New York Opera Alliance Presents NEW YORK OPERAFEST 2022
The festival showcases the breadth and diversity of opera in New York City through events ranging from virtual reality to improv.
By: Stephi Wild May. 31, 2022
NEW YORK OPERAFEST returns to in-person programming after two years of producing content virtually. For the first time since 2020, the festival offers in-person productions in New York City through June 15, 2022. The festival showcases the breadth and diversity of opera in New York City through events ranging from virtual reality to improv opera, with productions in theaters, gardens, garages, bars, playgrounds, and beyond.
NEW YORK OPERAFEST was founded to both bring increased visibility of opera to New Yorkers and to unite participant companies with collaborative and accessible performance opportunities. It is produced by the NEW YORK OPERA ALLIANCE (NYOA), a community of passionate and resilient opera producers. NYOA is fiscally sponsored by OPERA America, the national membership organization for artists, administrators, trustees, and audiences, dedicated to supporting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera.
Explains festival chair PENNY PUN, "The theme for this year's OPERAFEST is 'building' as NYOA sets its eyes on building a future for opera, after two years of uncertainty and challenges for our industry and our community. OPERAFEST 2022 will celebrate the return of in-person performances, as participating production ranges from virtual to hybrid to in-person. It's so exciting to see how these productions and artists are building the future of opera with innovation, fearlessness and adaptability!"
For more information and ticket availability, visit newyorkoperafest.org.
Featured Productions
LIGHTHOUSE OPERA COMPANY
@thelighthouseopera
What: La Traviata
When: June 3 (7pm), 5* (2pm) and 7 (7pm)
Where: Andrew Freedman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10452
The Lighthouse Opera Company presents La Traviata directed by John Tedeschi and conducted by Stephen Francis Vasta with The Ensemble Sepia Orchestra. Performances are June 3 (7pm), 5* (2pm) and 7 (7pm), 2022 at the historical Andrew Freedman Home, 1125 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10452.
Cast:
Violetta Valery - Shaina Martinez & Lisa Eden*
Alfredo Germont - Michael V. Celentano & Boris Derow*
Giorgio Germont - Joseph Gansert
Flora Bervoix - Ema Mitrovic
Annina - Aurora Bella Geis & Charlotte Detrick*
Gastone de Letorieres - Scott Ruben La Marca and Ai Ra*
Barone Douphol - Jay Stephenson
Marchese d'Obigny - Phillip Bullock Dottore
Grenvil - Charles D. Carter
Giuseppe - Ai Ra and Mark Martinez*
Commissioner - Vladimir Avetsian
CHORUS Charlotte Detrick, Perri Sussman, Aditi Tawde, and Yaffe Ovsishcher
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THE LITTLE OPERA THEATRE OF NY
@thelittleoperatheatreofny
What: American One Acts, a double bill
When: June 3, 2022 at 7:30pm
Where: Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67th Street
the little OPERA theatre of ny
in association with National Black Theatre and Harlem Opera Theater present:
LOTNY's new project American One Acts, a double bill, will pair Highway 1, U.S.A. by William Grant Still, libretto by Verna Arvey, with Down in the Valley by Kurt Weill, libretto by Arnold Sundgaard. The spring preview concert will feature highlights from both operas along with other music by the composers.
The Conductor & Music Director for the concert is Harlem Opera Theater's Artistic Director Gregory Hopkins, who is joined by LOTNY Associate Musician Catherine Miller at the piano. Featured Artists include Soprano Carami Hilaire, Mezzo-Soprano Sarah Nelson Craft, Tenor Antonio Chase, Jr., Baritones Kyle Oliver and Adam Richardson, and Bass Gregory Sheppard. The performance is directed by Philip Shneidman.
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OPERA LAFAYETTE
@operalafayette
What: Silvain
When: June 7, 2022 at 7pm
Where: Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
Silvain (1770) was both a favorite of Marie-Antoinette in France and the first opera performed in New Orleans in 1796. Surprisingly, the opera's story of family conflict ?and reconciliation also upheld the rights of peasants to use land owned by the nobles.
In the early 19th century, French entrepreneurs moved to the American southwest and acquired vast tracts of land from the Mexican government. They guaranteed the peasants who settled these lands the same privileges as those at the center of the drama in Grétry and Marmontel's opera. Conflicts around these rights in the United States have continued to the present day, and this story's resonance in the New World has inspired Opera Lafayette's setting of this modern premiere of Silvain.
