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Press Releases
Date: January 18, 2010
Des Moines Metro Opera’s
OPERA Iowa Troupe Kicks Off 24th Annual Tour!
Underwritten by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Indianola, IA – OPERA Iowa, Des Moines Metro Opera’s educational touring troupe, will hit the road for its 2010 tour on January 26, 2010. During the ten-week tour, the group will give the world premiere performances of Michael Patterson’s A Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver. The ten-member troupe will also perform Rossini’s classic opera buffa The Barber of Seville and Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel.
The public is invited to the 2010 tour’s kick-off event, a family-friendly performance of Hansel & Gretel at Hoyt Sherman Place Theatre in Des Moines at 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 24. This 50-minute performance will be given by the eight-member troupe accompanied by the tour’s music director on piano. Tickets are just $7 per person and are available online at www.desmoinesmetroopera.org, by phone at (515) 961-6221 or in person at Hoyt Sherman’s box office (1501 Woodland Avenue).
Between January 26 and April 9, OPERA Iowa will visit some 50 schools and communities in Iowa and surrounding states, giving over 80 performances for approximately 25,000 school-aged children. The school performances are presented in conjunction with interactive and engaging workshops that meet the National Standards for Arts in Education guidelines. The troupe will also give 10 evening concert performances for community audiences in various locations across the state. These performances are open to the public. A complete listing of OPERA Iowa’s performance schedule can be found at www.desmoinesmetroopera.org/2010_oi_schedule.htm.
Composed by Iowa’s own Dr. Michael Patterson, A Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver is a 50-minute opera that delves into the life of the agricultural pioneer and Iowa hero, focusing on the key events that would shape the destiny of this great scientist. A Dream Fulfilled was created in cooperation with the State Historical Society of Iowa, which provided research assistance. To bring this story to the children of Iowa, DMMO and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs formed a partnership that creates week-long residencies at the State Historical Building of Iowa for the OPERA Iowa troupe at the beginning and end of the touring season.
The Barber of Seville is a sparkling romantic comedy by the great bel canto composer, Gioacchino Rossini. The story surrounds the incorrigible Figaro, opera’s best-known barber, and a character made popular to many by none other than Bugs Bunny! Combining Figaro’s charm with some of the most-memorable tunes ever penned, the opera is a twisting tale of hilarious intrigue with more than a few missteps along the way to happily-ever-after.
Returning to the OPERA Iowa stage for the 2010 tour is Engelbert Humperdinck’s family-friendly opera Hansel and Gretel, which uses spoken text and folksong melodies to set the famous Grimm’s fairy-tale to music. Hansel and Gretel, in operatic form, was first heard in Weimar, Germany, in December of 1893. The opera retells the familiar tale of two mischievous children, their exasperated parents and one hungry witch! In its own day, Hansel and Gretel offered a perfect contrast to the violent verismo operas of Italy that were popular at the time. It’s themes of loyalty, perseverance and platonic devotion still resonate in our own times. At its premier, Richard Strauss declared the opera a masterpiece and predicted that it would become one of the world’s greatest operas. Indeed it has.
Chosen from nationwide auditions, the OPERA Iowa troupe brings together talented young performers to share their love of opera with audiences of all ages. The members of the 2010 OPERA Iowa troupe are: soprano Diana Stoic of Skokie, IL; soprano Kristin Titus of Cinnaminson, NJ; mezzo-soprano Megan Marino of Boulder, CO; tenor Eric Bowden of New York, NY; bass Daniel Richardson of Skokie, IL; tenor Roland Hawkins of Little Canada, MN; baritone Andrew Wannigman of Jamaica Plain, MA; and bass-baritone Benjamin Bear of Lincoln, NE. The music director is Michael Sakir of Brookline, MA; and the technical director is Adam Rager of Evansville, IN.
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September 30, 2009
Des Moines Metro Opera Announces 38th Festival Season
Indianola, IA – At the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors, Dr. Robert Larsen, Founder and Artistic Director of Des Moines Metro Opera, announced the operas that will be produced for the 38th Summer Festival Season. The three, full-scale operas will be presented in 16 performances between June 25 and July 18, 2010, and will follow the Company’s successful formula of presenting an artistically balanced season that includes both tragedy and comedy, and a combination of well-known pieces with one 20th century work. In presenting the upcoming season to the Board of Directors, Dr. Larsen said, “our constant concern for balancing period, style and theatrical values in opera through all ages has led us to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth and Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah.”
