For Arts Organizations and Museums

Informative videos that connect your patrons to the important concepts in the artwork? Online presentations that bring audiences closer to the opera or the concert? Let’s talk about it!

Whether it’s a zoom presentation, a hosted video, on-screen reflection questions with original music, or something more creative, videos and online programs that are informative, engaging, and fun can help patrons find their way into the music or the works of art in the galleries.

With experience as a video creator and editor, a presenter on zoom, a classroom teachers, and a creative artist, Oliver is able to design and implement projects from a variety of points of view.

What if your museum patrons, or your concert audience, spent time exploring the expressive implications of line, shape, color, texture, and mood, as Oliver Prezant and improvising musicians created original music based on their impressions? By the end of the program, we’re able to create a performance using the painting as a musical score, and everyone has had a chance to participate in the creative process.

“For over an hour the audience seated in the gallery looked at and talked about one large painting and its elements and the relations between them. Prezant led this discussion, at strategic intervals conducting 3 classically trained musicians who musically illustrated their interpretations of those elements and relations. Think of Prezant as a gifted inducer of synesthesia. By the end of this literally dazzling ‘concert’/discussion, all of us were experiencing that painting very differently.”
- Lin Medlin, participant

Opera, orchestral, chamber music, choral - take your pick! Interactive, experiential learning gives the audience a chance to try out a rhythm, taste the language, be the accompaniment, draw the melody in the air, act out the plot. Gives them a chance to wonder what happens next, or explore what a composer, conductor, or director might do at a critical moment. Plus the stories, the context, the history - whatever will make the concert more meaningful, more accessible, more enjoyable for the listener.

“The lecture alone was worth the price of admission.”
- Santa Fe Opera patrons

“ . . . understands music from the perspective of the performer/performance, the historian, and the innovator, and is able to express that understanding to his audience in a way that is both informative and a lot of fun at the same time.”
- Alicia Ultan, former Director of Education, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

In-depth explorations for general audiences, or fun and engaging youth and family programs as conductor or host. Moderator for interviews and panel discussions. Engaging, experiential presentations and workshops for general audiences, at schools, and museums. Programs that combine art and improvised music. Take-home projects that extend the experience.

Over the years, Oliver has developed unique programs that serve the community and support the host organization’s mission, goals, and objectives.

“Through your skill and experience with audiences, we ended up with the right amount of time, the right balance of music and material, and the right mix of presentation and activity.
-Cynthia T., former President, Santa Fe Opera Guild

“This is the reason we volunteer for the Guild.
-Pat M., former Vice President for Education, Santa Fe Opera Guild

“What whole-hearted enthusiasm . . . I have heard nothing but praise for the event. Your combination of knowledge, skill, and humor is quite special. So, thank you so much for ensuring the success of our first Puccini and Popcorn.”
- Julius Kaplan, former Vice President, Opera Southwest

“Oliver Prezant led the Roswell audience through the Marriage of Figaro, presented by the Roswell Symphony Orchestra, with such knowledge, charm and humor! The excellence of the musicians, the opera singers, AND Mr. Prezant made for one of the most memorable cultural events in Southeast New Mexico!"
- Nancy J. Fleming, Director, Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, Roswell

Programs with full orchestra that take the audience inside the music and inspire the musicians, too. Hosted concerts that deepen the appreciation and enjoyment of new and returning audience members. Programs that introduce school groups, and new, returning, and underserved audiences to musical concepts through participation and active listening. Imaginative, educational programs that break down the boundaries between music, visual art, poetry, and movement.

"Oliver’s talks on music, with live demos by the orchestra, are always fascinating and entertaining. His Educate Your Ear talks/demos are a great example of the in-depth musical analysis and creative thinking that we hope our students will be exposed to in high school, college and beyond."
- Carla Kountoupes, faculty member, New Mexico School for the Arts

“The side-by-side program was a life-changing experience for our students - friendly, enjoyable, and transformative!”
- Leanne DeVane, Director of Education and Outreach, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, former Santa Fe Public Schools Music Coordinator

Oliver has provided training for docents at the Santa Fe Opera and the Albuquerque Museum of Art.

As the Artistic Advisor to the ArtWorks program of the Partners in Education Foundation for the Santa Fe Public Schools, he trained teaching artists in the areas of music, visual art, theater, poetry, and dance, and oversaw teacher training workshops for public school classroom teachers, as well as art and music teachers.

“Thanks for that exciting and engaging session at the museum. I can’t wait to practice some of the techniques myself, particularly those related to shape and sound. Some of the docents who attended are already raving—good PR for your upcoming docent workshop.”
- Elizabeth Becker, Curator of Education, The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

Commission something for a special occasion, or introduce young audiences to the compositional process by having a piece composed especially for them.

For school music programs, music basics that the teacher is working on can be integrated into an original piece, e.g. specific rhythms, melodic gestures, and textures.

In addition, a class visit can be an opportunity to discuss how the piece is put together, approaches to composing original music, and student composition projects.

Header, and Music and Art Video Projects: educational video featuring Oliver Prezant, photo by Oliver Prezant, video created with Jonathan Lowe. Discovering the Music of Paintings, Discovering the Music of Paintings, still from video by Jonathan Lowe, featuring artwork by Mary Vernon: Wall With Mirror, 2022. Prelude talk at The Santa Fe Opera, photo by Ruthanne Greeley. Community Engagement, photo of Oliver Prezant by Ruthanne Greeley. Oliver Prezant, conducting, still from video by Jonathan Lowe. Oliver Prezant giving a workshop, photo by Kacy Crews.