Artistic Team:
Ryan Brown, conductor
Tania Hernández Velasco, stage direction and scenic images
Patricia Michaels, costume design
Josh Higgason, projection design
Linn Cary Mehta, translation and adaptation
Cast:
Camille Ortiz, Hélène
Victor Sicard, Dolmon, Fils ainé, sous le nom de Silvain
Samantha Louis-Jean, Pauline
Teresa Castillo, Lucette
Jehú Otero, Bazile
Nathan Berg, Dolmon père
The Opera Lafayette Orchestra
Chorus:
Gilbert Chavez
Jose M. Pietri-Coimbre
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What: The Musical Salon of Marie Antoinette
When: June 8, 2022 at 7pm
Where: Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
As the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Marie Antoinette had ?an extraordinary education? in ?music and dance.? After marrying? the? French Dauphin?in ?1770 ?and becoming Queen of France? in? 1774, she became ?a ?patron ?of contemporary composers ?and performed? frequently? in her own salon as ?a? harpist. This program brings the listener into her salon at Versailles to hear airs and chamber works? of Gluck, the Caribbean-born Chevalier de Saint Georges, and Phillip Hinner, a survivor of the ill-fated colony Kourou in Guinea, among others.?
Cast:
Sandrine -Chatron, harp
Nicholas Phan,?tenor
Sophia Burgos,?soprano
Jacob Ashworth,?violin
Charles Brink, flute
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What: Concert Spirituel Aux Caraïbes
When: June 9, 2022 at 7pm
Where: Museo del Barrio, New York, NY
Pedro Memelsdorff, a musician scholar whose recent research has focused on music in the French colonies in the Caribbean during the 18th century, conceives and leads a program highlighting French music performed there between 1760 and 1790.? The musical life of the colonies involved enslaved, formerly enslaved, and free peoples, and Memelsdorff's program addresses the extraordinarily complicated dynamics between the musical culture of imperial France and the people of the Caribbean.? Well-known French composers from the 18th? century and newly rediscovered works are represented in this orchestral ?concert with vocal soloists and ensemble.
Artistic Team:
Pedro Memelsdorff, guest conductor
Josh Higgason, projection design
Cast:
Samantha Louis-Jean, soprano
Sophia Burgos, soprano
Sishel Claverie, mezzo-soprano
Jehú Otero, tenor
Victor Sicard, baritone
Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
The Opera Lafayette Orchestra
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OPERA PRAKTIKOS
Instagram: @opera.praktikos
Twitter: @OPraktikos
What: Orlando: Hero of Love
When: June 2, and June 11
Where: Campos Community Garden & Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Handel's baroque opera Orlando, about a knight from the Crusades, dramatizes the classic struggle between love and glory. Our adaptation views this story with a contemporary sensibility, centering on the core question 'What is love?', exploring how we can confront madness and transcend pain during a great time of loss.
Opera Praktikos: "We make opera accessible and want our audience to 'feel seen' when they come to see Orlando. We want you to have an experience of identifying with the struggles of our characters and be with them as they find a pathway into healing."
Cast:
Jeffrey Mandelbaum as Orlando - (The Enchanted Island)
Heather Hill as Angelica - (Other World)
Hai-Ting Chinn as Medoro - (Einstein on the Beach)
Elyse Anne Kakacek as Dorinda - (Princess Maleine)
Hans Tashjian as Zoroastro - (The Barber of Seville)*
*appearing courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera
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UNTITLED THEATER COMPANY NO. 61
@EdwardEinhorn
What: Holiday Operas Workshop
When: June 2 at 7:30pm
Where: OperaAmerica
Selections from two operas in development. Exagoge, composed by Avner Finberg, adapts the oldest known Jewish play (written in the 2nd Century by Ezekiel the Tragedian) into a modern opera. The original play was based on the story of the Exodus, and the modern opera is set at a Passover seder.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, composed by Nell Carter Cohen, adapts the L. Frank Baum book of the same name. It is a fantasy adjacent to Baum's best know works, with characters from Oz series as well as classic characters like a young Santa Claus and Jack Frost. Both have librettos written by Edward Einhorn.
Untitled Theater Company No. 61: "The arts are a celebration of what it means to be human, and in the most difficult times, it is good to be reminded there are also still reasons to celebrate."
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NEW YORK OPERA ALLIANCE (NYOA) is a consortium of New York City opera companies and producers established to enhance and support the visibility and viability of opera in NYC. Founded in 2011, NYOA has grown from 13 organizations to close to 50 strong. Since 2013, NYOA has been fiscally sponsored by OPERA America. They believe that New Yorkers and visitors to New York alike can be better informed about the breadth, range and vitality of New York City's opera-producing community. NYOA is a community-driven organization; together, they aspire to increase awareness of participating organizations, share ideas and resources, and generate revenue for collaborative projects. nyoperaalliance.org
OPERA America is the national membership organization for artists, administrators, trustees, and audiences, dedicated to supporting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera. Based in New York City at the National Opera Center, a custom-built rehearsal and performance facility for the opera field, OPERA America is committed to advancing new work, audience engagement, civic practice, artist and leadership development, research, national advocacy, and an inclusive industry that moves opera forward in America. operaamerica.org
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