Laura Schwendinger's Opera ARTEMISIA to Make New York Premiere at St Paul's Chapel

Laura Schwendinger's new opera, Artemisia, will be given its New York Premiere on Saturday, January 7 at 1:00 PM at St Paul's Chapel, 209 Broadway in Manhattan. The performance is presented by Trinity Church Wall Street and NOVUS NY, directed by Julian Wachner, as part of the Times Arrow Festival - A Celebration of Music and the Arts in the New World, for the 250th Anniversary of St. Paul's Chapel.

Artemisia is an opera of passion, betrayal and art in 17th century Italy, and is based on the life of Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi. With a libretto by Ginger Strand, author of The Brothers Vonnegut, Artemisia is a recipient of a National Opera Center Discovery grant. More about the opera at www.lauraschwendinger.com/artemisia.

The cast includes Patricia Green as Artemisia Gentileschi, Marnie Breckenridge as Susanna, Andrew Garland as Agostino Tassi, Andrew Fuchs as Tomasso, Jonathan Woody as Cosimo di Medici, and Christopher Sokolowski as Occulist, with Emily Birsan, William Anderson and Joan Forsyth featured in moments from Barbara Strozzi's Che si puo? fare. The lighting design is by Leni Schwendinger.

The January 7 performance is free and open to the public. For more information about the Times Arrow Festival, visit www.trinitywallstreet.org/music-arts/2016-2017/times-arrow-festival.

The first composer to win the American Academy in Berlin Prize, Laura Elise Schwendinger, is a Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her music has been performed by leading artists, including Dawn Upshaw (on tour 1997-2013) and on Voices of Our Time, (a TDK/Naxos DVD), Janine Jansen, Matt Haimovitz, the Arditti and Jack Quartets, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, the New Juilliard Players, the Franz Liszt chamber orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra, at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully at Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Ojai, Aspen, Tangelwood and Ravinia music festivals, and Off-Broadway in the acclaimed Sounding Beckett Project. Her music has been recorded for the Albany and Centaur labels. Her website is at www.lauraschwendinger.com.