Portland Opera Closes Season With PUCCINI: IN CONCERT

Portland Opera will cap off their season on May 11, 2024, with Puccini: In Concert, a one-night-only performance commemorating the great Italian opera composer, Giacomo Puccini, 100 years after his passing. Audiences will hear selections from Puccini’s most enduringworks, including La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, and Tosca, and experience the musical colors and full emotional range of opera in a program lasting just over 90 minutes. Promising all the grandeur of a night at the opera, this concert is an excuse to dress up or simply togather and celebrate beautiful music. Nicholas Fox, chorus master and assistant conductor for Portland Opera, will lead the Portland Opera Chorus and Orchestra with an ensemble of featured soloists onstage at the Keller Auditorium.  

Making their Portland Opera debuts are soprano Jacqueline Piccolino, baritone Joshua Jeremiah, and tenor Anthony Kalil. Frequent guest artist and former Portland Opera Resident Artist, mezzo-soprano Hannah Penn, returns as a soloist. Rounding out the ensemble are Portland Opera Resident Artists Judy Yannini (soprano), Antonio Domino (tenor), Roland Hawkins II (tenor), and Sankara Harouna(baritone). Portland Opera Resident Artist Claire Forstman will join the orchestra onstage as principal keyboardist. 

Puccini is the most performed opera composer in the United States, and his works have become cultural touchstones, with melodies and themes that are today recognized and loved by opera aficionados and newbies alike. Portland Opera has staged La Bohème more than any other opera in the company’s 60-year history, starting with its inaugural season. 

Asked about his process for structuring this concert, conductor Nicholas Fox explained: "In creating this program, I wanted to comprehensively celebrate the achievement of Giacomo Puccini, not only the world's most beloved composer of opera, but also one of the foundational creative precedents of all modern opera as we know it. In this concert you'll hear not only numerous familiar classics that go straight to the heart (and the tear ducts), but also wondrous glimpses into Puccini's staggering mastery of musical architecture, instrumental color, and sonic drama.”  

Fox continues, “Whether you are intimately familiar with every note that Puccini put on paper, or you've literally never heard a single one of those notes, this will be a truly thrilling and unforgettable evening, featuring world-class soloists and our cherished Portland Opera Chorus and Orchestra. Do not miss it." 

Puccini: In Concert Tickets and Information 

The performance takes place at 7:30PM at the Keller Auditorium. 

Puccini: In Concert is sung in Italian with projected English captions. The running time is 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission. 

Student tickets are available for $10 to Puccini: In Concert. Call 503-241-1802 Monday through Friday from 10AM–5PM for more information. Also, Portland Opera works with county library systems to offer free and reduced-price tickets to library card holders. Find out more information about the Multnomah County My Discovery Pass, the Clackamas County Cultural Pass Express, and the Washington County Adventure Pass.  

Oregon Trail Card holders can call 503-241-1802 to take advantage of the Arts for All program. Portland Opera offers two $5 tickets per Oregon Trail Card for each performance while seats last. The Patron Services team will ask for your Oregon Trail Card number the first time you call. 

For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit portlandopera.org or call Patron Services at 503-241-1802. Patrons may also contact the Opera Concierge at concierge@portlandopera.org, Monday through Friday from 10AM–5PM. 

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