Central City Opera 2017 Festival Program

DOW NTOW N DEN V ER • LOUISV ILLE • STA PLETON • LITTLETON GIACOMO PUCCINI The Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver ARI PELTO Conductor MATTHEW OZAWA Director ANYA MATANOVIC Mimi DOMINICK CHENES Rodolfo LEVI HERNANDEZ Marcello MONICA YUNUS Musetta JOSHUA BLOOM Colline ANDREW GARLAND Schaunard

QUALITY IN LIFE.

NOVEMBER 4 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 2017

FOR I AM A POET, AND SHE IS POETRY ITSELF.

You’ve earned it!

The iconic opera that inspired the Broadway musical Rent, La Bohème is a simple yet profound expression of the love of art and the art of love.

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24/7 concierge services Balfour’s distinct 24/7 on-site nursing coverage

WORLD PREMIERE MUSIC BY GERALD COHEN LIBRETTO BY DEBORAH BREVOORT The Wolf Theatre Mizel Arts and Culture Center, Denver ARI PELTO Conductor OMER BEN SEADIA Director INNA DUKACH Ina Soep GIDEON DABI Jaap Polak ADRIANA ZABALA Manja Polak

Full calendars every month with social and educational opportunities

JANUARY 25 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 2018

A TRUE LOVE STORY THAT TRANSCENDS THE HORRORS OF THE HOLOCAUST.

Dining experiences that rival the finest restaurants Robust transportation services

Two lovers secretly pass letters while prisoners at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp: “They would meet behind the barracks to imagine what their future life could be. Those imaginings formed a story that sustained them. It was a simple story, to be sure—of ordinary breakfasts, and butter for the bread—but it nevertheless held great power and ultimately enabled them to survive. When everything is taken away, only the essential remains.” – DEBORAH BREVOORT

Fitness centers with a variety of exercise equipment and access to personal trainers Award winning interiors that are comfortably elegant Locations in dynamic and vibrant neighborhoods and cities Operating in Colorado for over 18 years OUR FOUNDER’S STORY

GIUSEPPE VERDI The Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver ARI PELTO Conductor DAVID EDWARDS Director OLAFUR SIGURDARSON Falstaff CYNTHIA CLAYTON Alice MARCO NISTICO Ford SANDRA PIQUES EDDY Meg DANA BETH MILLER Dame Quickly SUSANNAH BILLER Nannetta MINGJIE LEI Fenton

MAY 5 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 2018

WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS HE? Between indulgences in earthly pleasures, Falstaff devises a plan to seduce the wives of two wealthy gentlemen to gain access to their money—with predictably uproarious results. Enjoy the greatest moments of Shakespeare’s portly buffoon, played brilliantly by baritone Olafur Sigurdarson.

“Olafur Sigurdarson was a perfect incarnation of the title role: his Falstaff is a mix between a fat Beetlejuice (à la Michael Keaton) and a drunk Captain Jack Sparrow (à la Johnny Depp)...It was simply fantastic.” – MUSICALCRITICISM.COM

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Michael Schonbrun, Founder and CEO of Balfour and former President of National Jewish Health, needed to find his mother a retirement community. After her husband's death, Madeline, a lifelong New Yorker active in charity work, wanted to move to Colorado to be closer to family but didn’t want to sacrifice the amenities and sophisticated lifestyle of downtown Michael, age 13, and his mother, Madeline. living. Michael’s search left him unsatisfied; there were no senior living communities downtown and no options that would meet Madeline’s expectations and lifestyle. That’s why he created Balfour.

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ANNE-MARIE MCDERMOTT Bravo! Vail Artistic Director

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A SEASON FUELED

BY THE PASSION FOR HOME AND HEARTLAND

JUNE 29-AUGUST 20, 2017 | MORE THAN 400 EVENTS including...

Verdi’s La traviata JULY 15, 17, AND 18 | FULLY STAGED

Ravel’s L’enfent et les sortilèges

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JULY 21 | CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Renée Fleming with the Aspen Festival Orchestra JULY 30

Luke Bedford’s Seven Angels (U.S. Premiere)

July 7 - August 22 | Cooperstown, NY Tickets start at $26 www.glimmerglass.org (607) 547-2255

AUGUST 5 | CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito AUGUST 15, 17, AND 19 | FULLY STAGED

EXPERIENCE AMERICA’S PREMIER CLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVAL!

Plus, hundreds of other orchestra concerts, recitals, family programs, and more! See the full schedule online.

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experience the extraordinary 2018 sarasota opera winter festival February 10–March 25, 2018 PUCCINI’S

Manon Lescaut BIZET’S

Carmen 2017 FALL OPERA SEASON

NOVEMBER 3–21, 2017 GIUSEPPE VERDI RETURNS TO SARASOTA OPERA WITH

La traviata 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236 sarasotaopera.org | (941) 328-1300 Paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.

Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

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BELLINI’S

Norma D’ALBERT’S

Tiefland See all four Winter Festival productions in one weekend— go online or call us about OPERA LOVERS WEEKENDS, available March 16–18, and March 23–25, 2018.

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SARASOTAOPERA.ORG

Vanessa Becerra as Laurey/Oklahoma! Photo: Karli Cadel

PORGY AND BESS

OKLAHOMA!

XERXES

THE SIEGE OF CALAIS

july 7 - august 21

july 8 - august 22

july 15 - august 18

july 16 - august 19

Gershwin/Heyward

Rodgers/Hammerstein

Handel/Minato & Stampiglia

Donizetti/Cammarano

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Program Cover and 2017 Festival mixed media paintings by Karen Fisher.

Denver Artist, Karen Fisher, works primarily in 2D mixed-media using acrylic paint and found papers. Her work combines a phototransfer process and hand-painted elements, often juxtaposing hard-edge graphics with loose brushwork. Whether figurative or abstract, the artwork is highly gestural using collage-like elements that render movement. Through the amalgamation of order and disorder, the end result of her work is something beautiful. As part of a curated art collection, Ms. Fisher’s work was recently featured in the Maven Hotel, which opened in downtown Denver in Spring, 2017. karenfisherart.com

Central City Opera is funded in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), created by Metro voters in 1988 to provide public financial support to scientific and cultural organizations via the .1% retail sales and use tax in the seven-county district.

Central City Opera is also a member of OPERA America.

Central City Opera 400 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 530 Denver, CO 80246 CentralCityOpera.org For ticket information, visit CentralCityOpera.org or call the Central City Opera Box Office at 303.292.6700.

