2022 Fall Community Report

Carmen Publicity Photo. Credit: Darin Kamnetz

Innovation, Collaboration,

Minnesota Opera’s 60th Anniversary Season is marked by the company’s 50th world premiere, a reinvention of the New Works Initiative, and the opening of a new stage. In short, Minnesota Opera is looking to the future. At the same time, we’ve honored our past by bringing back mezzo-soprano superstar Denyce Graves to direct a new production of Carmen, 30 years after she first performed the role right here at Minnesota Opera. We also debuted Edward Tulane, our latest in a long line of new works, after it was postponed by the pandemic in 2020.

As we celebrate 60 years of Minnesota Opera, we continue to innovate and work in partnership with our community on our journey to sing every story. We invite you to learn more about the impact that your continued support makes possible.

OUR MISSION

Minnesota Opera changes lives by bringing together artists, audiences, and community, advancing the art of opera for today and for future generations.

OUR VISION Minnesota Opera will sing every story.

OUR VALUES Innovation, Inclusivity, Collaboration, Purpose.

Collaboration, Purpose

Minnesota Opera’s new Carmen takes Denyce Graves’ international journey full circle.

The newly renovated venue, owned and operated by Minnesota Opera, expands our North Loop campus and sustains our local arts community.

Edward Tulane makes its long-awaited debut

Minnesota Opera’s latest New Works Initiative commission features international stars and homegrown talent.

Stories Sing! Brings Music to the Community

The music education program forges new paths in community education.

Minnesota Opera Announces the New Works Initiative Cohort

The New Works Initiative’s next phase will develop artistic partnerships over multiple commissions.

Edward Tulane , 2022. Credit: Cory Weaver

Denyce Graves launched an illustrious career as one of the definitive Carmens of her time after she first performed the title role at Minnesota Opera in 1990. After taking that role to some of the biggest stages in opera over the past thirty years, she returned to Minnesota Opera in a new role—that of the stage director. Minnesota Opera hoped her directorial debut would develop Graves’ artistry and bring to our audiences her perspectives as the first Black female director in the company’s history.

Graves resolved to focus her production from Carmen’s point of view as a queen of her community

who inspires others through her bravery. It was particularly important to Graves that she highlight the Romani culture represented in the opera, expressing the “limitation and internal frustration” that the Romani people experience. Ultimately, the Star Tribune lauded the production for its stirring vocal performances, engaged acting from every performer on stage, and a continuous sense of movement.

Carmen featured two singers alternating in the title role: Israeli mezzosoprano Maya Lahyani and Minnesota Opera Project Opera alum and 2021-2022 Minnesota Opera Company Artist Zoie Reams. Reams, like

Graves in 1991, debuted the role in this production in an important early career opportunity. Lahyani looked forward to portraying an “uncompromising, unapologetic, and independent woman” and Reams hoped audiences would “think on their communities and how they can uplift and be uplifted by the people around them.”

Together, the three Carmens created a piece demonstrating Minnesota Opera’s commitment to creating powerful art for our community and developing the creative capacity of artists at all stages of their careers.

“Passionate; intense; emotional; great music. And, I have always loved the Ordway Theater. I am 72 years old and had never been to an opera.”

–MN Opera Patron

-Star Tribune

“Fresh production. The orchestra sounded fantastic, as did the singers. Polished, exciting and beautiful!”

–MN Opera Patron

–Pioneer Press

“Full of supremely strong singing, deeply involving portrayals, terrific dance interludes and an Elias Grandy-led orchestra that makes familiar tunes sound fresh again.”

Denyce Graves as Carmen in Minnesota Opera’s

1991 production of Bizet’s thrilling tale

“Stunning vocal performances”

Rinaldo Sets the Luminary Arts Center in Motion

to create a better customer experience. The renovations also added new flooring and acoustic treatments to optimize the space for music, dance, theater, and, of course, opera.

These updates to the facility will allow Minnesota Opera and local renters to use the space to greater effect, whatever the project. The organization hopes that the Luminary Arts Center will be a valuable offering to the community that will broadly support the Twin Cities arts ecosystem.

Leveraging the Luminary Arts Center, Minnesota Opera continues to diversify the types of operatic experiences that

the company can offer its patrons. The Luminary’s intimate space facilitates deep connections between audiences and performers. Consequently, Minnesota Opera can dive into the classic operatic cannon and produce chamber operas, such as the company premiere of Handel’s Rinaldo, the inaugural Luminary Arts Center Opera that debuted in November 2022. With Rinaldo, MN Opera welcomed Mo Zhou and Emily Senturia, the first female stage director and conductor pair to lead the creative team of an MN Opera production.

Further, the company can program daring new works that thrive off bringing the audience and

story close together such as The Song Poet, the first Hmong story ever adapted for the operatic stage coming to the Luminary stage in March of 2023.

Speaking to the impact that the Luminary can continue to have on our community, Minnesota Opera President and General Director Ryan Taylor draws the connection between the space’s mission and its name saying, “the new name for the venue speaks to the space’s role in revealing, discovering, and illuminating the work and ideas of artists in our community.”

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Luminary Arts Center.

