The New School's Mannes School of Music and Parsons School of Design Present FLIGHT, 5/9-10

The New School's Mannes School of Music and Parsons School of Design co-present the New York City premiere of Flight, by composer Jonathan Dove. Music students from Mannes Opera and Mannes Orchestrawill perform the three-act opera, in a fully-staged production featuring costume and set design by students from Parsons, The New School's world-renowned art and design school.

Performances will take place Saturday, May 9, at 7:30 pm and Sunday, May 10, at 1:30 pm at John Jay College's Gerald W. Lynch Theater (524 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019). Tickets, $25 general/$10 students & seniors, are available atwww.ticketcentral.com or by calling 212.279.4200.

The New York City premiere of Flight showcases Mannes' new approach to educating and training young artists through collaboration across disciplines. Mannes Opera Artistic Director Joseph Colaneri is conducting, Mannes faculty memberLaura Alley is directing, and Parsons faculty members Alla Eizenberg and John Jerard are leading their students incollaborating with Mannes Opera design team Roger Hanna (sets), Helen E. Rodgers (costumes), Jeff Davis (lighting), and Amanda Miller (wigs and makeup).

"Twenty-six years ago, Mannes became part of The New School," said Executive Dean for the Performing Arts Richard Kessler. "Today, we view our operatic co-productions with Parsons School of Design as the vanguard of what is possible when you combine the Mannes music education with other vital disciplines, in this instance the field of design. We were thrilled by the results of last year's first effort, Il Postino, and have no doubt that the energy and collaborative spirit of work across these two great schools are going to make Flight a very special event."

"This marks the second year Parsons has collaborated with the Mannes Opera, giving further proof to the unique opportunities afforded to students who study at this truly multidisciplinary and cutting edge university," said Executive Dean of Parsons Joel Towers. "Nowhere else in the world can such high caliber of art and design students work so closely with premiere music students to produce a highly regarded production."

Based on the true story of an Iranian refugee trapped and living within Charles de Gaulle Airport, Jonathan Dove's Flight is a warm and funny opera that is lauded for its inventive music and accessibility to diverse audiences. The opera was first performed by the Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1998, and has since been performed across Europe, the United States, and Australia.

"Opera is the universal art form that brings together music, drama and design into a unified, organic whole," said Mannes Opera Artistic Director Joseph Colaneri. "It is a metaphor for the essential interdisciplinary enterprises of a university, especially one as proactively collaborative as The New School. I look forward to watching the artistic sparks fly as the highly talented students of Parsons and Mannes bring their efforts to bear on Jonathan Dove's brilliant Flight."

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Mannes School of Music develops the next generation of classical musician/citizens by combining the music conservatory traditions with the cutting-edge advantage of being part of The New School, the nation's foremost progressive university. Founded in 1916, the Mannes formula for quality education has capitalized on its world-class faculty, location in the heart of the global arts capital, small class size, and a living tradition of rigor and depth that develops strong technique and great artistry. The Mannes ethos forms the basis of a vibrant community, whether you are a degree or diploma student in the College or Extension divisions, or a young person studying in Mannes Prep. In this second decade of the 21st century, when demands on artists are greater and more complex than ever, Mannes is committed to providing a wide range of exciting learning and knowledge building in partnership with its sister divisions of The New School, including one of the world's great design schools, Parsons School of Design; the liberal arts at Eugene Lang College; public policy, business, and civic engagement in the Schools of Public Engagement; and cross disciplinary arts learning at the School of Jazz and the School of Drama. For more information on Mannes and The New School visit www.newschool.edu/mannes.

Parsons School of Design is a global leader in design education, with programs that span the disciplines of design and the fine arts. With the launch of its fashion design program in 1906, Parsons is credited with the rise of Seventh Avenue, the epicenter of American fashion. Parsons offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design, Associate degrees in Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing, and a Master of Fine Arts Program in Fashion Design and Society initiated through the support of Parsons alumna Donna Karan. Parsons has educated generations of leading American fashion designers, including Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi, Tracy Reese, Narciso Rodriguez, Anna Sui, Prabal Gurung, Derek Lam, Proenza Schouler, Vena Cava, Alexander Wang, and Jason Wu. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu/parsons.

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