The Central City Opera Program is published by Brock Media. Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. Duplication of the contents without the express written consent of Brock Media is prohibited.

Brock Media Co. 603 S. Broadway, Suite A Boulder, CO 80305 GetBoulder.com

It’s about your cause.

Take your nonprofit event to new heights with 10% off.

connect with us today. 303.248.7100 | infinityparkeventcenter.com

Art direction and graphic design by Melissa Rick.

You Tube

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: @CCITYOPERA PINTEREST: CCOPERA

COMPANY

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2018 Festival General/Artistic Director’s Letter Chairman of the Board’s Letter Board of Directors & Volunteer Leadership

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

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Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program Education & Community Engagement Preserving the Past Festival Schedule Festival Extras Short Works

PRODUCTIONS

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CARMEN COSÌ FAN TUTTE THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE GALLANTRY CABILDO

PEOPLE

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Company Profiles Developing Artist Apprentice Artists Studio Artists Festival Orchestra Administration

SUPPORT

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Yellow Rose Society Annual Fund Contributions Annual Fund Donor Privileges Tributes Central City Opera Guild 2017 L'Esprit de Noël Theatre of Dreams Gala Special Thanks Flower Girls

OTHER INFORMATION

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Repertory Information & Imagery Credits Advertisers

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EXPERIENCE CENTRAL CITY OPERA

FROM THE DESK OF THE GENERAL/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PELHAM G. PEARCE Hi and Welcome to Central City and to Central City Opera!

July 7-August 5, 2018

We are in the midst of a great effort to improve the overall experience of our patrons! Last year we began this effort by providing podcasts filled with information that was both interesting and relevant. The feedback we received was very encouraging and we will continue that opportunity this summer.

For the 2017 season in Central City, you may notice some changes starting to happen throughout the town. Some of these developments have the potential to include the Central City Opera experience and we’re very excited to see what happens throughout the rest of 2017 and beyond. Stay tuned!

photo by amanda tipton.

Pelham G. Pearce was selected in 1996 as Managing Director and named General/ Artistic Director of Central City Opera in 1998.

During his 21-year tenure, Mr. Pearce has set forth the company’s current artistic mission of balancing traditional and progressive works.

Central City Opera’s national/international reputation has been elevated with American premieres such as Gloriana in 2001 and world premieres including the new Chinese opera, Poet Li Bai, in 2007, garnering press coverage all over the world. Nationally, he has served as Chairman of the Grants Review Panel for the NEA, as a juror for the Rosa Ponselle International Voice Competition and Regional Met Auditions, and as a Board Member for OPERA America. In May of 2013, Mr. Pearce received the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Award for the Arts and Humanities.

THE MAGIC FLUTE

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

IL TROVATORE

ACIS AND GALATEA

Do you have some input you would like to give us? Please do so by emailing, calling, commenting on Twitter or our Facebook page, or by writing us a good, old-fashioned letter. We welcome any and all methods of communication. This is how you can reach us: Email: admin@centralcityopera.org Phone: 303.292.6500 Facebook: facebook.com/CentralCityOpera/ Twitter: @ccityopera Mail: Central City Opera 400 S. Colorado Blvd. Suite 530 Denver, CO 80246

Sincerely,

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 40th ANNIVERSARY

HENRY MOLLICONE

But, now we are trying to look at the whole experience from your point of view. How can we also make the time you spend outside of the performance memorable for you? We are working on providing additional experiences for you this summer.

We want your experience with Central City Opera to be one that you never forget…for all the right reasons! Thank you for being here today and please, tell your friends!

GIUSEPPE VERDI

THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR

We are confident that the performances we create in all of our unique spaces are of the “I will never forget that for the rest of my life” quality and will strengthen your love of an old favorite or introduce you to a work that you have never seen before. This is what Central City Opera does and has been doing for people from all over this country and the world for 85 seasons now.

Pelham G. Pearce General/Artistic Director 2018

F E STI VA L

303.292.6700 | CentralCityOpera.org 2 0 1 7

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FROM THE DESK OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD NANCY PARKER Welcome to Central City Opera! We are excited to celebrate our 85th anniversary with you.

Over the years, there have been many changes in Central City.

The advent of gaming in 1991 was a significant one. City streets were full of construction and there was uncertainty about how gaming and the opera would work together. The lease of the Teller House to a casino company resulted in the building being renovated, including much needed repairs. The lease also enabled Central City Opera to establish an endowment, something that is still uncommon for many performing arts organizations. In addition, the casino operator provided the financial backing for Central City Opera to renovate the historic McFarlane Foundry into a beautiful rehearsal space now known as the Lanny and Sharon Martin Rehearsal Center.

In the late 1990’s, Central City Opera did a survey about what our patrons most wanted in the Opera House and the answer was unanimous: improved seating. In 1999, we replaced the school house hickory chairs with comfortable theater seating re-carved with the names of the pioneers, patrons and performers from the original chairs. We’re very proud that the Opera House was recently listed in the top twenty-one of the most beautiful theaters in America by Vox Media. photo by anne mcgonagle.

I cannot neglect mentioning the wonderful productions, innovative ways of creating the sets (Tosca, 2016), and a change to performing in the original language with surtitles above the proscenium.

Central City Opera had the first American production of Gloriana by Benjamin Britten in 2001 and our third commissioned work, Gabriel’s Daughter in 2003.

Central City Opera's story has been one of change. Enjoy the 85th season and stay tuned for new and exciting things happening with Central City Opera and in the town of Central City.

Cheers!

Nancy Parker Chairman of the Board

BOARD OF DIRECTORS | VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP

Nancy S. Parker, Chairman Maureen K. Barker, President Dr. Gregg Kvistad, Treasurer Michael Huseby, Secretary

DIRECTORS Roopesh Aggarwal Margaret Baker Pamela Bansbach Lori Stone Bellingham Nancy P. Brittain Janette W. Chase Melinda Couzens Ron Engels Suzanne Goderstad Richard A. Goozh Judith W. Grant Heath C. Hutchison Kevin Kearney Hilton G. Martin J. Landis Martin Anne McGonagle Susan B. Rawley Phoebe Smedley Robert “Sonny” Wiegand II

HONORARY BOARD Gerald Bader The Honorable Jack W. Berryhill Barbara Danos Robert A. Ellis Barbara Ferguson Jeannie Fuller The Honorable Robert Fullerton Gail Gordon James R. Hilger, Jr. Larry J. Manion Edward C. Nichols Daniel L. Ritchie Elizabeth Rostermundt Robert D. Showalter George Ann Victor

EX-OFFICIO BOARD Edie Bell 2017 Central City Opera Guild President Dr. Rebecca Chopp Chancellor of the University of Denver 10

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The Honorable Kathryn Heider Mayor, City of Central The Honorable Michael B. Hancock Mayor, City of Denver The Honorable John W. Hickenlooper Governor, State of Colorado

NATIONAL ADVOCACY COUNCIL Central City Opera continues to build its National Advisory Council which acts as representatives of the Company outside of Colorado, bringing an important national perspective regarding trends throughout the world of opera.

