Orpheus|PDX Announces Works By Mozart And Nico Muhly Its Second Season

OrpheusPDX General and Artistic Director, Christopher Mattaliano, has officially announced the details of the 2023 season, the company's second. Performances of Mozart's masterwork The Royal Shepherd (Il Re Pastore) and Nico Muhly's compelling Dark Sisters will take place in Portland's 475-seat Lincoln Hall, where opera is experienced at its best-up close and personal.

Introducing the season, Mattaliano said: "Our first season in 2022 was more than we could have hoped for. We set a high bar artistically with Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Philip Glass's The Fall of the House of Usher. Given the audience and press response to them, I feel we achieved our goal of providing high quality opera in a uniquely intimate setting, and I'm delighted to announce a season that I think will again move audiences in profound ways. I remain deeply grateful to the Portland community for their encouragement and support as our new company continues to grow and expand."

THE 2023 SEASON

THE ROYAL SHEPHERD

(Il Re Pastore)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Thursday, August 3, 2023, 7:30 pm

Sunday, August 6, 2023, 3:00 pm

Lincoln Hall, 1620 SW Park Ave., Portland

Libretto by Pietro Metastasio

Sung in Italian with English surtitles

This opera has all we've come to know and love about Mozart. And does he ever deliver in this thrilling display of vocal fireworks! With one stunning aria after another, it is a vocal event of the highest order - one that is celebratory and joyful.

A tale of young love and royalty in disguise, this comic gem-at its heart a simple story of love vs. duty - wrestles with age-old questions about authenticity, identity, gender roles, and what makes a good leader. The question at its core-can you be true to yourself and still thrive in the public sphere-is just as timely now as it was 200 years ago.

Director: Dan Rigazzi

Conductor: Nicholas Fox

Set Design: Peter Ksander

Costume Design: Sydney Dufka

Lighting Design: Connie Yun

Cast

Alessandro: Omar Najmi

Aminta: Katherine Whyte

Elisa: Holly Flack

Tamiri: Madeline Ross

Agenore: Brandon Michael

DARK SISTERS

Nico Muhly

Thursday, August 24, 2023, 7:30 pm

Sunday, August 27, 2023, 3:00 pm

Lincoln Hall, 1620 SW Park Ave., Portland

Libretto by Stephen Karam

Sung in English with English surtitles

Dark Sisters is a story of resilience, survival, and ultimately of hope, as seen through the eyes of one extraordinary woman. Based on the 2008 raid of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Texas, the opera follows the journey of Eliza, a sister-wife who questions what she has been taught and emerges as a singular voice, one who is no longer content to be one of many.

Nico Muhly (b. 1981) is one of the most popular and prolific American composers writing today. He has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera on two separate occassions, and been described by Met General Manager Peter Gelb as "one of the most brilliant composing talents out there."

Muhly's background as a choral singer is evident in the ensembles for the six women's voices in Dark Sisters, which is some of the most beautiful vocal writing in all of opera. With a huge following on Spotify and many recordings to his credit, Muhly has also composed for film, dance, theater, and worked with such diverse pop indie-folk artists as Joanna Newsom, Björk, and Antony and The Johnsons.

Director: Kristine McIntyre

Conductor: Deanna Tham

Set Design: Megan Wilkerson

Costume Design: Lucy Wells

Lighting Design: Solomon Weisbard

Cast

Eliza: Lindsay Ohse

Almera: Vanessa Isiguen

Ruth: Hannah Penn

Presendia: Sarah Beaty

Zina: Emily Way

Lucinda: Madeline Ross

Prophet/King: Christian Zaremba

Full cast biographies, photos, and much more can be found at orpheuspdx.org.

Season subscriptions, ranging in price from $90 to $198, are available to renewing subscribers beginning March 21. Season subscriptions will be available to new subscribers beginning April 22 at www.orpheuspdx.org or by calling (503) 308- 4828.

Tickets to individual productions, ranging in price from $50 to $110, can be purchased beginning on June 1 at www.orpheuspdx.org.

Student Tickets: 25 tickets at $15.00 are available for students at each performance. These can be purchased beginning on June 1 at www.orpheuspdx.org. Limited to two tickets per individual.

As part of the 2023 season, Mattaliano also announced the creation of a new OrpheusPDX program-The Pathways Program.

"While I'm thrilled to present these two great works by Mozart and Muhly," he said. I'm particularly excited to launch our new apprenticeship program, in which young professionals and gifted students-in both performance and design-will be mentored by the established professional artists engaged by OrpheusPDX."

The new program provides a "pathway" for these young artists to further their careers by gaining intensive hands-on experience throughout the season. The final details of this program which will be in place for the 2023 season are still being finalized and will be the subject of a separate announcement in the near future.

For more information and to sign up to receive all the future news from OrpheusPDX, patrons should visit orpheuspdx.org.

Inspired by the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus' singing is so beautiful that even the savage beasts of Hades are moved to tears, Portland's new opera company, OrpheusPDX, aspires to do the same-to touch the very soul of the community through the power of great music and singing. It will enhance that powerful experience by producing opera in the intimate, 475-seat Lincoln Hall Theater, where audiences enjoy an enriching and personal experience.

OrpheusPDX is committed to both honoring tradition and exporing new directions by presenting one opera from a well-loved Bel Canto composer and one from the body of great modern works that move and excite today's audiences-thus providing them with the best of both operatic worlds each season.

Christopher Mattaliano founded OrpheusPDX in 2022 and serves as the company's General and Artistic Director. He was the Artistic Director of the Pine Mountain Music Festival from 2001-03 and General Director of Portland Opera from 2003-

2019. The highlights of his 16 years there include the expansion of programming and artistic standards, the creation of the young artists residency program, the regular engagement of women conductors, directors, and designers, and wide ranging collaborations with most of Portland's music, theater, dance, and visual art organizations, as well as groups like Trans Affirming Spaces and Phame. Under his leadership, the company greatly increased its educational and community outreach programs, including the company's first bilingual opera production, and provided free access to local communities and thousands of students throughout the state. This led to the company's being awarded the 2017 Governor's Arts Award. He was recently named as one of 75 key figures in opera over the last 50 years by OPERA America as part of its 50th Anniversary Oral History project. Watch his interview here!

To post a comment, you must register and login.