O23 Festival Book

Festival O23

Festival O23 Schedule & Venues

Welcome to Festival O

SEPT. 21 – OCT. 1, 2023

Opera Philadelphia's 2023 – 2024 Season is brought to you by the Artistry Now Matching Fund and Barbara Augusta Teichert

PAGE 14

10 Days in a Madhouse

Sept. 21 – 30 | The Wilma Theater

PAGE 28

Simon Boccanegra

Sept. 22 – Oct. 1 | Academy of Music

PAGE 42

Unholy Wars

Sept. 23 – Oct. 1 | The Suzanne Roberts Theatre

PAGE 56

Afternoons at AVA

Sept. 23, 27, 30 | Academy of Vocal Arts

PAGE 64

Curtis Voices

Sept. 22 & 29 | Curtis Institute of Music

PAGE 72

Late Night Snacks

Sept. 21 – Oct. 1 | The Closet

Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A., Board Chair

David B. Devan, President

Sandra K. Baldino, Vice Chair

Willo Carey, Vice Chair

Charles C. Freyer, Vice Chair

Thomas Mahoney, Treasurer

MEMBERS

Sandra K. Baldino

Ira Blind

Lawrence Brownlee

Willo Carey

Katherine Christiano

Maureen Craig

William Dunbar

Mikael Eliasen

Dave Ferguson

Charles C. Freyer

Alexander Hankin

Valerie Harrison

Carole H. Johnson

John Karamatsoukas

Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A.

Beverly Lange, M.D.

Peter Leone, Immediate Past Chairman

Thomas Mahoney

Sarah Marshall

Taneise S. Marshall

Agnes Mulroney

Colleen O'Riordan

Bob Schena

Carolyn Horn Seidle

Barbara Augusta Teichert

Kathleen Weir

Yueyi (Kelly) Zhou

HONORARY MEMBERS

Dennis Alter

H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest†

Alan B. Miller

Alice W. Strine, Esq.

Charlotte Watts

† Deceased

From the Board Chair

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Opera Philadelphia. We are thrilled to continue our recent tradition of opening the performing arts season in Philadelphia with a festival. O23 takes place over 11 days, with 33 performances, including a grand Verdi production in the Academy of Music, America’s oldest opera house still used for its original purpose; the world premiere of a new opera inspired by investigative journalist Nellie Bly; a bold exploration of 400-year-old music from a Middle Eastern perspective; along with midday recitals and late-night drag cabaret performances.

It is my fervent hope that everyone in our community feels a deep connection to some part of Festival O23, and whether this is your first experience with Opera Philadelphia or your 101st, that these performances strengthen your relationship with us.

The 2023–2024 Season finds Opera Philadelphia at a crossroads brimming with opportunity for the future. As we celebrate the vision of General Director and President David B. Devan in his 18th and final season of leadership, we have adapted our plans to meet the challenges of a post-pandemic world and launched a search for a new chief executive to guide us into the future in collaboration with Jack Mulroney Music Director Corrado Rovaris and our exemplary administrative team.

The Board of Directors remains confident about the future of Opera Philadelphia. We are working to achieve long term financial sustainability while maintaining our commitment to Philadelphia, creating an inclusive culture that prioritizes artistic excellence. That commitment is best exemplified by the generosity of Board member Barbara Augusta Teichert, who established the Artistry Now Matching Fund, to provide a one-to-one match for up to $2.5 million in new and increased gifts made through May 31, 2025. By offering this matching challenge, Barbara invites you to join her in this endeavor to position us for success in the next three years and into the future.

As your opera company, we will continue to work tirelessly to make opera vital to our community and dazzling to our audiences. We need your support now more than ever, whether that be through financial support, enthusiastic applause, or spreading the word about the great work being done on our stages and in our community.

On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and the leadership and staff of Opera Philadelphia, I wish you an unforgettable experience at Festival O23.

Warmly,

Stephen K. Klasko Chair

Welcome to Opera Philadelphia

Opera Philadelphia is committed to fostering an environment of belonging and inclusion for our entire community. We have adopted this Code of Conduct to ensure the comfort and safety of all artists, contractors, staff, supporters, and volunteers. We are committed to maintaining an environment wherein everyone is treated with respect, dignity, and compassion. By purchasing a ticket or entering our environment, you agree to the tenets of Opera Philadelphia’s Code of Conduct.

We are an anti-racist organization. We are fierce advocates for the rights of our trans community. Behavior that is harmful to others or disruptive to our communal sense of belonging for all will not be tolerated. operaphila.org/codeofconduct

From the General Director

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the fifth incarnation of Festival O and Opera Philadelphia’s 2023–2024 Season, which also happens to be my final as General Director and President of your opera company. We are delighted and privileged that you are here.

When Festival O began in 2017, it was designed to gather the many great and diverse aspects of opera into one experience: stars singing opera’s great compositions in the historic Academy of Music; world premieres brought to life by some of today’s great composers and librettists; and an exploration of what the art form has been and should be in the future.

The shape and size of Festival O has evolved over the years, but these creative cornerstones have remained in place, as personified in the lineup of O23. At the Academy, you’ll hear international superstars Quinn Kelsey, Ana María Martínez, and Christian Van Horn in Simon Boccanegra, a Verdi masterpiece not staged in Philadelphia in 40 years. Down the road at the Wilma Theater, you will be the first audiences to hear Rene Orth and Hannah Moscovitch’s engrossing 10 Days in a Madhouse, based on the work of trailblazing investigative journalist Nellie Bly, a character brought to life by soprano Kiera Duffy, whose last Opera Philadelphia appearance in 2016’s Breaking the Waves made an indelible impact on the art form. At the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, boundaries are broken as Unholy Wars reframes the Crusades from a Middle Eastern perspective to reveal a new story of belonging and resilience, conceived and created by Lebanese American tenor Karim Sulayman

The heart and soul of Opera Philadelphia is our Orchestra and Chorus, led by Jack Mulroney Music Director Corrado Rovaris and Chorus Master Elizabeth Braden. You will hear these talented musicians throughout the festival, as you will see our dedicated administrative staff bustling around the theaters making everything happen. These are the unsung heroes of the Festival O story.

None of this is possible without the support of you, our audience, and our community in Philadelphia. A special thank you to Board member Barbara Augusta Teichert whose establishment of the Artistry Now Matching Fund has made the 2023–2024 Season possible. Additional thanks to Mrs. John P. Mulroney for her support of Maestro Rovaris’ engagement, and our Academy Series underwriters Judy and Peter Leone and Ms. Lisa Kabnick and Mr. John H. McFadden

Thank you all for making Opera Philadelphia a part of your lives. I am confident the best is yet to come!

David B. Devan General Director & President

Festival Staff

LEADERSHIP

David B. Devan, General Director & President

Corrado Rovaris, Jack Mulroney Music Director

Dr. Derrell Acon, Vice President of People Operations & Inclusion

Veronica Chapman-Smith, Vice President of Community Initiatives

David Levy, Vice President of Artistic Operations

Frank Luzi, Vice President of Marketing Communications & Digital Strategy

Gina J. Range, Vice President of Development

Ken Smith, Chief of Staff

Lawrence Brownlee, Artistic Advisor

MUSIC

Michael Eberhard, Director of Casting & Artistic Administration

Sarah Williams, Director of New Works & Creative Producer

Elizabeth Braden, Chorus Master & Music Administrator

J. Robert Loy, Orchestra Librarian & Personnel Coordinator

Nathan Lofton, Orchestra Contractor & Personnel Manager

Grant Loehnig, Head of Music Staff

Micah Gleason, Assistant Conductor & Assistant Chorus Master

PRODUCTION

Bridget A. Cook, Associate Director of Production

Drew Billiau, Director of Design & Technology

Stephen Dickerson, Technical Director

Millie Hiibel, Costume Director

Becca Austin, Costume Associate

Emily Wanamaker, Artistic Operations Coordinator

Rachel Merryman, Festival Production Coordinator & Scheduler

DEVELOPMENT

Rebecca Ackerman, Senior Director of Development

Derren Mangum, Director of Institutional Giving

Adele Mustardo, Director of Events

Aisha Wiley, Director of Research

Catherine Perez, Membership Manager

Samantha Williams, Manager of Corporate & Institutional Giving

Colby Calhoun, Major Gifts Associate

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

Christa Sechler, Education Manager

Alex Graham, Education Coordinator for In-School Programs

Abby Weissman, Assistant Manager of Youth and Community Programs

Chloe Lucente, Teaching Artist

Liz Filios, Teaching Artist

Elizabeth Gautsche, Teaching Artist

Valentina Sierra, Teaching Artist

Chabrelle Williams, Teaching Artist

Jessica Gruver, T-VOCE Accompanist

Dicky Dutton, T-VOCE On-site Coordinator and Vocal Mentor

Whitney Covalle, T-VOCE Conductor

Dan Amadie, Backstage Pass Consultant

Dr. Lily Kass, Scholar in Residence

Lyn Donnell, Community Initiatives Intern

Jamie Ray-Leonetti, Disability Studies Fieldwork

PEOPLE OPERATIONS & INCLUSION

Catherine Reay, Director of Employee Engagement

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS & GUEST SERVICES

Shannon Eblen, Content Director

Claire Frisbie, Director of Marketing

Michael Knight, Director of Guest Services

Steven Humes, Associate Director of Audience Development

Jeffrey Mason, Guest Services Manager

Ana Kola, Guest Services Associate

Coniyah McKinney, Guest Services Associate

Joe Warren, Guest Services Associate

Haeg Design, Graphic Designers

April Zhang, Marketing & Digital Content Intern

FINANCE

Jeremiah Marks, CFO Client Consultant

COUNSEL

Ballard Spahr, LLP, General Counsel

Opera Philadelphia thanks the following labor organizations whose members, artists, craftsmen, and craftswomen greatly contribute to our performances.

American Federation of Musicians / Local 77 is the collective bargaining agent for Opera Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians.

American Guild of Musical Artists / The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union of professional singers, dancers and production personnel in opera, ballet and concert, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents the Artists and Staging Staff for the purposes of collective bargaining.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees / Local 8

Theatrical Wardrobe Union / Local 799, I.A.T.S.E.

Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists Union / Local 799, I.A.T.S.E.

United Scenic Artists / Local 829, I.A.T.S.E.

Box Office and Front of House Employees Union / Local B29, I.A.T.S.E.

Highway Truck Drivers and Helpers / Local 107, Teamsters

METROPOLITAN OPERA THE

ALL THE STORIES ON ONE STAGE

Be part of the Metropolitan Opera’s spectacular new season, featuring a lineup of compelling new work and beloved classics—from the heartbreaking tale of redemption in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking to the story of an icon’s vision in Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X to a timeless Carmen that finds power in the present. Secure your seats today for a season of unforgettable performances.

metopera.org 212.362.6000

PHOTO: ZENITH RICHARDS / MET OPERA

Peter Gelb

MARIA MANETTI SHREM GENERAL MANAGER

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

JEANETTE LERMAN-NEUBAUER MUSIC DIRECTOR

Will Liverman stars in Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X

Accessibility at Festival O23

Opera Philadelphia welcomes guests with disabilities

Braille & Large Captions

Audio

Audio Description (AD) is available at select performances listed below. AD devices are available in venue lobbies on a first come, first served basis. Please inquire with House Ushers upon

Assisted Listening Devices

Assistive listening devices are available for all performances. All assistive listening devices are available on a first come, first served basis. Please inquire with House Ushers upon your arrival.

For more information about accessibility at Opera Philadelphia, visit operaphila.org/access

Festival O23 Performances with Audio Description

10 Days in a Madhouse

Tuesday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m.

Simon Boccanegra

Friday, September 29 at 8:00 p.m.

Unholy Wars

Sunday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m.

We welcome feedback regarding our access programs and services. Please feel welcome to contact us to let us know how we may improve our access services and best accommodate your next visit with us. If you have any questions that are not addressed on this page or would like 215.732.8400.

Opera Philadelphia thanks Clovernook Center for the Blind for the production of Festival O23 Braille Programs. Audio Description for the Opera Philadelphia 2023-2024 Season has been underwritten by PECO.

10 Days in a Madhouse

SEPT. 21, 23, 26, 28, 30

THE WILMA THEATER

Music Rene Orth

Libretto Hannah Moscovitch

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

The Madwoman/Nellie Kiera Duffy

Lizzie Raehann Bryce-Davis*

Dr. Josiah Blackwell Will Liverman

Nurse/Matron Lauren Pearl

Conductor Daniela Candillari*

Director Joanna Settle

Choreographer Faustin Linyekula*

Set & Lighting Design Andrew Lieberman

Costume Design Ásta Hostetter* & Avery Reed*

Wig & Make-up Design Alfreda “Fre” Howard*

Sound Design Robert Kaplowitz & Chris Sannino*

Chorus Master Elizabeth Braden

Stage Manager Gina Hays*

*Opera Philadelphia debut

Performed in English with English supertitles

Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission

Co-commissioned and co-produced with Tapestry Opera. The commissioning of Rene Orth for 10 Days in a Madhouse received funding from OPERA America's Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. This project is supported in part by Community Options, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman Venture Fund for New Opera.

Rene Orth Composer

Rene Orth is a composer that "breaks new ground" (Opera News), writing music described as "always dramatic, reflective, rarely predictable, and often electronic” (Musical America). Her music focuses on dramatic and lyrical storytelling, and she takes a keen interest in blending electronic soundscapes and beats with acoustic music. She recently completed her three-year tenure as Composer in Residence for Opera Philadelphia and was the inaugural Resident Composer at Opera San José for the 2022–2023 season.

Recent and upcoming commissions include works for Opera Philadelphia, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, Del Sol Quartet, and bass-baritone Zachary James. Her work has been performed by a variety of opera companies and orchestras, including Berkeley Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Summerville Orchestra, New World Symphony, Julliard Youth Symphony, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Fort Worth Opera, Washington National Opera, and Curtis Opera Theater. She has collaborated with notable artists and ensembles such as the Del Sol, Dover and Aizuri Quartets, Fifth House Ensemble, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, mezzosopranos Daniela Mack and Blythe Gaissert, Seraph Brass, Rock School of Dance, and Philadelphia Ballet.

Recent distinctions include an OPERA America Commissioning Grant and Discovery Grant for Female Composers, American Composers Forum Subito Grant, and Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grant. She has been in residence at Festival d’Aix en Provence, Yaddo, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Orchard Project Greenhouse, Avaloch Farm Institute, Tapestry Opera, Lake Champlain Music Festival, and Luzerne Music Center.

Rene is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she held the Edward B. Garrigues Fellowship. She received her M.M. in Music Composition at the University of Louisville as a Moritz von Bomhard Fellow and holds additional degrees from MediaTech Institute and Rhodes College.

Hannah Moscovitch Librettist

Hannah Moscovitch is an acclaimed playwright, librettist and TV writer. Her work for the stage includes East of Berlin, This Is War, Little One, The Russian Play, Infinity and What a Young Wife Ought to Know. Her plays have been widely produced across Canada, as well as in the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Australia and Japan. Hannah’s music-theatre hybrid, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (cocreated with Christian Barry and Ben Caplan) has toured internationally, garnering a New York Times Critics’ Pick and more than 50 four- and five-star reviews. Hannah’s operas with Lembit Beecher, Sky on Swings and I have no stories to tell you, have been produced at Gotham Chamber Opera / The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Opera Philadelphia. She has been honored with numerous accolades, including multiple Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Toronto Theatre Critics Awards, Fringe First and Herald Angels Awards, the Trillium Book Award, the Nova Scotia Masterworks Arts Award and the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize. She has also been nominated for a Drama Desk Award, the international Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and twice for the Siminovitch Prize. Recently, Hannah debuted her first confessional work for the stage, Secret Life of a Mother (co-created with Maev Beaty, Ann-Marie Kerr and Marinda De Beer) at the Theatre Centre in Toronto.

