Jason C. Tramm Concludes Grand Opera Tour with Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY

The 19th century phrase "Grand Tour" conjures the pivotal rite of passage essential in the creation of the complete artist. With the Palmetto Opera's March 4th production of Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" Jason C. Tramm concludes an ambitious, three-week long series of guest conducting appearances with opera companies throughout the East, Florida and Illinois.

Jason Tramm's prior engagements with regional opera companies and orchestras (MidAtlantic Opera, The Adelphi Orchestra, the New Jersey State Opera) have typically taken place in venues within the New York/New Jersey Tri-State region- among them Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Newark Symphony Hall, The Great Auditorium Ocean Grove and SOPAC. Over the past three weeks in collaboration with noted artistic director Giorgio Lalov, Tramm conducted seven performances of opera's most beloved masterworks in lavish productions throughout the Midwest, Florida, New Hampshire, New York State and South Carolina to full houses and an enthusiastic press. Georges Bizet's "Carmen," Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" and Verdi's "La Traviata" met with standing ovations - underscoring OPERA NEWS appraisal of Lalov's work "his staging tells the story clearly... Something personal and passionate that is often missing from other evenings of opera."

In "Madama Butterfly," Tramm returns to the podium with the Palmetto Opera. Last year he conducted the company in a concert entitled "Great Voices from Broadway to Opera" with an international cast of soloists and orchestra featuring musicians of the South Carolina Philharmonic. In Palmetto Opera's March 4th production of "Madama Butterfly" Tramm will conduct a full chorus and orchestra comprised of members of South Carolina Philharmonic with featured soloists Puerto Rican soprano Melliangee Perez as Cio-Cio-San, Australian tenor Benjamin Slowman as B. F. Pinkerton, Bulgarian baritone Dobromir Momekov as Sharpless, mezzo-soprano Viara Zhelezova as Suzuki and Stanislava Ivanova as Kate, Pinkerton's American wife. Midlands opera singers in supporting roles include tenor Jonathan Philippe Cawley as Prince Yamdori, and eight year old Selena Gabriela Cruz, as Sorrow, the child of Butterfly and Pinkerton. Set and costume designs and stage direction for the production, by Giorgio Lalov.

Jason C. Tramm's work in the symphonic, operatic, and choral repertoire has received acclaim nationally and internationally. Noted productions include a world premiere of the Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in Tirana, Albania at the request of the US Embassy. As Artistic Director for the NJ State Opera Tramm conducted the 75th anniversary production of the Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at Newark Symphony Hall and conducted the HDTV broadcast presentation with PBS affiliate NJN, of "Verdi Requiem: Live from Ocean Grove" which garnered a regional Emmy Award nomination. Tramm currently serves as Director of Music Ministries, Ocean Grove CMA, conducting sacred and secular works. His concerts from the historic Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, New Jersey include national broadcasts of Léon Boëllmann's Fantasie-Dialogue for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 35 with famed organist Gordon Turk and the Rittenhouse Orchestra, and Alexandre Guilmant's Symphony Number 1 in d for Organ and Orchestra featured on American Public Media's "Pipe Dreams." Tramm conducted the MidAtlantic Opera's 2014 productions of Verdi's Rigoletto and the Verdi Bicentennial production "Verdiana'. A member of the faculty at Seton Hall University (Assistant Professor and Director of Choral Activities, College of Communication and the Arts) Tramm leads the University Choir, Chamber Choir and Orchestra. In 2015 Tramm made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting "A Prayer for Peace" which featured Behzad Ranjbaran's Elegy for Cello and Strings, Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem and Adnan Saygun's Selections from Yunis Emre. In December 2016 Tramm led the Oltenia Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Academic Choir in Romania. On July 16, 2017 Maestro Tramm will conduct Beethoven's MASS IN C MAJOR / CHORAL FANTASY for the Narnia Festival in Rome.

The Palmetto Opera began in 2001 with a vision of bringing professional opera to the Midlands and South Carolina, to further opera's multi-faceted role as a force in entertainment and the arts, education, and its impact on economic development in the community and state. Opera Palmetto's debut came in 2003, with a concert performance of "Love, Murder & Revenge," featuring scenes from famous operas. In 2007 a sold out performances of "The Marriage of Figaro" firmly established The Palmetto Opera as a regional producer of grand opera. Recent productions include the company's successful mounting of Verdi's Rigoletto in February 2016.

For tickets, visit: www.kogercenterforthearts.com or call Box Office
Adults $45/Military $25. Group discounts are available for 10 or more. Student Rush tickets will be available starting at 6pm on March 4th and the cost for students with appropriate student ID will be $15. Tickets must be purchased at the Koger Center for the Arts KIOSK in the lobby.

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