Harvard College Opera Presents Stravinsky's THE RAKE'S PROGRESS This Weekend

Cambridge, MA - Tickets are now on sale for Harvard College Opera's production of Stravinsky's 20th century neoclassical English opera The Rake's Progress. Performances will take place tonight, February 4, and February 5 and 6 at 7:30pm, at Agassiz Theater on the Harvard University campus (10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA). A reception will follow the performance on opening night. Tickets ($10-$20) may be purchased through the Harvard Box Office (1350 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA - boxoffice.harvard.edu - 617.496.2222) or at the door pending availability.

About the Opera - In Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical English opera The Rake's Progress, young Tom Rakewell seems set for a placid life in the suburbs with his sweetheart Anne Trulove-that is, until slick Nick Shadow shows up unexpectedly with the news that Tom has inherited a fortune. Pockets loaded, Tom ditches suburbia for the carnal delights of the city, where his debauchery gets him mixed up with the bearded showgirl Baba the Turk. Lost in a world of vice, Tom becomes enchanted by Shadow's ability to fulfill his every desire. But will he wake up to find that he's taken a trip to Sin City with the devil?

About the Artists - The Rake's Progress features an entirely undergraduate cast, production staff, and orchestra of over fifty students from Harvard College, Boston University, MIT, Wellesley, and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. In the lead roles are tenor Andy Troska (Tom Rakewell), soprano Asia Stewart (Anne Trulove), baritone Eric Ritter (Nick Shadow), and mezzo- soprano Randa Melhem (Baba the Turk). Music Director Jake Wilder-Smith is a conductor, composer, and senior at Harvard College concentrating in English. He also conducted HCO's 2014 production of Mozart's Così fan tutte. Stage Director Joule Voelz is a Harvard junior concentrating in history, and Rake's is her directorial debut.

The Harvard College Opera Society, formerly the Dunster House Opera Society, was founded in 1992 by Dunster House students as the premier undergraduate opera company dedicated to making opera more accessible to the greater Harvard community. Harvard College Opera (HCO) presents one full-length opera in English each February with an entirely- undergraduate cast and production team. Throughout the academic year, HCO hosts a variety of smaller-scale events, from opera screenings to free recitals of songs, arias, and opera scenes. 2016 marks HCO's third year performing in the historic Agassiz Theater after leaving its residency in Dunster House in 2013.