In Spring 2011, Sacred Heart’s music program collaborated with vocalist and instructor Lyndsay Byers, M.M., to produce a performance of a compilation of scenes from various operas spanning from Baroque to contemporary periods. This production, entitled “A Rendezvous with Mozart and Other Fellows”, was performed in historic St. Joseph’s church, raised approximately $900 in ticket sales, and the sub
sequent attention it drew from various musical and theatrical organizations led to the establishment of a fledgling opera company, Dramatic Crossroads. In 2012, Dramatic Crossroads put on a production of Menotti's the Old Maid & the Thief, also at St. Joseph's Church and expanding to include an impressive stage cast and crew of young professionals from the universities and theatre groups in our area.
2014 saw some changes of venues with our staged production of Bach's Coffee Cantata performing in February at Eastlight Theatre, and our ongoing Opera On Tour concerts in various locations throughout Peoria including 30-30 Coffee Company, the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, and First United Methodist Church.
2015 and 2016 brought world premiers of composer, James Marck's Hip-hOpera music to the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, with an innovative take on the operatic genre. DC was also seen performing some original music by Dennis Gotkowski at the 3rd annual Ignite Peoria conference in Peoria's civic center, as well as putting on an eclectic seasonal concert at the Spider Hill haunted house in Chillicothe.