The 38th Summer Festival begins with an opening night performance of The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sung in English. “The Marriage of Figaro is one of the greatest operas ever written,” says Larsen. From its famous overture to the brilliant finales, it combines the elegance and wonder of Mozart’s music with a very human comedy of wit and brilliance. It is a “sequel” to The Barber of Seville (presented as a part of Des Moines Metro Opera’s 2009 Season), though Figaro was composed some 30 years earlier. In this, the second installment of the Beaumarchais trilogy, things have changed a great deal for Count Almaviva, Figaro and Rosina, now the Countess. Mozart’s masterpiece tells a riotous tale of marriage, deception and mistaken identities but ends with the triumph of virtue, love and forgiveness.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth, sung in Italian, is a chilling tale of witches, prophecies, murder and madness as retold by one of Italian opera’s greatest composers. Lady Macbeth wants the throne of Scotland for her husband, so she persuades Macbeth to murder the true king thus making the witches’ prophecy come true. Once the deed is done, one of the greatest and most famous tragedies for the stage is set in motion. Verdi creates an opera that is deeply inspired by the Shakespeare he loved, setting the tale to music that matches its chilling power, but surging with a life all its own. The mists and brooding landscape of Scotland are seared with the passion and fire characteristic of Verdi’s earliest operas. Macbeth is “taut, it’s musically and dramatically challenging, it’s almost breathtaking in its vicious melodrama and immediacy,” Maestro Larsen says, “and it features Todd Thomas, our powerful Rigoletto and Iago of past seasons, and Brenda Harris, the stunning Agathe of last season’s Der Freischütz.”
One of the most important and frequently performed American operas of the 20th century is Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, the third offering of the 38th Festival Season. It is the Biblical saga of Susannah and the Elders, reimagined in a powerful American setting by one of the 20th century’s most remarkable opera composers. Appalachian folk tunes, Protestant hymns and square dances woven together with beautiful vocal lyricism create a poignant and purely American musical drama. Set in the mountains of Tennessee, Susannah Polk is an innocent yet independent girl who is targeted as a sinner by the Elders of her church in the small mountain town of New Hope Valley. She finds herself maligned, persecuted and cast out by the community, led by the evangelist Olin Blitch, its spiritual leader.
The Company will continue to use English supertitles projected above the stage for every performance and provide free opera previews prior to each performance.
- Current subscribers can renew their seats beginning on October 1, 2009.
- Season subscriptions will be available to the general public on November 2, 2009.
- Single tickets will go on sale April 1, 2010.
- All tickets are available by visiting www.desmoinesmetroopera.org or calling Des Moines Metro Opera's box office at (515) 961-6221.
- Season subscriptions range in price from $99 to $230.
- Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more adults for all performances and for students in kindergarten through college for mid-week performances.
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January 5, 2009
Des Moines Metro Opera Unveils World Premiere in 2009
Indianola, IA – OPERA Iowa, Des Moines Metro Opera’s educational touring troupe, will present a newly commissioned opera during its 23rd annual tour, Jan. 26-April 10, 2009, with a world premiere performance on January 23 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines.
Composed by Iowa’s own Dr. Michael Patterson, A Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver is a 50-minute opera that delves into the life of the agricultural pioneer and Iowa hero, focusing on the key events that would shape the destiny of this great scientist. A Dream Fulfilled is being created in cooperation with the State Historical Society of Iowa, which has provided research assistance.
To bring this story to the children of Iowa, DMMO and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs formed a partnership that creates week-long residencies for the OPERA Iowa troupe at the beginning and end of the next two touring seasons.
During the residencies, OPERA Iowa, museum curators, historians and professional Iowa artists will facilitate interactive workshops that connect students to Iowa history, interpret the museum and teach more about Carver and other famous Iowans. OPERA Iowa will also give performances at the Historical Building for Golden Circle-area school children and – in the eight weeks between residencies – travel the length and breadth of the state with its award-winning combination of education and entertainment.
