James Conlon Conducts Colburn Musicians in Concert, 1/20-22

It was announced today that The Colburn School will present James Conlon, music director of the Los Angeles Opera, conducting  Domingo-Thornton Young Artists and musicians of the Colburn Orchestra in an operatic double-bill in  performances from January 20-22, 2012. Mr. Conlon will lead a lecture prior to each performance.

The three performances are a unique opportunity to hear the stars of the future in classical music and opera under the direction of internationally recognized leading conductor James Conlon. The performances feature two one-act, semi-staged operas:  Viktor Ullmann’s "The Emperor of Atlantis” and Ernst Krenek’s "The Secret Kingdom."

Mr. Conlon, who is also the music director of the Ravinia Festival (summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and the Cincinnati May Festival, has devoted himself to extensive programming of the works of composers whose lives and compositions were suppressed by the Nazi regime with his programming for the “Recovered Voices” series for LA Opera and “Breaking the Silence” series at Ravinia.  The January 2012 performances in The Colburn School’s Zipper Hall continue this work: "The Emperor of Atlantis" was created in 1943 by composer Viktor Ullmann and librettist Peter Kien while they were imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp at Terezín. "The Secret Kingdom" is by Ernst Krenek, who immigrated to America after his works were labeled “degenerate” by the Nazis.