Elisabeth Armstrong Denver, CO and Paso Robles, CA Alice W. Bass – Dallas, TX Robert A. Ellis – San Francisco, CA Eva Womack – Austin, TX

REGIONAL ADVOCACY COUNCIL Roger Ames Lori Stone Bellingham Judeth and Doug Comstock Tricia Dickinson William Lynn Dixon Ann and John Draper Joanne Field Nancy Hemming Tammy and Tom Kenning Nancy S. Parker Marcia Ragonetti Karen Ritz Cynthia Vaughn Linda Weise M. J. Wurster Andrew Yarosh

ENDOWMENT FUND BOARD J. Landis Martin, President Nancy S. Parker, Secretary/Treasurer John W. Low, Esq. Jim Palenchar Julia Secor Robert A. Unger

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BONFILS-STANTON FOUNDATION

ARTISTS TRAINING PROGRAM Many singers from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program have gone on to successful, often major, careers in opera. are career-track singers who have earned their bachelor and usually graduate degrees. They are selected not only for their singing ability, but also for their suitability for specific roles, as they will understudy the principal singers. Apprentice Artists sing secondary roles for mainstage performances and principal roles for the Family Matinee. Outstanding apprentices are often invited back for another year.

on to successful, often major, careers in opera—singers such as Denyce Graves, Alan Held, Cynthia Lawrence, Michael Mayes, David Adam Moore, Matthew Polenzani, Emily Pulley, and Brenda Rae. Emily Pulley, who was an Apprentice Artist singing the supporting role of Frasquita in the 1993 production of Carmen, returns as Carmen this summer, having also starred in CCO productions of Die Fledermaus, Vanessa and Susannah.

The younger Studio Artists are singers who show potential, have talent, and are ready for more training beyond academia. They sing in the chorus, play secondary roles in family performances, and perform in the many festival events. Many singers from the BonfilsStanton Foundation Artists Training Program have gone bonfils-stanton foundation artists class. photo by erin joy swank.

A lot hinges on a five-minute audition. That’s all the time the young performers have to impress. A good voice, yes, but also that certain presence. Each year aspiring opera singers apply for the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program, considered one of the top summer programs in the country.

Founded in 1978, and led for more than 25 years by Central City Opera's Artistic Director emeritus, John Moriarty, the rigorous 8-week Training Program is now a national model for the professional development of young singers. And a lot hinges on a five-minute audition. That’s all the time the young performers have to impress. A good voice, yes, but also that certain presence. Each year aspiring opera singers apply for the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program, considered one of the top summer programs in the country. It integrates daily training in diction and movement, individual coaching, and sessions in career management with rehearsals and performance opportunities in the summer's main stage and surrounding productions. Approximately 30 participants are selected from more than 900 applicants each year.

Michael Ehrman returns to Central City Opera for his

fourth Festival as Director and Administrator of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program.

Ehrman has garnered numerous awards and great acclaim for his work as a director with many world-class opera companies; he directed many memorable productions for Central City Opera before taking this position. Also recently retired from his position as director of opera at Northwestern University, he is joined again by Principal Coach Michael Baitzer, one of his generation's top opera and recital pianists. Mr. Baitzer is responsible for teaching diction classes and co-teaching the audition class for the Program, as well as musical coaching for the singers.

All of the singers who participate take the same classes, though the program has a two-tiered structure: Apprentice Artists and Studio Artists. Apprentice Artists the impresario, 2016 and later the same evening, 2016. photos by amanda tipton.

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LOOK YOUR STORIES IN THE EYE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR 2017/18 THEATRE COMPANY SEASON Visceral reimagining

MACBETH Sep 15 – Oct 29, 2017

Seriously sexy drama

SMART PEOPLE

Oct 13 – Nov 19, 2017

Wildly funny fiasco

ZOEY’S PERFECT WEDDING Jan 19 – Feb 25, 2018

Personal and national histories collide

THE GREAT LEAP Feb 2 – Mar 11, 2018

Funny feuding neighbors

NATIVE GARDENS Apr 6 – May 6, 2018

Exhilarating musical

THE WHO’S TOMMY Apr 20 – May 27, 2018

AMERICAN MARIACHI Jan 26 – Feb 25, 2018

Uproarious romantic comedy

HUMAN ERROR

May 18 – June 24, 2018

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Macbeth illustration by Kyle Malone

Heartwarming, music-filled story

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

PRESERVING THE PAST

artist training and community education programs go hand in hand.

In 2016, the Association’s educational and community services reached more than 46,000 people with 207 programs. Touring programs extend throughout Colorado and into Wyoming, going to schools, theaters and community centers. Central City Opera reaches people in their homes and cars with radio broadcasts on Colorado Public Radio and the Central City Opera Podcast.

rossini rocks! music! words! opera! residency; southmoor elementary spring 2017. photo by amanda tipton.

Children sit enthralled, some seeing opera for the very first time. Apprentice Artists, in costume and make-up, perform with full orchestra, gaining valuable experience.

Enthusiasm runs high at family matinees. Aspiring opera singers get to step into principals’ roles, playing the characters they’ve understudied and rehearsed all summer. Youngsters in the audience get to experience the magic of the Opera House and a world of music, theatre and song they never imagined. In many ways,

Local singers and instrumentalists make up the list of Central City Opera Ensemble Artists who fill the roster for these touring programs. Presenting a multitude of musical works and opera highlights, they take live performances to those who may not otherwise have access. Most are also teaching artists, and introduce students to the basics of music and theater through interactive scenes programs and master classes. They also mentor students through the creative process of producing and performing their own original music theater works.

Among companies of its size, Central City Opera has one of the most active education programs in the United States. Many of the programs are customized to the needs of the communities and tailored to school curriculums.

