New York City Opera Presents PRIDE IN THE PARK As Part Of Bryant Park Picnic Performances
The one-night-only performance is accompanied by live music, featuring a diverse program of selections from opera and musical theater.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 15, 2022
New York City Opera will present the annual Pride in the Park concert on Friday, June 17, 2022 at 7pm as part of Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America.
The one-night-only performance is accompanied by live music, featuring a diverse program of selections from opera and musical theater sung by Glenn Seven Allen, Chelsea Bonagura, Lauren Hoffmeier, Brian James Myer, Peter Kendall Clark, Melanie Long, Jessica Tyler Wright and Jordan Weatherston Pitts, as well as the LaGuardia High School Choir, with Jeanne Cascio, Director.
In addition, Daria Hrabova Capasso and Oleksandra Hrabova will sing Ukrainian songs in tribute with Music Direction by Kathryn Olander. Entry is on a first-come, first-served basis. Performances are designed to be enjoyed casually - no tickets required - with ample seating available and free picnic blankets for audience members to borrow. For more information, visit bryantpark.org/picnics.
"'The People's Opera' is thrilled to return to our summer home at Bryant Park, where we can continue our mission of free performances for New York audiences," said Michael Capasso, General Director of New York City Opera
The series of free, live performances continues with La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor. Each performance features City Opera's brightest stars as well as members of the City Opera orchestra and will begin at 7pm on the Bryant Park Stage.
Attendees may bring their own food or purchase from on-site food and beverage vendors near the Lawn. At most performances, attendees can purchase food from a rotating line-up of local NYC vendors curated by Hester Street Fair. COVID-19 vaccinations and masks are not currently required but Bryant Park will continue to monitor and follow updated New York City and New York State COVID-19 guidelines throughout the summer as necessary.
For anyone unable to attend in person, free livestream broadcasts of the performances will be available nationwide via Bryant Park's website and social media platforms.
New York City Opera was famously dubbed "The People's Opera" by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia at its founding in 1943. More than 75 years later, City Opera continues its historic mission to inspire audiences with innovative and theatrically compelling opera, nurture the work of promising American artists, and build new audiences through affordable ticket prices and extensive outreach and education programs. Picnic Performances continues the tradition of opera in Bryant Park.
The 2022 Picnic Performances season is possible due to the generous support of Bank of America. "Bank of America is a long-standing supporter of the arts because we believe that a thriving arts and cultural community benefits both society and the economy," said José Tavarez, President, Bank of America New York City. "So we are thrilled to once again sponsor Picnic Performances and combine our commitment to the arts with our partnership with Bryant Park. Together we're helping New York City's iconic cultural scene to thrive, while promoting green spaces and providing free access to live New York City music, dance and theater."
Upcoming Performance Details:
La traviata
August 12, 2022 at 7pm
An abridged adaptation of Verdi's classic that inspired Moulin Rouge, with instantly recognizable tunes famously featured in Pretty Woman. Soprano Ekaterina Siurina and renowned tenor Charles Castronovo appear with Michael Chioldi, baritone and star of last summer's Rigoletto (a role he recently stepped into at the Metropolitan Opera for a series of critically acclaimed performances), with City Opera Music Director Maestro Constantine Orbelian at the helm.
Lucia di Lammermoor
September 2, 2022 at 7pm
Think Romeo and Juliet, but set in Scotland. Donizetti's brilliant score is the height of drama and the pinnacle of the Bel Canto style in this abridged version starring world-renowned soprano Sarah Coburn and the captivating tenor Nathan Granner, and conducted by Constantine Orbelian.
Since its founding in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as "The People's Opera," New York City Opera (NYCO) has been a critical part of the city's cultural life. During its history, New York City Opera launched the careers of dozens of major artists and presented engaging productions of both mainstream and unusual operas alongside commissions and regional premieres. The result was a uniquely American Opera Company of international stature.
For more than seven decades, New York City Opera has maintained a distinct identity, adhering to its unique mission: affordable ticket prices, a devotion to American works, English-language performances, the promotion of up-and-coming American singers, and seasons of accessible, vibrant and compelling productions intended to introduce new audiences to the art form. Stars who launched their careers at New York City Opera include Plácido Domingo, Catherine Malfitano, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, Beverly Sills, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Vaness, and Shirley Verrett, among dozens of other great artists. New York City Opera has a long history of inclusion and diversity. It was the first major opera company to feature African American singers in leading roles (Todd Duncan as Tonio in Pagliacci, 1945; Camilla Williams in the title role in Madama Butterfly, 1946); the first to produce a new work by an African-American composer (William Grant Still, Troubled Island, 1949); and the first to have an African-American conductor lead its orchestra (Everett Lee, 1955).
A revitalized City Opera re-opened in January 2016 with Tosca, the opera that originally launched the company in 1944. Outstanding productions during the four years since then include: the world premieres of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's Stonewall, which NYCO commissioned and developed, legendary director Harold Prince's new production of Bernstein's Candide; Puccini's beloved La Fanciulla del West; and the New York premiere of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas - the first in its Ópera en Español series.
Subsequent Ópera en Español productions include the New York premiere of the world's first mariachi opera, José "Pepe" Martinez's Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, Literes's Los Elementos, and Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires. In addition to the world premiere of Stonewall, the productions in NYCO's Pride Initiative, which produces an LGBTQ-themed work each June during Pride Month, include the New York premiere of Péter Eötvös's Angels in America and the American premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain.
New York City Opera has presented such talents as Anna Caterina Antonacci and Aprile Millo in concert, as well as its own 75th Anniversary Concert in Bryant Park, one in a series of the many concerts and staged productions that it presents each year as part of the Park's summer performance series. City Opera's acclaimed summer series in Bryant Park brings free performances to thousands of New Yorkers and visitors every year.
New York City Opera continues its legacy with main stage performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater and with revitalized outreach and education programs at venues throughout the city, designed to welcome and inspire a new generation of opera audiences. City Opera's acclaimed summer series in Bryant Park brings free performances to thousands of New Yorkers and visitors every year.
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