Douglas Moore Fund For American Opera Presents GIANTS IN THE EARTH REDISCOVERED

The Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera in collaboration with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Scandinavian House of New York City will present Douglas Moore: Giants in the Earth Rediscovered, a FREE program on Tuesday, March 11 at the Scandinavian House located at 58 Park Avenue.

Published 100 years ago, Ole Rolvaag's novel Giants in the Earth was the quintessential American immigrant story. It depicts a story of tragedy and romance among Norwegian American settlers in the Dakota Territory in 1873. Douglas Moore's operatic setting won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951 but has remained largely unknown and never recorded.

The program that surveys the rediscovery of this important American opera will include excerpts from the opera sung by the two protagonists. Meridith Lustig, soprano sings the role of Beret Hansa, and Michael Kelly, baritone, sings the role of Per Hansa, collaborating with pianist Jeremy Chan.  The presentation is led by Delta David Gier, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra music director and stage directors Jay Lessenger and Bob Neu, all three who will be speaking.

Giants in the Earth will be presented on Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27 with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra conducted by Delta David Gier and staging by Bob Neu.  It will take place in Sioux Falls, SD at the Mary W. Sommervold Concert Hall at the Washington Pavilion.

About the Performers

Praised for her “radiant soprano” and “outstanding dramatic presence,” Meredith Lustig made her professional debut in 2011 with New York City Opera playing the role of Giannetta in L'Elisir D'Amore and is a former Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera.  Among other collaborations are: Bernstein's Candide and Mass with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin; touring her one woman show To Sondheim, With Love; Blanche Dubois in Andre Previn's A Street Car Named Desire; originating the role of Megan in Robert Paterson's The Whole Truth with the American Modern Ensemble; becoming a cold open call for The Tonight Show with Steven Colbert; filming Bernstein's Mass for PBS Great Performances with conductor Marin Alsop; premiering songs by Adam Guettel and Paul Moravc for the New York Festival of Song; and pops concerts with the Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Hong Kong Opera, and Caramoor Music Festival.  Meredith holds a bachelor's and master's Degree from the Juilliard School where she studied under the tutelage of Edith Bers. She is a 2012 District winner and 2013 third place Regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  Meredith Lustig is a New Hampshire native.

American baritone Michael Kelly's performances include: Santa Fe Opera, Carnegie Hall, the New York City Opera, the New World Symphony, Seattle Symphony and the Cincinnati May Festival, as well as Bernstein's Mass with the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the world premiere of a chamber work by David Del Treidici. In recent seasons he has been heard in Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin with guitarist David Leisner, and the roles of Hannah Before in Kaminsky's As One, Figaro in The Barber of Seville, and the title role in the NY premiere of Carlyle Floyd's opera Prince of Players.   An avid interpreter and supporter of new music, he has given world premieres by Matthew Aucoin, David Del Tredici, Mohammed Fairouz, John Gover, Laura Kaminsky, Ben Moore, Tobias Picker among others. As writer, librettist and poet, Michael has collaborated on songs with John Glover and Ben Moore. Mr. Kelly has won first prizes in 2013's Poulenc Competition and 2011's Joy in Singing. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Juilliard and was a member of the Opernstudio at Opernhaus Zürich.  Mr. Kelly currently curates the digital concert series Room | to | Breathe. 

JEREMY CHAN is a freelance Australian pianist and vocal coach based in New York City.  He is on artistic staff at Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music and serves as Director of Music at Advent Lutheran Church.   In the world of opera, Jeremy has worked on over 30 productions around the United States. Especially adept in contemporary opera, Jeremy has served as music director for NYU's Graduate Theatre Opera Lab, American Opera Projects, Juilliard Opera Lab, Justine Chen's Seven Sisters Workshop and was pianist/coach for the 2017 China tour of Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber.  Jeremy serves on the Board of the Asian Opera Alliance and is a member of Wear Yellow Proudly. His writing on Asian representation in opera has been published in the Opera America magazine.