Central City Opera creates and delivers programs to involve all ages in arts experiences, from pre-school to post-retirement.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA ENSEMBLE, TEACHING ARTISTS AND PARTNERS SOPRANOS: Jovahnna Anderson, Ruth Carver, Judeth Shay Comstock*, Christie Conover, Mica Dominguez-Robinson, Lindsey French, Phoenix Gayles, Erin Hackel, Emily Murdock*, Margaret Ozaki, Amanda Raddatz, Michelle Diggs Thompson MEZZO-SOPRANOS: Dianela Acosta, Sarah Barber*, Jennifer DeDominici*, Tracy Kaufman, Ellen Moeller, Marcia Ragonetti, Leslie Remmert Soich, Rebecca Robinson TENORS: Jason Baldwin*, James Baumgardner*, Eapen Leubner, Adam Sattley

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BARITONES/BASS-BARITONES: Adam Ewing*, Ryan Parker, Chad Reagan, Matthew Peterson, Tom Sitzler*, Steven Taylor, Bradley Thompson*, Benjamin Wood INSTRUMENTALISTS: Steven AguilóArbues, piano; Brendan Bondurant, guitar; Adam Buer, guitar; Sara Parkinson, piano; Deborah Schmit-Lobis, piano, composer/ arranger*; Travis Yamamoto, piano ARTISTIC/PRODUCTION PERSONNEL Jonathan Allsup, Production Manager; Roger Ames, Resident Teaching Artist and Composer*; Maegan Burnell, Production

Assistant; Kenny Martinez, Production Assistant; Carl Morrow, Stage Director; Erin Joy Swank, Production Assistant ADMINISTRATION Deborah Morrow, Director of Programs*; Emily Murdock, Associate Director of Programs* EDUCATION PARTNERS: Colorado Children’s Chorale, Colorado Springs Conservatory, Inside the Orchestra, Applewood Valley United Methodist Church *Teaching Artist

CENTRAL CITY OPERA'S HISTORIC PROPERTIES The historic environment of Central City is a big part of what makes the Central City Opera experience so special.

When the Central City Opera House Association was formed in 1932, its stated purpose was to “preserve and protect the town of Central City and its Opera House.”

Over the years, Central City Opera has acquired 28 Victorian-era properties, all of which are contributing structures to the Central City/Black Hawk National Historic Landmark District.

The crown jewel of the Association’s many properties is the Opera House itself. The building was unsafe, an eyesore, and in danger of being turned into a warehouse or garage when the Association first set about to restore it as a theater. Since then, the Opera House has been completely rehabilitated in adherence with strict historic preservation criteria. Both the Opera House and the Teller House are listed on the Register of National Historic Sites.

Twenty-two historic properties house the majority of the company during the festival. Built by residents of Gilpin County during the gold rush, some of the homes date

back to the 1860s. They were built quickly with materials at hand, never meant to last 150 years.

The Association has been the recipient of the Trustee Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites given by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Some of the Association’s other notable properties are: Williams Stables, a former livery now used as a performance space; Festival Hall, a former brewery, now administrative offices for the festival; and the McFarlane Foundry, now the Lanny and Sharon Martin Rehearsal Center.

It takes committed partners and many hands to preserve and maintain these noteworthy buildings. The Central City Opera Guild faithfully assists with minor repairs and remodeling projects and ensures the houses are stocked each year with the necessities and comforts of home. Preservation grants from the State Historical Fund, the Central City Historic Preservation Commission, and other funders have provided critical financial support for ongoing restoration projects on many of the properties.

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FESTIVAL EXTRAS

2017 | FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Lunch & a Song

ONE ACT: FURNACE

11:30 am TACO*

8:00 pm

12:00 noon

2:30 pm

2:30 pm

CARMEN

Afternoon at the Opera

CARMEN

FAMILY MATINEE

1:15 pm

MIX & MINGLE

8:00 pm

Short Works

8:00 pm

CARMEN

11:45 am

2:30 pm

ONE ACT: DOUBLE FEATURE

Lunch & a Song

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

GALLANTRY/CABILDO

WED 2 AUGUST

1:15 pm

OPERA BUS

BOOMER BUS

12:00 noon

Short Works

MIX & MINGLE

WED 12 JULY

2:30 pm

THU 27 JULY

ONE ACT: FURNACE

2:30 pm

CARMEN

THU 20 JULY

5:00 pm

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

OPERA BUS

8:00 pm

ONE ACT: FURNACE

MIX & MINGLE

MIX & MINGLE

CARMEN

8:00 pm

8:00 pm

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

ONE ACT: DOUBLE FEATURE

FRI 14 JULY

FRI 21 JULY

1:15 pm

8:00 pm

FRI 28 JULY

Short Works

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

8:00 pm

THU 3 AUGUST

2:30 pm

POST-OP

CARMEN

12:00 noon

POST-OP

ONE ACT: GALLANTRY

CARMEN

SAT 22 JULY

MIX & MINGLE

GALLANTRY/CABILDO

2:30 pm

11:45 am

SAT 29 JULY

Lunch & a Song

11:45 am

5:30 pm Opening Night Dinner

1:15 pm

Lunch & a Song

Short Works

1:15 pm

FRI 4 AUGUST

8:00 pm

2:30 pm

Short Works

12:00 noon

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

CARMEN

2:30 pm

ONE ACT: GALLANTRY

MIX & MINGLE

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

2:30 pm

MIX & MINGLE

COSÌ FAN TUTTE MIX & MINGLE

SAT 15 JULY

SUN 16 JULY

CARMEN MIX & MINGLE

SUN 23 JULY

8:00 pm

Lunch & a Song

11:45 am

ONE ACT: DOUBLE FEATURE

1:15 pm

Lunch & a Song

GALLANTRY/CABILDO

SUN 6 AUGUST

Short Works

1:15 pm

OPERA BUS

2:30 pm

2:30 pm

Short Works

POST-OP

CARMEN

CARMEN

2:30 pm

OPERA BUS

COSÌ FAN TUTTE

SUN 30 JULY

MIX & MINGLE

BOOMER BUS

11:45 am

TALKBACK

Lunch & a Song

TUE 18 JULY

1:15 pm

1:15 pm

TUE 25 JULY

Short Works

1:15 pm

2:30 pm

2:30 pm

Short Works

CARMEN

CARMEN

2:30 pm

TALKBACK

MIX & MINGLE

COSÌ FAN TUTTE MIX & MINGLE

Short Works

PERFORMANCE LOCATIONS The Burning Fiery Furnace: Gilman Rehearsal Room at The Martin Foundry Gallantry: Williams Stables Theater Cabildo: Williams Stables Theater Opera Notes occur 45 minutes before every main stage show, except the Family Matinee.

