Hartford Opera Theater Presents 7th Annual NEW IN NOVEMBER FESTIVAL

Hartford Opera Theater is proud to present the 7th annual NEW IN NOVEMBER FESTIVAL. The festival will culminate in a performance of five new operas at Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, CT at 7PM. Three production teams bring these new short operas from "page to stage" over the course of the weekend. Tickets are available at hartfordoperatheater.com or through ticketleap.com.

The NEW IN NOVEMBER FESTIVAL will feature operas by Elsa Respighi (Samurai), Jessica Rudman (Trigger), Dawn Sonntag (Verlorne Heimat/ Lost Homeland), Liam Wade (The Stranger the Better) & David Wolfson (A Fine Invention).

Hartford Opera Theater's NEW IN NOVEMBER FESTIVAL was established in 2010 with a two-fold mission: to seek out and encourage contemporary opera composers and to create an opportunity for the community to experience performances of these new works. Each year, a committee reviews a competitive pool of submissions and selects 6 10 minute operas to create an evening of short operatic vignettes. The preparation for NEW IN NOVEMBER is reminiscent of a 24 hour play festival in that the operas are brought from "page to stage" in a condensed and intense period. Once rehearsals begin, we assemble artists from many disciplines: singers, pianists, composers, directors, and conductors who collaborate to make NEW IN NOVEMBER a fun and thought-provoking evening.

The Production Teams for NEW IN NOVEMBER include: Kristy Chambrelli, Ariel Francoeur & Patricia Stone (Directors); Joseph A. Hodge, Jerron Jorgensen & Jonathan Reuning-Scherer (Conductors); Miguel Campinho, Blake Hansen & Stephen Scarlato (Piano).

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Title: NEW IN NOVEMBER
Presenting Company: Hartford Opera Theater
Composers: Elsa Respighi, Jessica Rudman, Dawn Sonntag, Liam Wade & David Wolfson
Librettist: Vynnie Meli (for Stranger the Better)
Directors: Kristy Chambrelli, Ariel Francoeur & Patricia Stone Conductors: Joseph A. Hodge, Jerron Jorgensen & Jonathan Reuning- Scherer
Pianists: Miguel Campinho, Blake Hansen & Stephen Scarlato
Cast: Rachel Abrams (Lost Homeland), Jacob Boergesson (Lost Homeland), Kristen Charpentier (Samurai), Charity Clark (Stranger the Better), Louise Fauteaux (Samurai), Michelle Murray Fiertek (Lost Homeland), Spencer Hamlin (Stranger the Better/A Fine Invention), Tony Leathem (Stranger the Better), Lisabeth Miller (A Fine Invention), Erick Sanchez (Lost Homeland), Luke Scott (Samurai) Jennifer Sgroe (Trigger), Alyson Sheehan (Lost Homeland), Charlie Widmer (Samurai)

Location: Charter Oak Cultural Center - 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford Date: Sunday, November 20, 2016
Time: 7PM
Tickets: $10 - $25. Tickets are available at hartfordoperatheater.com or through ticketleap.com

COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES

Described as a "new music ninja" by the Hartford Advocate, Jessica Rudman is a Connecticut-based composer and teacher whose music unifies extended techniques with clear melodic development and narrative structures to create a unique and personal emotional expression. Her works have been performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, the Hartford

Independent Chamber Orchestra, and others. She has received awards from organizations including Boston Metro Opera, SCI/ASCAP, the College Music Society, and the International Alliance for Women in Music,.
Dr. Rudman is currently the Director of the Young Composers Project and the Chair of the Creative Studies Department at The Hartt School Community Division. She is also an active theorist and arts advocate, currently serving on the board of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford. More information about Dr. Rudman and her work can be found online at jessicarudman.com.

Dawn Sonntag's music has been called "hauntingly lyrical." Recent premieres include performances by the Vancouver-based Orchid Ensemble, the Almeda Trio, the Amphion Strings, New-York-based Concert Black, Valparaiso Concert Choir, and the Fairbanks Arts Festival String Orchestra. Her opera, Verlorene Heimat (Lost Homeland), which chronicles the true story of East Prussian refugees during WW II, was premiered in 2014. She composed music for the documentary films "Voice to Vision," which features survivors of genocide, and "Action Arts," which features diverse communities of the Twin Cities area. She was the 2015 recipient of the Mississippi State University Criss Foundation commission; the Music Teachers National Association - Ohio's 2010 Distinguished Composer of the Year; and finalist in the 2007 American Composers Forum Faith Partners commissioning competition. She has been resident composer at the Visby International Centre for Composers and the New Music series at the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University.

Liam Wade is an American composer of opera, art song, symphonic works and chamber music. His comic opera, Part of the Act, was commissioned by Washington National Opera and premiered at the Kennedy Center on their 201213 season. His one act opera, The Stranger The Better, won the Audience Award at The Atlanta Opera's 24Hour Opera Project in 2016. His music has been heard on concerts at La Jolla Music Society, ProQuartet France, Toronto Music Garden, One Ounce Opera, The Atlanta Opera, West Edge Opera, Academy of Vocal Arts, The Kennedy Center and Semperoper Dresden.

David Wolfson is currently working towards his PhD in composition at Rutgers University, and has taught at Rutgers University, Montclair State University and Hunter College. He is enjoying an eclectic career, having composed opera, musical theatre, touring children's musicals, and incidental music for plays; choral music, band music, orchestral music, chamber music, art songs, and music for solo piano; comedy songs, cabaret songs and one memorable score for an amusement park big- headed-costumed-character show. Current projects include two musicals and a chamber opera. His CD Seventeen Windows, featuring the solo piano suite Seventeen Windows and the Sonata for Cello and Piano, is available from Albany Records, iTunes and Amazon.com. For more visit davidwolfsonmusic.net.

Photo: Chase Gutierrez & Allison Bradshaw in the world premiere of Owl Moon from New in November 2015.

Photo Credit: Kim Bova

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