American Lyric Theater's THE GOLDEN TICKET Live Recording Released Today

American Lyric Theater (ALT) announces that the live recording of its first commissioned opera, The Golden Ticket, a comic opera by Peter Ash and Donald Sturrock based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is set for release from Albany Records on Amazon.com and on CD today, December 1, 2012.

The Golden Ticket was commissioned by American Lyric Theater and Felicity Dahl in 2006. The opera received its world premiere in partnership with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 2010, and its European debut in partnership with the Wexford Festival in October 2010. The live recording, conducted by composer Peter Ash, was produced by ALT in partnership with The Atlanta Opera during performances in Atlanta in March 2012.

The Golden Ticket represents the first time the estate of author Roald Dahl has authorized an operatic adaptation of the best selling, classic book, which has entertained children and adults alike since its publication in 1964.

The recording cast includes bass baritone Daniel Okultich (Willy Wonka), treble Benjamin P. Wenzelberg (Charlie), tenor Keith Jameson (Grandpa Joe), soprano Kristin Clayton (Grandma Georgina and Mrs. Gloop), mezzo soprano Jamie Barton (Grandma Josephine and Mrs. Teavee), bass baritone Jason Hardy (Grandpa George and Mr. Beauregard), countertenor Gerald Thompson (Mike Teavee), soprano Ashley Emerson (Violet Beauregard), tenor Andrew Drost (Augustus Gloop), mezzo soprano Abigail Nims (Veruca Salt), baritone David Kravitz (Lord Salt), and mezzo soprano Krista Costin (Candy Mallow and the Squirrel Mistress). Peter Ash, conductor; Walter Huff, Chorus Master. The Chorus and Orchestra of The Atlanta Opera.

Pre-orders of The Golden Ticket can be made HERE.

Today, December 1, the CD will be available on the AlbanyRecords.com, Amazon.com, Arkivmusic.com, hbdirect.com, and at other classical music retailers. Digital downloads will also be available from iTunes and other similar services shortly thereafter.

Lead funding for the recording of The Golden Ticket was provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional major funding was provided by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.

Founded in 1979, The Atlanta Opera is one of the finest regional opera companies in the United States producing mainstage opera productions and excellent arts education programs for all ages. It directly serves almost 100,000 people annually in Metropolitan Atlanta and throughout the Southeast. The Atlanta Opera strives to expand the experience of its patrons with memorable and exciting performances reflecting the highest musical and theatrical standards, while supporting community and educational programs. The Opera also works to attract the finest international, national, and regional singers, conductors, stage directors and designers.

Based in New York City, American Lyric Theater (ALT) was founded in 2005 to build a new body of operatic repertoire for new audiences by nurturing composers and librettists, developing sustainable artistic collaborations, and contributing new works to the national canon. ALT is the only company in the United States that offers extensive, full-time mentorship for emerging operatic writers. While the traditional company model focuses on producing a season, ALT's programs focus on serving the needs of composers and librettists, developing new works, and collaborating with larger producing companies to help usher those works into the repertoire.

In 2006, ALT, with Felicity Dahl, commissioned its first work, The Golden Ticket, a new opera based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2007, ALT launched its core initiative, the Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), led by Producing Artistic Director Lawrence Edelson and a faculty comprised of some of the country's foremost artists, including composer-librettist Mark Adamo, dramaturg Cori Ellison, composers Robert Beaser and Anthony Davis, librettists Michael Korie and Mark Campbell, and stage director Rhoda Levine. To date, the program has provided intensive, personalized mentorship to 30 gifted emerging artists. 11 short chamber operas have been developed under the auspices of the program, which have been presented by organizations ranging from the San Francisco Conservatory to Center City Opera in Philadelphia. In 2009, ALT commissioned The Poe Project, the first formal commissions from CLDP Resident Artists. Three different composer/librettist teams are currently completing this trilogy of one-act operas, inspired by the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. Production details for The Poe Project will be announced in 2013. In the fall of 2012, ALT announced three new full-length opera commissions, all currently being written by Resident Artists in the CLDP: La Reina by Jorge Sosa and Laura Sosa Pedroza, a story of revenge and corruption in the drug trade on both sides of the Mexican/American border; The Turing Project by Justine F. Chen and David Simpatico, a historical fantasia based on the life of English scientist Alan Turing; and The Long Walk, by Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann, based on the critically acclaimed memoir of war and homecoming by American veteran and author Brian Castner. (Details on all commissions, as well as short videos of this season's commissions are available on ALT's website.)

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