By Rene Orth

Opera has a long tradition and fascination with madness and women, often resulting in watching women suffer trauma and eventual death. This opera is not that.

Five years ago, an article on Nellie Bly and her work Ten Days in a Madhouse came across one of my social media feeds. My immediate reaction was that this story needed to be told as an opera. The historical account is full of elements that I am interested in: strong female characters, social justice, women conversing about topics other than men, and more, but what screamed “opera” most to me was the opportunity to explore the characters' psychological space through the music.

From the beginning, Hannah and I were interested in playing with audience expectations. Who is mad? What are the intentions of the Doctor? How does time pass in an abusive asylum? How might such an experience have an effect on someone?

I created two separate sound worlds: an intimate acoustic chamber orchestra sound world (representing the reality that most see) and an electronic sound world—which includes amplification, live vocal effects, sound design, and fixed electronic clips—that represents “madness.” These stark contrasting sound worlds leave lots of room for gray areas in between that help propel the suspense and unpredictability of the characters’ journeys and the work itself.

The piece also features a women’s chorus. The chorus functions, at times, in a traditional manner as a chorus of patients in the asylum. At other times, I treat their voices as instruments in the orchestra, weaving their sounds into soundscapes, blurring

the lines between acoustic and electronic sound worlds, between sanity and madness, acting as a lasting haunt one might have after experiencing time inside an abusive asylum.

While our story contains many elements of Nellie’s exposé, Hannah and I took some creative liberties as well to create our unique story. One addition includes the character, Lizzie, who has been placed in the madhouse for grieving “too much” over the death of her child. When I received the libretto, I remember Hannah sharing that studies have shown that neurologically, there is no greater pain experienced than a mother losing her child. I certainly believed her, though at the time I did not have children. Five years later, I now have three. I can say without hesitation that my journey into motherhood has provided an extremely invaluable source of inspiration for much of Lizzie’s role.

Much has changed in the world since the publishing of 10 Days in a Madhouse, and with a pandemic taking its course, even more so since the conception of this opera. But what strikes me the most is how some things—the dismissive attitude and bias towards women patients in the medical field, the mistreatment of immigrants and the poor, the lack of support for mental health—are all still very much the same, even 136 years later. As part of an effort to show how relevant these themes still are today, I worked to make diverse styles of music fit together, asking “what might the equivalent of a 19th century waltz sound like today?” “What hymns or songs were sung then and still sung today?” It is my hope that you will find this engaging story immersed in an unpredictable universe, much as Nellie Bly may have experienced herself.

"My immediate reaction was that this story needed to be told as an opera."

Photo by Dominic M. Mercier

A scene from 10 Days in a Madhouse at Double Exposure in 2018

Paving new paths for women, from journalism to opera

By Alexandra Svokos

Ophelia stands on the banks of a lake, driven to the brink by the cruelty of her would-be husband. She wears an intricate gown with a V-shaped collar dipping almost daringly low, the striking bone structure of her face framed with ringlets, her hair piled high and adorned with flowers. She sings mesmerizing coloratura vocal lines, delicate but frightening, suspenseful, haunting, as she drowns herself.

This is famed soprano Christine Nilsson in the "mad scene" at the 1868 premiere of Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, based on an Alexandre Dumas interpretation of the Shakespeare play with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. Like in the painting by John Everett Millais 15 years earlier, her madness is enticing.

A woman driven to suicidal madness, depicted in writing, painting, staging, and music by men, is a beautiful thing. This was the world in which Nellie Bly, born 1864, grew up.

In the 1800s, there were women in journalism, but they were largely relegated to writing for the women's pages about fashion and society, explains Brooke Kroeger, author of Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist. Bly encountered this barrier but forcefully and courageously found a path for herself in investigative journalism with the 1887 "Ten Days" exposé. By proving women could report and that their reporting could sell papers, "what she did was open a field that was off the women's pages," says Kroeger.

Bly's reporting helped the women she wrote about in the asylum by leading to a grand jury investigation and subsequent increase

in funding. But she also helped other women gain opportunities in journalism. Editors saw there was interest in investigative stories about women in places only women could access and thus followed "a decade of opportunity" for female journalists, according to Kim Todd, author of Sensational: The Hidden History of America’s "Girl Stunt Reporters."

"All of a sudden, you had not just the women’s page with the reports on ballgown styles and not just the stories of women getting murdered, which was often how they got on the front page,” Todd said. “You had women writers doing brave things and uncovering abuses.”

Meanwhile, women were still wearing ballgowns and getting murdered, over and over again, onstage in opera houses. There were some women composers, but aside from singers, opera and classical music was overwhelmingly male, as society women were still expected to be only homemakers and mothers. In the early 1800s, Fanny Mendelssohn was pressured to hide her musical talents, publishing some works under her brother's name, because composition wasn't considered an acceptable profession for a woman. Exceptionally, Clara Schumann, who came a few decades later, pushed forward with a professional career as a musician and composer.

In 1903, the Metropolitan Opera premiered its first opera composed by a woman, Der Wald by Ethel Smyth. Smyth, like Bly, was a force. The English composer went on to join the women's suffrage movement, writing music in its honor and getting arrested, along with 100 others, at an incident involving throwing stones at anti-suffrage

households. Per her New York Times obituary in 1944, while jailed, "she used her toothbrush as a baton through the window of her cell to conduct the singing of her fellow suffragettes" to the tune of her "March of the Women."

Although she continued composing, no more of Smyth's work would be performed at the Met after Der Wald, which the Times dismissed as "a disappointing novelty." In fact, although women were composing music throughout the 1900s as more women entered musical professions and conservatories, it would take more than a century for the Met to premiere its second opera composed by a woman, L’Amour de Loin by the late composer Kaija Saariaho, who told the Times, "It just shows how slowly these things evolve."

Even today, women are still only coming to be accepted as composers, conductors, and directors. A production like 10 Days in a Madhouse, with a fully female creative team, is unusual to see. Composer Rene Orth isn't sure how to talk about the experience of being in an all-female creative team, but she knows "people wouldn't ask, if I were a man, 'How does it feel to be on an all-male team?'"

Since the 1880s, women have become more normalized in journalism, if not entirely dominant. Nearly a third of Pulitzer Prizes for journalism were won by women between 2007 and 2016, according to the Columbia Journalism Review, a big jump from previous decades. New York Times reporter Susanne Craig won one in 2019, and though her investigative work looks different than Bly's, "certainly we stand on her shoulders; we all do," she says.

Craig earned the first Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting from the Museum of Political Corruption in 2017. She says she isn't always sure about the role of her own gender in her work, which often centers on male-dominated fields like politics and finance, dealing with machismo figures like the Trumps and Cuomos of the world. You wonder, she says, and you know it

has an impact, but "sometimes you just don't know more than anything if it's helping or hurting."

A homemade action figure of Bly sits on Craig’s desk. The little figurine beams determination in stitched eyes, sporting a blue cloth dress and herringbone jacket. It was made by a student of Bruce Roter, the music professor who founded the Museum of Political Corruption, which doesn't exist—yet—in brick-and-mortar, but was inspired by Albany's history of governmental corruption. Bly reported on Albany's corruption in her day by, naturally, bribing politicians.

Orth was inspired to write an opera about Bly's "Ten Days" in part because it's a great story, in part because the abuse and mistreatment of women in medical facilities is still going on today, and, yes, in part because "opera has an obsession with madness," she says. But this opera isn't the male fantasy depiction of a manic pixie dream girl gone mad. The creative team, she says, approached the story with empathy as "we all absolutely can identify with some part of the opera, somehow we feel it a part of ourselves."

Thanks to pioneers like Bly and Schumann, women have become more common figures in journalism and opera over the last century and a half, and thankfully the medical field has developed a better understanding of mental illness, trauma, and treatment. But we're not yet in an equality utopia.

"Abuse is still a thing, trauma is still a thing," Orth says, "but what we rarely see onstage is women rising above that. They may not conquer it, but they still are strong and they still go on and push forward."

Alexandra Svokos, MBA, is the senior digital editor of the financial magazine Kiplinger. She admittedly had Natalie Dessay's Mad Scenes CD on rotation in her car through high school.

A Pennsylvania institution echoes the story of 10 Days

By Jamie Ray-Leonetti

When I first read the story 10 Days in a Madhouse, I was drawn in. What grabbed my attention immediately was a similarity between the conditions described inside the Blackwell's Island asylum and those described inside Pennhurst State School and Hospital.

Pennhurst was an institution for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities operated by the state of Pennsylvania from 1908–1987. It is located about 30 miles from Philadelphia in a rural part of Chester County, Pennsylvania. When it opened, Pennhurst was considered a model facility to meet the needs of people with disabilities. However, problems quickly arose including overcrowding, inadequate staffing, and the use of Pennhurst as a place to confine anyone society did not seem to accept. In addition to those with intellectual disabilities, this included people who were poor or homeless, those who experienced mental illness, and those who may have been convicted of crimes.

Throughout its history, more than 10,000 people lived at Pennhurst, people both with and without disabilities. People in positions of authority had the power to send people to Pennhurst. Many times, it was a male physician who told a mother, just trying to do her best by her child, that Pennhurst was the only place for her child. Other times it was a male judge who decided that someone should be sent to live at Pennhurst. It quickly became a dumping ground for anyone society could not seem to manage.

I learned about Pennhurst in my role as the Associate Director of Policy at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University. It reminded me of a friend of mine describing what it was like living in a group home for women with disabilities. “We didn’t have the power,” she said. “We took our power when we got our voice.”

I thought of mothers I know in the disability rights movement, mothers who met in kitchens and created school classrooms in their basements so that their disabled children could access meaningful education. Government officials told them they were too loud. They told them they were “making a reputation for themselves all over this state.” Yet, they refused to quit until their voices were heard. This is where they found power.

In Nellie Bly’s account of the asylum on Blackwell’s Island, Ten Days in a Mad-House, those who are “less desirable” are hidden away. Decisions about what is “socially desirable” are made and controlled by men. In many instances women who were immigrants, poor, unwed, or homeless found themselves admitted to the asylum on Blackwell’s Island. They were not insane–quite to the contrary, they were often non-conformists.

Perhaps men saw them as a threat. Perhaps men did not wish to be bothered by these women who refused to “conform” to the traditional roles that men expected of them in a civilized society.

Regardless of the reason, the women in 10 Days searched for a way to take back their power. Their path to power, to telling their stories of abuse and confinement in front of a Grand Jury, came from the work and support of one brave female journalist – Nellie Bly.

It seems fitting that the opera 10 Days in a Madhouse should premiere in Pennsylvania. Not just because it is Nellie’s home state (she was born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in a small town outside Pittsburgh), but also because Pennsylvania’s history is rich with both public and private institutions such as Pennhurst. Some of these institutions remain operational even in 2023.

Photo by Sabrina Boyd-Surka/KYW Newsradio

I am a woman who was born with cerebral palsy, a developmental disability. Born in 1973, it is not lost on me that:

• My mother was encouraged (but didn’t listen) to place me in a segregated preschool.

• As a child with a disability, I had no right to education in an inclusive setting. Equal educational access for children with disabilities was not available until passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975.

• When Pennhurst finally closed in 1987, I was a young teen.

• When I was 16 years old, a male high school guidance counselor looked at me and said, “getting a law degree is a lofty goal for someone like you.”

• As a young attorney, male attorneys and Judges often assumed that I was the client or the legal secretary.

I bring these experiences with me to the opera. Nellie Bly and this story resonate with me because Nellie was not afraid to bring all of herself to her work as a journalist. I am grateful that she was brave enough to insist that an editor meet her where her identity as a journalist and her identity as a woman

would intersect. If not for her, the women on the island would likely not have found their voices and their power.

Intersectionality, by definition “describes the ways in which systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class, and other forms of discrimination ‘intersect’ to create unique dynamics and effects.” For me, intersectionality is important because it recognizes that being a woman is part of who I am and that having cerebral palsy is also part of who I am. Intersectionality makes space for all of this. It doesn’t force me to choose. It doesn’t ask me to hide any part of me because of the expectations of others. Holding space for intersectionality invites inclusion.

As I view 10 Days, I listen, and watch and learn as both a woman and a person with a disability. I get to bring all of me to the theater, and that is empowering. I invite you to bring all of you as well.

Jamie Ray-Leonetti, JD, is the Associate Director of Policy at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University. She is completing a graduate certificate in Disability Studies at Temple University. She wrote this reflection during her disability studies field work placement at Opera Philadelphia.

Roundtable Event

Nellie Bly, Blackwell's Island, and Philadelphia’s History of Institutionalization September 26 at 8:45 p.m.

Join us for a one-hour panel discussion and Q&A session following the performance to learn more about disability justice and how Nellie Bly’s work inspires and resonates in our current times. Featuring Charlie Miller, Amy Nieves, and George Shands.

They told them they were “making a reputation for themselves all over this state.” Yet, they refused to quit until their voices were heard. This is where they found power.