LUNCH & A SONG 30 minute solo performances to whet your vocal appetite, preceded by lunch at the historic Teller House.

SHORT WORKS Engaging short scenes for opera veterans or virgins. Williams Stables Theater.

OPERA NOTES Free pre-performance talks 45 minutes before main stage shows.

Williams Stables Theater.

TALKBACK Free post-performance talks in the Teller House directly after select main stage shows.

POST-OP Impromptu performances by Central City Opera stars and a cash bar after select weekend evening shows at the Teller House.

ARTISTS MIX & MINGLE Join us after select matinee performances to mix and mingle with the artists on the Teller House deck. Enjoy a cash bar and the chance to meet the stars.

Weather permitting.

NINA ODESCALCHI KELLY FAMILY MATINEE A kid-friendly matinee of Carmen with a narrator’s preview and an autograph session with singers. Bring a picnic and add on fun preshow activities with Take a Child to the Opera.

BOOMER BUS Add the Boomer Bus package for an insider’s look at Central City Opera and its historic mining town. Enjoy a live history presentation during the ride to Central City, a boxed lunch and an exclusive behind-thescenes experience.

OPERA BUS Leave the driving to us. Add the Opera Bus for a scenic drive to Central City.

Boomer and Opera Buses leave from Sports Authority, 370 S. Colorado Blvd, Glendale at 10 am.

Boomer and Opera Buses leave from Simms Steakhouse, 11911 W. 6th Ave., Lakewood at 10:45 am.

THE BOOMER BUS IS SPONSORED BY DALE EN

LORA CO

11:45 am

EXPAND THE FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE BY ADDING ON ONE OR MORE EVENTS.

OF GL

TUE 1 AUGUST

12:00 noon

TY

WED 26 JULY

11:45 am

CI

WED 19 JULY

5:30 pm Opening Night Dinner

DO

SAT 8 JULY

AFTERNOON AT THE OPERA Enjoy a seated lunch and dessert, followed by a Historic Hardhat Tour of the Belvidere Theater.

Artists Mix & Mingle follows matinees, weather permitting *Take a Child to the Opera

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SEASON

2017 2018

SHORT WORKS See the stars of tomorrow in Short Works, featuring Studio Artists from Central City Opera’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program.

These 30-minute performances are staged opera scenes from the world’s most popular operas.

Hosted by Program Director/Administrator Michael Ehrman.

Performed in Williams Stables Theater.

See page 18 for the complete schedule.

Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro Act III Recitative & Sextet (English)

Donizetti’s La fille du régiment Act II Trio

Figaro Susanna Conte Almaviva Marcellina Bartolo Curzio Stage Director Pianist

Marie Tonio Sulpice Stage Director Pianist

Ethan Greene Kellie Motter Zane Hill Elizabeth Sarian Rivers Hawkins Ricky Feng Nan Matthew Haney Thomas Getty

Mozart’s Don Giovanni Act II Sextet Donna Anna Donna Elvira Zerlina Don Ottavio Leporello Masetto Stage Director Pianist

Regina Ceragioli Kaileigh Riess Jamie Groote Dongwhi Baek Ethan Greene Jacob Scharfman Alison Moritz John Arida

Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor Act II Sextet Lucia Alisa Edgardo Enrico Arturo

Raimondo

Stage Director Pianist

Kellie Motter Ann Fogler Eric J. Taylor Zane Hill Ricky Feng Nan Rivers Hawkins Matthew Haney Sheldon L. Miller

Mozart’s The Magic Flute Act I Quintet Papageno Tamino 1st Lady 2nd Lady 3rd Lady Stage Director Pianist

Armando Contreras Eric J. Taylor Kaileigh Riess Ann Fogler Elizabeth Sarian Alison Moritz Sheldon L. Miller

Puccini’s La bohème Act III Aria, Duet & Quartet Mimi Rodolfo Marcello Musetta Stage Director Pianist

Regina Ceragioli Eric J. Taylor Armando Contreras Kaileigh Riess Michael Ehrman Thomas Getty

Kellie Motter Dongwhi Baek Ethan Greene Matthew Haney John Arida

Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti Umbrella Duet Dinah Sam Stage Director Pianist

2018

Jamie Groote Jacob Scharfman Michael Ehrman Thomas Getty

The Tierney Sutton Band JAN 11 / 7:30 p.m.

Massenet’s Werther Act III Duet Sophie Charlotte Stage Director Pianist

Kellie Motter Elizabeth Sarian Alison Moritz Sheldon L. Miller

Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore Act II Recitative & Duet Nemorino

Belcore

Stage Director Pianist

Dongwhi Baek Armando Contreras Matthew Haney John Arida

Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore Act I Recitative & Duet Nemorino Adina Stage Director Pianist

Ricky Feng Nan Regina Ceragioli Alison Moritz Sheldon L. Miller

Copland’s The Tender Land Act I Trio & Quintet Martin Top Grandpa Laurie Ma Stage Director Pianist

Spectrum Dance Theater JAN 26 / 7:30 p.m.

Ricky Feng Nan Jacob Scharfman Rivers Hawkins Kailiegh Riess Jamie Groote Michael Ehrman Thomas Getty

wild Up FEB 1 / 7:30 p.m.

Antonio Sanchez – Birdman Live FEB 22 / 7:30 p.m.

2017 Black Violin * SEP 28 / 7:30 p.m.

SEP 29 / 7:30 p.m.

Martha Graham Dance Company OCT 7 / 7:30 p.m.

A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy OCT 20 / 7:30 p.m

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Sarah Chang MAR 13 / 7:30 p.m.

Cashore Marionettes * MAR 23 / 7:30 p.m.

MAR 24 / 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Nrityagram Dance Ensemble APR 6 / 7:30 p.m.

ODC Dance - The Velveteen Rabbit * APR 27 / 7:30 p.m.

Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective MAY 3 / 7:30 p.m.

Gregory Porter NOV 4 / 7:30 p.m.

Erth’s DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE * NOV 11 / 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Mavis Staples NOV 17 / 7:30 p.m.

The King’s Singers NOV 19 / 2:00 p.m.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra DEC 7 / 7:30 p.m.

