WNO Presents SILENT NIGHT

Washington National Opera celebrates the centennial of the WWI Armistice with Kevin Puts's Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night, November 10-25, in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets start at $35. Based on the true story of a wartime ceasefire, an event depicted by the 2005 film Joyeux Noël, Silent Night features a cast comprised entirely of WNO family-current members and alumni from the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program and WNO Chorus-with libretto in multiple languages that capture a powerful vision of humanity and hope. With gratitude for their sacrifice and service, Washington National Opera presents Silent Night in honor of all Veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Forces. In addition to hosting a Military Appreciation Day on Sunday, November 25, additional discounts to see the production will be offered for active-duty service members for select performances.

The year is 1914, and the Great War has just been declared, dividing nations and sending millions into battle. As Christmas Eve falls on a battlefield near Belgium, soldiers in French, German, and Scottish trenches begin recalling songs of home, stepping into no-man's-land for a spontaneous truce. Once sworn enemies, both sides laid down their arms for one miraculous "silent" night of peace, restoring humanity for a short time when the "other" was no longer a faceless combatant but an individual with similar wishes of returning to home and family.

As a testament to WNO's dedication to training and artist-development, the cast of Silent Night is comprised almost entirely of accomplished artists from its Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

Graduates, who have gone on to perform at some of the world's leading opera houses, feature prominently in this production and include Raquel González (Anna Sørensen), Michael Adams (Lt. Audebert), Aleksey Bogdanov (Lt. Horstmayer), Norman Garrett (Lt. Gordon), Kenneth Kellogg (Father Palmer), Hunter Enoch (William Dale), Christian Bowers (Ponchel), Timothy J. Bruno (French General), and Michael Hewitt (German General). Current members from the Young Artist roster also star in Silent Night, including Alexander McKissick (Nikolaus Sprink), Arnold Livingston Geis (Jonathan Dale), Joshua Conyers (British Major), and Hannah Hagerty (Madeleine Audebert) in her WNO debut. In his WNO debut, General and Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera Tomer Zvulun helms the production with conductor Nicole Paiement on the podium. WNO audiences last saw Paiement lead Candide in 2018. The creative team also features associate director Dan Wallace Miller (WNO debut), set and project designer Erhard Rom (WNO debut), costume designer Victoria Tzykun (WNO debut), lighting designer Robert Wierzel, fight master Joe Isenberg, and make-up designer Dave Bova (WNO debut).

The opera's running time is approximately two hours plus one 25-minute intermission, and runs for seven performances. Silent Night is performed in English, French, German, Italian, and Latin with projected English titles. Visit WNO's website for more information. Washington National Opera's 2018-2019 season continues with Tchaikovsky's epic Eugene Onegin (March 9-29, 2019); Gounod's devilishly entertaining Faust (March 16-30, 2019); and Puccini's towering masterpiece Tosca (May 11-25, 2019). The season also features a revival of WNO's hit holiday family opera The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me (December 14-16, 2018); new works to premiere during the American Opera Initiative Festival (January 11-13, 2019); a special Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance A Concert of Comic Masterpieces (May 24, 2019); and other exciting vocal events. Tickets are available now.