Tanisha L. Anderson (she/her)

Queens, New York | Mezzo-soprano

Madwoman Four

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Tia Isabel, Noli me Tangere, Capital Opera Richmond; Tisbe (Cover), La cenerentola, Berks Opera Company; Fatima (Cover) & Ensemble, Omar (World Premiere), Spoleto Festival USA

Next: Chorus, Ein deutsches Requiem, Vox AmaDeus Ensemble

Raehann Bryce-Davis (she/her)

Montemorelos, Mexico | Mezzo-soprano

Lizzie

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Jezibaba, Rusalka, Santa Fe Opera; Jezibaba, Rusalka, Dutch National Opera; Amneris, Aïda, The Royal Danish Theatre

Next: Ella, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Metropolitan Opera

Daniela Candillari (she/her)

Novi Sad, Serbia

Conductor

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Conductor, Tosca, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Conductor, An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, New York Philharmonic; Conductor, Lakmé, Deutsche Oper Berlin

Next: Conductor, Grounded, Washington National Opera

Marissa Chalker (she/her)

Lowville, New York | Mezzo-soprano

Madwoman Two

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Chorus, Carmina Burana, Opera Philadelphia; Chorus, Otello, Opera Philadelphia; Chorus, La bohème, Spoleto Festival USA

Veronica Chapman-Smith (she/they)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Soprano

Madwoman One

2019 Let Me Die, 2018 Sky on Swings

Recent: Nuclear Power, Beards on Ice, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret; Soloist, B Minor Mass, Shenandoah Bach Festival; Soloist, Let Me Die, Opera Philadelphia

Next: Soloist, I Will Tell You, Experiments in Opera

Kiera Duffy

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Soprano

Underwritten by Katie Adams Schaeffer and Tony Schaeffer

The Madwoman/ Nellie

2016 Breaking the Waves

Recent: Soprano Soloist, Pierrot lunaire, Long Beach Opera; Soprano Soloist, Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate, The Cleveland Orchestra; Le Feu/Princesse, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Berlin Philharmonic

Next: Julia, The Comet/Poppea, The Industry

Gina Hays (she/her)

McKee, Kentucky

Stage Manager

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Stage Manager, The Knock, Cincinnati Opera; Stage Manager, The Daughter of the Regiment, Utah Opera; Stage Manager, Don Carlos, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Next: Stage Manager, Songbird, Washington National Opera

Ásta Hostetter

Washington Heights, New York

Costume Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Costume Designer, Infinite Life, Atlantic Theater; Costume Designer, The Coast Starlight, Lincoln Center; Costume Designer, MƆɹNIŊ, Prototype Festival

Alfreda “Fre” Howard (she/her)

Ypsilanti, Michigan

Hair and Make-up Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Hair and Make-up Designer, Don Giovanni, Academy of Vocal Arts; Hair and Make-up Designer, Le nozze di Figaro, Temple University Opera; Hair and Make-up Designer, Sweeney Todd, Curtis Opera Theatre

Next: Hair and Make-up Designer, Infinite Life, Atlantic Theater

Jina Jang (she/her)

Incheon, South Korea | Soprano

Madwoman Six

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Section leader, Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia; Soprano, Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir, Soprano Soloist, Bach Magnificat, Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia

Next: Soprano Soloist, Beethoven Mass in C, Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia

Robert Kaplowitz (he/him)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sound Design

2021 The Island We Made, 2019 Denis & Katya, 2018 Ne Quittez Pas

Recent: Sound Designer, We Shall Not Be Moved, Pittsburgh Opera; Sound Designer, Denis & Katya, Pittsburgh Opera; Sound Designer, Destiny of Desire: An Unapologetic Telenovela for the Stage, Old Globe Theater

Next: Student at Drexel's Kline School of Law

Andrew Lieberman (he/him)

New York, New York

Set & Lighting Design

2019 Denis & Katya, 2018 Sky on Swings, 2015 Don Carlo

Recent: Set Designer, Roméo et Juliette, Opernhaus Zürich; Set Designer, The Magic Flute, Oper Frankfurt; Set Designer, Candide, Opéra de Lyon

Next: Set Designer, Partenope, San Francisco Opera

Faustin Linyekula (he/him)

Kisangani, D.R. Congo Choreographer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Choreographer and dancer, My body, my archive, Chaillot-Théâtre

National de la Danse; Choreographer, Mamu Tshi, portrait pour Amandine, Théâtre Vidy; Artistic director, Histroire(s) du théâtre II, Festival d’Avignon

Will Liverman (he/him)

Chicago, Illinois | Baritone

Underwritten by Willo Carey and Peter A. Benoliel

Dr. Josiah Blackwell

2019 The Love for Three Oranges, 2019 La bohème, 2015 Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD

Recent: Pelléas, Pelléas et Mélisande, Los Angeles Opera; Zurga, Les pêcheurs de perles, Austin Opera; Mike, The Factotum, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Next: Malcolm, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Metropolitan Opera

Meghan McGinty (she/her)

Annapolis, Maryland | Mezzo-soprano

Madwoman Three

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Chorus, La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Chorus, Otello, Opera Philadelphia; Chorus, The Hours, The Philadelphia Orchestra

Avery Reed (she/her)

Seattle, Washington

Costume Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Costume Designer, Patience, Second Stage; Costume Co-Designer, GNIT, Theater For A New Audience; Costume Designer, On Set With Theda Bara, The Brick

Next: Costume Designer, Double Feature: A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Macbeth

Joanna Settle (she/her)

New York, New York Director

Underwritten by Linda and David Glickstein

2018 Sky on Swings

Recent: Director & Co-Creator, Al Raheel | Departure, NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center UAE; Director, Sky on Swings, Opera Philadelphia; Director, Noura, Playwrights Horizons

Next: Commissioned Artist, “Salt Flat Excerpt”, NYU Abu Dhabi Gallery, UAE

Julie Snyder (she/her) Erdenheim, Pennsylvania

Madwoman Five Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Recital, Le tombeau des naïades, Corner House Concerts; Recital, The Real Woman’s Love and Life, Snyder School of Singing; Belinda, Dido and Aeneas, Children’s Opera Box

Next: Solo Recital, The Journey of a Rose, Snyder School of Singing

Kaitlyn Tierney (she/her)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Madwoman Seven Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Miss Shingle, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Opera Saratoga; Hansel, Hansel and Gretel, Bohème Opera NJ; Minerva, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble

Next: Germaine, Girondones, Mission Opera

Lauren Pearl (she/they)

Quw’utsun Valley, Salish Territory, Kanata Canada | Soprano Nurse/Matron

2015 Cold Mountain

Recent: Louise, Gould’s Wall, Tapestry Opera Company; Bino, Figaro’s Wedding, Against the Grain Theatre; Turnspit, Rusalka, Canadian Opera Company

Next: Artist in Residence, No Exit’s Year of Surreality: Breaking the World; No Exit New Music Ensemble

Chris Sannino

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sound Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Sound Designer, Hymn, Inis Nua; Sound Designer, Planet of the Bored Apes, Die-Cast; Sound Designer, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shakespeare in Clark Park

Next: Sound Designer, Hilma, Wilma Theater

ORCHESTRA & CHORUS 10 Days in a Madhouse

VIOLIN

Meichen Liao-Barnes

VIOLA

Jonathan Kim

CELLO

Branson Yeast

BASS

Anne Peterson

FLUTE

Brendan Dooley

CLARINET

Doris Hall-Gulati

TRUMPET

Brian Kuszyk

TROMBONE

Jason Stein

PERCUSSION

Chris Hanning

Brent Behrenshausen

PIANO

Kevin Miller

ABLETON

DeLane Doyle

CHORUS

Tanisha Anderson

Marissa Chalker

Veronica Chapman-Smith

Jina Jang

Meghan McGinty

Natasha Nelson

Aimee Pilgermayer

Julie Snyder

Kaitlyn Tierney

ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION STAFF

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Zaina Yasmin Dana*

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS

Hunter Smith

Abigail Sturgis*

PRINCIPAL PIANIST

Michael Lewis

ASSOCIATE PIANIST

Kevin J. Miller*

PROPERTIES SUPERVISOR

Avista Custom Theatrical Services, LLC

ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER

Isabella Gill-Gomez*

SUPERTITLE AUTHOR AND OPERATOR

Tony Solitro

AUDIO DESCRIPTION

Nicole Sardella (Sept. 26)

HEAD CARPENTER

Steve Wolff

HEAD SOUND

Eddie Smith*

HEAD ELECTRICIAN

Ben Levan*

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Benny Henry *

PROGRAMMER

Ayla Taffel*

LEAD HAIR AND MAKE-UP ARTIST

Alfreda "Fre" Howard

COVERS

Sarah LeMesh

The Madwoman/Nellie

Jorell Williams

Dr. Josiah Blackwell

Taylor-Alexis Dupont

Lizzie

Lauren Cook

Nurse/Matron

ASSISTANT HAIR AND MAKE-UP ARTIST

Asha Campbell*

WARDROBE SUPERVISOR

Lily McClure*

COSTUME SHOP STAFF

Cutter/Drapers

Julie Watson

Kara Morasco

Althea "Nell" Unrath

First Hands

Joy Rampulla

Katie McCann

Patrick Mulhall

Stitchers

Sabrina Reichert

Danielle Jo

Catherine Blinn *Opera Philadelphia

Simon Boccanegra

SEPT. 22, 24, 29, OCT. 1

ACADEMY OF MUSIC

Music Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto Francesco Maria Piave & Arrigo Boito

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

Simon Boccanegra Quinn Kelsey

Maria Boccanegra/Amelia Grimaldi Ana María Martínez

Jacopo Fiesco Christian Van Horn

Gabriele Adorno Richard Trey Smagur*

Paolo Albiani Benjamin Taylor

Pietro Cory McGee*

Maid of Amelia Robin Bier*

A Captain Toffer Mihalka

Conductor Corrado Rovaris

Director Laurence Dale*

Set Design Gary McCann

Costume Design Fernand Ruiz*

Lighting Design John Bishop*

Wig & Make-up Design Amanda Clark

Chorus Master Elizabeth Braden

Associate Director Matteo Anselmi*

Stage Manager Jennifer Shaw

*Opera Philadelphia debut

Performed in Italian with English supertitles

Approximately 3 hours including one 20-minute intermission

Production from Opéra Royal de Wallonie – Liege (Belgium). The Academy Series is underwritten, in part, by Judy and Peter Leone. Major support has been provided by Ms. Lisa D. Kabnick and Mr. John H. McFadden.

Maestro Corrado Rovaris' engagement as the Jack Mulroney Music Director has been made possible by Mrs. John P. Mulroney. Support for the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus has been provided by Alice and Walter Strine, Esqs.

Prologue

In 1339 the people of Genoa, weary of factional warfare between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, created the office of Doge to help consolidate the Genoese republic. Paolo and Pietro, leaders of the People's Party, plot to obtain the power of the aristocracy by electing the popular corsair, Simon Boccanegra, as puppet Doge. Boccanegra accepts their proposal so that he may marry Maria, daughter of the noble Jacopo Fiesco, who has imprisoned her ever since she bore Boccanegra's child. After a mob of commoners, incited by Pietro, pledges support of the corsair's cause, Fiesco emerges from his palace to the square, mourning Maria's death. Unaware of the tragedy, Boccanegra asks his friendship, but the implacable old man demands to be given his granddaughter. Boccanegra laments that the child has disappeared and despairing of further talk rushes into the deserted palace and finds Maria's casket. As he comes out a mob hails him as Doge.

Act I

Twenty-five years have passed. In the garden of the Grimaldi palace, where the embittered Fiesco now lives in hiding under the pseudonym Andrea, his ward Amelia awaits her lover, Gabriele Adorno, who has joined Fiesco in a plot to overthrow Boccanegra. When the youth enters she tells him that the Doge wishes her to marry Paolo; at once Gabriele seeks out Fiesco to obtain the old man's blessing for himself. Suddenly Boccanegra arrives and in an interview with Amelia discovers that she is his long-lost daughter. The guardian in whose care he had placed her had died; the child

Photo by Jonathan Berger

had wandered to a convent where she had taken the place of the true Amelia Grimaldi, recently dead, so that the wealth of the exiled Grimaldi might not be confiscated but remain in the hands of the family. When Boccanegra learns that his daughter loves Gabriele, he refuses to give her to Paolo, who kidnaps her. While negotiating a treaty between Genoa and Venice in his council chamber, the Doge is interrupted by shouts in the streets. He bravely admits the unruly mob that has captured both Fiesco, who goes unrecognized, and Gabriele, who defiantly charges Boccanegra with Amelia's abduction and tries to stab him. Amelia herself rushes in and throws herself between them. She pleads with the Doge to forgive Gabriele, who suspects she is Boccanegra's mistress, and describes her abduction, hinting at Paolo's complicity. The Doge quiets the raging spectators and commands Paolo, as a state official, to curse the man who plotted this infamy. Sick with horror, he does so and rushes from the hall as the assembly repeats his curse. Fiesco and Gabriele are sent to prison.

Act II

In the Doge's apartment, Paolo pours poison into Boccanegra's drinking bowl. Summoning Fiesco from his cell he vainly urges the old man to assassinate Boccanegra. Next, he incites Gabriele to fury with insinuations as to the Doge's relationship with Amelia. When the youth is left to his thoughts, Amelia enters, but before she can explain to Gabriele that the Doge is her father, Boccanegra follows. Gabriele hides in the balcony. Amelia asks her father to pardon her lover; he agrees on condition that the young man promise to desert the conspirators. Left alone the weary ruler drinks Paolo's potion and falls asleep. Gabriele, who has heard nothing, emerges from hiding and draws his knife, but Amelia returns in time to stop him from murdering her father. At last Gabriele learns the truth and implores the Doge's forgiveness. As cries of rebellion are heard, the two men rush off to help defend the palace.

Act III

All Genoa celebrates Boccanegra's victory. Magnanimously he has set most of the rebel leaders free, including Fiesco, but the traitorous Paolo is condemned to death. On his way to execution the villain informs Fiesco that he has managed to poison the Doge. A Captain announces that revels must end in memory of the fallen heroes of the revolution. Boccanegra staggers in, gravely ill. Fiesco, still bent on revenge, reveals to the Doge his true identity, whereupon he learns who Amelia really is. Stunned, Fiesco tells Boccanegra that Paolo has poisoned him. As the Doge dies, he blesses the newly married Gabriele and Amelia, asking that the youth be proclaimed the new Doge. Fiesco announces Boccanegra's death to the people.

Courtesy of Opera News. Production photos from Opéra Royal de Wallonie – Liege (Belgium).

Photo by Jonathan Berger

Verdi and Simon Boccanegra: Finding operatic inspiration in personal tragedy

By Michael J. Bolton

There are all sorts of things you can find in the lost-and-found: umbrellas, eyeglasses, cell phones, even an engagement ring – items relegated to a temporary cardboard graveyard for weeks or months, more likely to end up in a local landfill than restored to their owner. There are plenty of moments in opera when lost items are reunited with their owner, such as the dying Mimì getting her bonnet back in Act IV of Puccini’s La bohème.

The emotional impact of a reunion is even more significant when separated characters meet again, such as the heroic rescue of the imprisoned Florestan by his wife Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio. Yet, there is one operatic lost-and-found moment unique in the canon for its emotional power: the reunion of Amelia Grimaldi with her birth father Simon Boccanegra.

Verdi explored father-daughter relationships in 10 of his 26 operas. The cursed Rigoletto and the sacrificial Gilda, or the manipulative Amonasro, who asks Aida to deny her love of Radamès for the sake of patriotism, may come to mind. But none of the father-daughter relationships in Verdi’s oeuvre has the same gravitas and humanity as that of Boccanegra and Amelia. Their reunion is truly one of Verdi’s greatest moments both musically and dramatically. Yet, tragic events in Verdi’s life may help explain his emotional connection to this opera and to the recurring pater-filia theme in his operas.

The young Verdi fell deeply in love with Margherita Barezzi, the beautiful daughter of the local merchant and distiller Antonio Barezzi who not only allowed Verdi to practice on his pianoforte as a youth, but welcomed Verdi to

live in his home while the composer gave voice and piano lessons to Margherita. The couple kept their relationship a secret for over a year, marrying on May 4, 1836.

The newlyweds were very happy and were soon a burgeoning family. The couple welcomed a daughter, Virginia, into the world in March 1837. She was followed sixteen months later by their son, Icilio. However, the young couple’s early bliss was short-lived. A few weeks after the boy’s birth, their daughter died from a childhood disease, devastating the couple.

Tragedy struck again a year later while Verdi was in rehearsals at La Scala for the premiere of his first opera, Oberto. Verdi’s son fell ill and, despite efforts to save him, died on October 20, 1839. A year later, his wife died at the age of 26 from encephalitis, ending a brutal two-year cycle of life and death.

Margherita had been the love of Verdi’s life. Her death and that of his children, on top of the failure of his second opera, the comedy Un giorno di regno (King for a Day), destroyed him. He is quoted as saying “A third coffin goes out of my house. I was alone! Alone!” He vowed to never compose again.

But others had great faith in him, including La Scala’s impresario who encouraged him to set a new libretto called Nabucco to music. Composed in 1941, the year after his wife’s death, the opera was an extraordinary success, beginning Verdi’s path to claiming the crown as Italy’s greatest opera composer. Nabucco also happens to contain the first of his great father and daughter duos: Nabucco and the powergrabbing Abigaille.

By the time Verdi composed Simon Boccanegra for Venice’s La Fenice theater 16 years later, he was a figure of international importance.