Windham Hill - Winter Solstice DEC 12 / 7:30 p.m.

Discount not available on shows marked with * PRE-SALE OFFER:

JULY 10

ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC:

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JULY 17

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www.newmancenterpresents.com Box Office: 303.871.7720 Valid only on Newman Center Presents shows. Other restrictions may apply, not valid on previously purchased tickets. Not valid with any other offers. One coupon per person, valid for up to 8 tickets. Code: CC10

2018 Festival Season | May 19 – June 24

“No US company has shown more leadership in the development of the art form.”

Denver Post

250 CONCERTS ON US!

LA TRAVIATA Giuseppe Verdi

Directed by Patricia Racette Featuring Sydney Mancasola & Geoffrey Agpalo

REGINA Marc Blitzstein

Featuring Susan Graham & James Morris

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER Huang Ruo & David Henry Hwang World premiere of a new two-act version Featuring Andrew Stenson

ORFEO AND EURIDICE Christoph Willibald Gluck

du.edu/lamont Concert Line: 303.871.6412

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SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW ON SALE! Weekend Packages Start at Just $135

(314) 961-0644 ExperienceOpera.org

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Concerts in the Robert & Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts

Featuring Jennifer Johnson Cano & Andriana Chuchman

POSTAGE HERE 191 University Blvd., #974 Denver, CO 80206-4613

2017–18 SEASON

Season Highlights

SIN FriendsofChamberMusic.com JU G LE

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WED, DEC 13, 2017 | 7:30pm

D E N V E R

JORDI SAVALL AND HESPÈRION XXI MON, MAY 7, 2018

7:30pm

IGOR LEVIT, PIANO

WED, JAN 10, 2018 | 7:30pm

BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WOODWIND QUINTET AND STEPHEN HOUGH, PIANO TUE, FEB 6, 2018 | 7:30pm

EIGHTH BLACKBIRD

MON, APR 23, 2018 | 7:30pm

All concerts at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Gates Concert Hall

For a complete schedule, visit friendsofchambermusic.com NEWMAN CENTER BOX OFFICE

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Georges Bizet

COMPOSER

LIBRETTISTS

BASED ON A NOVEL BY

CONDUCTOR

DIRECTOR

CHOREOGRAPHER

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

ORIGINAL SCENIC DESIGNER

ORIGINAL COSTUME DESIGNER

COSTUME COORDINATOR

LIGHTING DESIGNER

WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER

Ronell Oliveri

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR/ CHORUS MASTER

Aaron Breid*

MUSICAL PREPARATION

STAGE MANAGER

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Bryce Bullock

SUPERTITLES

Thomas Getty

Henry Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy Prosper Mérimée Adam Turner Jose Maria Condemi Melinda Sullivan Matthew Haney Michael B. Raiford Sara Jean Tosetti Dana Tzvetkov David Martin Jacques

John Arida, Michael Baitzer Erin Thompson-Janszen

*Conducting July 14 | August 1 Nina Odescalchi Kelly Family Matinee

mixed media painting by karen fisher.

HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH CENTRAL CITY OPERA? The current landscape has limited the amount of coverage the local arts community is receiving and we need your help.

Please *Conducting share how much you14 enjoy Central City OperaKelly by reaching to the following July | Nina Odescalchi Familyout Matinee August 1editors.

By hearing from you personally, they will understand the importance of the continued coverage of Central City Opera and other arts organizations throughout Colorado. Thank you.

Colorado Springs Gazette, Features & Entertainment Editor, Nathan Van Dyne, nathan.vandyne@gazette.com Daily Camera, Quentin Young, Features & Entertainment Editor, quentin@dailycamera.com The Denver Post, Barbara Ellis, Features & Entertainment Editor, bellis@denverpost.com

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CARMEN | SYNOPSIS

CAST | CARMEN

Act One: A square in Seville Soldiers idle watching the townspeople passing by. The country girl Micaela arrives in search of her sweetheart, the corporal Don José, who, she learns, is off-duty. At a changing of the guard, which attracts the admiring mimicry of local children, José arrives along with Captain Zuniga. Soon, the young women employed at a nearby cigarette factory emerge. Amongst them is Carmen, who sings of her philosophy towards uncommitted love.

Noticing that José appears immune to her charms, she taunts him by tossing a flower to him. Carmen and the cigarette girls are called back to work.

and confesses how its scent made him remain hopeful while imprisoned. Carmen is unconvinced and asks him to desert the army and join her in a life of freedom in the mountains. José refuses, and Carmen tells him to leave.

Zuniga returns and commands José to leave. In a jealous rage, José attacks his superior officer. The smugglers rush in and break up the fight. Left with no option, José agrees to join Carmen and the smugglers in their camp in the mountains.

Micaela returns and hands José a letter from his mother.

He recalls the peaceful and idyllic life back in the country.

Knowing that the letter also contains a wish that José and Micaela should marry, she leaves embarrassed. A fracas breaks out at the cigarette factory and the girls rush out asking for help. Carmen is accused of injuring a co-worker with a knife so Zuniga orders José to restrain her and leaves to prepare her arrest. Left alone with José, Carmen tries to charm him in hopes of gaining freedom.

José struggles to resist her charms and finally lets Carmen escape. Zuniga orders José’s arrest for treason.

Carmen is tiring of José, who she finds too possessive and jealous. Frasquita and Mercedes turn their fortunetelling cards and foresee love and riches for themselves.

At her turn, Carmen’s cards spell death for her and José.

Micaela arrives, afraid of meeting the woman who has turned José into a criminal. A gunshot rings out and she hides. Escamillo arrives looking for Carmen and a jealous José challenges him to a fight. Carmen and the smugglers rush in to separate them and Escamillo invites everyone to his next bullfight. Micaela comes out of hiding, tells José his mother is dying and begs him to return home. Contemptuously, Carmen sends him away and José departs, warning her that they will meet again.

Act Two: At Lillas Pastia’s tavern, two months later Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercedes enjoy themselves while dancing and entertaining Captain Zuniga and a group of soldiers. Escamillo, a renowned bullfighter, arrives and regales the crowd with tales of his heroic life in the arena. Intrigued by Carmen, he invites her to his next bullfight. Left alone, Carmen and her friends are visited by the smugglers Dancairo and Remendado who try to persuade the women to join them in a merchandise trafficking operation.

