The veil fabric from one of Sondra Radvanovsky’s Three Queens gowns, the pistol used to murder the Commendatore in Don Giovanni , the manacles used to restrain convict Joseph De Rocher in Dead Man Walking, a reed from Principal Clarinetist Charlene Zimmerman’s clarinet, and percussionist Eric Millstein’s triangle. These are some of the touchable items handled by visually challenged and blind Lyric Opera patrons during Touch Tours, specially tailored tours held before selected Sunday matinees. This season, several orchestra members participated for the first time by playing and talking about the role their instrument plays in the different scores. They loved the interaction with these remarkable patrons. Our thanks to Megan St. John, Director of Facility Operations for inviting us to join and to our wonderful musician participants, Principal Clarinetist Charlene Zimmerman, bassist Andrew Anderson, hornist Neil Kimel, contrabassoonist Lewis Kirk and percussionist Eric Millstein.
onist Lewis Kirk and percussionist Eric Millstein.