Washington National Opera Presents American Opera Initiative Festival

With three original stories-one set in the cramped Bronx apartment of a first-generation immigrant, one following a Beverly Hills family in hot water, and one tracking an eye-opening road trip from a 1958 Chicago neighborhood to Tennessee-Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the eighth season of its acclaimed American Opera Initiative (AOI) with three world premieres January 10, 2020, in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

The three one-act operas featured this season illuminate the complex narratives that permeate the fabric of American life and culture. The three composer-librettist teams-Michael Lanci and Kim Davies, Carlos Simon and Sandra Seaton, and Liliya Ugay and Sokunthary Svay-collaborated with distinguished mentors who have each enjoyed professional success in the field: composer Laura Kaminsky, librettist Kelley Rourke, and conductor Anne Manson. Amanda Consol directs these three semi-staged concert performances, with Anne Manson conducting a chamber orchestra of WNO Orchestra members.

"America is renowned for its appetite and support of contemporary opera. The American Opera Initiative has now supported the work of some 50 young American composers and librettists in that area. This program helps them develop their craft, gain invaluable experience, and receive guidance from some of the leading American creative artists," says Robert Ainsley, AOI program director. "Under the leadership of Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, the WNO relentlessly pursues its mission to be a beacon for the field in American repertoire. We are immensely proud of the initiative's contribution to the canon of contemporary American Opera, and to the experience and guidance it has provided to a young generation of composers and librettists."

American Opera Initiative (AOI)

A comprehensive commissioning program that originates and develops new works, AOI provides rare opportunities for emerging composers and librettists to partner and write for the opera stage. The Initiative encourages and ensures the future of contemporary American opera through development, mentorship, and performance, with works based on American themes and stories. Since its inception, the annual program has commissioned 31 chamber operas, with some going on to future productions around the country; notables include last summer's successful production by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis of An American Soldier, an AOI commission in 2014, and Opera Omaha's and Miller Theater's recent productions of AOI's 2018 commission, Proving Up, and Rice University's recent double-bill of Proving Up and Taking Up Serpents, a 2019 AOI commission.

AOI 20-Minute Operas

January 10, 2020, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Terrace Theater

Woman of Letters

Music by Liliya Ugay
Libretto by Sokunthary Svay

Synopsis:

Sam is a first generation immigrant who works as a janitor at a local university in Manhattan. He brings home books for his daughter, Sonya, which help educate her and give way to daydreams of far-off places in their cramped Bronx apartment. She learns she has received a scholarship to study in England. Will her immigrant father, a survivor of war and his wife's death, be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to let his daughter, his only family, go? Will Sonya finally be allowed to see the world she's only read about in her father's books?

Cast:

Sonya: Marlen Nahhas

Dara: Alexandra Nowakowski

Sam: Samuel J. Weiser

Admissions:

Music by Michael Lanci

Libretto by Kim Davies

Synopsis:

They're the perfect American family: Mother, a TV star...Father, a business tycoon...their kids on track to go to the best colleges. But one night Mother and Father come home and have to explain to their kids that there's been a little misunderstanding, maybe a little money laundering, maybe an indictment. And suddenly their plans aren't quite so on-track after all...

Cast:

Daughter: Marlen Nahhas

Son: Matthew Pearce

Mother: Amanda Bottoms

Father: William Meinert

Night Trip

Music by Carlos Simon

Libretto by Sandra Seaton

Synopsis:

On a July evening in 1958, Wesley and Mack, black World War II veterans, arrive at their sister's apartment in Chicago to pick up their niece. Conchetta has been waiting all summer to see her relatives-her grandmother, her aunts, her "play aunts." The 16-year-old's vision of small town life in Tennessee stands in sharp contrast to the world of steel and concrete she is about to leave. On her journey, she comes face to face with a new reality, one that her uncles, who have survived the brutality of war, refuse to accept. In Night Trip, a young girl's dreams collide with harsh truths that will change the way she sees her world.

Cast:

Conchetta: Rehanna Thelwell

Uncle Wesley: Joshua Conyers

Uncle Mack: Joshua Blue

Gas Station Attendant: Matthew Pearce

Police Office: Samson McCrady

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to Three 20-Minute Operas ($19-$35) are available by visiting the Kennedy Center box office, by calling (202) 467-4600, or through the Kennedy Center website. Groups of 10 or more may contact the Group Sales office at (202) 416-8400.

To post a comment, you must register and login.