C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y RECORD December 1, 2003 3

School of the Arts’ Andrei Serban and Niky Wolcz Debut at Metropolitan OperaBY KRISTIN STERLING

As classmates in elementaryschool in Romania, Andrei Serbanand Niky Wolcz dreamed abouttheir futures together in the the-ater. That seemed unlikely tomaterialize when Serban movedto the United States to work atLaMama Theater in New York’sEast Village, and Wolcz moved toGermany to teach, direct and act.Despite the distance from oneanother they kept their dreamsalive working together on nearly15 projects in theater and operathroughout Europe over the past20 years. Today both are in NewYork teaching theatre arts inColumbia’s School of the Arts andmaking their debut at Metropoli-tan Opera, in tandem.

With Serban as director andWolcz as choreographer, they willbring to life for the first time at theMet, Hector Berlioz’ “BenvenutoCellini,” which premieres on Dec.4. This production is one of thehighlights of the MetropolitanOpera’s two-season-long com-memoration of the 200th anniver-sary of the birth of Berlioz.

“Berlioz’s music is rich andpowerful, and so advanced for histime,” says Serban. “I am glad thatJames Levine, artistic director andconductor of the opera, is equallypassionate. One should enjoyevery minute. After the Met, it ishard to reach higher. This is thetop of the opera world.”

In “Benvenuto Cellini,” Berlioztells the story of a 16th-centurysculptor with the title name.According to Serban, it is the storyof a reckless, genius artist wholives his life as a rebel, falls inlove with the daughter of thefinance minister, and is commis-sioned by the Pope to create a stat-ue of Perseus. The climax of theopera occurs in the second act car-nival scene.

“It is a magnificently composedact, where the commedia—as aplay within a play—gets center

stage in an opera for the firsttime,” he says, referring to themasked performance having rootsin the ancient roman theater andinvented in the Renaissance. “Inthe third act, we feel that Berlioz’sown presence is filtered throughthe voice of his alter-ego Cellini.Here the artist must defend hisartistic vitality in an age of puri-tanical censorship. Cellini mustcreate a piece on command, underthe watchful eye of the Pope. AsCellini’s statue Perseus comes tolife in front of the audience, youfeel the triumph of art and theentire opera becomes a lyricalinquiry into the mystery of cre-ation,” says Serban.

The statue used in the produc-tion is a replica of Cellini’sPerseus, which still stands in Flo-rence’s Loggia dei Lanzi.

Opera is both different fromand similar to theater. Serbanexplains that “Both tell humanstories, except in opera the onlyway to communicate is bysinging, and it has its advantages–music is what we all wish tofeel—and disadvantages—limita-tions of how much singers can do,whereas actors are more sponta-neous.”

In practical terms, Wolcz notes

that in opera the costumes and setsare done well in advance of theproduction. In theater, where thereis less money, more imagination isneeded.

“The working conditions at theMet are exceptional,” says Wolcz.“The departments are very profes-sional and you are given so manyopportunities.”

Perhaps the greatest differenceis that in theater, the director caststhe actors; but in opera, the con-ductor makes the selections.Serban explains that this can be achallenge to the director because“sometimes you get stuck with anextra-large, middle-aged Juliet.Still the melody makes you fall inlove.” Last spring Serban workedwith Marcello Giordani, who per-forms the title role of Cellini, inVerdi’s “Les Vêpres Siciliennes”at the Paris Opera and theybecame friends.

There are more than 200 per-formers in the production, includ-ing actors, dancers, mimes, acro-bats and singers. While Serbanand Wolcz did not select thesingers, they did have the oppor-tunity to bring 15 alumni from theSchool of the Arts acting divisionto work at the Met.

“These actors were very

Serban and Wolcz are working with more than 200 performers in theproduction. Above, a scene from the rehearsal.

intensely trained by Niky, who isa master in commedia and hetaught them advanced skills,”says Serban. “This is a greatopportunity to make the Colum-bia acting program known at theMet.”

“This is my fifth collaborationwith Andrei and Niky and it is anincredible opportunity to performat the Met,” says George Drance,SOA ’98. “Working in a settinglike this I can see how the trainingwe had at Columbia has reallyencouraged us and prepared us to‘jump in.’ It feels like the Schoolof the Arts group shares a com-mon language and can respond toNiky and Andrei’s leads quickly.When I first began the program, Iwas warned that we were beingtrained for a theatre that does notyet exist. Perhaps through experi-ences like this we can begin tobring it into existence.”

