Walnut Creek's newly revitalized Festival Opera continues its 30thAnniversary season with the world premiere of A Jake Heggie Triptych, featuring award winning composer and pianist Jake Heggie with librettos by Terrance McNally (At the Statue of Venus) and Gene Scheer (Camille Claudel: Into the Fire and For a Look or a Touch.)
Directed by Mark Foehringer and conducted by Bryan Nies, with members of the Festival Opera Orchestra, A Jake Heggie Triptych will have two performances on Friday, August 13 at 7:30pm and Sunday, August 15 at 2:00pm in the Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts, located at 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek.
Festival Opera welcomes a world-class cast of West Coast artists with strong ties to Heggie's operas and song repertoire. The production will feature acclaimed singers Carrie Hennessey, Diana Tash, award winning actor Curt Branom, and Festival Opera General Director Zachary Gordin. Tickets for A Jake Heggie Triptych will go on sale June 15 at FestivalOpera.org or by phone at 925-943-7469.
This world premiere event of works by
Jake Heggie features three song cycles reimagined as fully staged chamber operas. These three moving narratives share one common theme: the deep human desire for love and acceptance. As Festival Opera celebrates its 30th Anniversary Season, the company is thrilled and honored to feature the collaboration and performance of
Jake Heggie himself in this newly assembled work.
At the Statue of Venus, with libretto by
Terrence McNally, was originally commissioned by Opera Colorado to celebrate the grand opening of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, and was first performed September 10, 2005, at which Opera News deemed the work a highlight of the evening. Camille Claudel: Into the Fire was commissioned by San Francisco Performances and had its first performance on February 4, 2012 at Herbst Theater, San Francisco, with mezzo-soprano
Joyce DiDonato and the Alexander String Quartet. The New York Times said, "the work compresses a tragic life of operatic dimensions into a song cycle of great beauty and emotional resonance." For a Look or a Touch was originally commissioned by Music of Remembrance as a stage work, for which the Los Angeles Times praised "the universal emotions that this work movingly addresses." The song cycle version was created in 2013, and had its first performance on May 18, 2013 at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, with baritone
Morgan Smith and instrumentalists from the Seattle Symphony.
A
Jake Heggie Triptych is the result of General Director Zachary Gordin's long standing relationship with
Jake Heggie and his works, and of their conversations about what opera can be in this era of rebirth.
Festival Opera General Director Zachary Gordin says, "I've been a huge fan of Jake's work since the release of his 'The Faces of Love' (1999) album, which featured many dear colleagues and friends. I was immediately struck by his ability to build a whole environment with his piano writing, how operatic in nature it is, like the music provides both an orchestra and scenery. Of course, as a singer who is always looking for the essential truth in the music and stories I'm telling, it was a revelation to see his vocal writing truly mirroring the inflection, joy, and pathos of the human voice with honesty, setting texts in an immediately accessible, and deeply compelling way. We finally got to work together in 2015 after I accepted an eleventh-hour assignment at Dayton Opera for their premiere of Dead Man Walking. Jake graciously offered to help prepare me for the role, offering his generous insight and advice in navigating the difficult role of the convict. I treasure that experience to this day, and I'm grateful for our continuing collaboration as we present this exquisite work at Festival Opera."
Jake Heggie says, "I'm thrilled and deeply honored that Festival Opera will present this dynamic triptych of my compositions, beautifully cast with stunning performers! The human quest for identity and connection links this trio of works, which were created with my most frequent collaborators - Gene Scheer and the late, great American playwright
Terrence McNally. What a dream for this to unfold in the East Bay, where long ago I studied piano as a teenager with Doris Marliave in Walnut Creek, composition with Ernst Bacon in Orinda, and graduated from College Park High School in Pleasant Hill! Zachary Gordin and his team at Festival Opera have set the stage for a dynamic evening of soaring lyricism and drama. I can't wait!"
Led by General Director Zachary Gordin, Festival Opera is committed to community building through culturally rich and diverse programming, increased equity and access for underrepresented communities, and producing operatic and vocal masterworks with the highest artistic standards. The company believes in a world where the historic barriers of our theatre are broken down, a world in which they can provide the community with an invitation and a safe space for all people to gather and experience the power of music.
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