His prison sentence over, José arrives and Carmen dances for him. On hearing the bugle call that summons him back to duty, José prepares to depart. Carmen ridicules his obedience to duty and doubts his love. To prove his feelings, José shows her the flower she threw at him

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Act Three: A smuggler’s enclave in the mountains

Act Four: A bullfighting arena in Seville Townspeople assemble for a grand bullfight as local dignitaries parade into the arena. Escamillo arrives, accompanied by Carmen and they openly declare their love for each other. Frasquita and Mercedes warn Carmen that José is nearby but, unafraid, she waits outside. José appears and begs Carmen to start a new life with him.

She calmly tells him their affair is over. The crowd is heard cheering for Escamillo as José continues to beg Carmen to return to him. Unrelenting, Carmen tells José she would rather die free than be with him and throws the ring he had given her at his feet. José stabs Carmen and gives himself up to the authorities.

- Betsy Schwarm

Emily Pulley Adriano Graziani Angela Mortellaro Michael Mayes

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

MORALES

MICAELA

STREET URCHINS

DON JOSÉ

ZUNIGA

Tyler Putnam

CARMEN

Emily Pulley

FRASQUITA

Heidi Middendorf

MERCEDES

Kira Dills-DeSurra

ESCAMILLO

Michael Mayes

Tim Murray Angela Mortellaro Colorado Children's Chorale Adriano Graziani

DANCAIRE Bryan Murray REMENDADO

Nathan Ward

The conductor’s podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.

The appearance of Colorado Children’s Chorale is made possible by a generous contribution from Mr. and Mrs.Mark Kiryluk, in memory of Christopher Mark Kiryluk.

Assisted Listening devices generously donated by Myra B. Levy.

Scenery originally built by Powered Productions LLC of Lakewood, CO Carmen costumes originally built by Tricorne, Inc., NY. Micaela, Frasquita and Mercedes costumes originally built by Tasco Couture, CO. Special thanks to University of Colorado Boulder for their assitance with set renovation.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSORS Avenir Foundation, Inc. • Bonfils-Stanton Foundation • Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation • Lanny and Sharon Martin • State Historical Fund • Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District PRESENTING SPONSORS Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program • El Pomar Foundation • Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson • OPERA America, Inc. The Virginia W. Hill Foundation PRODUCTION SPONSORS Always Best Care Senior Services • Nancy Brittain • Mr. Daniel Ritchie PERFORMANCE SPONSORS Mr. and Mrs. Gerald L. Bader, Jr. • Citywide Banks • Endeavour Capital • Judy and Newell Grant • Lloyd J. King and Eleanor R. King Foundation Jeanne Land Foundation • LARRK Foundation • Nancy S. Parker • Mr. and Mrs. John D. Priester • Trask Family Foundation

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CARMEN

The record of persecution is staggering in Europe, where Gypsies were enslaved, expelled, and subjected to ethnic cleansing. The first recorded transaction for a Gypsy slave took place in 1385 in Wallachia (part of presentday Romania), and in 1548 the Holy Roman Empire declared that “whoever kills a Gypsy will be guilty of no murder.” The Egyptians Act of 1554 in England directed Gypsies to abandon their “naughty, idle and ungodly life and company,” and in 1885 the United States prohibited Gypsy immigration.

THE ROMANY PEOPLE (GYPSIES) IN EUROPE

BY MICHAEL DIXON

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Today Gypsies, or as they call themselves, Roma, represent Europe’s largest ethnic minority. Spread across Europe, the Middle East and North and South America, Gypsies are a unique population with shared values and customs, but they neither claim a homeland nor seek to establish an independent state.

Early 15th century documents granting safe conduct to the “Princes and Counts of Little Egypt” suggest that the term “Gypsy” was derived from “Egyptian”. Folklore has it that the migrating Gypsies claimed to be descendants of Egyptians who had enslaved the Israelites, and for that reason God condemned them to perpetual wandering.

Linguistic evidence suggests their origins lie in northwestern India because the Romany language shares traits with languages of the Punjab region. Around the 11th and 12th centuries, Gypsies migrated toward Europe, perhaps driven out by invading armies from Afghanistan.

Making their way through the Ottoman Empire as refugees, soldiers and slaves, Gypsies were initially welcomed in Eastern and Central Europe, where they were granted writs of protection from the Pope and Kings.

Their welcome in Europe was short-lived, and they soon encountered resentment, discrimination and persecution.

The causes of prejudice were rooted in a number of factors. First, they have dark skin, and phrases like “black as a Gypsy” became common insults in Italy and the Netherlands. Also, their language was mysterious, their social structures were foreign, they resisted assimilation, and because they’d crossed Turkish-occupied lands, they were considered infidels or spies for the Ottoman Empire.

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Discrimination continues to the present day, based on stereotypes of crime and anti-social behavior that have been perpetuated by fictional representations in literature and art. In romanticized portraits, Gypsies possess mystical powers of fortune-telling, passionate tempers paired with indomitable love of freedom, and habits of criminality. Gypsy female characters have been portrayed as provocative, sexually available, exotic and seductive.

Carmen is no exception. Her character is the creation of Prosper Mérimée, a French author who took inspiration from Alexander Pushkin’s poem The Gypsies, which Mérimée translated from Russian into French. Another source of inspiration was George Borrows’ book The Zincali, or, An Account of the Gypsies of Spain. Part travelogue, part ethnography, The Zincali traces the origins, migration, customs and treatment of Gypsies, or Gitanos and Hungaros as they are known in Spain.

In his anecdotal accounts, Borrows attempts to dispel stereotypes of the time, but his observations also reinforce Romantic impressions, such as the practice of palm-reading. While Carmen herself is not a fortune teller, she believes in the practice and its prophecies.

“Dabbling in sorcery is to some degree the province of the female Gypsy,” Borrows writes. “She affects to tell the future, and to prepare philtres (love potions) by means of which love can be awakened in any individual towards any particular object; and such is the credulity of

the human race, even in the most enlightened countries, that the profits arising from these practices is great.”

Records show that Gypsies arrived in Spain in 1425 and settled primarily in Barcelona and the southern region of Andalusia, where Roma musicians influenced the evolution of flamenco. For 300 years, Spanish laws were enacted with the goal of either integrating or driving out the Gitanos, but, like Roma everywhere, the Gitano resisted assimilation. One way they did this was by pursuing professions that allowed them to maintain control and ownership of their work, such as metalcraftsmen, horse traders and musicians.

“The Roma is the most basic, most profound, the most aristocratic of my country, as representative of their way and whoever keeps the flame, blood and the alphabet of the universal Andalusian truth.”

