Manhattan School of Music
OPERA THEATER
DON A D. VAUGHN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
N OTA B LE A LU M N I
K ATE ALDRICH NED BARTH K AREN BE ARDSLE Y LIA M BONNER BE TH CL AY TON ALE X A NDR A DESHORTIES JENNIFER DUDLE Y EZIO FL AGELLO L AUREN FL A NIG A N SUSA N GR AHA M JENNIFER HOLLOWAY HE ATHER JOHNSON BR A NDON JOVA NOVICH K ATHLEEN K IM CATHERINE M ALFITA NO M ARVIS M ARTIN JOHA NN A MEIER L AQUITA MITCHELL TIMOTHY NOLEN JENNIFER O’LOUGHLIN SIMON O’NEILL A N THONY ROTH COSTA NZO DAW N UPSHAW M AT THE W WORTH DOLOR A Z A JICK SELECT STAGES O N W HICH M S M ALU M N I HAVE PERFORM ED
“THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT A MUSIC SCHOOL SHOULD BE DOING: PRESENTING COMMITTED PERFORMANCES OF DESERVING WORKS THAT PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS, WITH THEIR MINDS FIXED ON THE BOTTOM LINE, TEND TO IGNORE.” — A N THONY TOMM ASINI N EW YORK TIM ES
ME TROPOLITA N OPER A AREN A DI VERON A BERLIN STA ATSOPER CA N ADIA N OPER A COMPA N Y DEUTSCHE OPER BERLIN ENGLISH N ATION AL OPER A GLY NDEBOURNE FESTIVAL LICEU BARCELON A N ATION AL KORE A N OPER A OPÉR A DE PARIS ROYAL DA NISH OPER A ROYAL OPERA COVENT GARDEN
1953 The Opera Studies Program at MSM is launched with the appointment of John Brownlee as head of the Vocal and Opera Departments.
1956 Upon MSM founder Janet Schenck’s retirement, John Brownlee is appointed the School’s second Director.
1962 1957 The Opera Program quickly becomes known for its stagings of rarely performed operas and new works. In May, MSM presents the American premiere of Donizetti’s Rita on a double bill with the New York premiere of Dello Joio’s The Ruby.
John Brownlee, feeling that the French repertoire had been neglected in the U.S., stages the first of many productions of French operas during his tenure: Massenet’s Werther.
1976 MSM stages the New York premiere of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. Weill’s widow, Lotte Lenya, attends the production.
“WITH THE FIRST NEW YORK PERFORMANCES OF HANS WERNER HENZE’S BOULEVARD SOLITUDE ... THE JOHN BROWNLEE OPERA THEATER OF THE MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC PROVED BEYOND ALL DOUBT THAT IT IS ONE OF THE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE OPERATIC LIFE OF THIS CITY.” — ALLEN HUGHES N EW YORK TIM ES, M AY 1972
1983 Soprano Dawn Upshaw appears in MSM’s staging of Paul Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna, a New York premiere. Legendary Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson gives the first of her annual MSM master classes, which continue until her retirement from teaching in 1991.
1987 Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham appears in MSM’s production of Massenet’s Cherubin, later saying “Manhattan School of Music provides a nurturing atmosphere where the budding artist can discover and nurture his/her true directions and strengths.”
1997 MSM stages Daniel Catan’s Rappaccini’s Daughter with soprano Olivia Gorra as Beatriz.
2008 Dona D. Vaughn is appointed Artistic Director of MSM’s Opera Program.
2007 Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo appears in MSM’s production of Lukas Foss’s Griffelkin. Baritone Thomas Hampson teaches his first of many MSM master classes. These annual events are available to be viewed nationally and internationally via webcast through the School’s groundbreaking Distance Learning Program.
2012 MSM stages John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.
2013 MSM’s production of Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All earns a rave from the New York Times’ Zachary Woolfe: “Manhattan School’s loving revival…will move, perplex and stimulate you – usually all at once.”
2014 The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini hails the “strong cast of young singers who gave their all” in MSM’s staging of Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth, the American premiere of its original French version.