Credit: Tim Rummelhoff

More than two years after its March 2020 premiere was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Edward Tulane premiered to critical acclaim in October 2022. The original opera is based on the novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by twotime Newberry Medalist and #1 New York Times best-selling author Kate DiCamillo and is her first work to be adapted for the operatic stage. Adapted from a story by DiCamillo, who is based in St. Paul, Edward Tulane builds on Minnesota Opera’s strength in telling new operatic stories with local resonance.

Edward Tulane was the culmination of the collaboration between Paola Prestini, a daring New York composer

who fuels her music with wild collaborations with artists, rocket scientists, and others, and Mark Campbell, librettist for Minnesota Opera hits Silent Night, The Shining, and other celebrated works. Prestini and Campbell were brought together through Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, a program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an infusion of new works. Edward Tulane was the latest work to come out of the New Works Initiative yet, taking the audience on a journey from the bottom of the ocean floor to the bustling streets of Memphis.

The opera tells the story of a toy rabbit who falls off a ship and into a miraculous journey. Through a series of

tragedies and adventures, Edward finds a sense of belonging and learns that broken hearts can learn to love again. The title role was sung by Jack Swanson, a Stillwater, Minnesota native and alum of Project Opera, Minnesota Opera’s original youth opera training program for talented young vocalists. Edward Tulane marked Swanson’s return to the company as he continues his career as an internationally renowned tenor. As the product of all these artists’ efforts, Edward Tulane stands as the latest great work from the New Works Initiative.

“I think this is a perfect story to introduce children to opera and spark the same love for it that I have had my entire life.”

–MN Opera Patron

“At each stop on Edward’s journey, we’re treated to the awe-inspiring costuming of Victoria “Vita” Tzykun and some spectacular sets from designer Walt Spangler.”

–Star Tribune

“Swanson has a rich voice that smoothly navigates Prestini’s multi-octave demands and creates an endearing character.”

–Star Tribune

“If the few young people at the show that said their expectations were exceeded were any indication, DiCamillo’s beloved story is in good hands with the Minnesota Opera.”

–Pioneer Press

by Victoria (Vita) Tzykun

Bringing Music to the Community

THE STORIES SING! PROGRAM FORGES NEW PATHS IN COMMUNITY EDUCATION.

The Minnesota Opera Stories Sing! program engages the Twin Cities community and fosters the love of opera by connecting professional singers with young children. In a Stories Sing! session, a teaching artist will sing through a children’s story at a local library and provide activities for the children to connect with the story.

Minnesota Garden, Minnesota Opera commissioned a composer, a librettist, and shadow puppeteers to create a video to be released to schools and libraries. The story follows a young girl learning about different kinds of flowers that reflect the multicultural texture of the Twin Cities and help her learn the value of sharing culture and building community. The composition features repeated, memorable phrases for children to sing along to and is also designed to encourage children to create their own shadow puppets.

The pandemic complicated the mode of delivery, but the most recent iteration of Stories Sing! embraces hybrid delivery to create greater impact. For A Very Special

Further, the video can be shown without the singers so that teaching artists can sing live when available, allowing the project flexibility to meet covid restrictions. A Very Special Minnesota Garden represents Minnesota Opera’s continued commitment to education and ingenuity in building relationships with the community.

Minnesota Opera Announces the New Works Initiative Cohort

After launching in 2008, Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative has fostered thrilling new operas such as Silent Night, Doubt, and The Shining. Minnesota Opera plans to further the program’s immense success by pioneering a new model for the initiative: the creation of a New Works Initiative cohort. The initiative brings together a racially and geographically diverse

group of composers and librettists to create song cycles, chamber operas, and full-scale operas, all to debut in future seasons.

The new commissioning model will foster longterm creative partnerships in the teams, giving their collaborations the time to thrive that single work commissions cannot always offer. Additionally, the commissioning cycle will include engagement

and development opportunities for the cohort to nurture these artistic offerings and encourage deeper relationships with the company throughout the process. The New Works Initiative creative cohort includes composers B.E. Boykin, David Hanlon, and Kamala Sankaram, and librettists Minita Gandhi, Harrison David Rivers, and John de los Santos.

Minnesota Opera has premiered 49 new works, with the upcoming world premiere of The Song Poet bringing the company’s total to 50. The company’s commitment to new and contemporary opera distinguishes it in the world of American opera and the company will continue to lead with the new cohort.

THE NEW WORKS INITIATIVE’S NEXT PHASE WILL DEVELOP ARTISTIC PARTNERSHIPS OVER MULTIPLE COMMISSIONS.

The initiative brings together a racially and geographically diverse group of composers and librettists to create song cycles, chamber operas, and full-scale operas, all to debut in future seasons.

Photo credits (left to right, top to bottom): B.E.

Boykin, Minita Gandhi, David Hanlon, Harrison

David Rivers, Kamala Sankaram, John de los Santos

Christian Sanders

Edward Tulane. Based on the novel, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by local author Kate Dicamillo, Edward Tulane was perfect for the young and young at heart, and taught us that even the most broken of hearts can learn to love again. To learn more, visit mnopera.org

and Lisa Marie Rogali in Minnesota Opera’s

Edward Tulane , 2022. Photo Credit: Cory Weaver