across our country in the wake of the horrific killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others by law enforcement. Unequivocally, VLOC condemns this and all manifestations of systemic and institutional racism, and we stand in solidarity with those raising their voices in support of justice and equality. 
 
Black Lives Matter, and it is the responsibility of all institutions in our society to affirm and act on that truth - a responsibility we were slow to recognize. We understand that on this subject, silence is complicity. We apologize for the lack of an earlier statement, and the hurt or mistrust it caused. This is a failure that we wholeheartedly commit to learning from.

We also know that words are not enough. We are called, especially as a community organization to consider and commit to what we can do to put true meaning behind our words. We work in a predominantly white, European art form. But it is an art form that champions expression through breath, voice, and body, and is ultimately worth practicing if we can push it in a more inclusive direction. This is the moment to look at ourselves, to listen, and to identify how we can be a better artistic ally to fight racism and serve all people. 

VLOC is a community opera company, made up of members from all over the Greater Washington, D.C. area. We historically have and always will cast openly, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. We affirm diversity in our productions, though we recognize that we have not yet succeeded in attracting cast, crew, and audience that are fully representative of our community. Opera has a difficult and racist past, which places an undue burden on people of color. Regrettably, many companies still cling to elements of tradition that are unacceptable in a misguided effort to stay authentic. While VLOC has long since abandoned the heinous practice of yellowface (a traditional element in The Mikado, an esteemed Victorian operetta), we know that achieving true racial diversity will be a constant process that is well worth the effort. We can and must do better.

Over the next few months, the VLOC Board of Directors will work on increasing our commitment to diversity and support for communities of color, as well as exploring how to meaningfully incorporate anti-racist practices in our community opera group. This includes a specific eye towards color conscious casting, cultivating diverse design teams, as well as working harder to create a genuinely welcoming space in which people of color can thrive on- and off-stage. We welcome conversations and recommendations about how we can do this from our members past, present, and future, and from the audiences and communities we strive to serve. And we will post our action plan publicly here on our website, so that these stakeholders can hold us accountable. We look forward to hearing from you and can be reached at victorianlyricopera@gmail.com. ​​