“The State Historical Museum’s History Through the Arts theater program is very pleased to join with the Des Moines Metro Opera and present the George Washington Carver opera for children in the Cowles-Kruidenier Auditorium,” DCA Director Cyndi Pederson said. “We believe that children learn through interactive programs and teaching them about George Washington Carver is a great way for them to learn about international, national and Iowa history.”
A Dream Fulfilled begins in Winterset when Carver learns that he will attend Simpson College. The story then transitions to Indianola and from there to Iowa State University in Ames where Carver did groundbreaking work in botany. The opera culminates in the United States Capitol with Carver’s testimony before Congress.
“Des Moines Metro Opera is pleased to be able to present this new work which further immortalizes one of the great figures in our state’s history,” said Thomas Smith, DMMO’s Executive Director and CEO. “Just as exciting is the opportunity to collaborate again with an accomplished composer such as Dr. Patterson, and to forge a new partnership with the state’s Department of Cultural Affairs, which along with the Iowa Arts Council, provides critical financial and logistical support to so many of the cultural organizations that make Iowa an attractive place to live, work and play.”
The opera’s composer, Dr. Michael Patterson, is a graduate of Simpson College and holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Iowa and the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Patterson has worked with the Des Moines Metro Opera for more than 30 years. Currently an Associate Professor of Music Education at Simpson College, he has also been an instructor and accompanist for the Simpson College Orpheus Festival and Elderhostel. He founded and administrates the Music Education Workshop series at Simpson, which for nine years has featured nationally recognized clinicians in workshops each semester. Patterson has composed numerous songs for solo voice and piano, choral works and an opera, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which toured with OPERA Iowa in 2003 and 2004.
OPERA Iowa’s 23rd season, from January 26-April 10, 2009, will delight audiences across the state with performances of Patterson’s A Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver for elementary students and Rossini’s comedy The Barber of Seville for older students and evening audiences. The OPERA Iowa troupe will present a final dress rehearsal performance of The Barber of Seville for the public at Hoyt Sherman Place Theatre on Feb. 1.
During their residencies in schools, the troupe members present interactive workshops that fulfill the National Standards for Arts in Education requirements, helping students learn more and enjoy the opera performance more. OPERA Iowa has previously presented the world premieres of three operas: Stephen Paulus’s Rumpelstiltskin, Amy Tate Williams’s Harmoonia and Michael Patterson’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Des Moines Metro Opera, OPERA Iowa’s parent company, will present its 37th Festival Season, from June 19 through July 12, 2009, at the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola. Featured will be Puccini’s Tosca (sung in Italian), Weber’s Der Freischütz (sung in German) and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (sung in Italian). More information is available at www.desmoinesmetroopera.org.
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is responsible for developing the state’s interest in the areas of the arts, history and other cultural matters with the advice and assistance from its two divisions: the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council. DCA preserves, researches, interprets and promotes an awareness and understanding of local, state and regional history and stimulates and encourages the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and public interest and participation in them. It implements tourism-related art and history projects as directed by the General Assembly and designs a comprehensive, statewide, long-range plan with the assistance of the Iowa Arts Council to develop the arts in Iowa. More information about DCA is available at www.culturalaffairs.org.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 1, 2008
Des Moines Metro Opera Announces 37th Festival Season
Indianola, IA – At the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors, Dr. Robert Larsen, Founder and Artistic Director of Des Moines Metro Opera, announced the operas that will be produced for the 37th Summer Festival Season. The three, full-scale grand operas will be presented in 16 performances between June 19 and July 12, 2009, and will follow the Company’s successful formula of presenting an artistically balanced season that includes both tragedy and comedy, and a combination of well known pieces with one rarely-performed work. Dr. Larsen, has chosen the following outstanding scores for DMMO’s 37th Festival Season:
Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca - sung in Italian
Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz - sung in German
Gioacchino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville - sung in Italian
The Company will continue to use English supertitles projected above the stage for every performance and provide free opera previews prior to each performance.
