Ten years ago, when Dr. David Blackburn of New York was on vacation in New Orleans, he picked up an AAA book and decided to find a place for a side trip. Fortunately for opera fans, he chose Natchez.

&uot;My family and I drove to Natchez and stayed at Monmouth Plantation,&uot; said Blackburn. &uot;We met Ron and Lani Riches, they had just been to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Santa Fe they have an opera festival and the Richeses had been very impressed with it.

&uot;Over the next few days we met with the Riches and Mayor David Armstrong. We talked about an opera and what it would take to begin a festival here in Natchez.&uot;

Blackburn returned to New York, but the idea of helping Natchez begin a festival stayed with him. He spoke with the Riches several times and soon a list of interested individuals emerged.

&uot;I flew down to meet with them and soon agreed to become the facilitator and organizer for a festival,&uot; Blackburn said. &uot;We developed a budget and before we knew it we had an opening night planned.

&uot;Appropriately enough we did ‘The Man of La Mancha’ – its theme is to dream the impossible dream,&uot; Blackburn said with a laugh. &uot;And even then people told us they thought this might be a little ambitious for a city our size.&uot;

For a year and a half Blackburn worked Monday through Friday in New York and then flew to Natchez on Friday evenings and worked on the Opera Festival until Sunday evenings. At that point he and his family moved South and establishing a first-rate Opera Festival for Natchez became his first priority. Blackburn and his committee went to the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce to talk to them about their plans.

&uot;We asked them to help us pick the best time of the year. According to their numbers, May was the city’s lowest economic month,&uot; Blackburn said. &uot;And according to merchants the drop after Spring Pilgrimage was devastating to their businesses. Recently the Mississippi State Board of Tourism gave us the figures verifying that the Opera Festival was responsible for the spending of $2 million by festival attendees.

&uot;Most importantly, we are gaining a reputation for a high standard of quality in our festival. We recently received a call from the London Opera News; they wanted to include this year’s festival in their magazine. And already this year we know that we have groups coming from Germany, Japan, the Michigan Opera Guild and many others. And now with the renovated Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center we have first-class facilities to host our productions.&uot;

While Blackburn serves as the general director for the festival, he has drawn on the many talented people he has met over the years and has been able to bring them into the Natchez Opera Festival.

Bill Lewis of New York is serving as associate musical director. This is his third year to work with the Natchez festival and has worked with Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera. Assistant musical director Jane Steele, also of New York, has worked with a festival in Colorado and also internationally in Italy and Israel.

Also working with the festival this year is Roger Malouf, assistant musical director. He works as a coach with Julliard, directs and coaches in New York. Closer to home is Dr. Lynn Keisker the coordinator of the Louisiana State University Opera Program. She will be serving as assistant musical director and also in charge of the education programs the opera conducts. Hayden DeWitt will work as production manger for the entire festival. Coming to Natchez to work as stage director will be Stan Garner.

&uot;Stan Garner is considered to be one of the finest stage directors in the country,&uot; Blackburn said. &uot;We are very fortunate to have him. When I called him to see if he would be returning this year he said that he considered Natchez to be his ‘vitamin shot for the year’ and it is his home festival.&uot;

Tommy Jackson will also be returning as set construction manager. He works all year on the sets and manages to have them ready when the actors arrive. Working with him as chief set designer will be Shannon Clark.

Blackburn and the Opera Festival committee recently hired an assistant general director for the festival.

&uot;It was time for us to concentrate on moving our festival to a higher level. There are two facets to a successful festival. While you have to have a solid artistic front with quality productions it must be paired with a development staff that can help you with financing,&uot; Blackburn said. &uot;Richard Keisker will be in charge of development, grants and help us develop a financial structure that can underwrite our festival.&uot;

Returning this year in honor the tenth anniversary celebration will be &uot;Man of La Mancha&uot; and &uot;La Traviata,&uot; both of which were performed the festival’s first year.

This years performances are: &uot;The Barber of Seville,&uot; Saturday, May 6 at 8 p.m. and Friday, May 12 at 8 p.m.; &uot;I Do, I Do,&uot; Friday, May 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 21 a matinee at 4 p.m.; &uot;Man of La Mancha,&uot; Saturday, May 20 at 8 p.m. and Friday, May 26 at 8 p.m.; &uot;La Traviata,&uot; Saturday, May 13 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 27 at 8 p.m.

To thank the community for their support of the Natchez Opera Festival there are many free concerts this year, including an opera preview of &uot;Barber of Seville&uot; on May 5 and an opera preview of &uot;La Traviata&uot; on May 12; concerts in Memorial Park behind St. Mary Basilica; a talent extravaganza on May 19; Bill Lewis and Friends on May 26; and a special educational opera presentations for the entire family. These one-hour presentations will be at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, May 1 through 5 at Braden Auditorium.

Special events this season include; &uot;A Night of Stars&uot; to be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church on Friday, May 5 at 8 p.m.; an opening gala reception on Saturday, May 6, at 10 p.m. immediately following &uot;The Barber of Seville&uot;; a command performance at St. Mary Basilica on Thursday, May 18, at 8 p.m.; plantation recitals on April 30, May 7 and May 14 at 4 p.m. and Thursday, May 25 at 7 p.m.; and a closing reception on Saturday, May 27 immediately following &uot;La Traviata.&uot;For information and ticket prices

You can contact the Natchez Opera Festival by phone at 446-6345 or 1-800-647-6724, by fax at 442-0814, e-mail at ntztktshop@bkbank.com or by mail at Natchez Visitor Reception Center, Natchez TicketShop, 640 Canal, Box C, Natchez, Miss. 39120.