New York City Opera Celebrates

New York City Opera celebrates its return to the stage of the renovated David H. Koch Theater with an opening night gala on Thursday, November 5, 2009, featuring a program of all-American music entitled American Voices. The festive event will honor David H. Koch, in recognition of his $100 million lead gift to City Opera's joint capital campaign with New York City Ballet, and also will welcome New York City Opera's new General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel.

American Voices, a concert of beloved selections from American opera and musical theater, boasts stars who have appeared at New York City Opera early in their illustrious careers, along with several debuting artists and special guests. The evening will highlight City Opera's founding commitment to young American artists and its history of launching the careers of some of the finest singers in the world. Past City Opera artists, including Amy Burton, Joyce Castle, Anna Christy, Joyce DiDonato, Lauren Flanigan, Anthony Dean Griffey, Marc Kudisch, Samuel Ramey, and maestros George Manahan and Julius Rudel, will perform, along with debut guests Measha Brueggergosman, Talise Trevigne, and Kelley O'Connor. The program will feature the New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright also will perform as a special guest during the concert. The concert also will feature a special guest performance by New York City Ballet - a fitting partnership to recognize the 50th Anniversary of Lincoln Center.

"What better way to mark this new beginning for City Opera than to celebrate the traditions of American musical stage, which is always perpetually reinventing itself and starting fresh?" stated General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel. "As we step back onto the stage for our 2009-2010 season-and what a stage it is, thanks to David H. Koch's generosity-the sound of great American music and great American voices carry us forward into New York City Opera's future-a future that begins now."

"City Opera's loyal fans have supported the company very generously for the last two years," said David H. Koch, "and they, more than anyone, will be overjoyed to see them performing again at full strength." Mr. Koch continued, "Having visited the theater during the height of its renovation, I can verify that an extraordinary amount of work is being done to improve it, and that the finished results will be magnificent."

The concert program will feature selections including Stravinsky's Fanfare for a New Theater, Floyd's Revival Scene from Susannah (with the New York City Opera Chorus), Rufus Wainwright's "Les feux d'artifice" from Prima Donna, an excerpt from Adams's "Hallelujah Junction" with the New York City Ballet, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Billy's Soliloquy from Carousel and Weill's Ice Cream Sextet from Street Scene. Works from Bernstein, Bolcom, Golijov, Barber, Menotti, Moore and Gershwin also will be featured.

The gala will include dinner and dancing to Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, offering sounds of 1920s and '30s jazz and popular music, and a live auction of luxury items and unique experiences to be auctioned off by Jamie Niven, Chairman of Sotheby's North and South America. Décor and flowers will be designed by David Stark, and catering will be provided by Danny Meyer's Hudson Yards Catering.

All proceeds from the gala support City Opera's mission to produce innovative productions of new and classic work, reach a wide audience with affordable ticket prices, and bring music into the lives of thousands of students each year through the Opera's acclaimed education programs in the New York City public schools.

*New York City Opera wishes to extend its gratitude to the Metropolitan Opera for graciously allowing Joyce DiDonato and Samuel Ramey to appear on the American Voices program.

Tickets

All festivities will take place at the David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater) at Lincoln Center (West 63rd St & Columbus Avenue). Continuing New York City Opera's mission to make opera accessible to all, ticket prices for the concert performance American Voices, along with all other City Opera productions, start at $12 and can be purchased in person at the box office, online at nycOpera.com, or by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500. For tickets to the Theater Debut celebration, including the concert, please contact the New York City Opera Special Events Department at 212-870-5595.

Gala guests will enjoy cocktails starting at 6:00pm, followed by premium seats to American Voices at 7:00 pm. After the performance, guests will join stars of the concert for a black tie dinner and dancing on the Grand Promenade.

New York City Opera's 2009-2010 season reaffirms the company's historic mission to present innovative productions, to champion contemporary works, to rediscover early and lesser-known operas, and to promote American artists. The season will open with Hugo Weisgall's masterpiece Esther (opening Saturday, November 7, 2009), which is being revived for the first time since New York City Opera presented the opera's world premiere in 1993. And as a pièce d'occasion for the company's return to the stage of the David H. Koch Theater, George Steel has commissioned a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni (opening Sunday, November 8) - part comedy, part melodrama, part supernatural morality play - from director Christopher Alden. The company's spring season of revivals will begin with City Opera's sparkling production of Chabrier's rarely performed L'Étoile (opening with a gala performance on March 18, 2010). This will be followed by the company's Emmy Award-winning production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly (opening Friday, March 19, 2010) and Handel's romantic comedy Partenope (opening Saturday, April 3).

 

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