Given the opera’s magical moment of reconciliation between father and daughter, one can’t help but wonder if Verdi dreamt of seeing his own daughter again. If the dramatic situation is not exactly the same as the events in Verdi’s life, there are parallels.

In the opera’s prologue, Boccanegra is deeply in love with Maria Fiesco, but her father has separated them after the couple’s illegitimate child brought shame on the family. In unrelated events, we learn that their daughter has disappeared, and Maria has unexpectedly died, just as Boccanegra is elected Doge of Genoa.

Twenty-five years later father and daughter meet as virtual strangers when Boccanegra visits the Grimaldi household to ask Amelia Grimaldi to marry a courtier for political reasons. Amelia reveals that she is not actually a Grimaldi. Realizing the stories of her youth are similar to that of his own long-lost daughter, Boccanegra hopes that Amelia might be she. When the two display lockets containing the same portrait of Amelia’s mother and Boccanegra’s beloved Maria Fiesco, that hope becomes reality.

While this is one of the most powerful scenes in the opera, its perfection came only after Verdi’s publicist encouraged him to revise the

problematic score. Significant changes were made with librettist Arrigo Boito, including the addition of the famous Act II Council Chamber scene and modifications to the great fatherdaughter duet in Act I.

“This is one of Verdi’s most beautiful fatherdaughter duets, in which the characters display great humanity,” Maestro Corrado Rovaris said. “In the updated version of the duet, Verdi presents a more caressing, more feminine Amelia. There is the same soft tone that Verdi uses to demonstrate the beautiful emotional intimacy in father-daughter duets in Luisa Miller and Rigoletto. The orchestra in the coda also supports this color: it takes up Simon’s theme, but softly, with expression, and not fortissimo as in the first version.”

Bringing a lifetime of musical accomplishments and personal heartbreak to the score, Verdi made his final important statement on fatherdaughter relationships with the revised Simon Boccanegra (1881). Reunited with his lost daughter after a 25-year separation, Boccanegra expresses his joy with the hushed emotional cry of “Figlia!” (daughter). As a delicate harp intimately accompanies that utterance, a dream has been fulfilled, as neither one gave up hope of finding what was once lost.

Michael J. Bolton is an opera lecturer, voiceover artist, and content creator. He can be heard regularly as a classical music host on WRTI 90.1FM and on his opera podcast, Front Row Center. Learn more at michaeljbolton.com.

“This is one of Verdi’s most beautiful father-daughter duets, in which the characters display great humanity.”

— Maestro Corrado Rovaris

Get to know Maestro Corrado Rovaris and Soprano Ana María Martínez

CORRADO ROVARIS Conductor

What made you decide to be a conductor?

When I started to study music, I didn't think that I would become a conductor. After studying piano, organ, harpsichord, and composition, I became the assistant to the chorus master of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and after assisting numerous conductors, I replaced a conductor at the last moment, and from that moment on I was invited to conduct in numerous theaters and symphonic institutions.

What is your favorite opera to conduct?

It's not really an opera, but it's like an opera: it's Verdi's Requiem; I've loved Verdi's Requiem since we performed it when I was working at La Scala in the Church of San Marco in Milan. I have never forgotten the emotion of performing this piece in the place where it was first performed, and every time I conduct the Verdi Requiem I relive that emotion.

What is on your “recently played” playlist?

As musicians, we are very lucky to be able to do what we love every day! Still, being on the road all the time can be stressful. When that happens, the music I listen to or play on the piano is by Johann Sebastian Bach.

ANA MARÍA MARTÍNEZ Soprano

What made you decide to be an opera singer?

I chose to be an opera singer for several reasons: my love for music, my love for singing, and storytelling. My other passion is psychology and I find there are many levels of depth within the art form which benefit from the psychological lens. Ultimately, I feel deeply grateful to have the opportunity to devote my life to my passion.

What is your favorite role to sing?

While I love every role I have had the chance to inhabit, one of my favorites was Rusalka—stepping into her world was the experience of existential awakening, a consciousness I did not know before this encounter.

The other is Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly. Her devotion to love, loyalty, her unwavering hope and faith, her ultimate sacrifice for her son, at least that was the way that she saw it. Her inner strength and tenacity are deeply moving and inspiring.

What is on your “recently played” playlist?

Two very different worlds: Clear Horizon, The Best of Basia; and Wherever You Go There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn, on Audible. I realize this is not music, but while I exercise, I have been listening to the author narrate this phenomenal book.

Photo by Dominic M. Mercier

Matteo Anselmi Turin, Italy

Associate Director

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Revival Director, Il viaggio a Reims, Rossini Opera Festival; Associate Director, La cambiale di matrimonio, Royal Opera House Muscat; Stage Director, La cenerentola, Rossini Opera Festival, Accademia Bernardo De Muro

Next: Puck and Associate Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opera Carlo Felice

Robin Bier (she/her)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Maid of Amelia

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Alto Soloist, Pergolesi Stabat Mater, Staunton Festival; Alto Soloist, Bach St. John Passion, Princeton Pro Musica; Alto Soloist, Mendelssohn Elijah, Reading Choral Society

Next: Alto Soloist, Beethoven Symphony #9, Berks Sinfonietta

John Bishop

The Lake District, United Kingdom

Lighting Designer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Lighting Designer, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna, Austria; Lighting Designer, Simon Boccanegra, Opéra Royal de Wallonie; Lighting Designer, Jenůfa, Den Norske Opera

Next: Lighting Designer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Teatro Carlo Felice and Royal Opera House Muscat

Elizabeth Braden (she/her) Easton, Pennsylvania

Chorus Master

2023 La bohème, 2023 Carmina Burana + Credo, 2022 Rigoletto

Recent: Chorus Master, Carmina Burana + Credo and La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Conductor, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Three Oaks Opera

Next: Chorus Master, Madame Butterfly, Opera Philadelphia

Amanda Clark (she/her)

Highlands Ranch, Colorado

Hair and Make-up Designer 2023 Otello

Recent: Hair and Make-up Designer, La cenerentola, Opera Maine; Hair and Make-up Designer, L’italiana in Algeri, Tulsa Opera; Hair and Make-up Designer, Otello, Opera Philadelphia

Next: Associate Wig Designer, Les Miserables, National Tour

Laurence Dale

Pyecombe, Sussex, England Director

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Director, La cambiale di matrimonio, Rossini Opera Festival; Director, Agrippina, Brisbane Baroque Festival; Director, Carmen, Innsbruck Landestheater

Next: Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opera di Genova

Quinn Kelsey (he/him)

Honolulu, Hawaii | Baritone

Simon Boccanegra

Underwritten by Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A. and Colleen Wyse

2021 The Drama of Tosca

Recent: Baritone Solo, Ein deutsches Requiem, Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Marcello, La bohème, Metropolitan Opera; Macbeth, Macbeth, Canadian Opera Company

Next: Count Anckarström, Un ballo in maschera, Metropolitan Opera

Ana María Martínez (she/her)

Puerto Rico | Soprano

Maria Boccanegra/Amelia Grimaldi

Underwritten by Carolyn Horn Seidle

2021 The Drama of Tosca

Recent: Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni, Metropolitan Opera; Countess, Le nozze di Figaro, Los Angeles Opera; Despina, Così fan tutte, Washington National Opera

Next: Catrina, El Ultimo Sueño de Frida y Diego, Los Angeles Opera

Gary McCann (he/him)

Portadown, Northern Ireland

Set Design

2018 Carmen, 2015 La traviata

Recent: Set & Costume Designer, The Queen of Spades, The Grange Festival; Set & Costume Designer, The Phantom of the Opera, Bucharest National Opera; Set & Costume Designer, Der Rosenkavalier, Irish National Opera

Next: Set & Costume Designer, The Merry Widow, Glyndebourne Festival

Cory McGee (he/him)

Stafford, Virginia | Bass-baritone

Pietro

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni, Wolf Trap Opera; Johann, Werther, Houston Grand Opera; Colline, La bohème, Detroit Opera

Next: Theseus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Atlanta Opera

Toffer Mihalka (he/him)

Mission Viejo, California | Tenor A Captain

2021 An Evening of Vocal Fireworks, 2019 La bohème

Recent: Parpignol, La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Emperor, Turandot, Opera Philadelphia

Corrado Rovaris (he/him) Milan, Italy

Conductor

Underwritten by Mrs. John P. Mulroney

2023 La bohème, 2022 Otello, 2022 Rigoletto

Recent: Conductor, La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Conductor, Falstaff, New National Theatre Tokyo; Conductor, Don Giovanni, Teatro Regio di Parma

Next: Conductor, Alfredo il grande, Donizetti Festival

Jennifer Shaw (she/her)

Somers, New York Stage Manager

2023 La bohème, 2022 Otello, 2022 Rigoletto

Recent: Assistant Stage Manager, Lucia di Lammermoor, Cincinnati Opera; Stage Manager, La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Assistant Stage Manager, Hansel and Gretel, The Dallas Opera

Next: Stage Manager, La bohème, Atlanta Opera

Fernand Ruiz

Seville, Spain

Costume Design Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Costume Designer, Cavalleria Rusticana, San Francisco Opera; Costume Designer, Don Carlo, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts; Costume Designer, Anna Bolena, Royal Opera House Muscat and ABAO Bilbao Opera

Next: Costume Designer, La sonnambula, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma

Richard Trey Smagur (he/him)

Clarkesville, Georgia | Tenor

Gabriele Adorno

Underwritten by Katherine and John Karamatsoukas Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Steuermann, Der fliegende Holländer, Metropolitan Opera; Don José, Carmen, Reno Philharmonic; Tenor Soloist, Beethoven Symphony #9, Tucson Symphony

Next: Števa, Jenůfa, Lyric Opera of Chicago

Benjamin Taylor (he/him)

Waldorf, Maryland | Baritone

Paolo Albiani

Underwritten by Mrs. Sheila Kessler

2023 La bohème

Recent: Papageno, The Magic Flute, The Metropolitan Opera; Pantalone, The Love for Three Oranges, Des Moines Metro Opera; Marcello, La bohème, Berkshire Opera Festival

Next: Silvio, Pagliacci, Austin Opera

Christian Van Horn (he/him)

Long Island, New York | Bass-baritone

Jacopo Fiesco

Underwritten by Mrs. Sandra K. Baldino

2018 Lucia di Lammermoor

Recent: Massimiliano, I masnadieri, Bayerische Staatsoper; Oroveso, Norma, Metropolitan Opera; Ramfis, Aïda, Arena di Verona

Next: Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni, Vienna State Opera

CHORUS

SOPRANO

Natalie Esler

Noël Graves-Williams

Julie-Ann Green

Rachael Lipson

Renee Macdonald

Jessica Moreno

Jorie Moss

Jessica Mary Murphy

Christine Nass

Sara Nealley

Amanda O’Toole

Sophia Santiago

Evelyn Santiago Schulz

Rachel Sigman

Amy Spencer

ALTO

Serafina Belletini

Robin Bier

Lauren Cook

Savanah Gordon

Katie Hahn

Rachael Long

Megan McFadden

Ellen Grace Peters

Bergen Price

Sam Rauch

Paula Rivera-Dantagnan

Rebecca Roy

Amanda Staub

TENOR

Jason Berger

Sang Bum Cho

Corey Don

Colin Doyle

Gabriel Feldt

Christopher Hodson

A. Edward Maddison

Toffer Mihalka

Al-Jabril Muhammad

Benjamin Perri

David Price

Ai Ra

Andrew Skitko

George Ross Somerville

Royce Strider

Tyler Tejada

Cory O’Niell Walker

Steven Williamson

BASS

Jeff Chapman

Kyle Chastulik

Mathew Coules

Stephen Dagrosa

Lucas DeJesus

Matthew Fisher

Robert Flora

Loren Greer

James O. Gwathney

Mark Hosseini

Matthew Maisano

Brenton Mattox-Scott

John David Miles

Michael Miller

Frank Mitchell

Nicholas Provenzale

Josef Samargia

John T.K. Scherch

ORCHESTRA Simon Boccanegra

VIOLIN 1

Luigi Mazzocchi, concertmaster

Natasha Colkett

Meichen Liao-Barnes

Donna Grantham

Elizabeth Kaderabek

Diane Barnett

Yu-Hui Tamae Lee

Rachel Segal

Rebecca Ansel

Gared Crawford

Mary Loftus

VIOLIN 2

Tess Varley, principal

Maya Shiraishi

Karen Banos

Paul Reiser

Sarah DuBois

Emily Barkakati

Lisa Vaupel

Catherine Kei Fukuda

Guillaume Combet

VIOLA

Jonathan Kim, principal

Jay Julio, assistant principal

Elizabeth Jaffe

Yoshihiko Nakano

Julia DiGaetani

Steven Heitlinger

Elias Goldstein

CELLO

Branson Yeast, principal

Vivian Barton Dozor, assistant principal

Brooke Beazley

Jennie Lorenzo

David Moulton

Noelle Casella Grand

Rose Marie Bart

BASS

Anne Peterson, principal

Stephen Groat

Daniel McDougall

Alex Jenkins

FLUTE

Brendan Dooley, principal

Kimberly Trolier, piccolo

OBOE

Geoffrey Deemer, principal

Oliver Talukder

CLARINET

John Diodati, principal

Allison Herz

Josh Kovach, bass clarinet

BASSOON

Erik Höltje, principal

Emeline Chong

HORN

John David Smith, principal

Lyndsie Wilson

Karen Schubert

Ryan Stewart

TRUMPET

Brian Kuszyk, principal

Steven Heitzer

TROMBONE

Bob Gale, principal

Matt Gould

Phil McClelland, bass trombone

CIMBASSO

Paul Erion, principal

TIMPANI

Martha Hitchins, principal

PERCUSSION

Ralph Sorrentino, principal

Dave Nelson

HARP

Rong Tan, principal

BANDA TRUMPET

Frank Ferraro

Rob Skoniczin

BANDA TROMBONE

Brad Ward

Jason Stein

Support for the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra and Chorus has been provided by Alice and Walter Strine, Esqs.

