New York City Opera Announces Additional Productions For Its 2018-2019 Season

The New York City Opera, under the leadership of General Director Michael Capasso, announces three new productions in addition to its previously announced June 2019 premiere of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's opera, STONEWALL. City Opera's 2018-19 season will open Monday, October 22 at (le) Poisson Rouge with a production of Astor Piazzolla's "tango operita" MARIA de BUENOS AIRES. The fourth installment in the company's popular Ópera en Español series, this co-production with Atlanta Opera features soprano Catalina Cuervo, the world's foremost interpreter of the title role. The intimate production, conducted by Jorge Parodi and directed by Atlanta Opera General director Tomer Zvulun, has been praised by Opera News for its "undeniable authenticity."

The company's second world premiere production of the coming season will be Ted Rosenthal's jazz opera DEAR ERICH. A winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and a major presence in New York's jazz scene, Rosenthal employs the musical idioms of the 1930's and 40's in this poignant retelling of his own family history. Performance dates and venue for DEAR ERICH will be announced at a later date.

To kick off New York's 2019 Pride Month celebrations, City Opera will present Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed's AS ONE, in a co-production with American Opera Projects, opening Thursday, May 30, 2019 at Merkin Concert Hall. The Washington Post hailed this innovative chamber opera, which employs two singers to tell the story of one transgender protagonist as "a thoughtful and substantial piece as well as that rarest of operatic commodities - a story that lends itself to dramatization in music."

General Director Michael Capasso says: "from its beginning, this administration has envisioned New York City Opera as a company dedicated to the people of this city and their stories. That commitment is more evident than ever in this season's four productions. Our season opens with the beguiling work of Astor Piazzolla, a composer whose unique musical language owes much to his childhood spent in the immigrant neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan. We proudly showcase two contemporary New York composers whose works are expanding the definition of opera: Laura Kaminsky, whose powerful opera As One has had unrivaled popular success, and Ted Rosenthal, who has set to music a heartbreaking family story that is mirrored in the families of so many of our fellow New Yorkers. And of course, the centerpiece of our season, the world premiere of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's Stonewall, celebrates the resilience of our community and commemorates a moment in New York history that changed the world."

In addition to these three staged productions, New York City Opera will present a series of concerts featuring some of today's leading artists, including the return of famed soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci in a program of art songs by women composers on Monday, January 28, 2019 at the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Ms. Antonacci's appearance last February was widely hailed as a highlight of New York's cultural season. Critic Richard Sasanow raved in Broadway World "she opened her mouth and sang...and I knew I was in the right place: heaven." Additional concerts will be announced at a later date.

New York City Opera's previously announced co-production with the Glimmerglass Festival of Robert Ward's THE CRUCIBLE, directed by Francesca Zambello, has been postponed until the 2019-2020 season.

Casting and additional artistic credits for all three productions will be announced at a later date.

To post a comment, you must register and login.