“THE [FALLA] DOUBLE BILL REPRESENTED ONE OF THE MORE AUDACIOUS, INTRIGUING OPERATIC UNDERTAKINGS TO HIT A NEW YORK STAGE THIS SEASON.” — STE VE SMITH N EW YORK TIM ES, A PRIL 2011
James Gandre, President Marjorie Merryman, Provost and Dean of the College David Geber, Vice Provost and Dean of Artistic Affairs
OPERA STUDIES Dona D. Vaughn, Artistic Director Gordon Ostrowski, Assistant Dean/Opera Producer Daniel Benavent, Opera Studio Manager/Associate Producer Anne Shikany, Assistant to the Artistic Director William Tracy, Head Vocal Coach Mark Janas, June Murano-Murray, LeAnn Overton, Scott Rednour, Vocal Coaches Jorge Parodi, Vocal Coach and Music Director of Senior Opera Theater Elizabeth Rodgers, Rehearsal Pianist Steven Jude Tietjen, Scheduler
VOICE FACULTY Maitland Peters, Chair Edith Bers Joan Caplan Mignon Dunn Ruth Golden Hilda Harris Cynthia Hoffmann Marlena Kleinman Malas
Spiro Malas Catherine Malfitano Patricia Misslin Mark Oswald Joan Patenaude-Yarnell Ashley Putnam Neil Rosenshein
RELATED VOICE FACULTY Marianne Barrett, German Diction Amy Burton, French Vocal Literature Miriam Charney, Contemporary Opera Ensemble, British Vocal Literature Patrick Diamond, Advanced Acting Jocelyn Dueck, Italian Diction Donna Gill, English Diction Bénédicte Jourdois, French Diction Kathryn LaBouff, Assistant Department Chair/English Diction Rhoda Levine, Advanced Acting Carolyn Marlow, Director, American Musical Theater Ensemble, Acting
Kenneth Merrill, German Vocal Literature Glenn Morton, Italian Diction Thomas Muraco, Italian Recitative, Advanced French Diction, Opera Repertory Ensemble Francis Patrelle, Movement for Singers Shane Schag, Music Director, American Musical Theater Ensemble Anne Shikany, English Diction Daniel Sommer, German Diction Paul Sperry, American Vocal Literature Cristina Stanescu, French Diction
MSM OPERA PRODUCTION HISTORY SINCE
Cree Carrico in MSM’s production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
1973 SCHWANDA, THE BAGPIPER (WEINBERGER) ∙ G IANNI SCHICCHI & IL TABARRO (PUCCINI) ∙ THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS (ROSSINI) ∙ S ISTER ANGELICA (PUCCINI) ∙ M AVRA (STRAVINSKY) 1974 THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO (MOZART) ∙ LE PAUVRE MATELOT (MILHAUD) ∙ S GANARELLE (KAUFMANN) ∙ D ON PASQUALE (DONIZETTI) ∙ THE MEDIUM (MENOTTI) ∙ THE NIGHTINGALE (STRAVINSKY) 1975 THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (MOZART) ∙ C OSÌ FAN TUTTE (MOZART) 1976 STREET SCENE (WEILL) 1977 THE FOUR RUFFIANS (WOLF-FERRARI) 1978 ITALIAN STRAW HAT (ROTA) 1979 NEWS OF THE DAY (HINDEMITH) 1980 BETROTHAL IN A MONASTERY (PROKOFIEV) 1981 DIE KLUGE (ORFF) ∙ S UOR ANGELICA (PUCCINI) 1982 EINE FLORENTINISCHE TRAGÖDIE (ZEMLINSKY) ∙ LE MARIAGE AUX LANTERNES (OFFENBACH) ∙ THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (GOETZ) 1983 THE RING OF POLYCRATES (KORNGOLD) ∙ S