North Carolina Opera Announces 2013-14 Season

On Monday, July 29 the North Carolina Opera announced its new season at a kick-off event hosted by CAM Raleigh. Over 250 fans and friends of the organization excitedly gathered for the unveiling of the new season presented by NCO Artistic Director & Principal Conductor Timothy Myers, and to hear live performances of excerpts from each opera.

Rolled into this season is the already announced Mozart's Così fan tutte ("The School for Lovers") with performances on October 3 and 5 at 8pm and October 6 at 3pm at Raleigh's Fletcher Opera Theater in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Mozart's entertaining masterpiece makes comedic magic with the disguises we wear for love. In 18th-century Naples, an old bachelor decides to teach two soldiers a lesson about romance, incurring a dazzling plot full of feigned poisonings, scheming chambermaids, sham weddings, and sudden reversals of fidelity. Conducted by NCO Artistic Director & Principal Conductor Timothy Myers with stage direction by Michael Shell, the cast includes Elizabeth De Trejo as Fiordiligi, Durham native Cecelia Hall as Dorabella, Tyler Nelson as Ferrando, Brevard native Sidney Outlaw as Guglielmo, Jake Gardner as Don Alfonso, and Cary native Hailey Clark as Despina.

Puccini's La bohème will be presented on January 24 at 8pm and January 26 at 3pm at Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh's Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. This ravishing heartbreaker -the inspiration for Broadway's RENT- opens on a snowy Christmas Eve in 1830s Paris. The poet Rodolfo's chance encounter with the seamstress Mimi, who harbors a terrible secret, sparks a passionate and timeless story about young lovers hurled together by fortune and driven apart by jealousy. Winston-Salem Symphony music director Robert Moody and stage director Crystal Manich lead a cast that includes Angela Fout as Mimi, Eric Barry as Rodolfo, Troy Cook as Marcello and Soloman Howard as Colline.

"In our first three seasons we quickly proved that NCO is a vibrant, growing organization presenting a broad variety of repertoire featuring world-class artists. I couldn't be more thrilled to announce this 13/14 season, which demonstrates our commitment not only to continuing our exploration into the wealth of operatic repertoire, but also to extending our reach even further into the community, connecting with people of all ages and walks of life." says Timothy Myers, North Carolina Opera's Artistic Director and Principal Conductor.

The North Carolina premiere of Dvo?ák's Rusalka, conducted by Timothy Myers, is presented as a one-time performance on March 30 at 3pm at Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Smitten by a prince, the water nymph Rusalka convinces a witch-by singing the famously gorgeous aria "Song to the Moon"-to make her human in exchange for her voice. Dvorak's lush melodies bring this beloved story to life in this dramatic semi-staged performance directed by Crystal Manich. The stunning cast includes Joyce El-Khoury as Rusalka, Russell Thomas as the Prince, Heidi Melton as the Foreign Princess, Tom Fox as Vodnik, and Margaret Gawrysiak as Ježibaba.

In addition to the main stage repertoire offerings, NCO is proud to announce two special events.

On November 25, NCO in collaboration with CAM Raleigh will present New Music Raleigh in the North Carolina premiere of All Souls. All Souls, by composer and Duke faculty member John Supko, is a setting of nine excerpts from the novel All Souls Day by the Dutch author Cees Nooteboom for soprano, chamber orchestra, and electronic sampler. Falling somewhere between the categories of melodrama, radio play and opera, All Souls uses live and recorded voices to bring to life the intense relationship of Arthur Daane, a widowed, middle-aged documentary filmmaker, and Elik Oranje, a beautiful, mysterious woman half his age whom he meets in Berlin in the winter sometime in the late 1990's. All Souls contains mature content and is not recommended for younger audiences. Timothy Myers conducts the New Music Raleigh chamber orchestra featuring soprano Ashleigh Semkiw in this non-subscription event. Tickets on sale soon!

Closing the new season is the new event Opera in the Pines, a concert presented at Cary's outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre on May 17 at 7pm. Opera is for everyone, and nowhere is that more keenly felt than in a beautiful outdoor setting such as Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheatre. Join Maestro Myers, the NC Opera Orchestra and spectacular featured singers for this engaging program of popular opera and Broadway favorites. With free admission for children under 14 years of age, this will be a fun and casual evening the whole family can enjoy. This special event is not sold as part of the subscription series but as a single ticket add-on option. Single tickets (outside of a subscription) will be available on September 9, 2013.Performance is Rain or shine.

North Carolina Opera General Director Eric Mitchko adds "Our fourth season will have a great mix of familiar and unfamiliar repertoire, with exceptional singers. We think audiences will love the season, and are very excited about performing for the first time at Koka Booth"

Season subscriptions start at just $66 and are on sale now by calling the North Carolina Opera Box Office at 919.792.3850 or filling out the order form available on www.ncopera.org. Single tickets for individual operas start at $25 and will go on sale in early September.

As part of the 2013/14 season kick-off, the North Carolina Opera has also launched a new website. Created by local web developers Click Culture, the new site is a great destination for easily purchasing tickets, learning more about performances and cast members, reading up press releases and News Articles and staying up to date on all that the NCO is up to. Visit the new site at www.ncopera.org.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA OPERA

North Carolina Opera was formed in 2010 from the merger of Capital Opera Raleigh and The Opera Company of North Carolina. It is dedicated to presenting operatic performances at the highest level throughout the Triangle. We also have a robust education program that brings opera to schools across Wake County and surrounding counties. North Carolina Opera brings international level artists to Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and also engages the best in local Triangle talent. Follow us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/NorthCarolinaOpera or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ncopera for up to date information on events in the community, news and more.

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