Peggy Kriha Dye to Perform in Opera Atelier in Don Giovanni 11/25

Opera Columbus' 2011-12 season opens with the Columbus premiere of Opera Atelier in Mozart's Don Giovanni. The Toronto-based company specializes in the production of opera, ballet, and drama from the 17th and 18th centuries, drawing upon the aesthetics and ideals of the period, showcasing soloists of international acclaim, and featuring period ballet, elaborate stage decor, exquisite costumes, and an imaginative energy that sets them apart.

In this innovative production arrangement with Opera Columbus, Opera Atelier will employ the talents of local performers-area opera singers for the chorus and the Columbus Symphony for musical accompaniment. Columbus soprano Peggy Kriha Dye will be a principal in the production, performing the role of the jilted lover, Donna Elvira.

Local chorus vocalists will include sopranos Julia Dopp and Carolyn Lee; mezzos Ally Schmaling, Michaella Cipriani, and Kelsey Kelmel; tenors Joe Lerangis, Daniel Lopez, Jeffery Helcher, Jason Hiester, and Michael Kirkman; and baritones Jeff MacMullen, John Schlabach, Nathan Huey, Robert Monsarrat, and Sean Lalik.

Opera Atelier's David Fallis will conduct the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Local tenor Jason Hiester will serve as Chorusmaster. Don Giovanni will also showcase Opera Atelier's full corps of Artists of Atelier Ballet.

Opera Columbus presents Opera Atelier in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) on Friday, November 25, at 8 pm, and Sunday, November 27, at 2 pm. Tickets are $38-$98 at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase by phone, please call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

Mozart's outrageous comedy tells the tale of an incorrigible young playboy who blazes a path to his own destruction in a single day. Based on the story of Don Juan, Don Giovanni follows a skirt-chasing youth who is loved by women almost as universally as he loves them. Featuring soaring music, bloody fights, and mistaken identity, Don Giovanni stands as one of Mozart's greatest comic masterpieces.

"We are thrilled to be creating an all-new production of this spectacular opera, having achieved such success in North America, Japan, and South Korea with our previous production," stated Opera Atelier Founding Co-Artistic Director and Don Giovanni director Marshall Pynkoski. "We believe that Mozart wrote Don Giovanni as a true comedy about a young man who is innocent in many ways. This interpretation is in line with Mozart's own, though it sets us apart from many modern productions."

The production features a stellar cast, including many artists making their professional role debuts. Canadian baritone Phillip Addis, who created a sensation as the Count in Opera Atelier's 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro, will make his debut in the title role. Career highlights include a highly acclaimed Paris debut in the title role of Pelléas et Mélisande with I'Opéra Comique, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and the title role of the rarely performed baritone version of Massenet's Werther with I'Opéra de Montréal.

Vasil Garvanliev (Leporello) is a Macedonian baritone who achieved star status in his native country at the age of seven. He has appeared in Don Giovanni before as Masetto and the title character, but will be making his debut in this production as Leporello. He has just been signed by IMG Artists. Garvanliev will also be appearing in Opera Atelier's Armide as Aronte.

Soprano Carla Huhtanen (Zerlina) is an Opera Atelier favorite best remembered for her Dora-nominated performance as Susanna in 2010's The Marriage of Figaro. Huhtanen was one of Now Magazine's Top Ten Theatre Artists in 2008, and her "amazing versatility and unwavering voice" won her a place on Eye Weekly's Top Ten Great Individual Achievements List of 2007. She will also be appearing in Opera Atelier's Armide as Phenice/Lucinde.

Soprano Peggy Kriha Dye (Donna Elvira) recently made her debut with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Loeffler's Quatre Poems and Maw's Roman Canticle. A former Adler Fellow, Kriha Dye has performed many roles with San Francisco Opera, including Musetta, Poussette, Drusilla, and Gretel. She played the Countess in Opera Atelier's 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro. She will play the title role in Armide this season.

Up-and-coming soprano Meghan Lindsay (Donna Anna) was a young artist with Opera Studio Nederland in the 2010-11 season, where she made her international debut as Euridice in Pierre Audi's production of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and her Concertgebouw debut performing excerpts from Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro. In spring 2012, she will sing Sidonie and Nymphe des Eaux in Armide.

Beloved Opera Atelier baritone Curtis Sullivan (Masetto/Commendatore) has been performing with Opera Atelier for more than 15 years. He starred as Count Almaviva in Opera Atelier's Le Nozze di Figaro in Toronto and Tokyo, and has slo been heard in Charpentier's Medée, as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Neptune in Idomeneo, and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas.

Tenor Lawrence Wiliford (Don Ottavio), who delighted as Damon in Opera Atelier's Acis and Galatea last season, has collaborated with conductors such as Richard Bradshaw, Bernard Labadie, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Trevor Pinnock, Helmuth Rilling, and Pinchas Zukerman. He recently released his debut solo recording Divine Musick" The Late Works for Tenor and Harp by Benjamin Britten.

Don Giovanni is directed and choreographed by Opera Atelier's founding artistic directors, Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg respectively. Don Giovanni also features the work of set designer Gerard Gauci, costume designer Martha Mann, lighting designed Bonnie Beecher, and fight director Jennifer Parr. The production underwriter is Michael A. Wekerle.

The production will be sung in Italian with English SURTITLES^TM.

www.OperaColumbus.org

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