​​​​​​​Business students at UNT are helping opera sing a different tune.

Thanks to a generous grant received by The Richard & Enika Schulze Family Foundation, UNT Director of Opera Programs Jonathon Eaton was gifted the funding to not only develop a new opera company where his students would be the main attraction, but to also deploy it regionally throughout Dallas-Fort Worth.

The catch? The grant required Eaton to work alongside UNT business students to formulate a comprehensive marketing strategy that would bring new life to the traveling opera.

Eager to partner on the endeavor, Dr. Rhonda Reger challenged her entrepreneurship students to serve as consultants for the project. In this role, they worked in teams to conduct market research and formulate business plans that could be successfully executed.

“It was really hands-on learning that could be applied to anything they do in life,” explained Reger.

The teams ultimately proposed innovative ways to attract a younger target market that addressed the industry’s declining audience numbers, while also proving to be a sustainable endeavor.

From interviewing potential customers and delving into the psychology of pricing options, to researching both traditional and non-traditional venue options, Reger’s class conducted extensive feasibility analyses that enabled them to propose invaluable ideas to both Eaton and the Schulze Family Foundation.

Some of those ideas included introducing multiple revenue streams to the business—including branded goods and concessions—as well as performing the opera in different languages to draw in new audiences.

“The business students’ projects really helped to set a foundation for the new company's marketing strategy,” said Dexter Purnell, marketing professor at the Ryan College of Business.

Purnell, who works as a lecturer for the college by day and recording engineer by night, was selected by Eaton to serve as the opera company’s marketing director.

“One of the coolest things I have done is naming the new touring company, NextGen Opera (NGO),” said Purnell.

A fitting name for a company that was born off the ideas of students from the next generation.

And Purnell is not the only one helping to execute the vision that came to life through Reger’s class project. Alongside him is Tatum Forbes, one of Reger’s students who impressed Eaton so much that he gave her a marketing internship with the opera.

Audience members can catch the reinvented opera, beginning on April 19, at UNT’s Murchison Performing Arts Center. It will then move to the following venues:

• Arlington ISD Center for Visual and Performing Arts (May 13th)
• Downtown Cowtown at the Isis Theater (May 18th - 21st)
• Irving Arts Center (May 25th & 26th)
• Grandscape (May 27th & 28th)