ANCTA SUSANNA (HINDEMITH) ∙ RENARD (STRAVINSKY) 1984 GIANNI SCHICCHI (PUCCINI) ∙ A MELIA GOES TO THE BALL (MENOTTI) 1985 FEUERSNOT (STRAUSS) ∙ THE NOSE (SHOSTAKOVICH) ∙ THE INQUISITIVE WOMEN (WOLF-FERRARI) 1986 THE ENGLISH CAT (HENZE) 1987 CHERUBIN (MASSENET) 1988 LE ROSSIGNOL (STRAVINSKY) ∙ A RLECCHINO (BUSONI) ∙ LA FEDELTÀ PREMIATA (HAYDN) 1989 THE RAKE’S PROGRESS (STRAVINSKY) ∙ DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES (POULENC) 1990 CORNET CHRISTOPH RILKE’S SONG OF LOVE AND DEATH (MATTHUS) ∙ C OUNTESS MARITZA (KALMAN) 1991 NABOTH’S VINEYARD / SHADOWPLAY / SONATA ABOUT JERUSALEM (GOEHR) ∙ THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (GIANNINI) 1992 THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (PERERA) ∙ LA SCALA DI SETA & L’OCCASIONE FA IL LADRO (ROSSINI) 1993 MAHAGONNY SONGSPIEL (WEILL) ∙ I PHIGENIE EN TAURIDE (GLUCK) 1994 MISS JULIE (ROREM) ∙ THE TURN OF THE SCREW (BRITTEN) 1995 SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR (WEISGALL) ∙ DIE LUSTIGEN WEIBER VON WINDSOR (NICOLAI) ∙ D EIDAMIA (HANDEL) 1996 ALBERT HERRING (BRITTEN) ∙ L’AIO NELL’IMBARAZZO (DONIZETTI) ∙ A LCINA (HANDEL) 1997 ATALANTA (HANDEL) 1998 TROUBLE IN TAHITI (BERNSTEIN) ∙ S AVITRI (HOLST) ∙ S EMELE (HANDEL) ∙ TWO WIDOWS (SMETANA) ∙ A RIODANTE (HANDEL) 1999 A DEATH IN THE FAMILY (MAYER) ∙ LE COMTE ORY (ROSSINI) ∙ DIDO AND AENEAS (PURCELL) ∙ H OUSE OF COMEDY (MCLEER) ∙ I NFERNO (SOLURI) ∙ LOTARIO (HANDEL) 2000 THE HOUSE OF SEVEN GABLES (EYERLY) ∙ I L MATRIMONIO SEGRETO (CIMAROSA) 2001 ROMAN FEVER (WARD) ∙ A MELIA GOES TO THE BALL (MENOTTI) ∙ THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (BRITTEN) 2002 THE SEAGULL (PASATIERI) ∙ S HALL THE WORLD BECOME MUTE? (GLUCK) ∙ D ER WILDSCHUTZ, OR THE FORCE OF NATURE (LORTZING) 2003 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (BRITTEN) ∙ B EATRICE ET BENEDICT (BERLIOZ) ∙ G IULIO CESARE IN EGITTO (HANDEL) 2004 A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY (HOIBY) ∙ M IRANDOLINA (MARTINU) 2005 A DINNER ENGAGEMENT (BERKELEY) ∙ RIDERS TO THE SEA (VAUGHAN WILLIAMS) ∙ B EAUTY AND THE BEAST (SPOHR) ∙ I L PRIMO OMICIDIO (SCARLATTI) 2006 THE VILLAGE SINGER (PAULUS) ∙ LORD BYRON’S LOVE LETTER (BANFIELD) ∙ C ENDRILLON (MASSENET) 2007 L’ITALIANA IN LONDRA (CIMAROSA) ∙ G RIFFELKIN (FOSS) 2008 STREET SCENE (WEILL) ∙ LATER THE SAME EVENING (MUSTO) 2009 DIE FLEDERMAUS (STRAUSS) ∙ PENELOPE (FAURE) 2010 THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (MOZART) ∙ S UMMER AND SMOKE (HOIBY) 2011 EL AMOR BRUJO & LA VIDA BREVE (FALLA) ∙ C OSÌ FAN TUTTE (MOZART) 2012 THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES (CORIGLIANO) ∙ THAÏS (MASSENET) 2013 THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY (WEILL) ∙ THE MOTHER OF US ALL (THOMSON) 2014 ORLANDO PALADINO (HAYDN) ∙ M ACBETH (BLOCH) 2015 DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (MOZART)