About the Artistic Team

Conductor Delta David Gier is nationally recognized for his championship of living composers and his ability to deepen an orchestra's impact in its community. Gier is the 2022 recipient of Columbia University's Ditson Conductor's Award, which called him “the model of an engaged conductor,” a sentiment echoed by writer Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker, “…his group is the model of an engaged orchestra,” adding that “the South Dakota Symphony is bolder and savvier in its programming than all but a handful of American ensembles.” Maestro Gier has been Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) since 2004. Under his direction, the orchestra has been lauded for its programming (including seven ASCAP awards). His series based on the Pulitzer Prize was called “an unprecedented programming innovation” by the Wall Street Journal and has included residencies with composers Jennifer Higdon, John Corigliano, Steven Stucky, Zhou Long, John Luther Adams, and Paul Moravec.  For 15 seasons, Delta David Gier served as an Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He studied at the University of Michigan under the renowned conducting teacher Gustav Meier. He was a Fulbright scholar in Eastern Europe from 1988-90. As an educator, Mr. Gier has served as guest faculty at the Curtis Institute, Yale School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and SUNY Stony Brook. He has chaired the music jury of the Pulitzer Prize and has served as a frequent panelist for the League of American Orchestras.

During Jay Lesenger's 50-year career as stage director, administrator and teacher, Mr. Lesenger has produced and directed almost 250 opera productions for the New York City Opera, Chautauqua Opera Company, Atlanta, Hawaii, Milwaukee, New Orleans (the world premiere of Thea Musgrave's “Pontalba”), Opera Carolina, Palm Beach, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Virginia and many others. His European debut was with Opera Nordfjord, Norway, and he has directed for Volkstheater Rostock in Germany. His Glimmerglass Opera production of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles was subsequently seen at the Royal Opera House at Versailles.  From 1994 to 2015, Jay was the General and Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Opera Company.  As a nationally recognized teacher of acting for singers, he has taught on the School of Music opera faculties at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University. Jay has also staged productions for the Bard School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes/The New School, Julliard, Indiana University, and the Academy of Vocal Arts. Jay is a frequent adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Opera Index and other vocal competitions.  He holds a Master's degree from Indiana University and a Bachelors of Music & Theater from Hofstra University.

Known for his “distinctive staging style” and for being “the most inventive opera director in town” (St Paul Pioneer Press), Robert Neu is challenging the norms by becoming a pioneer in the field of semi-staged operas with symphony orchestras. Neu has directed more than ninety productions of opera, musical theater, and plays throughout the country. Last season, he returned to Opera Idaho to direct Il barbiere di Siviglia and Shreveport Opera for La Traviata. This season, he returns to Opera Idaho to direct their production of Le nozze di Figaro. Among recent engagements: St. John's Passion with Shreveport Symphony, Colorado Symphony and Lyric Opera of the North; The Merry Widow for Opera Idaho; both Amahl and the Night Visitors and Eugene Onegin for Skylark Opera; Le nozze di Figaro with Inland Northwest Opera and Orlando Opera; La bohéme and The Barber of Seville with Opera Orlando;  West Side Story with Central City Opera in collaboration with the Boulder Philharmonic; Don Giovanni for Steamboat Springs Opera; and L'enfant et les sortileges and The Magic Flute with Pacific Symphony.

About Douglas Moore

Douglas Moore (1893-1969) is best known for his opera The Ballad of Baby Doe.  He also composed songs, chamber and orchestral music, and six additional operas.  Early in his career he turned to American subjects for inspiration.  At a time when many composers were writing adventurous music, he continued to write tonal music in traditional forms.  He was a significant advocate for American composers and musicians, especially during the 1930s and 1940s, and he initiated the recording company, Composer's Recordings, Inc. to make music of important American composers widely available regardless of the music's commercial viability.  He was professor of composition and head of the music department at Columbia University for more than thirty-five years and President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.  His leadership in founding the  Columbia Opera Workshop established a model for college and university workshops throughout the country when there were few professional opera companies in the United States and almost no opera training opportunities for musicians and composers in America.

About Scandinavia House

Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America is the leading center for Nordic culture in the United States. It offers a wide range of programs that illuminate the culture and vitality of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Scandinavia House offerings include diverse exhibitions and film series, as well as concerts and other performances, readings, lectures, symposia, language courses, and children's activities.

Scandinavia House is located at 58 Park Avenue, four blocks south of Grand Central Station, between 38th and 37th Streets.