“The 2009 season we have planned fro the Des Moines Metro Opera is nothing short of amazing,” says Dr. Larsen, “This is opera for every taste and everybody.”
“We are excited to present this tour de force lineup of the operatic repertoire,” says DMMO's Executive Director Thomas Smith. “Our commitment to engaging the very best voices and production values will make these performances a can’t-miss experience for thousands of Iowans next summer.”
The 37th Summer Festival begins with an opening night performance of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. “Tosca is one of the world’s greatest and most beloved scores,” says Larsen. “American soprano Carter Scott will make her debut with us in this searing piece of passionate musical drama which in many ways gets at the absolute soul of opera.” One of the grandest of grand operas, Tosca is one of the repertory’s most enduringly popular works. The beautiful and tempestuous singer Floria Tosca is in love with the young painter Cavaradossi but desired by the ruthless Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia. As the drama moves toward its heart-wrenching climax, she finds herself caught in a web of love, jealousy and intrigue. Set against the backdrop of history, Puccini combines the pageantry and passion of grand opera with the drama of verismo realism. This production commemorates the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
The Barber of Seville is a sparkling romantic comedy from the pen of the great bel canto composer, Gioacchino Rossini. “For some,” Larsen says, “this perennial favorite will the headliner with a star-studded cast that features Iowan John Osborn as Count Almaviva, a role he recently performed at Lyric Opera of Chicago to great acclaim, John Moore, another Iowa native who made his Metropolitan Opera debut last spring, as Figaro, and the adorable Jane Redding, who was our stunning centerpiece in last summer’s L’Elisir d’Amore as Rosina” The story surrounds the incorrigible Figaro, one of the best-known barbers of all-time, and a character made popular to many by none other than Bugs Bunny. Combining Figaro’s charm with some of the most-memorable tunes ever penned, the opera is a twisting tale of hilarious intrigue with more than a few missteps along the way to happily-ever-after.
“I’ve saved the best for last,” Larsen said as he announced the Company premiere of Carl Maria von Weber’s glorious Der Freischütz. Tenor Jeffrey Springer returns to DMMO’s stage to sing the role of the young forester Max, who must win a shooting contest to gain the hand of his beloved Agathe in this classic fairy tale. Will he bargain with his soul to secure glory and love? From the opera’s famous overture, to the eerie Wolf’s Glen scene, complete with supernatural effects, to its stunning conclusion, audiences will be swept up by the unforgettable music and fantastic drama.
Season subscriptions will be available to the general public on November 3, 2008. Single tickets will go on sale April 1, 2009. All tickets are available by visiting www.desmoinesmetroopera.org or calling Des Moines Metro Opera's box office at (515) 961-6221. Season subscriptions range in price from $99 to $230. Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more adults and for students in kindergarten through college for mid-week performances. For more information please call (515) 961-6221.
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The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has established its first individual arts award in 25 years, the NEA Opera Honors.
The awards, which celebrate lifetime achievement and individual excellence, will be presented on October 31 at the Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, DC, with performances by the Washington National Opera and members of its Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists program, conducted by Placido Domingo. NEA chairman Dana Gioia says that the new award "recognizes that American opera has truly come of age with our singers, musicians, composers, directors, designers and opera companies who are second to none in the world." OPERA America, the national nonprofit service organization, is the NEA partner in the Opera Honors program. In this inaugural year of the award, Washington National Opera is also a partner.
The first NEA Opera Honors are being given in four categories: singer, composer, advocate and conductor. Soprano Leontyne Price is known for her elegant musicianship, her generosity to young singers and her remarkable recording legacy. Composer Carlisle Floyd has had a long and distinguished career; his many memorable operas include Susannah and Of Mice and Men. Advocate winner Richard Gaddes, the general director of the Santa Fe Opera and co-founder of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, is known for challenging, adventurous programming. James Levine, who has led the Metropolitan Opera premieres of work by composers from Mozart to Weill and the world premieres of American operas by John Corigliano and John Harbison, has also fine-tuned the Met orchestra into one of the world's leading ensembles.
For more information, visit the NEA Opera Honors Website or www.operaamerica.org.