MN Opera's Michael Christie Leads World Premiere of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE at The Ordway, Now thru 3/15

Minnesota Opera Music Director Michael Christie leads the world premiere performances of The Manchurian Candidate, tonight, March 7-15, 2015 in the Music Theater at Ordway.

This new opera by Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell is based on the novel by Richard Condon and directed by Kevin Newbury. The Manchurian Candidate, a Minnesota Opera New Works Initiative Production, traces the suspenseful story of an American soldier decorated during the Korean War who is brainwashed into becoming an unwitting assassin in a conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.

The Manchurian Candidate cast includes tenor Leonardo Capalbo as Captain Ben Marco, baritone Matthew Worth as Sergeant Raymond Shaw, soprano Brenda Harris as Eleanor Iselin, and bass Daniel Sumegi as Senator Johnny Iselin.

Watch a discussion with the creative team hosted by Michael Christie: http://bit.ly/ManchurianCandidateDiscussion.

Watch excerpts from Minnesota Opera's rehearsals: http://bit.ly/ManchurianCandidatePreview.

The Manchurian Candidate performances are part of ROCK THE ORDWAY: 22 Days of Opening Nights marking the grand opening of the new state-of-the-art Concert Hall at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. The celebration kicks off on February 28 with a Gala evening featuring The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra led by Michael Christie, in collaborative performances with Minnesota Opera Chorus, pianist Jeremy Denk, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and more. ROCK THE ORDWAY is organized by The Arts Partnership, a nonprofit collaboration among Minnesota Opera, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO), and The Schubert Club.

The Manchurian Candidate follows Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning first opera Silent Night, also led by Christie and with a libretto by Campbell, which Minnesota Opera premiered in 2011. Anthony Tommasini praised Christie's "supple pacing and vitality" in The New York Times when he led the work in 2013 with Opera Company of Philadelphia. Minnesota Opera's production was broadcast nationally on PBS in December 2013. Christie led the European premiere of Silent Night in October 2014 at the Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland and will lead performances in May 2015 with Opéra de Montréal.

The Manchurian Candidate Synopsis: The Manchurian Candidate is based on a 1959 novel by Richard Condon, which inspired two film adaptations. In the story, Captain Ben Marco, Sergeant Raymond Shaw, and the rest of their infantry platoon are kidnapped during the Korean War and brainwashed to believe that Shaw saved their lives in combat - for which Congress awards him the Medal of Honor. Years after the war, Marco begins having a recurring nightmare about Shaw murdering two of their men while under observation by Chinese and Soviet officials. When Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon has been suffering the same nightmare, he determines to solve the mystery.

Minnesota Opera's New Works Initiative: The Manchurian Candidate is part of Minnesota Opera's New Works Initiative, a landmark program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an infusion of contemporary works. Since it was launched in March 2008, the New Works Initiative has produced the American premiere of Jonathan Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio; revivals of Bernard Herrmann's Wuthering Heights, and Dominick Argento's Casanova's Homecoming and The Dream of Valentino; and the world premieres of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Silent Night, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music, and Douglas J. Cuomo's Doubt, with a libretto by John Patrick Shanley. The Shining, with music by Paul Moravec and a libretto by Mark Campbell, based on Stephen King's 1977 best-selling novel, will premiere in 2016 in performances led by Michael Christie. During the 2016-2017 season, Minnesota Opera will premiere Dinner at Eight, a new comic opera by composer William Bolcom and librettist Mark Campbell, based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. In May 2016, Project Opera, Minnesota Opera's youth training program for students in grades 4-12, will premiere Memory Boy as an extension of the New Works Initiative. This new opera by composer Reinaldo Moya and librettist Mark Campbell is based on the novel by Will Weaver. Black Sox, with music by Joel Puckett and a libretto by Eric Simonson, will premiere during the 2018-2019 season and tells the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox team that threw the World Series that year.

About Michael Christie: Michael Christie is a thoughtfully innovative conductor, equally at home in the symphonic and operatic worlds, who is focused on making the audience experience at his performances entertaining, enlightening, and enriching. The New York Times reports, "Michael Christie is a director open to adventure and challenge," and the Cincinnati Enquirer declares, "If Michael Christie represents the future of music in this country, the future looks promising indeed." Christie, who was featured in Opera News in August 2012 as one of 25 people believed "to break out and become major forces in the field in the coming decade," began his tenure as Minnesota Opera's first Music Director in the 2012-2013 season. His 16-year symphonic conducting career has included serving as Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony (2005-2013) and Brooklyn Philharmonic (2005-2010), and as Chief Conductor of the Queensland Orchestra (2001-2004) in Australia, as well as guest appearances leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, the Symphonies of Dallas, St. Louis, Atlanta, Houston, Minnesota, Oregon, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. His New York Philharmonic debut came in March 2007 when he stepped in on short notice for an ailing Riccardo Muti, and his Carnegie Hall debut came in 2014 when he led the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Spring for Music festival. Christie also served as the Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival from 2000-2013, where he was highly praised for his innovative programming and where audiences are now at an all time high, resulting in him being named "Musician of the Year" by The Denver Post in 2010.

Christie is committed to bringing new works to life. During his tenure with the Phoenix Symphony, he premiered works by 16 living composers, and has championed commissions by leading and emerging composers alike, including Osvaldo Golijov, Matthew Hindson, Marjan Mozetich, Stephen Paulus, Michael Daugherty, Mason Bates, Mark Grey, and more. In June 2013, Christie made his San Francisco Opera debut, with the world premiere performances of Mark Adamo's The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Highlights from the 2013-2014 season also included the world premiere of Twenty-Seven, a new opera by Ricky Ian Gordon commissioned by Opera Theatre of St. Louis starring Stephanie Blythe as Gertrude Stein; the world premiere of a new work by Matthew Hindson with the Phoenix Symphony; and productions of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Richard Strauss' Arabella, and Verdi's Macbeth with Minnesota Opera.

In addition to the premiere performances of The Manchurian Candidate, Christie's 2014-2015 season includes performances of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, and Bizet's Carmen; engagements with the Phoenix, Santa Rosa, Elgin, and Kalamazoo Symphonies, and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and a concert of Mozart and Sibelius arias with the Scottish Opera featuring British soprano Rosalind Coad. Notable past engagements include highly praised productions of Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles and John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, and the North American premiere of Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland, all with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; the European premieres of The Ghosts of Versailles at the Wexford Festival Opera; Minnesota Opera performances of Verdi's La traviata, Bernard Herrmann's Wuthering Heights, Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and Donizetti's Anna Bolena; as well as various performances at Opernhaus Zürich and Finnish National Opera.

Christie's many European engagements have included leading the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Orchestre National de Lille, Swedish and Netherlands Radio Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, NDR Hannover Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic. In addition, Christie enjoys a strong profile in Australia, where he has conducted the Sydney Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Opera Queensland, and the Western Australian Symphony in Perth.

Michael Christie first came to international attention in 1995 when he was awarded a special prize for "Outstanding Potential" at the First International Sibelius Conductors' Competition in Helsinki. Following the competition, he was invited to become an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he subsequently worked with Daniel Barenboim as well as at the Berlin State Opera during the 1996-1997 season. For more information, visit www.michaelchristieonline.com. Michael can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/michaelchristieonline and on Twitter as @MC_Conductor.

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