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS

Brianna Thompson*

Aletha Saunders*

PRINCIPAL PIANIST

Grant Loehnig

ASSOCIATE PIANIST

Kevin J. Miller*

PROPERTIES SUPERVISOR

Avista Custom Theatrical Services, LLC

ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER

Sasha Anistratova

SUPERTITLE OPERATOR

Tony Solitro

SUPERTITLES

Chadwick Creative Arts

AUDIO DESCRIPTION

Nicole Sardella (Sept. 29)

HEAD ELECTRICIAN

Chris Hetherington

HEAD PROPERTIES

Paul Lodes

HEAD FLYMAN

Jay Wojnarowski

PROGRAMMER/ASSISTANT ELECTRICIAN

John Allerheiligen

AUTOMATION

Michael Troncone

WARDROBE SUPERVISOR

Elisa Hurley

LEAD HAIR AND MAKE-UP ARTIST

Amanda Clark

ASSISTANT HAIR AND MAKE-UP ARTIST

Sheena Edwards*

COSTUME SHOP STAFF

Cutter/Drapers

Althea "Nell" Unrath

Kara Morasco

Stephen Smith

Sarah Mitchell

First Hands

Joy Rampulla

Patrick Mulhall

Morgan Porter

Kayla Speedy

Katie McCann

Stitchers

Danielle Joh

Sabrina Reichert

Catherine Blinn

Kelly Eidell

Shoppers

Christine DiJoseph

Austin Ginsberg

SUPERNUMERARIES

Bobb Hawkey

Maddy Gillespie

Zach Moore

Thomas Smith

Kareem Mack

Peter Hoefler

David Pica

Shane Tapley

Unholy Wars

SEPT. 23, 27, 30, OCT. 1

THE SUZANNE ROBERTS THEATRE

Music

Mary Kouyoumdjian, Giulio Caccini, Claudio Monteverdi, Francesca Caccini, Nicolaus à Kempis, Sigismondo d'India, Salamone Rossi, George Frideric Handel

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

Tenor Karim Sulayman*

Soprano Raha Mirzadegan*

Bass-baritone John Taylor Ward*

Dancer Coral Dolphin*

Creator Karim Sulayman*

Director Kevin Newbury

Music Director Julie Andrijeski*

Visual Design Kevork Mourad*

Choreography Ebony Williams*

Costume Design David C. Woolard

Lighting Design Jennifer Fok*

Projection Design Michael Commendatore*

Sound Design Rick Jacobsohn

Associate Director George R. Miller*

Stage Manager Kelsey Vivian*

Creative Producer Jecca Barry

*Opera Philadelphia debut

Introduction

Gloria patri Mary Kouyoumdjian (b.1983)

Dalla porta d’oriente

Giulio Caccini (1551 – 1618), arr. Julie Andrijeski

La mia turca, SV310 Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643)

Interlude 1 Mary Kouyoumdjian

“Nigra sum” from Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610), SV206 Claudio Monteverdi

Interlude 2 Mary Kouyoumdjian

Chi è costei Francesca Caccini (1587 – 1640)

Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, SV153 Claudio Monteverdi

Interlude 3, Improvisation, La mia turca (reprise)

Mary Kouyoumdjian, Karim Sulayman, Claudio Monteverdi

Symphonia 2 à 4, Op.3 Nicolaus à Kempis (1600 – 1676)

Interlude 4 Mary Kouyoumdjian

Giunto alla tomba Sigismondo d’India (1582 – 1629)

Interlude 5 Mary Kouyoumdjian

O dolcezze amarissime Salamone Rossi (1570 – 1630)

Interlude 6 Mary Kouyoumdjian

“Lascia ch’io pianga” from Rinaldo George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759)

Outro Mary Kouyoumdjian

By Karim Sulayman

The Western musical canon is replete with material about faraway lands, and the Middle East is often a chosen subject. From Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail to the settings of Rimsky Korsakov and Ravel's Shéhérazade to Disney's Aladdin, Arabs have long been represented, though mostly depicted as stereotypes based on limited to no firsthand knowledge by the creators.

The term "Middle East" itself is an invention of British colonialism and no one can seem to agree where the Middle East begins or ends. We do have maps, however, and the arbitrary lines that were drawn in secret during the Sykes-Picot agreement, dividing Ottoman territories into European spheres of influence, helped set the borders of many modern Middle Eastern nation-states. These borders reflected European priorities, yet left many ethnic groups divided and dealing with more conflict.

Unholy Wars stitches together a collection of baroque music centered around the Middle East and the Crusades. It examines the separation of the human race based on creed and color. Its center stone is Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda set from Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata. The poem takes place during the First Crusade of 1096, when Christian armies set out to conquer Jerusalem from the Saracens. It is the story of the Christian knight Tancredi who, in love with the Muslim warrior Clorinda, kills the object of his affection in a battle because he does not recognize her in her armor and under the veil of night. It’s a tragic story of how love can transcend cultural and racial divides while war strengthens the very same divisions. I’ve always wondered if the true tragedy in this piece is the narrator’s task to recount the same story over and over again with no power to change the lovers’ fate. As we see history repeat itself in present day wars that rage on throughout the region and the world, senseless deaths demand that we find a way out of this loop.

Unholy Wars asks: What if we reframe it all? What happens to these works when they are embodied by the “other?” How are they changed when the subjects are given the chance to reclaim their stories? What if marginalized people are invited into this space to reshape it, to lay new borders (or perhaps remove them altogether)? Can we lean into the discomfort of our collective history while forging a new path forward?

As a first generation American born to Lebanese immigrants who fled the escalating civil war in the 1970s, I have often had to answer the question:

"Where are you from?" I always say I'm from Chicago, but that never seems to satisfy the person asking. My "otherness" in this country has come into full focus in a post-9/11 world, but it was something present through my childhood as well – and not just because I grew up in an immigrant household on the south side of Chicago. Many in my family are fair skinned with light eyes, some with blazing red hair. As a child, I would ask my mother and father why I looked so different from these relatives. My parents would talk about the Crusades and how a thousand years ago European Christians sought to conquer the "Holy Land" and its surrounding areas in the Levant. In offering a possible explanation of a mixed gene pool to a child, they left out terms like "rape" and "pillage" – violent forms of cultural erasure.

In Unholy Wars, when the "others” gaze back at the creators and their creations, the historical work of erasure comes into view. The musical masterpieces of this program bring into focus the idea that the "other" is fashioned in the image of the creator. The girl from the East in Caccini's Dalla porta d'oriente is presented to us with the ideals of Western beauty, with her snow-white skin. Similarly, Clorinda is described as a beauty with white skin and blond hair, though she's from Ethiopia, conveniently making the love story more palatable to its readers at the time. "Nigra sum" is a text that has suffered "de-blackification." Originally recited in the Bible's Song of Songs by the Queen of Sheba, it has been co-opted by Catholicism to be an allegory about the Virgin Mary. "I am Black but beautiful," she states. She is Black, BUT beautiful...? Approaching these works in the present day, one can no longer ignore the conflict that exists in the material itself.

As we explore the aural and visual landscape of Unholy Wars, four characters are ultimately tasked with the labor of coexistence. The "Middle East" is and has always been a place of mixture – the borders, maps, and names that history has given us do not define our wholeness. "Where are you from?" becomes truly meaningless when we understand and embrace the layers of our past. I once heard David Attenborough's beautiful voice narrate a segment about the Arabian desert. What I learned is that dust storms blow mineral-rich sands into the sea, feeding the microorganisms on which so much marine life thrives. This is the way of our natural world: the most unexpected entities are inextricably linked. It is the desert that enriches the sea. Unholy Wars asks us to imagine what is possible when we recognize and embrace that our histories are intertwined, and our collective survival is mutually dependent.

Historical Context

Weaving the works of Baroque composers with an Arab American perspective, the setting of Sulayman’s Unholy Wars is inspired by Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and its depiction of the First Crusade.

629–1050

Arab–Byzantine wars

Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire fight for territory and socio-economic power

1064–1096

Byzantine–Seljuk wars

Turks of the Seljuk Empire migrate from central Asia to southwest Asia, conquering Byzantine territory

Nov 1095

Pope Urban II preaches the First Crusade

Aug 1096

The Princes’ Crusade

Official beginning of First Crusade set by Pope Urban II and funded by the church

June 1099

Crusade capture of Bethlehem

Aug 1099

Al-Harawi of Damascus leads group of refugees to Baghdad and tells the Caliph of the loss of Jerusalem

1054

Schism of the Christian Church into Catholicism centered in Rome, and Greek Orthodox centered in the Byzantine Empire’s Constantinople

Mar 1095

Byzantine Empire requests Pope Urban II’s military aid against Seljuk Turks who have migrated into Asia Minor

Apr–Oct 1096

The People’s Crusade

A majority peasant class leaves for Jerusalem and massacre several Jewish populations before falling to Seljuk Turk forces

1097–1098

Crusaders seize territory in Nicea, Dorylaeum, Antioch, Edessa, and Ma`arat alNu`man

July 1099

Siege of Jerusalem

Crusaders seize Jerusalem and massacre Muslims, Eastern Christians, and Jews

This timeline is part of the educational materials created for our Dress Rehearsal Program.

To learn more about Community Initiatives Programming, visit operaphila.org/education.

Season

OCT. 28–NOV. 13, 2023

OPERA HOUSE

Music by Jeanine Tesori / Libretto based on the stage play by George Brant

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Developed by the Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program.

NOV. 4–18, 2023

OPERA HOUSE

Music by Charles Gounod / Libretto by Jules Barber and Michael Carré after William Shakespeare’s play

MAR. 9–23, 2024 EISENHOWER THEATER

Adaptation created by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe, and Kelley Rourke / Musical arrangement and orchestration by James Lowe / English lyrics and book by Kelley Rourke Based on La Périchole by Jacques Offenbach, Henri Meilhac, and Ludovic Halévy

MAY 11–25, 2024

OPERA HOUSE

Music by Giacomo Puccini and Christopher Tin / Libretto by Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni, and Susan Soon He Stanton

DEC. 8–10,

Music by Jeanine Tesori / Libretto by J.D. McClatchy, based on the book by Jeanette Winterson / Adapted by Sandy McClathy

Julie Andrijeski (she/her)

Boise, Idaho

Music Director

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Circi, Alcina, Boston Early Music Festival; Woman Scorned by Francesca Caccini; appearances with the BEMF orchestra

Next: Recording and Concerts in Bremen, Germany with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra and Amanda Forsythe, soprano

Jecca Barry (she/her)

Herefordshire, England, UK

Creative Producer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Illinois by Justin Peck, Sufjan Stevens, and Jackie Sibblies Drury, Bard College; FOOD by Geoff Sobelle, Edinburgh International Festival; NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) by Andrew Schneider, NYU Abu Dhabi

Next: FOOD, BAM

Michael Salvatore Commendatore (he/him)

Chicago, Illinois

Projection Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: The Magic Flute, Arizona Opera; Murder on the Orient Express, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Another Marriage, Steppenwolf Theatre

Next: Lucha Teotl, Goodman Theatre

Coral Dolphin (wombyn)

Los Angeles, California

Dancer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Choreographer/Movement Direction for pianist Chloe Flower; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company member; Dancer for Kylie Minogue

Next: Alvin Ailey, City Center

Jennifer Fok (she/they)

Palm Springs, California

Lighting Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Don Pasquale, Lake Area Music Festival; Sense and Sensibility, Northern Stage; Disgraced, American Stage

Next: The Little Prince, TheatreWorks, Colorado Springs

Brian Freeland (he/him)

Denver, CO

Production Manager

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Illinois, Fisher Center at Bard College; The Whitney Album, Soho Rep; The Ritual of Breath Is The Rite To Resist, Dartmouth/Stanford Live

Next: collision ≠ isolation, mOOnfOOd Productions

Rick Jacobsohn

Cortlandt Manor, New York

Sound Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Sound Designer, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Calgary Opera; The City, Kevin Puts/Marin Alsop/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Producer/ Engineer (Naxos); Together, Carlos Simon, Producer/Engineer (Decca)

Next: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, San Francisco Opera

Mary Kouyoumdjian (she/her)

Pleasant Hill, California

Composer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Paper Pianos, performed by Alarm Will Sound, EMPAC; film score, An Act of Worship, Tribeca Film Festival, available on PBS; Walking with Ghosts, La Jolla Symphony, One Found Sound, and Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra

Next: Adoration; chamber opera with librettist Royce Vavrek, PROTOTYPE Festival 2024

Brian Losch (he/him)

Chicago, Illinois

Associate Sound Designer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Associate Sound Designer, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Utah Opera; Recording Engineer, Post-Production: Haochen Zhang, Philadelphia Orchestra, Nathalie Stutzman: Beethoven – The 5 Piano Concertos; Recording Engineer, Editing, Mixing, Mastering: The Clarion Choir, Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil

Next: Sound Reinforcement/Design: The Music Critic US Tour with John Malkovich

George R. Miller (he/him)

New York, New York

Associate Director

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: ERWARTUNG // EXPECTATION, Arnold Schoenberg, Opera Philadelphia Channel and Long Beach Opera; Expostulation(s) of Mary, Henry Purcell/Eliza Bagg); Wild Up; Les Illuminations and Lumee's Dream, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Next: World premiere, Isola, by composer Alyssa Weinberg and librettist J. Mae Barizo

Raha Mirzadegan (she/her)

Fairfax, Virginia

Soprano

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Soprano, Unholy Wars, Spoleto Festival; Soprano, Messiah, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra; Soprano, Solomon, The English Concert (International Tour)

Next: Guest artist, Salve regina by Luca Marenzio, Midtown Concerts

Kevork Mourad (he/him)

Kamechli, Syria

Visual Design

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Shams, with Sahba Aminikia and the Verdigris Ensemble, Dallas; Paper Pianos with Mary Kouyoumjian and Alarm Will Sound at EMPAC; Master Peter’s Puppet Show with Post Classical Ensemble at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.

Next: Working with children on the border of Turkey and Syria, and exhibitions in Berlin and Yerevan

Kevin Newbury (he/him)

Auburn, Maine Director

2014 Oscar

Recent: Director, Bel Canto, Aspen Music Festival; Director, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, San Francisco Opera; Director, Fellow Travelers, Virginia Opera

Next: Director, The Righteous, Santa Fe Opera

Karim Sulayman (he/him)

Chicago, Illinois

Creator & Tenor

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Broken Branches, Ravinia Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival; Giant, The Irish Giant (world premiere), Aldeburgh Festival; Peter, Peter Pan: The Dark Side (world premiere), Teatro Comunale Bolzano

Next: Broken Branches, Celebrity Series of Boston

John Taylor Ward (he/him)

Boone, North Carolina

Baritone

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Dr. Malatesta, Don Pasquale, Lakes Area Music Festival; Kassandra/Athena, Oresteia, Cepromusic/National Theater of Mexico; Nick Shadow, The Rake's Progress, Gothenburg Symphony/Barbara Hannigan

Next: Title role, The Dragon of Wantley, Boston Early Music Festival

ORCHESTRA

Ebony Williams (she/her)

Boston, Massachusetts

Choreographer

Opera Philadelphia debut

Recent: Choreographer, Alma's Way, PBS; Choreographer, Kid Cudi, "Flex" Music Video; Choreographer, Doja Cat, Google Brandcast

Next: Choreographer, Doja Cat, The Scarlet Tour

David C. Woolard (David/ them)

Houston, Texas

Costume Design

2016 Cold Mountain, 2014 Oscar

Recent: Pay the Writer; Harry Townsends Last Stand; When it Happens to You

Next: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Dallas Opera

Kelsey Vivian (she/her)

West Greenwich, Rhode Island

Stage Manager

Recent: Montag, The Appointment, Wet Brain

Next: FOOD, BAM

VIOLIN 1

Julie Andrijeski

VIOLIN 2

Manami Mizumoto

VIOLA

Jay Julio

CELLO

Vivian Barton Dozor

VIOLONE

Tracy Mortimore

THEORBO

Adam Cockerham

Daniel Swenberg

HARPSICHORD

Leon Schelhase

ASSOCIATE SOUND DESIGNER

Brian Losch*

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Brian Freeland*

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

Carlos Diaz Stoop, CDS Creative Productions

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Samantha Cashion*

AUDIO DESCRIPTION

Nicole Sardella (Oct. 1)

SUPERTITLE OPERATOR

Dr. Lily Kass

PROJECTION ENGINEER

Joey Moro*

ASSOCIATE PROJECTION ENGINEER

Duncan Davies*

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Alexis Wells*

a Scale of You

*Opera Philadelphia debut

2023/2024 SEASON

2023

Carmen

World premiere choreography by Artistic Director Angel Corella

OCTOBER 5-15

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC

GEORGE BALANCHINE’S The Nutcracker ®

DECEMBER 8-30

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC

2024 Giselle

Choreography by Artistic Director Angel Corella

FEBRUARY 29-MARCH 10

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC Dance Masterpieces

Works by Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, and Twyla Tharp

MARCH 14-16

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC

The Dream

Adapted from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Choreography by Frederick Ashton WITH Prodigal Son Choreography by George Balanchine

MAY 9-12

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC

Nayara Lopes | Photographer: Alexander Iziliaev

Philadelphia’s Past and Future as a Center for Operatic Training

By Dr. Lily Kass

Over the years, Philadelphia has informally won many accolades: best city for street art, for walking, for sports fans, for trick-or-treating.