Serban strives to do just that.He is renowned in the UnitedStates and throughout Europe,working on the world’s most pres-tigious stages, winning interna-tional awards, including severalObies and a Tony for Chekhov's“The Cherry Orchard” at the

Lincoln Center. He has workedextensively with Ellen Stewart’sLaMama Theatre, the Public The-atre, and Robert Burstein’s “ART.”

In terms of opera, he has direct-ed at the Paris, Geneva, Vienna,Zurich and Bologna Opera Hous-es, as well as the Chicago, SanFrancisco, Los Angeles operas, toname a few. In the spring, he willdirect the opera “Othello” in Paris,at Bastille.

Wolcz is an actor, director andteacher who has worked in NewYork, Germany and Switzerland.He has taught acting in Frankfurt,Dusseldorf, Bern, Limoges andBucharest and directs workshopson a wide variety of topics. In thespring, he is directing “TwelfthNight” together with SOA profes-sor Kristin Linklater. The projectwas selected for an internationalEuropean festival in Dusseldorf,Germany.

Serban and Wolcz have come along way from their childhoodhome in Romania, winning acco-lades and breaking new ground intheir respective theatrical disci-plines. And today, they are finallyfulfilling their lifelong dream ofworking together at the Met.

Cellini is commissioned by the Pope to create a statue of Perseus.This statute is a replica of the real Cellini’s Perseus, which stillstands in Florence’s Loggia dei Lanzi.

James Jordan Named President and Director ofColumbia University Press

James D. Jordan, Director ofthe Johns Hopkins UniversityPress since 1998, will join theColumbia University Press aspresident and director in mid-January, 2004.

Jim Jordan began his publish-ing career at W. W. Norton in1973, where he served more than21 years as an Editor in the lifeand information sciences, Mar-keting Director, Director of theCollege Division, Head of theNorton Medical Books programand member of the Board ofDirectors.

Under Mr. Jordan’s direction,the Johns Hopkins UniversityPress has been a recipient ofmany awards for publishingexcellence, including the Ameri-can Association of Publisher'sR.R. Hawkins award for the out-standing academic book of theyear.

Alan Brinkley, Provost ofColumbia and Chair of the Press'Board of Trustees, announced theappointment: "Columbia is veryfortunate to have attracted JimJordan to head the ColumbiaUniversity Press. Jim's diverse

experience in many areas of pub-lishing and his superb record ofsuccess at Johns Hopkins makehim an ideal person to lead thePress into a future filled withboth opportunities and chal-lenges."

“I’m delighted to return toNew York, where I have alwayslived in the shadow of this greatuniversity, and to be able to playa formative role in the future ofone of the oldest and most distin-guished university presses inNorth America. The support ofPresident Bollinger, ProvostBrinkley, and the ColumbiaBoard of Trustees for their Pressis a resounding statement of com-mitment to scholarly publishingas an indispensable activity of aworld-class university. I’m grate-ful to be asked to contribute tothe outstanding academic pub-lishing that this support willmake possible at Columbia,” saidJordan.

Columbia University Press,which celebrates its 110thanniversary this year, publishesaward-winning books in the sci-ences, Middle East studies,

international affairs, literature intranslation, history, religion,anthropology, social work, Asianstudies, and other subject areas.The Press is also known for itssuccessful pioneering program inelectronic publishing, whichincludes The Columbia Electron-ic Encyclopedia, The ColumbiaGuide to Digital Publishing,Columbia International AffairsOnline.

For more publications, go tohttp://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/

James Jordan

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina JoinsBarnard as Director of Pan-African Studies Program

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina,author of Black London, TheNew York Times Notable Bookon the black population of 18thcentury Britain, and host of anationally syndicated radio show“The Book Show” has joined thefaculty of Barnard College fromVassar College. Gerzina willdirect Barnard’s Pan-AfricanStudies Program and as professorof English teach African-Ameri-can literature.

“My goal is to develop astrong curriculum for the Pan-African Studies Program in orderto make it one of the best of itskind in a liberal arts college,”said Gerzina.

Gerzina said that several newmajors in Pan-African Studieshave already been added this fall.“It is great to work with an amaz-ingly multi-talented group of stu-dents—one of my students isfocusing on horticulture and ther-apy in the black community;another is a budget analyst for alocal hospital on a multi-million-dollar project on HIV and

women in South Africa.”In addition to strengthening the

curriculum, Gerzina promises tobring African-American scholars,writers, and other noted blackintellectuals to campus as part ofa new lecture series.

Gerzina is the recipient of twogrants from the National Founda-tion for the Humanities, and hasbeen the Fulbright DistinguishedScholar to Great Britain. She isan honorary fellow at the Univer-sity of Exeter in Devon, England.Gerzina has appeared frequentlyon the radio, as well as in severalBritish documentary films.

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA