OPERA CONFERENCE 2015 Increasing Civic Impact

NEW WORKS SAMPLER May 8, 2015The Barns at Wolf Trap Vienna, VA

PROGRAM

Welcome to Wolf TrapLaura Lee Everett, OPERA America | Kim Pensinger Witman, Wolf Trap Opera

Volpone John Musto, composer | Mark Campbell, librettist Unfaithfully fashioned from the comedy by Ben Jonson Produced by Wolf Trap Opera and Classical ProgrammingAct 2, Scene 1: Aria, “When a life has ceased” — MoscaAct 2, Scene 2: Duet, “Excuse me, good Signor, I was singing to myself.” — Erminella and VolponeAct 2, Scene 4, Finale: Trio, “Come and kiss mon cul ... Genoa” — Erminella, Volpone and MoscaBrenton Ryan* — MoscaEve Gigliotti* — Erminella Joshua Jeremiah* — VolponeGrant Loehnig and John Musto, pianists

Introduction to New Works SamplerLaura Lee Everett

Bhutto Mohammed Fairouz, composer and co-librettist | Mohammed Hanif, librettistProduced by Beth Morrison ProjectsCo-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Pittsburgh Opera, Lyric Theatre @ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Judy and Allen Freedman, Jane Gross, and Linda and Stuart NelsonCreative and Developmental Producer: Beth Morrison ProjectsWorld premiere produced by Pittsburgh Opera in association with Beth Morrison ProjectsScene 1Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s prison cell in Central Jail Rawalpindi, April 3, 1979Christopher Burchett — ZulfiqarEve Gigliotti* — Benazir Peter Tantsits — Jail KeeperJosephine Riggs, piano

Ivonne from Ghosts of CrosstownNathaniel Stookey, composer | Jerre Dye, librettist Produced by Opera MemphisScenes 2 and 3 of IvonneJennifer Goode Cooper — IvonneMelanie Kuperstein, violinDana Rokosny, violaNadia Pessoa, harpBenjamin Makino, conductorNed Canty, director

* Alumni of Wolf Trap Opera

An American DreamJack Perla, composer | Jessica Murphy Moo, librettist Produced by Seattle OperaAria, “You arrived long ago, brave Empress” — Setsuko Kobayashi Duet and Aria, “What’s this? ... Quiet now, don’t say a word”— Eva and Jim CrowleyHae Ji Chang — Setsuko Kobayashi Rena Harms* — Eva CrowleyJoshua Jeremiah* — Jim CrowleyJosephine Riggs, piano

Cuentos de PeregrinaciónHéctor Armienta, composer and librettist | Produced by Opera CulturaAria, “Como cantan en los corridos” (“Like they sing in the folk songs”) — PerazaDuet, “Wrong place at the wrong time” — Peraza and McLaughlinAria, “Yo viajo en mi mente” (“I journey in my mind”) — SesslerGuadalupe Peraza, mezzo-sopranoAndrew McLaughlin, baritoneAlexandra Sessler, sopranoJosephine Riggs, piano

Becoming Santa ClausMark Adamo, composer and librettistSubmitted by G. Schirmer, Inc.Produced by The Dallas Opera“Everything’s in readiness” — Queen Sophine “Fabulous things” — Prince Claus “This isn’t giving” — Queen Sophine and Prince ClausSarah Jane McMahon — Queen SophineJonathan Blalock — Prince ClausChristopher Devlin, piano

OPERA America’s New Works Forum and New Works Sampler have been made possible by a generous and deeply appreciated grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

THE OPERASWELCOME SEGMENT FROM WOLF TRAP OPERA

Volpone John Musto, composer | Mark Campbell, librettist Unfaithfully fashioned from the comedy by Ben Jonson Produced by Wolf Trap Opera and Classical ProgrammingAbout the OperaVolpone is very loosely based on Ben Jonson’s 1606 comedy of the same name. The wealthy rogue Volpone (“the Fox”), having no heirs, feigns mortal illness in order to con an avaricious collection of avian predators who wish to inherit his fortune. The would-be beneficiaries sacrifice their dignity, morals and even their loved ones in order to gain favor with Volpone. In the end, the ruse is revealed (along with a few surprises), and all of the players receive their just comeuppance.

About the ScenesAct 2, Scene 1: Mosca’s aria, “When a life has ceased”Volpone’s servant Mosca has turned the tables on his master so that he has inherited the estate. After kicking Volpone out of the house, Mosca revels in his new wealth.Act 2, Scene 2: Duet of Erminella and Volpone, “Excuse me, good Signor, I was singing to myself”Volpone, newly ejected from his house, encounters Erminella, a successful madam in Paris, who has returned to Venice to locate the son she was forced to abandon many years before.Act 2, Scene 4, Finale: Trio of Erminella, Volpone and Mosca, “Come and kiss mon cul ... Genoa” The newly reconciled trio sings of their new ventures and adventures, together.

Score and Production InformationPublisher: Peermusic ClassicalPremiere performances: March 10, 12 and 14, 2004 at The Barns at Wolf TrapCommissioned by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing ArtsWolf Trap Opera’s Volpone Recording (2010) was nominated for a Grammy for Best Opera RecordingDuration: 2 hoursInstrumentation: 2 flutes (piccolo); 1 oboe; 1 English horn; 2 clarinets (bass clarinet); 2 bassoons (contrabassoon); 2 horns; 2 percussion; stringsYear of composition: 2004 Setting: Venice, Italy

Cast (for the original 2004 Wolf Trap production)Volpone — Baritone (Joshua Winograde)Mosca — Tenor (Joseph Kaiser)Voltore — Baritone (Ryan Taylor)Corvina — Soprano (Wendy Hill)Bonario — Tenor (Ross Hauck)Cornaccio — Tenor (Jason Ferrante) Celia — Soprano (Sarah Wolfson)Erminella — Mezzo-soprano (Adriana Zabala)

Castrato/Judge —Soprano (Mary Gresock)Epicene/Prison Matron — Mezzo-soprano (Karen Mercedes)Police Captain/Judge — Baritone (William Heim)Nano/Judge — Bass (Eugene Galvin)Two Policemen — Non-singing roles

Composer and pianist John Musto is regarded as one of the most versatile musicians before the public today. He has composed for virtually every genre: orchestral and operatic, solo, chamber and vocal music, concerti, and music for film and television. His music embraces many strains of contemporary American concert music, enriched by sophisticated inspirations from jazz, ragtime and the blues. These qualities lend a strong profile to his vocal music, which ranges from a series of operas — Volpone, Later the Same Evening, Bastianello and The Inspector — to a catalogue of art songs that is

among the finest of any living American composer. As a pianist, he has performed repertoire ranging from Galuppi sonatas, Bolcom études, Bach keyboard concerti and Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety to his own two piano concerti, Schubert lieder and the Great American Songbook. He also performs frequently with his wife, soprano Amy Burton, in recital and cabaret. Musto was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his orchestral song cycle Dove Sta Amore, and he is a recipient of two Emmy awards, two CINE Awards, a Rockefeller Fellowship at Bellagio, an American Academy of Arts and Letters award and a Distinguished Alumnus award from the Manhattan School of Music. Musto’s work has been recorded by Bridge (including his performance as soloist in his piano concerti), Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Cedille, The Milken Archive, Naxos, Harbinger, CRI and EMI, Hyperion, MusicMasters, Innova, Channel Classics, Albany and New World Records. He is published by Peermusic Classical.

Mark Campbell has written librettos for 14 operas and lyrics for seven musicals. His best-known work is Silent Night, which received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. The opera has appeared on PBS’ Great Performances and has entered the modern opera repertory with an unprecedented rapidity — receiving 10 performances since its premiere by Minnesota Opera in 2011. Other successful operas include Volpone, Later the Same Evening, Bastianello/Lucrezia, Rappahannock County, A Letter to East 11th Street, The Inspector, As One and, most recently, The Manchurian Candidate. Campbell has

received a Grammy nomination, three Drama Desk Award nominations, two Richard Rodgers Awards and a NYFA Playwriting Fellowship. He was the first recipient of the Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist. He also serves as a mentor for American Opera Projects, the Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, American Lyric Theater and Opera Philadelphia’s Composer in Residence program. Upcoming operas include The Shining (Minnesota Opera), Memory Boy (Minnesota Opera), The Very Enterprising Burke and Hare (Music-Theatre Group), Dinner at Eight (Minnesota Opera) and E. Cree (Opera Philadelphia). markcampbellwords.com

Creative Team (for the original 2004 Wolf Trap production) Michael Barrett, conductor Leon Major, director Erhard Rom, scenic designerDavid O. Roberts, costume designerRobert H. Grimes, lighting designer

Established in 1971, Wolf Trap Opera has become one of the nation’s most highly regarded residency training programs for opera singers and maintains a highly selective audition process, with fewer than five percent of applicants chosen annually as Filene Young Artists and Studio Artists. Within the broader purview of the Wolf

Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, the primary mission of WTO is to discover and encourage the finest emerging talent in the opera field. WTO maintains an unwavering annual focus on the development of its artists, and each year repertoire is chosen that best suits the strengths of that year’s selected singers. Since its inception, the company has mounted 124 productions of 78 different operas, 60 percent of which were new productions designed for Wolf Trap’s stages. More than 75 percent of WTO alumni are full-time professional singers, including such notables as Lawrence Brownlee, Dawn Upshaw, Stephanie Blythe, Nathan Gunn, Anna Christy, Eric Cutler, Denyce Graves, Alan Held, Simon O’Neill, Jamie Barton, Michelle DeYoung and Eric Owens.

Arvind Manocha, President and CEO, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing ArtsKim Pensinger Witman, Senior Director, Opera & Classical ProgrammingLee Anne Myslewski, Director of Artistic Administration, Opera & Classical ProgrammingMorgan Brophy, Manager, Artistic Operations, Opera & Classical Programming

2015 NEW WORKS SAMPLER SELECTIONS

Bhutto Mohammed Fairouz, composer and co-librettist | Mohammed Hanif, librettistProduced by Beth Morrison ProjectsAbout the OperaShe was a fighter. She was a politician. She was a daughter, a wife, a mother. She was a prime minister. She was a traditionalist. She was an innovator. She was a bridge builder. She was a ceiling breaker. She was a force of nature. She was the first woman to lead a modern Muslim state. She was, by the definition of her name, “without comparison.”Born into a political dynasty, Benazir Bhutto never sought a life in politics. But as the eldest child of charismatic Pakistani leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, she became his political heir following a military coup and his subsequent judicial assassination in 1979 by his army chief of staff. “This is not the life I chose; it chose me,” she wrote.Bhutto traces Benazir’s political awakening at her father’s side and her coming into her own as both a politician and as a woman. We witness Benazir’s ascent to power, her tragic downfall and her lasting legacy. The opera tells the story of father and daughter, of East and West, of the conflict between political responsibility and maternal love, of dictatorship and democracy, of terrorism and tolerance.With a score by Mohammed Fairouz, described by The New York Times as “an important new artistic voice,” Bhutto tells the historic, idealistic and poignant story of the struggle for reconciliation in an unjust world.About the SceneBenazir enters the Central Jail Rawalpindi to visit her father, Zulfiqar, for the final time before his execution. Separated by bars, with a guard standing watch, their last, fleeting moments together draw near. Benazir reveals her political ingenuity, buying her father another day while secreting a message to the BBC in hopes of an international intervention. Zulfiqar is moved, and sees the leader growing within her. He bestows his blessing on her to continue in his place, while offering her the option to leave and avoid his fate. Zulfiqar expresses his final wishes, asking to be allowed to exit this world with dignity. The jailor instructs Benazir that she must leave and pulls her away despite her pleadings.

Score and Production InformationPublisher: Peermusic Classical, New YorkWorld Premiere: Pittsburgh Opera, 2017–2018 or 2018–2019Duration: TBDInstrumentation (proposed): 1-1-2-01-1-1-0Percussion (bass drum, snare drum, tabla, tambourine), piano, chorus (SATB), sitar, stringsYear of Composition: 2013–2016Setting: Pakistan, 1979–2007Cast (in order of appearance) Major CharactersZulfikar Ali BhuttoBenazir BhuttoZia ul-Haq

Minor Characters (doubling of minor characters TBD)Nusrat BhuttoMaulana WhiskeyGeneral AkhtarImamBlind WomanThe Crow (offstage/voiced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto)Various Civilian Men and Women (individuals)Ghulam Ishaq Khan

Chorus of Muslim RulersWorshippers ChorusFour Policemen (male vocal quartet)Chorus of Wedding Guests (mixed)Chorus

Mohammed Fairouz, born in 1985, is one of the most frequently performed, commissioned and recorded composers of his generation. Hailed by BBC World News as “one of the most talented composers of his generation,” Fairouz integrates Middle Eastern modes into Western structures to deeply expressive effect. His output encompasses virtually every genre, including opera, symphonies, ensemble works, chamber and solo pieces, choral settings, and more than a dozen song cycles. Commissions have come from Rachel Barton Pine, the Detroit and Alabama Symphony

Orchestras, Borromeo String Quartet, Imani Winds, New York Festival of Song, Da Capo Chamber Players, Cantus and many others. Recent premieres include his first opera, Sumeida’s Song, and his fourth symphony, In the Shadow of No Towers, both greeted with critical acclaim. Fairouz was chosen to be a featured artist on the television series Collaboration Culture, which aired globally on BBC World Service TV (viewership approximately 70 million). He has been heard in interviews on nationally syndicated shows such as NPR’s All Things Considered, BBC/PRI’s The World and The Bob Edwards Show. Recordings are available on the Naxos, Innova, Bridge, Dorian Sono Luminus, Cedille, Albany, GM/Living Archive and GPR labels. His principal teachers in composition have included György Ligeti, Gunther Schuller and Richard Danielpour, with studies at the Curtis Institute and New England Conservatory. mohammedfairouz.com

Mohammed Hanif was born in Okara, Pakistan. After leaving the Pakistan Air Force Academy to pursue a career in journalism, he worked for Newsline and The Washington Post, and in 1996 moved to London to work for the BBC. He has written plays for the stage and screen, including a critically acclaimed BBC drama and the feature film The Long Night. Hanif is a graduate of University of East Anglia’s creative writing program. His first book, A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008), was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award, and won the Shakti Bhatt First

Book Prize and a Commonwealth Writers’ Regional Prize for Best First Book. After 12 years in England, Hanif returned with his wife and 10-year-old son to live in Karachi, Pakistan, where he is currently the BBC’s special correspondent.

Founded in 2006, Beth Morrison Projects encourages risk-taking, creating a structure for developing new work that is unique to each artist, giving them the time and space to experiment and push boundaries. Noted as a composers’ producer, “Morrison is a singular force completely identified with the entire value-delivery chain of the art

form — sourcing, processing and distributing an enticing array of products” (Opera News). To date, the company has commissioned, developed and produced more than 30 premiere opera and music-theater works that have been performed around the globe. The New York Times recently said, “The production of new [opera] works in the city still falls mostly to the tireless Beth Morrison and her Beth Morrison Projects.” The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Ms. Morrison may be immortalized one day as a 21st-century Diaghilev, known for her ability to assemble memorable collaborations among artists.”

Beth Morrison, Creative ProducerJecca Barry, General ManagerNoah Stern Weber, Associate ProducerJosh Green, Company Manager

Ivonne from Ghosts of CrosstownNathaniel Stookey, composer | Jerre Dye, librettistProduced by Opera Memphis

About the OperaGhosts of Crosstown is a cycle of short operas commissioned by Opera Memphis that is inspired by the Sears Crosstown building and the people whose lives it impacted. Built in 1927 as a regional distribution center, it employed tens of thousands of Memphians over the decades before finally closing in the 1990s and falling into disrepair. Today, it is being renovated and reimagined as a “vertical urban village,” with everything from artist live/work spaces and a charter school to clinics for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The complete cycle includes operas by Kamran Ince, Zach Redler, Jack Perla and Nathaniel Stookey with libretti by Memphis playwright Jerre Dye of Voices of the South. Ideas for the operas came from recorded interviews, stories solicited through Facebook and Twitter, and selected articles from The Conveyor, the building’s in-house newsletter. The piece was designed to be performed in various locations, but the highlight of the run was the performance held inside the building itself, with small groups of audience members traveling throughout the building to “discover” each of the ghosts. The only lights were the flashlights carried by the audience themselves. Over 50 percent of audience members across all performances were seeing opera for the first time.About the ScenesIvonne is the no-nonsense head of the secretarial pool at the Sears Crosstown building in the middle part of the 20th century. In the first scene of this three-scene opera, she talks to herself in the mirror in “her” bathroom, a place of calm and seclusion before the day begins. She applies her favorite shade of lipstick, Revlon’s “Cherries in the Snow.” In the second scene, we see her supervising some of the women on her floor, most of whom she considers silly and vain. In the third scene, she is called back to the bathroom for an emergency — one of the younger women on the floor has had a miscarriage and Ivonne must try to handle the situation until the ambulance arrives.

While the character of Ivonne is fictional, the opera is inspired by an actual event that was recounted by a retired employee in an interview.

First commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony at age 17, Nathaniel Stookey has collaborated with many of the world’s great orchestras, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and The Hallé Orchestra, where he was composer-in-residence under Kent Nagano. Stookey’s concerto for two violins and strings, Double, was commissioned to represent the year 1999 in the millennial festival in Sheffield,

England. The San Francisco Symphony commissioned, premiered and recorded The Composer Is Dead (2006), a sinister guide to the orchestra with narration by Lemony Snicket. It has been performed by hundreds of orchestras worldwide and was cited as one of the five most performed works of the 21st century. Stookey’s Mahlerwerk (2011), commissioned by NDR-Sinfonie (Hamburg) for their

Score and Production InformationPublisher: Associated Music PublishersWorld Premiere: April 14, 2014, at the Sears Crosstown Building in Memphis, TN (conductor: Isaac Selya, staging: Ned Canty)Duration: 18 minutesInstrumentation: vln.vla,harpYear of composition: 2014Cast: Ivonne, soprano

centennial Mahler cycle, was premiered under Christoph Eschenbach before an audience of 10,000 people. Stookey’s critically acclaimed String Quartet No. 3 (“The Mezzanine”) was commissioned and premiered by Kronos Quartet in 2013. As a composer of vocal and theatrical music, Stookey’s work has received considerable acclaim for innovation and emotional immediacy. Frederica von Stade kicked off her 2009 farewell tour with Stookey’s setting of her personal texts Into the Bright Lights. The following year, he scored John Doyle’s production of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle. Stookey’s monodrama Ivonne (2014) for soprano and trio was commissioned and premiered by Opera Memphis for the Ghosts of Crosstown project. Later this year, he releases a recording of Zipperz for two pop singers and orchestra performed by the Magik*Magik Orchestra.

Jerre Dye is the former artistic director of Voices of the South, Memphis’ premier theater company dedicated to producing new works from diverse Southern perspectives. With VOTS, he has developed and directed original work like Sister Myotis (Off-Broadway in June of 2010), Pre-sent / Pre-sent, and many other solo and group performance projects over the last decade. Some of his written work for the stage includes Hold Fast with Phil Darius Wallace (Ostrander Award) and Cicada (Ostrander Award). He has also written and adapted works for young audiences, such as The Ugly

Duckling, The Wild Swans, The New Adventures of Hansel and Gretel, and Sid and the Magic Box. He adapted and directed Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale for the Iris Orchestra (conductor: Michael Stern). He was recently presented with The Bryan Family Foundation Award for Dramatic Literature from The Fellowship of Southern Writers. When he is not writing, directing or performing, he can be found teaching workshops throughout the U.S. through organizations like Heifer International (Heifer Theatre Project). He is currently touring throughout the country with Wild Legacy, a show created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Dye is one of the creators of the Memphis Children’s Theatre Festival and is a graduate of the University of Memphis.

Founded in 1956, Opera Memphis has brought opera to generations of Memphians. Though known mainly for grand opera, it has a long history of supporting new work, beginning with Robert Driver’s establishment of the National Center for the

Development of American Opera in 1987.

In 2011, the company embraced the culture of musical innovation in Memphis and began a multiyear transformation of its mission and production paradigm. Its first step was to commit to a culture of respect for the music, the words and the audience. Following these tenets creates an environment where every artist feels supported and involved, and provides an experience that allows artists to leave Memphis feeling refreshed and artistically invigorated. Its second major step was a new focus on audience development, first with its New Audience Initiative, and next with the launch of #30DaysofOpera in 2012. Since then, this month-long festival of free opera has brought over a hundred performances to more than 60,000 people in a three-state area. More than 300 tickets have been purchased, mostly by first-time operagoers, after a first contact with the company through a #30Days event. In 2013, the company launched the Midtown Opera Festival, a showcase for new or seldom-heard works performed in a state-of-the-art, 350-seat theater in the heart of Memphis. In 2014, the Festival featured Ghosts of Crosstown, a cycle of new operas inspired by the lives of Memphians who worked or shopped at the iconic Sears Crosstown Building.

An American DreamJack Perla, composer | Jessica Murphy Moo, librettistProduced by Seattle Opera

About the OperaAn American Dream is a new kind of opera — one whose story comes not from myth or fiction or current events, but from the opera company’s community. Seattle Opera’s Belonging(s) Project, started in 2011, asked participants to respond to the following questions: “If you had to leave your home today and couldn’t return, what would you want to take with you? Why is that object, that memory or that connection to your past so important?” Dozens of responses were filmed and posted to a digital quilt, which can be explored at seattleopera.org/Belongings.

Seattle Opera then commissioned librettist Jessica Murphy Moo and composer Jack Perla to weave threads from this digital quilt into a new opera. The World War II experiences of two Seattle women, one Japanese-American and the other German-American, inspired the fictional tale of two families in An American Dream. Moo returned for additional interviews with the two women and immersed herself in the period.

Incoming General Director Aidan Lang, who joined Seattle Opera in 2014, was delighted by the work that had been done on An American Dream. “The workshop process revealed an unexpected resonance with one of the key themes of Nabucco, which we were already planning to present,” said Lang. “So we jumped at the opportunity to present the two works in parallel. In attending both operas, our audiences will inevitably have an even richer human experience than they would by seeing each piece in isolation.” An American Dream will have its world premiere at Seattle Opera in August 2015.

SynopsisA Japanese-American family burns precious belongings from Japan in an attempt to avoid arrest during World War II. Young Setsuko manages to hide her beloved doll before her family is forced out of their home. A new couple moves in: Jim, a U.S. veteran, and Eva, a Jewish immigrant preoccupied by her family’s situation in Germany. When Eva finds the doll, she discovers the truth — both about Setsuko’s family and her own.

About the ScenesIn “You arrived long ago, brave Empress” Setsuko hides her beloved doll before the FBI search her home.

In “What’s this? ... Quiet now, don’t say a word” Eva finds the doll, confronts her husband, and then hides it so she can return it to Setsuko after the war.

Score and Production InformationPublisher: Jack Perla DBA Music Without WallsWorld Premiere: Scheduled for a community preview at Bainbridge Performing Arts on August 13, 2015, and for premiere performances at McCaw Hall on August 21 and 23, 2015.Duration: 1 hour, 14 minutes Instrumentation (proposed): 15 players (violin 1 & 2, viola, cello, bass, oboe, flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn 1 & 2, harp, piano, timpani & percussion)Year of Composition: 2015Setting: On an island farm and a West Coast internment camp, circa 1942–1945.

Composer and pianist Jack Perla is active in opera, jazz, chamber and symphonic music. His operas and instrumental compositions have been widely performed, and he has performed in the U.S., Europe and Japan, forging a reputation for his unique cross-fertilization of jazz and classical music. Perla has been commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition. He is also a recipient of the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Composers Award, as well as awards, support and recognition from

the Argosy Fund for New Music, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo and numerous other organizations. Perla is currently working on a commission from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for a full-length opera based on Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown, which will premiere in 2016. Poet’s Cabaret, Perla’s third jazz recording, and Pretty Boy, a new disc of chamber and vocal music, are slated for release in 2015 on Origin and Starkland Records, respectively. Perla grew up in Brooklyn and lived in New York City while attending NYU and the Manhattan School of Music. He earned his D.M.A. in composition from the Yale School of Music. Perla lives and works in San Francisco.

Jessica Murphy Moo is a writer, editor and teacher. Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, Image and Memorious. Her nonfiction has appeared in Poets & Writers Magazine and The Atlantic Online, among other publications. She has held teaching positions at Emerson College, Harvard University, Boston University and Seattle Pacific University. She now teaches writing for the University of Washington’s Professional and Continuing Education program, and she is also Seattle Opera’s communications editor.

Celebrating 50 years in 2014, Seattle Opera is a leading opera company, recognized both in the United States and

around the world. The company is committed to advancing the cultural life in the Pacific Northwest with performances of the highest caliber, and through innovative education and community programs that take opera far beyond the McCaw Hall stage. Each year, more than 95,000 people attend Seattle Opera performances, and the company’s programs serve more than 65,000 people of all ages. Seattle Opera is especially known for its acclaimed works of the Richard Wagner canon, and the company has created an “international attraction” in its presentation of Wagner’s epic Ring, according to The New York Times.

CastMama, Hiroko Kobayashi — Mezzo-sopranoPapa, Makoto Kobayashi — Bass-baritoneSetsuko Kobayashi, daughter — SopranoEva Crowley — Mezzo-soprano or sopranoJim Crowley, spouse of Eva — BaritoneFBI agent (1) — Speaking role

Cuentos de PeregrinaciónHéctor Armienta, composer and librettistProduced by Opera Cultura

About the OperaCuentos de Peregrinación retells the heart-wrenching and inspirational stories of Mexican immigrants who have made the arduous journey from Mexico to the United States. As described by Hector Armienta, “This work is intended for the community and those that want to celebrate the contributions of all immigrants — including those within our own family.” The song cycle opera is comprised of five arias. The text is based on stories Armienta has collected from various sources. Cuentos is intended to break barriers and conceptions of opera. For that reason, there is spoken text in between the arias, and the work is called a song cycle opera. The community members that participated in the project developed text based on their real-life experiences. “The text in the arias are transcriptions (with some modifications by myself) of those I interviewed for the project,” explains Armeinta. “I plan to develop part two of Cuentos, which focuses on family members that live on both sides of the border.” Opera Cultura is seeking partners in the development of this project. About the ScenesAria, “Como cantan en los corridos” (“Like they sing in the folk songs”) — PerazaLed by a coyote (smuggler), people cross the border. Soon, a young woman recounts how she herself crossed la frontera (the border) many years ago.Duet, “Wrong place at the wrong time” — Peraza and McLaughlinThe true story of gang violence. A woman tells the story of how her ex-husband was killed in gang violence trying to defend his twin brother. Aria, “Yo viajo en mi mente” (“I journey in my mind”) — SesslerA mother dreams about the life her young infant child might have, even though she cannot hear.

Score and Production InformationPublisher: Musical DiscoveryWorld Premiere: March 29, 2014, Mexican Heritage Theater, San Jose, CADuration: 25 minutes (music only) or 35 minutes with an opportunity for community members to act/speak textInstrumentation: Fl, 2 Cl in Bb, Piano, Cello Year of Composition: 2014Projections available: Five images were commissioned for each aria. Producer may license these images. Cast: Tenor, soprano, mezzo soprano

Composer-librettist Héctor Armienta focuses on creating work that explores the Mexican and Mexican-American cultural experience. He draws on stories and music that represent his bicultural roots. His awards and commissions include those from Meet the Composer, the NEA, Arts International, Opera Pacific, the Pacific Symphony and others. His work has received support from three NEA grants in artistic excellence. Presenting organizations include Opera Pacific, Western Stage Theater, Teatro Latea, Fort Worth Opera and Tulsa Opera. His song cycle opera Cuentos de Peregrinacíon/Tales

of Pilgrimage premiered in San Jose, CA, and Guadalajara’s Teatro Degollado in 2014. Most recently, Armienta has acquired the rights to develop Rudolfo Anaya’s epic novel Bless Me, Ultima into an opera. Arizona Opera will have a reading of the work in 2016. Opera Cultura will produce the world premiere in 2018 and is in conversations with other companies about a co-production. Armienta is also the founder and director of Opera Cultura, whose mission is to explore music-theater and opera through a cross-cultural lens. It is through this organization that Armienta develops some of his music-theater projects and creates opportunities for young people from economically disadvantaged communities to experience the arts. He holds a B.M. in composition from California Institute of the Arts and an M.M. in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Opera Cultura’s mission is to explore the Latino-Hispanic cultural experience through music-theater and opera, while providing opportunities for the community to participate as creators, learners and performers. We accomplish this by presenting the work of composer Hector Armienta, showcasing other artists and training young people in the performing arts. By doing so, we create a cultural bridge between communities.

Héctor Armienta, Artistic and General DirectorTemirzhan Yerzhanov, Music DirectorKelly Conley, Assistant to the Director

Becoming Santa ClausMark Adamo, composer and librettistSubmitted by G. Schirmer, Inc.Produced by The Dallas Opera

About the OperaBecoming Santa Claus casts its title character as an elfin version of the kind of struggling American child who may have been taught to confuse a parent’s presence with the shiny gifts he brings; and imagines both how Claus became that child and how he grew into the angel of generosity (we’d like to believe) he is today. In this original story, Claus is a prince of an Elven realm, son of a conflicted sorceress-queen and a king who vanished under mysterious circumstances. No one expects Claus’ father at the boy’s glittering 13th birthday, but his uncles (the Three Kings of Christmas legend) are hoped for; when, called to the crib of a mysterious Child, they send, instead, regrets and gifts, the stung Claus recruits his quartet of hapless Elves to make the most spectacular toys ever created to dazzle the Child and exact a rejected nephew’s revenge. It doesn’t quite turn out that way ... Musically, the work portrays the three royals (yes, the King returns) in an aristocratically melismatic but harmonically skewed mode — Handelian vocalism soaring above a needle shower of quarter-tone pianos and baroque trumpets — while the Elves begin in traditional operatic vocalism but extend from quasi-percussive chorale through liquid jazz and unhinged rap as they give voice to the ever-the-more surreal and magical toy creations. Planned as a single 90-minute arch, gilded at the finale by a shimmer of 96 handbells stationed throughout the theater, the creators of Becoming Santa Claus are hoping for an opera that moves and dazzles by turns throughout its length, but leaves its youngest viewers (and their parents) talking about its ideas all the way home.

— Mark AdamoAbout the ScenesAria, “Everything’s in readiness” — Queen SophineThe conflicted sorceress Queen Sophine exhorts her recalcitrant 12-year-old son, Prince Claus, to attend the extravagantly opulent party she’s prepared for his 13th birthday: His responses clue us in to their complicated history. Aria, “Fabulous things” — Prince ClausNo one expects Claus’ father at the boy’s glittering 13th birthday, but his uncles (the Three Kings of Christmas legend) are hoped for; when, called to the birth-crib of a mysterious Child, they send, instead, regrets and gifts, the stung Claus protests (too much, perhaps?) that he’s not offended in the least: Given a choice between presents and presence, he’ll always choose the former. Scene, “This isn’t giving”— Queen Sophine and Prince ClausStung by his uncles’ abandonment, a vengeful Claus recruits a quartet of hapless Elves to make the most spectacular toys ever created to dazzle that Child his uncles chose over him. But he and his team have spent so much time creating and revising these marvels that there’s no way he’ll reach the manger in time for the birth ... unless his mother can be persuaded to use her magic to help them. The Prince and the Elves create a spectacular show to persuade the Queen: But her response isn’t at all what Claus expects.

Composer-librettist Mark Adamo is preparing for the premiere of his fourth full-length opera, Becoming Santa Claus, commissioned by The Dallas Opera for December 2015. It succeeds The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (San Francisco Opera, June 2013) Lysistrata (Houston Grand Opera, 2005; New York City Opera, 2006; Washington National Opera, 2008; and Fort Worth Opera, 2012) and Little Women (90+ international productions; CD release, 2002; Blu-ray/DVD release, 2010). Chamber commissions include Aristotle, introduced to New York, Boston and Davis, CA, by Thomas Hampson and the Jupiter

String Quartet, under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; The Racer’s Widow, for New York Festival of Song, introduced by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, pianist Steven Blier and cellist Jay Campbell; Regina Coeli, for harp and strings, for Washington’s Eclipse Chamber Orchestra; and August Music, for flute duo and string quartet, for the Constella Festival. Adamo’s first concerto,

Score and Production InformationPublisher: G.Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP), New York, NYWorld Premiere: December 4, 2015, The Dallas OperaDuration: 90 min Instrumentation: Flute doubling alto flute & piccolo Clarinet 1 in B-Flat doubling E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet in B-flat Clarinet 2 in B-Flat doubling E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet in B-flat Trumpet in D doubling trumpet in C Horn orchestral horn 1 (high tessitura) Tenor trombone TimpaniPercussion 1 marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, additional TBD Percussion 2 non-pitched skins and metals; TBD Piano 1 doubling celesta Piano 2 tuned, tone flat of piano 1; doubling harpsichord Strings Handbell ensemble 4 chromatic octaves; within the theater; number of players TBD Year of composition: 2015 Setting: The palace of Nifland, an Elven realm in the very Far North, in the days leading up to the very first Christmas

Cast (for the upcoming Dallas Opera production)Queen Sophine — Lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano (Jennifer Rivera)Prince Claus — Tenor leggiero (Juan José de Léon)Donkey/Messenger — basso cantante (Matt Boehler)The Elves: Yan — High lyric soprano (Hila Plitmann) Ib — Mezzo-soprano (Lucy Schaufer)Yab — Lyric tenor (Keith Jameson)Ob — Bass-baritone (Kevin Burdette)

Creative Team (for The Dallas Opera production): Paul Curran, director Gary McCann, designer (set & costume) Paul Hackenmueller, lighting designer Driscoll Otto, projection designer

Four Angels: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, was commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra in 2007. Its slow movement, Regina Coeli, is featured on Late Victorians (2008), Eclipse Chamber Orchestra’s all-Adamo recording for Naxos, which includes first recordings of Late Victorians, a cantata for singer, narrator and chamber orchestra; Alcott Music, a suite from Little Women; and the overture to Lysistrata. His choral work has been commissioned and performed by Chanticleer, Conspirare, The Esoterics, The Gregg Smith Singers, Choral Arts Society in Washington, Young People’s Chorus of New York City and The New York Virtuoso Singers. His music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer. markadamo.com

More than half a century of artistic excellence and community engagement has earned The Dallas Opera a major role in shaping the

national and international cultural reputation of Dallas. A champion of new work, TDO has presented the American premieres of five operas and additional world premieres. As part of the 2014–2015 season, the company commissioned Everest by British composer Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer. In addition to Mark Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus, the 2015–2016 season features the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Great Scott, a collaboration with Tony Award-winning librettist Terrence McNally, written for Joyce DiDonato.As part of its commitment to children and families, TDO has created several new education programs; a new production of Georges Bizet’s charming Doctor Miracle; and family- and education-friendly productions of John Davies’ Jack and the Beanstalk and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love.The Dallas Opera offered its first free public simulcast on opening night of the 2009 season, and it is a tradition that continues today, moving into Klyde Warren Park with the 2013 production of Carmen. In April 2012, the Dallas Opera extended its simulcast outreach beyond the Arts District to serve around 15,000 people who streamed into Cowboys Stadium in Arlington for a Texas-record-setting simulcast of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and again the following April for Puccini’s Turandot — both helping to fulfill the Opera’s mission of bringing this cherished art form to the community.Keith Cerny, General Director & CEOEmmanuel Villaume, Music DirectorIan Derrer, Artistic AdministratorDavid Lomeli, Artistic Coordinator

Many of the world’s most famous classical music publishing houses are part of The Music Sales Classical international group, including Alphonse LeDuc, Associated Music Publishers, Chester Music, Edition Wilhelm Hansen, G. Schirmer, Inc., Novello & Co and Unión Musical Ediciones, who, together with Schirmer/AMP, form the world’s largest independent holdings of classical music. Between them they represent some of the greatest composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The longest-established name in the

history of American music, G. Schirmer Music Publishers was founded in 1866 by Gustav Schirmer. As the 20th century dawned, G. Schirmer, Inc. had already become internationally esteemed, not only as a publisher of 18th- and 19th-century music, but as a champion and publisher of contemporary works. Schirmer’s catalogue expanded in 1964 to include Associated Music Publishers, and in 1986, both companies joined the Music Sales Group. Today, the Schirmer/AMP catalogues include America’s finest living composers, from the elder statesmen (Carter, Husa, Previn and Schuller) through today’s leaders (Adams, Corigliano, Harbison, Kernis, Lieberson, Riley, Sheng, Tan Dun, Thomas and Tower) to the youngest generation (Gabriela Frank, Avner Dorman, Missy Mazzoli and Daniel Wohl). The catalogue also includes many of the most often performed American operas of the 20th and 21st centuries (by Adamo, Barber, Catán, Menotti and Thomson, among others). Additionally, Schirmer is the American publisher of the works of Gubaidulina, Kancheli, Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, Prokofiev, Schnittke and Shostakovich, and agents for Red Poppy Music, the catalogue of Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe.

THE ARTISTS

American tenor Jonathan Blalock, winner of the 2014 Agnes Varis Prize for Bel Canto from the Opera Orchestra of New York, recently left a lasting impression with his performance in Paul’s Case at the PROTOTYPE Festival — a performance that Alex Ross in The New Yorker named as one of the top 10 musical events of 2014. In addition to his acclaim for work in 20th- and 21st-century opera, he has appeared in a number of world premieres, including The Secret Agent and Jorge Martin’s Before Night Falls. Blalock’s busy 2014–2015 season includes a number of exciting role debuts, including Ramiro (La

Cenerentola) with Opera Roanoke, The Mole (The Fantastic Mr. Fox) with both OPERA San Antonio and Odyssey Opera, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) with Cedar Rapids Opera, and Count Almaviva with Loft Opera in New York City. Future season debuts include both Nashville Opera and Los Angeles Opera.

Christopher Burchett’s rich, no-holds-barred baritone voice and committed stagecraft have earned him a place on the stages of opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, including New York City Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Estates Theatre in Prague, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, Virginia Opera, Opera Omaha, Eugene Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera, Utah Festival Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Most recently, Opera News described Burchett as a “fearlessly vulnerable” performer “who

gave an unflinchingly, heroically human performance that will linger long in the memory.” Burchett can be heard on Naxos in Mohammed Fairouz’s songs Refugee Blues and in the title role of Bernard Rands’ opera Vincent. Other recordings soon to be released include Paola Prestini’s opera Oceanic Verses on the VIA label, David Lang’s opera The Difficulty of Crossing a Field on the Canteloupe label and Joseph Summer’s opera The Tempest on Albany Records. Burchett can also currently be heard on the iTunes label as part of the OPERA America Songbook, a recorded collection of 47 songs commissioned by OPERA America to celebrate the opening of the National Opera Center.

Ned Canty is a taller than average stage director with credits from companies such as The Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Santa Fe Opera and Gotham Chamber Opera. The New York Times has described his stage direction as having “a startling combination of sensitivity and panache,” though others have held contrary opinions. As general director of Opera Memphis since 2011, he has led a reimagining of the 58-year-old company — managing the move to a new venue, introducing new outreach programs and launching the Midtown Opera Festival, an

annual event showcasing new or seldom heard works. His first major initiative, 30 Days of Opera, has brought over 100 free performances to more than 60,000 Memphians. Future projects include Daughter of the Regiment in Santa Fe and Elixir of Love in Portland.

Soprano Hae Ji Chang will create the role of Setsuko in Seattle Opera’s world premiere of An American Dream in August. She has recently performed Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at San José Opera; Gilda in Rigoletto at PORTopera; and the roles of Crobyle in Thaïs, Sarah in Jonah and the Whale, Frasquita in Carmen and the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte at Los Angeles Opera as a Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist. Additional engagements include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at Aspen Opera Theater, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice at the New England Conservatory of Music and Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia

at Los Angeles Opera. In concert, she has performed Fauré’s Requiem with the Colorado Music Festival Chamber Orchestra and Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include Mimì in La bohème at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Jennifer Goode Cooper is a “lustrous soprano” (The Wall Street Journal) with “steely eyed ferocity” (The New York Times) who “fills the theater with her soaring soprano voice” (Variety). She performed Musetta in Baz Luhrmann’s award-winning Broadway and Los Angeles productions of La bohème, and sang Titania in the first-known a cappella opera, Ching’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at Opera Memphis. In 2013, she debuted with New York City Opera as Miss Jessel in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, and can be heard on multiple recordings with Albany Records. She has also appeared with The Glimmerglass

Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Syracuse Opera, First Coast Opera, Shreveport Opera, Opera Memphis, Toledo Opera, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Memphis Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Bowdoin International and Greenwich Music Festivals, and Goodspeed Opera. This season, she is the proud recipient of a career development grant from the Kurt Weill Foundation. jennifergoodecooper.com

Christopher Devlin has served as vocal coach at Montreal’s McGill University, as well as at the Opera Atelier of Toronto, the Orford Arts Centre and the Connecticut Opera. He is also currently one of the principal coaches at The Glimmerglass Festival. Devlin has been recorded by Canada’s CBC national radio, with soprano Maria Pellegrini and baritone Andrew Garland, and has appeared in performance at Canada’s National Arts Centre. As part of his recital series in the Middle East with mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah, Devlin performed for the Jordanian royal family in Amman. In the U.S and

Canada, he has appeared in recital with artists including Frederick Burchinal, Mary Dunleavy and Denyce Graves.

Mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti has a voice that been described as “spirited, handsome-toned” (Opera News), with a stage presence that is “strong” and “impassioned” (The Washington Post). Quickly becoming known for her diverse stylistic range, Gigliotti is an exciting young artist who brings rich, resonant sound and a uniquely individual interpretation to her performances. This season brings significant company debuts for Gigliotti, including Houston Grand Opera to sing Siegrune in Die Walküre, as well as Opera Santa Barbara to reprise the title role of Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri. Additionally, she

debuts the role of Bradamante in director R.B Schlather’s gallery installation of Alcina in association with Whitebox Art Center. Future seasons include a debut with Washington National Opera and returns to Opera Philadelphia and Gotham Chamber Opera. In addition to making her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2009–2010, Gigliotti made her Avery Fisher Hall debut with American Symphony Orchestra in Scenes from Goethe’s Faust by Schumann and appeared with Oregon Symphony in Rossini’s Stabat Mater. She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes The New School for Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, and a former Filene Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera.

Last season, soprano Rena Harms performed Desdemona in Otello, the title role in Judith and Helmwige in Die Walküre at Grand Théâtre de Genève. Other recent engagements include Micaëla in Carmen and Lìu in Turandot at Florentine Opera, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, the title role of Šárka, Mařenka in The Bartered Bride and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at Staatstheater Braunschweig. Harms made her English National Opera debut as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra and joined Theater Basel for the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. In the U.S.,

her recent performances include Micaëla in Carmen at Opera Santa Barbara and Opera Southwest, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ericlea in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at Wolf Trap Opera. As a young artist at Los Angeles Opera, she sang Mimì in La bohème.

Baritone Joshua Jeremiah recently performed the title role of Rigoletto at Arizona Opera and John Sorel in The Consul at Opera Santa Barbara. Other recent performances include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Ford in Falstaff at Opera Louisiane and Don Pedro in La Périchole at New York City Opera. He also sang in a world premiere of A Death in the Family at Hungary’s Armel Music Festival. He has been a young artist with The Glimmerglass Festival and Wolf Trap Opera, where he performed La Rocca in Un giorno di regno, Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos and the title

role in John Musto’s Volpone. As a two-season member of the Seattle Opera Young Artists program (from 2006 to 2008), he performed the title role of Gianni Schicchi, Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and the title role of Falstaff, among others.

Born in Baltimore, violinist Melanie Kuperstein received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of Maryland. A tenured member of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, she performs across the Maryland and D.C. area. Kuperstein has studied with prominent orchestra musicians and was recently awarded the position of semifinalist in New World Symphony in Miami. This summer, she will perform as co-principal second with the National Repertory Orchestra. In addition to having a music education degree, she teaches 20 private students in the area. In her

spare time, Kuperstein works with and trains her therapy dog, Casper.

Grant Loehnig is head of music staff at Wolf Trap Opera, where he also serves as music director of the Opera Studio. He has worked with many of the major companies in the United States, including Opera Philadelphia, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Utah Opera and Seattle Opera. He has also served on the faculties of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. His premiere recording of songs of Carlisle Floyd with Susanne Mentzer was recently released by GPR Records. As a chorus master, he has worked with the Houston Symphony and Wolf Trap Opera, where

Opera News praised his “finely honed, spirited chorus.” Grant holds a B.A. from Macalester College and a Master of Music degree in vocal accompanying from Manhattan School of Music. He is a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Music Academy of the West and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program.Conductor

Benjamin Makino is the music director of Opera Memphis. He was previously the assistant conductor and chorus master at Long Beach Opera, where he conducted that company’s productions of David Lang’s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, Michael Nyman’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Michael Gordon’s Van Gogh, Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth, and the U.S. premieres of Gavin Bryars’ The Paper Nautilus and Stewart Copeland’s Tell Tale Heart. Before joining Opera Memphis full-time in 2013, he participated in the first 30 Days of Opera. He has recently appeared in several concerts

with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and this summer will conduct the recording of the opera Home is Harbor by Mark Abel. He is a graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera, and he was a participant in OPERA America’s 2014 Leadership Intensive Program.

American baritone Andrew McLaughlin hails from Washington, D.C., where he has performed with Washington National Opera as Brian Young in An American Soldier (2014), Rex in An American Man (2014), Doganiere in La bohème (2014) and Spanish Sailor in Moby-Dick (2014). As a champion of new works, Andrew has performed roles in the premieres of Robert Patterson and Mark Campbell’s The Whole Truth (UrbanArias, 2015), Janice Hamer’s Lost Childhood (National Philharmonic Orchestra, 2013), Claude Debussy and Robert Orledge’s La Saulaie (University of Maryland Repertory Orchestra,

2013) and Frank Proto’s Shadowboxer (Maryland Opera Studio, 2011). McLaughlin has held artist

apprenticeships at the Aspen Music Festival, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Virginia Opera and Central City Opera, where he made his professional debut as Le Dancaïre in Carmen (2011). Upcoming engagements this year include performances as baritone soloist in Faure’s Requiem with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, as the Judge/Captain/Crook in Bernstein’s Candide with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and as Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème with Virginia Opera.

Hailed by Opera News for her “golden sound,” Sarah Jane McMahon has sung on opera and concert stages throughout the U.S. and abroad, recently performing opposite Plácido Domingo, who selected her to join the Los Angeles Opera. A master’s graduate of Yale University, the many companies and orchestras she has performed with include the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Washington Concert Opera and New York City Opera. Her performances have also taken her to Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Vienna Concert House and the Santo Domingo Festival. Her recent

and upcoming engagements include performances with New Orleans Opera, Portland Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Cleveland Pops, The Dallas Opera and Tulsa Opera. She has recorded three albums, available at sarahjanemcmahon.com.

Mexican lyric mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Peraza is a versatile performer on both the concert and opera stages. She has been a featured soloist at the Majestic Degollado Theatre in Guadalajara, Mexico, Bellas Artes Theatre in Mexico City and Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, among other concert halls throughout Europe and U.S. Favorite opera roles include Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Ottavia (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Charlotte (Werther) and Carmen. Peraza has been the recipient of grants from the Mexican Fine Arts Institute (INBA) and the Mexican National Institute for Culture

and the Arts (FONCA). She won first prize in the 15th Francisco Araiza Voice Competition in Mexico City, was a finalist in the International Competition L’Orfeo in Verona, Italy, and was a semifinalist in the 10th Julián Gayarre International Competition in Pamplona, Spain, and the 38th Lyndon Woodside International Solo Competition of the Oratorio Society of New York.

Harpist Nadia Pessoa has performed with the National Gallery of Art Orchestra, the Moscow Ballet, the Annapolis Symphony, the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. She served as harpist for the 2009 production of The Fantasticks at Arena Stage, for Candide with Frederica von Stade and the Ann Arbor Symphony, and for the world premiere of Greg Spears’ opera Paul’s Case with UrbanArias. A native of Miami, FL, she attended the National Orchestral Institute and spent two summers as the resident harpist at the Music Academy of the West in Santa

Barbara, CA. Nadia can be heard on the 2005 Grammy Award-winning recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin. Pessoa is the recipient of awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters, DownBeat magazine and the American Harp Society, and she holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Michigan.

Violist Dana Rokosny has toured with orchestras throughout the United States, Switzerland, Ireland, Russia and Armenia. She has performed in the Luzern Festival Academy led by Pierre Boulez and was a fellow and assistant principal violist in the American Conducting Academy Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival, led by David Zinman. In September 2014, Rokosny was a soloist with the Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra in Shepherdstown, WV, where she is also principal violist. As an active chamber musician, Rokosny is a founding member of the District Chamber Players and

was formerly a violist in the Beau Soir Ensemble. She regularly performs with The Washington Chorus, Choral Arts Society of Washington, The City Choir of Washington and Maryland Symphony Orchestra.

Rokosny received her B.M. from Ithaca College and her M.M. from Rice University, and she pursued studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her previous teachers include Debra Moree, Karen Ritscher and Lynne Ramsey. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Maryland School of Music with Katherine Murdock.

Josephine Riggs is currently serving as music director for Act Two @ Levine Music. Riggs is also on staff at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She works regularly with Wolf Trap Opera and Washington Concert Opera, and maintains an active coaching and performing schedule. Prior to moving to the area, Josephine was based in New York City. She has worked with companies such as New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, El Paso Opera, Chelsea Opera and American Repertory Theater. She has been on staff at various conservatories, including Manhattan School of Music, Boston University,

Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Santa Clara University.

Brenton Ryan is a member of Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. He made his company debut in 2014 as Gastone in La traviata, with subsequent appearances as the Spirit/Sailor in Dido and Aeneas and as Leon in The Ghosts of Versailles. In October 2014, he made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut as a soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. Last month, he performed the role of Count Almaviva in Giovanni Paisiello’s 1782 adaptation of The Barber of Seville with the USC Thornton School of Music Orchestra under the

baton of James Conlon. His Los Angeles Opera appearances in the 2015–2016 season include Beppe in Pagliacci and Monostatos in The Magic Flute. In 2014, he made his Houston Grand Opera debut as Henrik in A Little Night Music. Engagements for the 2013–2014 season also included Cavaliere Belfiore in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims and Bardolfo in Falstaff as a Filene Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville with Wichita Grand Opera and in an outreach tour for Lyric Opera of Chicago, the tenor solos in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Lexington Philharmonic, and Gastone in La traviata with Des Moines Metro Opera.

With a voice described as a “magical gift” and “lovely” (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle), Alexandra Sessler is a San Francisco Bay Area soprano and voice instructor. Her upcoming engagements include Nedda in Pagliacci with Pocket Opera and the soprano solo of Stravinsky’s Mass with the San Francisco Symphony. She is also appearing in a new work called Fine des Temps, which is at its core an orchestrated, staged production of Messiaen’s Harawi, with Prodigal Opera. She is an AGMA member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, a regular member of Cappella SF, and performs

in concert and opera regionally and internationally. She is driven to promote the music of women composers and the Spanish-speaking community in live performance and recordings. Sessler is a lover of hummingbirds and cats.

Peter Tantsits, named one of his generation’s most consistently satisfying contemporary vocal music specialists by Opera magazine, continues to receive acclaim for his performances of 20th- and 21st-century compositions, as well as the high tenor opera repertoire of Rameau, Mozart, Britten, Henze, Ravel, Janáček, Berg, Strauss and Ligeti. He began his studies as a violinist and earned degrees from Yale University and the Oberlin Conservatory. Tantsits debuted at the Teatro alla Scala under Lorin Maazel in 2008 and last season made his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in the acclaimed

new production of Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten. Other recent highlights include appearances at the Wiener Festwochen, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Beijing International Music Festival, ACHT BRÜCKEN Köln, Holland Festival, Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe, Barbican Centre London, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and New York City Opera.

ABOUT OPERA AMERICAOPERA America leads and serves the entire opera community, supporting the creation, presentation and enjoyment of opera. Founded in 1970, OPERA America’s worldwide membership network includes nearly 200 Company Members, 300 Associate and Business Members, 2,000 Individual Members and more than 10,000 subscribers to the association’s electronic news service. In response to the critical need for suitable audition, rehearsal and recording facilities, OPERA America opened the first-ever National Opera Center in September 2012 in New York City. With a wide range of artistic and administrative services in a purpose-built facility, OPERA America is dedicated to increasing the level of excellence, creativity and effectiveness across the field.

OPERA America’s long tradition of supporting and nurturing the creation and development of new works led to the formation of The Opera Fund, a growing endowment that allows OPERA America to make a direct impact on the ongoing creation and presentation of new opera and music-theater works. Since its inception, OPERA America has made grants of nearly $13 million to assist companies with the expenses associated with the creation and development of new works.

OPERA America Sampler Production TeamCara Consilvio, Showcase Director and CoordinatorLaura Lee Everett, Executive ProducerSydney Golden, Stage ManagerBob Grimes, Production Manager and Lighting Designer, The Barns at Wolf TrapLee Anne Myslewski, Artistic and Production SupervisorGarry Sikora, House ManagerRebecca Vanover, Titles OperatorTess Wagner, Assistant Stage Manager OPERA America Artistic Services StaffLaura Lee Everett, Director of Artistic ServicesJeffrey S. Larson, Artistic Services ManagerJustin A. Giles, Artistic Services Coordinator

SPECIAL THANKSHeartfelt thanks to Morgan Brophy, Mark Campbell, Cara Consilvio, Ty Cumbie, Aren Der Hacopian, Ian Derrer, Donna DiNovelli, Bob Grimes, Kurt Howard, Arvind Manocha, Peggy Monastra, Lee Anne Myslewski, Rinde Eckert, Elizabeth Futral, Timothy Long, Todd Vunderink, Noah Stern Weber, Nick Wise, Kim Witman, the staff of The Barns at Wolf Trap and all the artists who so graciously shared their time and talent.

Selections for the New Works Sampler were madeby an independent panel of adjudicators.