It could also be considered the best city for training opera professionals—singers, composers, conductors, and more. Philadelphia’s impressive record as a training ground for operatic artists is based, in large part, on the existence of two venerable institutions: The Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts. But its history of producing world-renowned opera professionals extends beyond these schools’ classrooms and concert halls.

The Curtis Institute of Music was founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok. Mrs. Bok, who grew up surrounded by music, (her parents met singing in a choir!) was an important patron of the Settlement Music School, which offered musical instruction to the children of immigrants in South Philadelphia. When she realized that the exceptionally talented students who graduated from that program needed somewhere to continue their training, she founded Curtis, which aimed to “offer its pupils practical musical instruction leading to a broad and comprehensive conception of music as an art.”

From its inception, vocal music was central to the institute’s activities. Marcella Sembrich, the great Polish soprano, was a founding member of the voice faculty and served on the school’s advisory council.

“Any student will be accepted who has a good voice, a correct ear, and a natural sense of rhythm,” stated the early audition requirements for voice. This emphasis on innate talent, rather than on private musical training, allowed a

diverse group of vocalists to compete for the coveted spots. Had the Curtis Institute opened a few years earlier, it might have counted Marian Anderson as one of its alumni. When the great contralto attempted to apply to Philadelphia’s oldest conservatory, The Philadelphia Music Academy, in 1921, she was turned away from the all-white school based on her skin color alone.

Curtis waived all tuition in 1927, further removing economic status as a barrier for entry, even as it became more selective. Soon, the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company began to regularly cast Curtis students in comprimario roles in their operas, capitalizing on the local talent pool just as Opera Philadelphia does today. Anna Moffo, J’Nai Bridges, Juan Diego Flórez, and Eric Owens are among the many well-known singers who have trained at Curtis.

Gian Carlo Menotti, Samuel Barber, and Gama Gilbert around 1930 at Curtis

Equally important to the world of opera are Curtis-educated composers and conductors. Composers Gian Carlo Menotti (Class of ’33) and Samuel Barber (Class of ’34) met and fell in love when they were classmates at Curtis, and they both later went on to teach at the Institute. Leonard Bernstein entered Curtis in 1939 as a conducting student but also benefited from studying piano and orchestration with members of the faculty. More recently, Jennifer Higdon, the composer of Opera Philadelphia co-commission Cold Mountain (2015), and Rene Orth, the composer of this season’s world premiere opera 10 Days in a Madhouse, trained there as well.

its opera-focused approach has yielded high dividends, most recently in the form of alumni such as Joyce DiDonato, Michael Fabiano, Joyce El-Khoury, Aileen Pérez, James Morris, Angela Meade, Stephen Costello, and Daniel Mobbs. AVA’s first opera productions were mounted at the country estate of its founder, but when its Center City location added a professional theater in 1983, the school was able to mount multiple staged performances per year, enhancing Philadelphia’s opera season.

Curtis and AVA are not the only Philadelphia institutions that have had a large impact on opera within the city and beyond. Temple University’s Boyer School of Music has a robust opera program, and the University of Pennsylvania Department of Music has graduated many fine opera composers. The Marian Anderson Historical Society sponsors the Marian Anderson Scholar Artist program, which was founded by Curtis graduate Blanche Burton Lyles, a pianist who was Anderson’s protégée and is based out of Anderson’s Southwest Center City home. The Philadelphia Music Academy has expanded to become the University for the Arts, with a robust musical theater program. Likewise, the Settlement Music School, now with branches across the city, continues to train young musicians.

Philadelphia’s operatic legacy is strong, longlasting, and inclusive. Through forward-thinking programming and open-minded approaches, these training programs pave the way for opera to develop and for new and unique voices to be heard.

The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) is located just a few blocks from Curtis, at 1920 Spruce Street. It was founded in 1933 by Helen Corning Warden. AVA has been free since its inception, allowing students to pursue advanced training regardless of their financial backgrounds, a boon especially appreciated during the Great Depression. AVA only accepts singers, and

Lily Kass is Opera Philadelphia Scholar in Residence. In addition to her work at Opera Philadelphia, she teaches musicology courses at universities across the Mid-Atlantic Region and writes about the past, present, and future of opera performance.

Curtis in 2023

Afternoons at AVA

SEPT. 23, 27, 30

HELEN CORNING WARDEN THEATER

SEPTEMBER 23

Bass-baritone Musa Ngqungwana

Soprano Ethel Trujillo

Tenor Matthew Goodheart

Baritone Benjamin Dickerson

Piano Luke Housner

SEPTEMBER 27

Soprano Loella Grahn

Soprano Emily Margevich

Soprano Ethel Trujillo

Mezzo-soprano Monique Galvão

Tenor Shawn Roth

Baritone Benjamin Dickerson

Piano Michael Lewis

SEPTEMBER 30

Mezzo-soprano Anne Marie Stanley

Soprano Loella Grahn

Tenor Luke Norvell

Piano Luke Housner

Approximately 1 hour with no intermission

Don Quichotte à Dulcinée

Chanson Romanesque

Chanson épique

Chanson à boire

L'elisir d’amore

Ardir ha forse il cielo….Voglio dire (Nemorino, Dulcamara)

Caro elisir, sei mio!……Esulti pur la barbara (Adina, Nemorino)

Quanto amore (Adina, Dulcamara)

Adina: Ethel Trujillo; Nemorino: Matthew Goodheart; Dulcamara: Musa Ngqungwana

I puritani

Il rival salvar tu dei……..Suoni la tromba e intrepido

Giorgio: Benjamin Dickerson; Riccardo: Musa Ngqungwana

PAUSE

from Fünf Lieder, Opus 105

Wie Melodien zieht es mir

Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer

Auf dem Kirchhofe

Let us Garlands Bring, Opus 18

Come away, come away, death

Who is Silvia

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun

O Mistress Mine

It was a lover and his lass

Maurice Ravel

Gaetano Donizetti

Vincenzo Bellini

Johannes Brahms

Gerald Finzi

Prologue Scene from Ariadne auf Naxos

Richard Strauss

Ethel Trujillo, Monique Galvão, Emily Margevich, Benjamin Dickerson

“Il est doux, il est bon” from Hérodiade Jules Massenet

Emily Margevich

“Nuit d’ivresse” from Les Troyens Hector Berlioz

Monique Galvão & Shawn Roth

“Ah lo sento fra poco disciolta” from Il pirata Vincenzo Bellini

Loella Grahn & Benjamin Dickerson

“Je suis Titania” from Mignon Ambroise Thomas

Ethel Trujillo

“Mir ist so wunderbar” from Fidelio Ludwig Van Beethoven

Loella Grahn, Emily Margevich, Shawn Roth, Benjamin Dickerson

Excerpt from Act II of Hérodiade Jules Massenet

Emily Margevich & Benjamin Dickerson

“Winterstürme” from Die Walküre Richard Wagner

Shawn Roth

“О, не рыдай мой Паоло” from Francesca da Rimini Sergei Rachmaninoff

Loella Grahn

Act III Duet from Tosca Giacomo Puccini

Emily Margevich & Shawn Roth

“Maintenant il faut partir vite” from L'étoile Emmanuel Chabrier

Monique Galvão, Ethel Trujillo, Shawn Roth

A Charm of Lullabies, Op. 41

A Cradle Song

A Highland Balou

Sephestia’s Lullaby

A Charm

A Nurse’s Song

Werther, excerpt from Act III

Benjamin Britten

Jules Massenet

Charlotte: Anne Marie Stanley; Sophie: Loella Grahn; Werther: Luke Norvell

Siete Canciones populares Españolas

El paño moruno

Seguidilla murciana

Asturiana

Jota

Nana

Canción

Polo

Sieben frühe Lieder

Nacht

Schilflied

Die Nachtigall

Traumgekrönt

Im Zimmer

Liebesode

Sommertage

Manuel De Falla

Alban Berg

Benjamin Dickerson (he/him)

Burlington, Vermont | Baritone

Recent: Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni, Academy of Vocal Arts; Germont, La traviata, Academy of Vocal Arts; Albert, Werther, Florida Grand Opera

Next: Tarquinius, The Rape of Lucretia, Academy of Vocal Arts

Monique Galvão (she/her)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Mezzo-soprano

Recent: Carmen, La Tragédie de Carmen, Chautauqua Opera; Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Flora, La traviata, The Academy of Vocal Arts

Next: Giovanna Seymour, Anna Bolena, The Academy of Vocal Arts

Matthew Goodheart (he/him)

Binghamton, New York | Tenor

Recent: Uriel, Die Schöpfung, Aspen Music Festival; Rubén Iglesias, Bel Canto, Aspen Music Festival; Alfredo, La traviata, Academy of Vocal Arts

Next: Riccardo Percy, Anna Bolena, Academy of Vocal Arts

Loella Grahn (she/her)

Köping, Sweden | Soprano

Recent: Musetta, La bohème, Academy of Vocal Arts; Norina, Don Pasquale, Academy of Vocal Arts; Soloist, Haydn’s The Creation, Philadelphia Sinfonia

Next: Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Academy of Vocal Arts

Luke Housner (he/him)

Cherry Hill, New Jersey | Piano

Recent: Master Vocal Coach, Academy of Vocal Arts; Music Director, LAHSOW Summer Opera Workshop; Artist Teacher of Opera Studies, Rice University Shepherd School of Music

Next: Schubert Winterreise, Winter Recital, Academy of Vocal Arts

Michael Lewis (he/they)

Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

Recent: Principal Coach, Carmen & Frida, Opera Naples; Principal Pianist & Assistant Conductor, The Raven, Opera Philadelphia; Producer, The Greatest Personal Privation, Aural Compass Projects

Next: Vocal Coach, The Rape of Lucretia, Academy of Vocal Arts

Emily Margevich (she/her)

Chicago, Illinois | Soprano

Recent: Musetta, La bohème, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Suor Angelica, Suor Angelica, Opera Festival of Morelia; Juliette, Roméo et Juliette, Janiec Opera Company

Next: Tatyana, Eugene Onegin, Opera Baltimore

Musa Ngqungwana (AVA '14) (he/him) Port Elizabeth, South Africa | Bass-baritone

Recent: Amonasro, Aïda, The Royal Danish Opera; Vodnik, Rusalka, Edinburgh International Festival; Don Pizarro, Fidelio, Austin Opera

Next: Don Bartolo, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Pittsburgh Opera

Luke Norvell (he/him)

Tacoma, Washington | Tenor

Recent: Rodolfo, La bohème, Music Academy of the West; Alfredo, La traviata, Academy of Vocal Arts; Lensky, Eugene Onegin, Academy of Vocal Arts

Next: Male Chorus, The Rape of Lucretia, Academy of Vocal Arts

Shawn Roth (he/him)

Johnstown, Pennsylvania | Tenor

Recent: Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Mr. Upfold, Albert Herring, The Princeton Festival; Don José, La tragédie de Carmen, Velaa Island Opera

Next: Hervey, Anna Bolena, The Academy of Vocal Arts

Anne Marie Stanley (AVA '22) (she/her) Princeton, New Jersey | Mezzo-soprano

Recent: Lucretia, The Rape of Lucretia, Britten Pears Arts/Royal Opera Hose; Third Wood-Spirit, Rusalka, Royal Opera House; Austrian Woman, The Death of Klinghoffer, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam

Next: Kate Pinkerton, Madame Butterfly, Opera Philadelphia

Ethel Trujillo (she/her)

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico | Soprano

Recent: Juliette (cover), Roméo et Juliette, Glimmerglass Festival; Zerlina, Don Giovanni, Academy of Vocal Arts; Norina, Don Pasquale, Academy of Vocal Arts

Next: Lucia, The Rape of Lucretia, Academy of Vocal Arts

Curtis Voices

SEPT. 22 & 29

CURTIS INSTITUTE OF MUSIC

SEPTEMBER 22

Soprano Amanda Majeski

Piano Miloš Repický

SEPTEMBER 29

Soprano Emily Damasco

Soprano Dalia Medovnikov

Mezzo-soprano Katie Trigg

Countertenor Sam Higgins

Tenor Jackson Allen

Piano Grant Loehnig

Approximately 1 hour with no intermission

June Twilight

Shy one

Seal Man

Tiger

To a young girl

Early in the morning

A Journey

Rebecca Clarke

Ned Rorem

Rosa de Sal Reena Esmail

“Key aria”, Act 2 excerpt from Káťa Kabanová

Hyacinth

Women have loved

An April Day

Ruhe, meine Seele!, Op. 27, No.1

Nacht

Die Nachtigall from Sieben frühe Lieder

Zueignung, Op. 10

Leoš Janáček

Margaret Bonds

Florence Price

Richard Strauss

Alban Berg

Richard Strauss

Laue Sommernacht

The eternal source

Bei dir ist es traut

Today I realized something very strange Ansturm

The Celebration of the Spirit Hymne

Emily Damasco, Katie Trigg

Alma Mahler

Mohammed Fairouz

Alma Mahler

Mohammed Fairouz

Alma Mahler

Mohammed Fairouz

Alma Mahler

Ne poy

Potomki, from Satires, Op. 109 Rushnychok

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Dmitry Shostakovich

Platon Maiboroda

Dalia Medovnikov

Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac Benjamin Britten

Sam Higgins, Jackson Allen

Andrò ramingo e solo, from Idomeneo Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Dalia Medovnikov, Emily Damasco, Katie Trigg, Jackson Allen

Jackson Allen

Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada | Tenor

Recent: Rainette, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Chautauqua Opera Conservatory;

1. Geharnischter Mann, Die Zauberflöte, Santa Rosa Symphony; Magician, The Consul, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Next: Scaramuccio, Strauss concert, Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Emily Damasco (she/her)

Glen Mills, Pennsylvania | Soprano

Recent: Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte, Curtis Opera Theatre; Mrs. Grose, The Turn of the Screw, Curtis Opera Theatre; Berta, The Barber of Seville, Curtis Opera Theatre

Sam Higgins (he/him)

Milton, Massachusetts | Countertenor

Recent: Soloist, Magnificat, American Bach Soloist Academy performance; Soloist, Handel’s Giulio Cesare, New Hampshire Music Festival; Alto Soloist, Bach’s Widerstehe, doch der Sünde, New Hampshire Music Festival

Next: Alto Soloist, Stabat Mater, Curtis Institute of Music

Grant Loehnig (he/him)

Jefferson City, Missouri | Piano

Recent: Principal Coach, La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Principal Coach, L’elisir d’amore, Curtis Institute of Music; Chorus Master, Idomeneo, Aspen Music Festival

Next: Vocal Coach, L’allegro, Curtis Institute of Music

Amanda Majeski (she/her)

Gurnee, Illinois | Soprano

2014 Don Giovanni, 2007 Rigoletto

Recent: Third Norn/Gutrune, Götterdämmerung, Teatro Real Madrid; Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni, Dutch Nationale Opera; Salome, Salome, Madison Opera

Next: Káťa Kabanová, Káťa Kabanová, Semperoper Dresden

Dalia Medovnikov

Woodbridge, Connecticut | Soprano

Recent: Soprano soloist, Bachianas Brasileiras, Music Academy of the West; Musetta cover, La bohème, Music Academy of the West; Dalinda, Ariodante, Curtis Opera Theatre

Next: Soprano soloist, L'Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, Curtis Opera Theatre

Miloš Repický

Bratislava, Slovakia | Pianist

Recent: Rusalka, Santa Fe Opera; L’elisir d’amore, The Cleveland Orchestra; Turandot, The Metropolitan Opera

Katie Trigg

Hamilton, New Zealand | Mezzo-soprano

Recent: Juno/Ino (cover), Semele, Wolf Trap Opera; La Regata

Veneziana, Curtis Institute of Music; Soloist, Curtis Symphony Orchestra

Next: Anna, Seven Deadly Sins, Curtis Opera Theatre

THE 2024 FESTIVAL SEASON

May 25 – June 30

We know how to make a scene. Travel to the Heartlands to experience one of the nation’s most celebrated opera festivals, with repertoire that spans beloved classics to rare Baroque and contemporary titles.

pass with as few as two performances and save

IDENTITY & ILLUSION

Gilbert & Sullivan

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

Cavalli/Faustini

LA CALISTO

Leoncavallo

PAGLIACCI

Puts/Campbell

July 23August 17

July 27 -

August 18

ELIZABETH CREE

Ibsen/Raker

July 22August 19

Set sail on a delightfully absurd adventure of swashbuckling fun for the whole family.

Nymphs and satyrs cavort with the gods in this bawdy comedic caper.

Immerse yourself in this shocking tale of jealousy and revenge, which blurs the line between art and reality.

July 28August 20

Music Hall murder mystery becomes modern masterpiece.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN AND THE UNLOVABLE CHILDREN

August 6, 8 and 11

World Premiere Youth Opera.

Photo

Part of Festival O23 and the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Late Night Snacks

SEPT. 21—OCT. 1

THE CLOSET | 201 South Street

In Partnership with The Bearded Ladies Cabaret and FringeArts

Thursday, September 21, 9:00 p.m. Betty J. Smithsonian and Balena Canto, hosted by Cookie Diorio

Friday, September 22, 9:00 p.m. Avhsoj and Chris Davis, hosted by US

Friday, September 22, 11:00 p.m. Wet Betty and Mars Alexander, hosted by Sam Rise

Saturday, September 23, 9:00 p.m. Dicky Dutton and Sapphira Cristál, hosted by Jess Conda

Saturday, September 23, 11:00 p.m. Sgt. Jennifer Higdon and Her Lonely Hearts Club Band, hosted by Jarbeaux

Sunday, September 24, 3:30 p.m. Family Snacks hosted by Eric Jaffe with Avery Goodname

Sunday, September 24, 9:00 p.m. moondrifts and Topaz Rizing feat. Murayama, hosted by Jess Conda

Wednesday, September 27, 9:00 p.m. Samantha Rose Williams and Davóne Tines, hosted by Jarbeaux

Thursday, September 28, 9:00 p.m. American Girl Doll™ THE MUSICAL! and Lucky Luciano, hosted by Eric Jaffe

Friday, September 29, 9:00 p.m. Annie Wilson and Shavon Norris, hosted by US

Friday, September 29, 11:00 p.m. Johnny Showcase and Candi Warhol, hosted by Sam Rise

Saturday, September 30, 9:00 p.m. Thunder Thighs and Anissa Weinraub, hosted by Jess Conda

Saturday, September 30, 11:00 p.m. Tareke Ortiz, Madhusmita Bora & dani tirrell, hosted by Jackie Soro

Sunday, October 1, 3:30 p.m. Family Snacks hosted by Jarbeaux

Sunday, October 1, 9:00 p.m.

Closing Night Host Show featuring John Jarboe and Cookie Diorio

“We all have a right and access to gender creativity and play. Drag has been my permission slip, my means to a more expansive, powerful, creative, and self-realized me. It has been a gateway drug, a pathway for self-acceptance, a reminder that I am capable of great transformation, a kind of armor that helps me be soft, and a hell of a good time.”

—John Jarboe

"When I was a kid, my elders always told me that I could do anything. I was given the space and encouragement to choose my own path, and to do what gave me joy. Music became my outlet, my refuge, my work and my ministry. But, it wasn't until I incorporated drag performance into the mix that I fully realized my true and authentic self living at the center of and guiding those expressions. Drag set it all free for me."

—Cookie Diorio

“Drag has given me such a special home and outlet for artistic expression in a way that the traditional stage has not. When I perform in drag, I thrive and revel in pure genderful bliss. Not only do I feel most like myself, but I am able to show and teach the world that one's voice type does not dictate their gender identity or expression. On a very special night in February 2017, I attended Opera Philadelphia and The Beaded Ladies’ Dito & Aeneas, starring the incomparable Stephanie Blythe in her drag debut as Blythely Oratonio alongside Philly drag legend Martha Graham Cracker. After seeing a world-famous opera star singing arias in drag and having the time of her life, I knew that that was what I needed to do. It was that night that I decided I was going to become a drag queen, and the rest is herstory.”

—Balena Canto

Thank You

Opera Philadelphia expresses our deepest gratitude to the individuals and institutions whose support allows us to bring you Festival O23.

Leadership Circle

Mrs. Sandra K. Baldino

Disosway Foundation, Inc.

Barbara and Amos Hostetter

Judy and Peter Leone

Mrs. John P. Mulroney

Barbara Augusta Teichert

The William Penn Foundation

Wyncote Foundation

Mellon Foundation

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage

Carolyn Horn Seidle

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A. and Colleen Wyse

The Waterman Trust

Mr. John R. Alchin and Mr. Hal Marryatt

Anonymous

Judith Durkin Freyer and Charles C. Freyer

Sarah and Brad Marshall

Mr. Robert J. Schena

Jean and Gene Stark

Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation

Chairman's Council

Anonymous

Willo Carey and Peter A. Benoliel

Mr. Allen D. Black and Mr. R. Randolph Apgar

Katherine and Andrew Christiano

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Huff

Independence Foundation

Ms. Lisa D. Kabnick and Mr. John H. McFadden

Ms. Caroline J. Mackenzie Kennedy

Donald and Gay Kimelman

Joel and Sharon Koppelman

H.F. Lenfest Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation

Dr. Renée Rollin

Charlotte Watts

Ira Brind and Stacey Spector

Lawrence Brownlee

Maureen Craig and Glenn Goldberg

Cunningham Piano Company

Carol S. Eicher

Eugene Garfield Foundation

Linda and David Glickstein

Beth and Gary Glynn

Ms. Deena Gu

Hamilton Family Charitable Trust

Mark and Helene Hankin Family

Christian Humann Foundation

Katherine and John Karamatsoukas

Mrs. Sheila Kessler

Paul L. King

Dr. Beverly Lange

Ms. Maria Maccecchini

Jacqueline Badger Mars

National Endowment for the Arts

PNC Arts Alive

The Presser Foundation

Ellen Steiner

Members of the General Director’s Council play a pivotal role in the future of Opera Philadelphia. Council members may align their support with areas of special interest, such as sponsoring Emerging Artists, supporting community programming that furthers arts education, or funding Opera Philadelphia’s innovative new works.

Platinum Patron

Myron and Sheila S. Bassman

Community Options

Connelly Foundation

Dr. Frank F. Furstenberg

Ro and Martin King

Dr. Heidi L. Kolberg and Dr. F. Joshua Barnett† Marcus Innovation Fund

Joan Mazzotti and Michael Kelly

Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joe Neubauer

David and Susan Rattner

Katie Adams Schaeffer and Tony Schaeffer

Mrs. Keith R. Straw

Ashley and Eli Wald

Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Wechsler

Diamond Patron Anonymous (2)

Mark and Peggy Curchack

Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman Venture Fund for New Opera

Feather O. Houstoun

William Lake Leonard, Esq.

In memory of Joseph G. Leone

The Samuel P. Mandell Foundation

The McLean Contributionship

Dr. Stanley Muravchick and Ms. Arlene Olson

OPERA America

PECO

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Dr. Joel and Mrs. Bobbie Porter

Mr. and Mrs. Steve Sheller

Alice and Walter Strine, Esqs.

Jeralyn Svanda

Ethel Benson Wister

For more information, contact Rebecca Ackerman, Senior Director of Development, at 215.893.5904 or ackerman@operaphila.org.

General Director’s Council

Clockwise from top: Mark and Angie Segal with Ron Schafer and Board member Sandra K. Baldino; Drs. Bruce and Toby Eisenstein; Sean O'Riordan and Board member Colleen O'Riordan, Phil Le, Board member Kathy Christiano and Drew Christiano; Madeleine and James Carlson with Donna and Andrew Wechsler; Board member Barbara August Teichert with VP of Development Gina J. Range

Clockwise from top: Board member Taneise Marshall with Board member William Dunbar and Fay Dunbar; Charles Tarr and Roy Ziegler; Board member Willo Carey with Deena G; Donors enjoy an intimate Director's Salon event in a private home.

Patron Program

The Patron Program is comprised of committed opera enthusiasts whose collective generosity provides vital support for Opera Philadelphia’s productions and community programs. Patrons enjoy access to benefits in the opera house including champagne intermission receptions, as well as invitations to events with artists throughout the season, and priority ticketing services.

Gold Patron

Anonymous (1)

Stephen A. Block

Dr. Robert N. Braun

Mr. Jeffrey P. Cunard and Ms. Mariko Ikehara

Ms. Joan DeJean

Susan and Graham McDonald

Truist

Victory Foundation

Kathleen and Nicholas Weir

Karen A. Zurlo Ph.D. and Philip Levin Esq.

Silver Patron

Lorraine Alexander

Anonymous (3)

Sylvia Lanka-Barone and William Barone

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bergen

Robert and Julie Jensen Bryan

Harlow R. Case

The Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation

Ady L. Djerassi, M.D., and Robert Golub, M.D.

Drs. Bruce and Toby Eisenstein

David M. Ferguson, Ph.D.

Deborah Glass, in memory of Leonard Mellman

Gray Charitable Trust

Bonnie and Lon Greenberg

Thomas S. Heckman and Mary Jo Ashenfelter

Ms. Rhoda K. Herrold

Jeffrey R. Jowett

Mr. Kenneth Klothen and Ms. Eve Biskind

Linda Richardson Korman

Charles B. Landreth

Carol and Howard Lidz

Liddy and John Lindsay

Dr. and Mrs. Michael B. Love

Mr. James P. Macelderry† and Ms.

Marilyn S. Fishman

Colleen G. O'Riordan

Tom and Jody O'Rourke

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rollins

Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation

Mr. Vince Tseng and Mr. Geoffrey Mainland

Universal Health Services

Wells Fargo

Laura A. Williamson

Ms. Linda Wingate and Dr. William Liberi

Mrs. Kelly Zhou and Dr. Brett Frankel

Bronze+ Patron

Anonymous (1)

Dr. Margaret S. Choa

Joan and Frederick Cohen

Joan and William Goldstein

Bruce and Robin Herndon

Ms. Lisa R. Jacobs

Anne Silvers Lee and Wynn Lee

Helen E. Pettit

Dr. R.J. Wallner

Dr. Leah Whipple

Bronze Patron

Sarah Alderfer

Brett and Nan Altman

Lydia Alvarez, in memory of Isabelle Ferguson

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Anderson

Anonymous (4)

Ms. Susan Asplundh

Eugene and Virginia Beier

Dr. Claire Boasi

Elaine Woo Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr.

Drs. Judith and Jeffrey Carpenter

Georgette Ciukurescu

Mr. Stephen Cohen and Mr. John McNett

Mr. Mark Cornish

Tobey and Mark Dichter

Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation

Barbara Donnelly Bentivoglio

William and Fay Dunbar

Mr. Arthur F. Ferguson

Stephen and Susan Garza

Deena Sara Gerson, in memory of Rosalie Gerson

Ms. Phyllis S. Gitlin

Stanley Goldfarb, MD

Ms. Juliet J. Goodfriend and Dr. Marc R. Moreau

Stuart A. Schwartz and Sheila Jamison-Schwartz

Corey Kinger

Terri and Thomas Klein

Ms. Laura LaRosa

Michael G. Lewis, in memory of Karen Lewis

Susan Long and Andrew Szabo

The Marshall's Art Endowment

Dwight and Christina McCawley

Kate Olver and Jeremy Young

Dr. and Mrs. David J. Richards

The Rev. Canon Dr. Alan K. Salmon

Joyce Seewald Sando

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis E. Sawyer

Scott and Linda Schaeffer

Jordan and Eileen Silvergleid

Kobie Smith

Drs. Richard and Rhonda Soricelli

Dr. and Mrs. Richard N. Taxin

The Rev. and Mrs. Richard L. Ullman

Stephanie van Reigersberg

Laurie Wagman, in memory of Irvin J. Borowsky

Peter J. Wender

Carol A. Westfall

Mr. Robert Zimet

For more information, contact Catherine Perez, Membership Manager, at 215.893.5944 or membership@operaphila.org.

Community Options’ mission is to develop housing and employment supports for persons with disabilities.

Even when every seat in the house sells out, this dazzling blend of theatrical, orchestral, and vocal splendor requires considerable support from within our community. Play an active role in bringing great opera to Philadelphia while enjoying invitations to events that enhance your opera experience when you make a membership gift of $100 or more.

Partner

Mr. and Mrs. James Alexandre

Joseph T. Anderer and Virginia Benz

Anonymous (1)

Drs. Jean and Robert Belasco

Ellen Berelson and Lawrence Franks

Mrs. Joanne Berwind

Susan Bienkowski

Drs. Deidre and Michael Blank

Beaty Bock and Jonathan Miller

Carrie and J. Bradley Boericke

Pauline Candaux and Solomon Katz

Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation

James Cohen

Jeffrey Cooper

Jonathan R. Disegi & Grace H. Kim

Laura and John Drake

Dr. Jerome and Ms. Judy Draper

Robert and Monica Driver

Mr. and Ms. Robert S. Duplessis

Russ Alexander and Mary Dupre

Lois and John Durso

Barbara Eberlein and Jerry Wind

Ren Egawa and Eugenia Chang

Mr. Robert A. Ellis

John Erickson and Harry Zaleznik

Mr. Steven Erisoty

James R. Fairburn

Thomas Faracco

Andrew Franzone

Jim and Kay Gately

Georgyn G. Fest

Mr. Andrew R. Gelber in memory of Sylvia Gelber

Eduardo Glandt and George Ritchie

George Graham and Kyle Merker

Dr. and Mrs. Henry J. Greenwood and Ms. Marilyn Greenwood

John Greer

David and Ann Harrison, Esqs.

Frederic Harwood

Eileen Kennedy and Robert Heim

Ms. Susan Henry

Drs. Christina L. and Richard J. Herring

Cheryl Lawson and Jennifer Higdon

Mr. Daniel Holmes

Scott Houldin

F. John Hagele

Laura Jacobson

Jeffrey Johnson and Linda Prater

Mr. Joseph J. Leube, Jr.

Murray and Lonnie Levin

Mr. and Mrs. David Levy

Leon L. & Frances Levy Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation

Mr. William A. Loeb

Mr. John Mastrobattista and Ms. Madeline Leone

Susan McClary

Drs. Joseph and Jane McGowan

Madelyn Mignatti

Mr. Benjamin F. Minick

Mr. and Mrs. William Mueller

Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Munson

Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin R. Neilson

Dr. and Mrs. A. H. Nishikawa

Maris A. Ogg and Robert Smith

Mrs. Zoë S. Pappas

W. Larz Pearson and Rick Trevino

Ms. Jane G. Pepper

Merle Raab

Gina J. Range

Mrs. Louise H. Reed

Bill Robling and Deborah R. Kravetz

Ms. Nancy R. Roncetti

Eileen Rosenau

Mark and Robin Rubenstein

Nancy and Barry Sanders

Anne Faulkner Schoemaker

Mr. and Mrs. Henry G. Scott

Susan and Paul Shaman

Janet Wilson Smith

Ms. Judith Tannenbaum

Monica Taylor Lotty and Brendan Lotty

Robert Washburn, Esq. and Judith Drasin, Esq.

Arnold Weiss

Drs. Anne and Jim† Williamson

Tom Woodward

Ms. Ana-Maria V. Zaugg and Mr. David W. Anstice

Dr. and Mrs. William Jantsch

Joel and Marjorie Jensen

Richard B. Johnson

Ronald Mack Joseph

Richard and Grace Karschner

Janis and Robert Ackerman

Mr. George J. Ahern

Anonymous (4)

Jean W. Arnold

Marilyn P. Asplundh

Abraham Axler

Frances and Michael Baylson

Karen Bedrosian-Richardson

Dr. Howard and Mrs. Tova Brooks

Mr. Leo M. Carey and Ms. Sonya D. Mouzon

Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas P. Cernansky

Ms. Ilene Chester

Peter Cline

Mr. Jeffrey Clovis

Dr. Cathryn Coate

Jonathan Conant

Mr. and Mrs. George T. Craven, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony B. Creamer III

Ann Csink and John Linck

Alfred Daiboch and William H. Reinert

Dr. Richard Davidson

Romulo Diaz and Dennis Bann

Robert and Jean Donato, in memory of Felice Donato Levy

Ms. Audrey Dorofy

Charlie and JJ Dreisbach

Ms. Anne C. Ewers

Melissa and Tim Fender

Barry Fisch

Aron and Joan Fisher

Ms. Lois Freed

Linda Dubin Garfield

Bill and Julie Golderer

Ms. Sandra E. Goodstein

Leila Christine Grad, M.D.

Mrs. Margaret S. Griffin and Mr. Scott Sillars

Cheryl Gunter and Paul Rabe

Valerie Harrison

Mr. Charles Head, Jr. and Mr. John Faggotti

Barbara Hodges

S. Kay Hoke and Dixon Brady

Mrs. Clark Hooper

Lee M. Huber

Steven Humes

Mr. Wallace Hussong

Mr. L.S. Illoway

Laura A. Lane and David R. DeVoe

Ms. Rebecca Lee

Dr. Stewart Leftow

John T. Lehman

Mr. Jonathan E. Lehman

Dr. Thomas S. Lin

Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Lukens

Paul J. Martin

Andrew and Julia Mattis

Mr. Robert J. McShea, Jr. and Mr. Bill Ward

Media Copy

Dr. Scott Nakamura

Dr. Arthur S. Patchefsky and Mrs. Marilyn McHenry, Esq.

Clifford Pearlman and Lynn Marks

Patricia Perfect

Michael Presser

Ms. Jane Rath

Ms. Jacqueline Renner and Mr. David Craig

Mr. Philmore Robertson and Ms. Kathryn Caywood

Dr. Keith M. Robinson

Ms. Willa Rosenbloom

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel R. Ross

Mark Rudio & Tracey Moorhead

Mr. Peter J. Ryker

Katherine Stein Sachs

Mr. Walter Schlosser Jr.

Celine & Schuster Family, in honor of Helen Pettit

Ms. Susan E. Sherman

Mr. and Mrs. Corey R. Smith

Maria K Spano, CPA

Dylan Steinberg & Amey Hutchins

Mr. Daniel Szyld and Ms. Kathleen Ross

Termini Bros. Bakery

Vector Group Consulting

Rosemary and Umit Turunc

Evan Urbania

Mrs. Peggy Wachs

Vicki Ann Wallshein

Joan P. Wohl

Mrs. Kelly Wolfington, in honor of Richard I. Wolfington, Sr.

Stephen Workman

Christine G. Yoon

Florence and Stephen Zeller

List as of August 2023

For more information, contact Catherine Perez, Membership Manager, at 215.893.5944 or membership@operaphila.org. For more information, contact Catherine Perez, Membership Manager, at 215.893.5944 or membership@operaphila.org.

Planned Giving Spotlight

My name is Andy Szabo. I am a retired, sole-proprietor insurance broker. I reside in Delaware County with my yellow-nape Amazon parrot, Brutus, and my wife, Susan.

I named Opera Philadelphia as a beneficiary of my estate for two significant reasons.

Opera, for its history, its humanity, its music, its acting, its evolution, and its storied connection to Philadelphia.

Philadelphia for its history, its humanity, its people, its evolution, and its historic support of Opera Philadelphia.

Opera Philadelphia, among all of the wonderful and available choices of arts and music available in Philadelphia, has become my favorite.

The first time I attended Opera Philadelphia was 17 years ago, when I saw Puccini’s La bohème for my first time in The Academy of Music.

My evening with Opera Philadelphia turned out to be worth far more than the price I paid for my ticket. The performance ended, the curtain came down, the curtain rose, the actors and the conductor stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the stage, basking in their well-earned ovation. Even after that curtain came down for that final time, the story and the music lingered on.

Many years and many Opera Philadelphia performances later, it became obvious to me

that by attending opera, I was standing on the wide shoulders of all those who had come before me: the composers, the librettists, the conductors, the musicians, the performers and all the many people behind the scenes involved in each production who made opera available to audiences like me. Audiences like you.

Opera Philadelphia was a gift to me, but not a gift meant for me to store away in a drawer, like a precious heirloom only to be taken out and admired on special occasions. Opera is a gift that must be seen, must be heard and must breathe to stay alive.

Ten years ago, Opera Philadelphia created the Composer in Residence program. This unique program has allowed talented composers to write new operas current to life today. Though some might say that opera is old and irrelevant, I disagree. Operas, whether old or new, connect us to themes that are relevant, topical, and true to life.

For there to be the next generation of Opera Philadelphia, I felt a personal responsibility to name Opera Philadelphia as a beneficiary in my estate.

With each opera and with each passing season, I believe that naming Opera Philadelphia as a beneficiary of my estate makes me part of opera past, opera present, and a guarantor that there will be Opera Philadelphia future.

"Naming Opera Philadelphia as a beneficiary of my estate makes me part of opera past, opera present, and a guarantor that there will be Opera Philadelphia future."

Legato Society

There are many ways you can help Opera Philadelphia now and in the future.

If the Opera has played a significant role in your life, we encourage you to ensure our future by making a gift to Opera Philadelphia in your will or estate plan and joining our Legato Society. Informing us of your intentions allows us to recognize your generosity today as well as plan for the future.

Anonymous (9)

Lorraine and Ben† Alexander

Mary Jo Ashenfelter and Thomas S. Heckman

Mr. Kenneth H. Barr

Myron and Sheila S. Bassman

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bergen

Ms. Jane A. Berryman

Dr. Claire Boasi

Dr. Rita B. Bocher

Michael Bolton

Mrs. Sheila Buckley

Ms. Willo Carey

Dr. Thomas A. Childers

Miss Lucy Clemens

Joan and Frederick Cohen

Dianne and Don Cooney

Mr.† and Mrs. Arthur Covello

Ms. Ginny L. Coyle

Mr. W. Kenneth Cressman and Mr. Lloyd Christy†

Ms. Joan DeJean

Robert and Monica Driver

Mrs. Antoinette DuBiel

Dr. Bruce Eisenstein

Eddie and Rachel Eitches

James R. Fairburn

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Fanelli, Jr.

Susan and Bill Firestone

Aron and Joan Fisher

Judith Durkin Freyer and Charles C. Freyer

Mr. Timothy V. Gardocki

Linda Dubin Garfield

Mrs. Marjorie E. Garwig†

Gail Hauptfuhrer

Mr. Charles Head, Jr. and Mr. John Faggotti

Stephen T. Janick

Karl Janowitz

Jeffrey R. Jowett

Mrs. Sheila Kessler

Gabrielle & Ernest Kimmel

Mr. Michael Knight

Mr. Tom Laporta

Anne Silvers Lee and Wynn Lee

John T. Lehman

Marguerite and Gerry† Lenfest

Karen† and Michael Lewis

Carol and Howard Lidz

Mr. William A. Loeb

Mr. Larry Thomas Mahoney

Dwight and Christina McCawley

Drs. Joseph and Jane McGowan

Mrs. Lois Meyers

Mr. Siddhartha Misra

Constance C. Moore

Helen E. Pettit

David Rhody

Dr. Scott F. Richard

Dr. Renée Rollin

Jeffrey and Kendell Saunders

Robert Schoenberg†

Carolyn Horn Seidle

Mrs. Barbara Crea Shannon

Mr. Jonathan H. Sprogell and Ms. Kathryn Taylor

Ellen Steiner

Mr. Kenneth R. Swimm

Mr. Andrew J. Szabo

Mr. Victor Tees

Mr. Michael Toklish

Christina M. Valente, Esq.

Charlotte Watts

Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Wechsler

Drs. Anne and Jim† Williamson

Kelley Wolfington and Richard Wolfington

Ms. Karen A. Zurlo, Ph.D.

List as of August 2023

† Deceased

For more information, contact Rebecca Ackerman, Senior Director of Development, at 215.893.5904 or ackerman@operaphila.org.

Corporate Council

The Corporate Council generously supports Opera Philadelphia’s artistic and educational programming through contributions and in-kind donations.

CORPORATE COUNCIL SPONSORS

Ballard Spahr LLP Media Copy

Termini Bros. Bakery

Vector Group Consulting

PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC)

The Opera is a recognized Educational Improvement Organization, eligible for EITC contributions.

For more information about sponsorship opportunities, EITC contributions, or to join Opera Philadelphia’s Corporate Council, contact Samantha Williams, Manager of Corporate and Institutional Giving, at 215.893.5907 or swilliams@operaphila.org.

Official Piano Service Provider

Official Piano

OSPITE CIRCLE A National Council

ospite | AW-spih-tay

verb, noun

Italian word conveying two meanings, either “host” or “guest”

Since its launch in 2017, Festival O and our historic and vibrant city have welcomed opera enthusiasts from across the country and around the globe. We are proud of our part in nurturing a community among opera lovers.

To support the Festival O audience as it continues to grow—and return—Opera Philadelphia has created a national council, the Ospite Circle, to welcome our out-of-town guests to connect through shared experiences and curated events during Festival O.

Learn more at operaphila.org/ospite

For more information, contact Rebecca Ackerman, Senior Director of Development, at 215.893.5904 or ackerman@operaphila.org.

Community Initiatives

Arts organizations are reaching out, sharing their art with local communities, and Opera Philadelphia is no exception. Our events connect us to the various communities in Philadelphia, building relationships that help to foster a sense of inclusion and belonging within the operatic art form. As a practice, these events are created and curated in collaboration with other organizations within Philadelphia’s cultural sector, helping Opera Philadelphia to deepen our connection to the city. From the end of Festival O23 to our next production, Madame Butterfly, there are several opportunities to attend a community event; we hope to see you at one in the coming months.

Marian Anderson: Exploring the Gown Student Showcase

November 16, 2023 | 6:30 p.m.

Fleisher Art Memorial | 719 Catherine Street

This will be a culminating event with a live reading and performance by Opera Philadelphia that highlights the life and career of Marian Anderson.

Collaboration with Fleisher Art Memorial and The Marian Anderson Museum and Historical Society

Part of Sounds of America: Price and Bonds

Lectures @ Noon

February 1, 8, 15, 22, 2024

12:00 p.m. | Online Event via Zoom

Join us for this lecture series that will explore topics such as the life and works of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, and other Black composers and creatives.

Collaboration with The International Florence Price Festival

Part of Reflection & Re-Vision and Sounds of America: Price and Bonds

Butterfly Conversations

Feb. 10, Mar. 17, Apr. 6, and May 4, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.

Ethical Society of Philadelphia

1906 S. Rittenhouse Square

On select Saturday afternoons from February through May, Opera Philadelphia will host a series of roundtable discussions and public conversations focused on contextualizing Madame Butterfly—the opera itself and our upcoming production.

Collaboration with Opera Philadelphia’s Community Advisory Council

Part of Reflection & Re-Vision

To Sit and Dream

March 17, 2024 | 3:30 p.m.

Tindley Temple United Methodist Church

750-62 S. Broad Street

To Sit and Dream is a program of music by Black composers centered on four choral settings of poetry by Langston Hughes. These four poems speak about dreams – how we can and must dream of a better world, and how we must also protect dreams from our harsh reality. The other songs on the program lift up what we might dream about: faith; hope; redemption; justice; finding beauty all around; love.

This concert is a collaboration between the Wharton-Wesley Faith Ensemble and the Opera Philadelphia Chorus. The two organizations first worked together when the Opera Philadelphia Chorus filmed some of their program Organ Stops in the Wharton-Wesley sanctuary, and then again in the spring of 2022 with a live concert Resilience & Healing: A Celebration of Women in Song That concert, like the upcoming To Sit and Dream presented a musical story not on the opera stage, but out in the community, with community members helping to plan and perform in the program.

Come dream with us, as we once again present beautiful music in our community, performed by the Wharton-Wesley Faith Ensemble, The Opera Philadelphia Chorus, and special guest soloist soprano Karen Slack.

Collaboration with Wharton-Wesley Faith Ensemble and Tindley Temple United Methodist Church

Part of Sounds of America: Price and Bonds

Sankofa Project

April 21, 2024 | 11:30 a.m.

Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

419 S 6th Street

Join us for this hour-long program that explores the rich tapestry of vocal music created by African Americans. This program features music by and tributes to Black musical figures in many genres such as Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Curtis Mayfield, and The Impressions, including Price and Bonds performed by five young HBCU alumni artists.

Along with the powerful music, audiences will be treated to the powerful stories of these legendary artists through narration and dramatic interpretation. The music and artistry of African people are much like that precious egg in the mouth of the bird, full of vitality and sustainable resources. In experiencing this program, all will be inspired by these pivotal artists of the past and determined to move forward in creating a brighter future for us all.

Collaboration with Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and The International Florence Price Festival

Part of Sounds of America: Price and Bonds

Free Streaming Opera

Prep for upcoming performances or go back and learn more about the opera you saw with Opera Breakdown. These short, digital lectures led by Dr. Lily Kass, Opera Philadelphia Scholar in Residence, provide added insights, from the history of classic works to the inspiration behind our world premieres.

Commissions

Enjoy fresh, original commissions by today’s leading composers, imagined for the screen, from Tyshawn Sorey’s Cycles of My Being to Rene Orth’s TakTakShoo

Composing the Future

Learn more about our groundbreaking residency program where the opera of the future is being created today, with Composing the Future: 10 Years of Opera Philadelphia’s Composer in Residence Program.

VIVACE (vee-VA-che) offers a curated suite of performance events and social outings for young friends (ages 21-45). Score discounted tickets, meet the casts, and socialize with a community energized by the arts in Philadelphia.

operaphila.org/vivace

Opera Philadelphia’s Community for Young Friends