Most Gitanos in Andalusia are now settled, some in the caves of Sacromonte Hill facing the majestic 14th c. royal Moorish complex known as Alhambra, but the Hungaro population, who are poorer than the Gitanos, still tend to live nomadic lives. Today the Spanish government is devising programs to allow Gypsies to participate in Spain’s economic and political life without erasing their distinctive culture and linguistic heritage.

“The Roma is the most basic, most profound, the most aristocratic of my country, as representative of their way and whoever keeps the flame, blood and the alphabet of the universal Andalusian truth.”

Federico Garcia Lorca, Romancero Gitano Gypsy Ballads

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DIRECTOR'S NOTE | CARMEN While preparing for Carmen I found myself reflecting on the topic of “encounter with difference” (incongruous relationships that form between seemingly contrasting people) and pondering both the attraction and, often, violence that those meetings can generate. Both Carmen and Don José are members of marginalized minority populations in 19th-century Spain (she a Gypsy and he, Basque) but their fascination with one another is immediate.

DIRECTOR: JOSE MARIA CONDEMI

BY MICHAEL DIXON opportunities, he came across an advertisement for the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

He applied, was accepted, received a full scholarship and began his graduate studies in theater directing.

“One of the reasons I like opera is that the storytelling is through music,” Condemi explains. “I’m very musically inclined, but I love theatre too, and that’s what I trained in at CCM. I took courses like lighting design and scenic design to learn how to tell a story through the visual components. On top of that, I studied what performers do on stage to tell the story through movement and how they interact. The idea is to make good theatre out of opera.”

Born and raised in San Andres de Giles, a small town in rural Argentina, Jose Maria Condemi moved to Buenos Aires as a teenager to continue his education. Then, after nearly four years of medical school, he dropped out, he says, “To begin this crazy idea to become an opera director, which I didn’t even know existed. Since I was young, I played the piano and was very much into the arts, but opera didn’t come into my life until later.”

The defining moment when he chose opera, or opera chose him, came when he heard the final duet of Carmen for the first time. Soon thereafter he enrolled in the Institute at Teatro Colón, a grand opera house that has been compared favorably in terms of acoustics and architecture to Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in opera stage direction, Condemi pursued a professional career, but it soon became evident there weren’t enough opera companies in Buenos Aires to make a living. And as a young director, he would be waiting a long time for his chance to direct at Teatro Colón. While researching other

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“… in terms of theatrical flair,” he notes, “it’s not that I sit down and think to myself, OK, I’m going to put some theatrical flair in my shows. It’s whatever the story may need to become theatrically interesting.”

To accomplish that, Condemi begins by asking questions.

“In the act of asking questions, we are creating the ground for good theatre,” he says. “Who is Carmen and how is she going to be in this production in 2017? Why approach this particular moment this way? At the heart of it all is questions – something that will break the material open.”

Of course, having directed Carmen before, Condemi has an opinion about the title character: “She craves adventure and thrives in danger. Risk is her fetish and freedom is her drug of choice. She is not only fearless in the face of death but curiously attracted to it. When she meets Don José, I imagine she sees through the cracks of his repressed façade and gazes straight into the darkest corners of his soul.”

Condemi’s productions have been staged at the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Canadian Opera Company, among many more. Critics have praised his work for its theatrical flair, psychological subtlety and detailed crowd scenes. “I always take with a grain of salt what reviewers say, but in terms of theatrical flair,” he notes, “it’s not that I sit down and think to myself, OK, I’m going to put some theatrical flair in my shows.

It’s whatever the story may need to become theatrically interesting.”

“Regarding character psychology,” he continues, “I actually work very hard to make sure that nothing is taken for granted, so that the audience can go, wow, I never thought about this moment that way. And as far as crowds are concerned, my goal is to treat the chorus as a group of individual characters. I’m always thinking about involving the chorus more than is required in a scene in ways that enhance the storytelling.”

Condemi is a teacher, as well, and was recently appointed Chair of the Opera and Musical Theatre Program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. “I’ve always worked with young singers, but this is the first time I’ve had a full-time job training young singers, and I love it. Being able to train the next generation of opera singers in a way that reflects what will be expected of them is so exciting because I can only imagine just how wonderful and how exponentially better it’s going to get.”

Mérimée’s novella, the source for the libretto, portrays José as a criminal whose dark past includes theft and murder. However, when we meet him in the opera, he is committed to a socially and morally accepted life as a law-abiding soldier. He appears fixated on the familiar and homogeneous, his controlling mother and his unpretentious childhood sweetheart Micaela, yet his repressed shadows occasionally burst through.

Enter the tantalizing Carmen, and José’s life is thrown into a vortex of unrepressed chaos and passion. Compulsively attracted to her, his character development could be seen as either a gradual decay into obsessive madness or an essential rite of passage from sexually immature “boy” to developed man capable of embracing the unfamiliar and, ultimately, the full range of emotional truth and passionate love.

By the last scene, José is left with no valid options: no career, no family, no peer group, no self-worth, no Carmen; a broken man whose fatal attraction has mutated into alienation and violence. Just as Carmen’s cards foreshadowed, Death is the only way out for both of them.

To inspire his students, Condemi shares a quote borrowed from Albert Einstein: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” It’s a statement that describes his approach to directing opera, as well.

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ossia La scuola degli amant: Thus Do All Women, or The School for Lovers

COMPOSER

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

LIBRETTIST

Lorenzo Da Ponte

CONDUCTOR

DIRECTOR

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

SCENIC DESIGNER

Andrew D. Edwards

COSTUME DESIGNER

Andrew D. Edwards

ASSOCIATE COSTUME DESIGNER

LIGHTING DESIGNER

WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER

Ronell Oliveri

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR/ CHORUS MASTER

Aaron Breid*

MUSICAL PREPARATION

STAGE MANAGER

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Bryce Bullock

SUPERTITLES

Thomas Getty

John Baril Stephen Barlow Alison Moritz

Lucy Martin David Martin Jacques

John Arida, Michael Baitzer Rachel L. Ginzberg

*Conducting July 25 HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH CENTRAL CITY OPERA?

mixed media painting by karen fisher.

*Conducting July 14 | Nina Odescalchi Kelly Family Matinee August 1

The current landscape has limited the amount of coverage the local arts community is receiving and we need your help.

Please share how much you enjoy Central City Opera by reaching out to the following editors.

By hearing from you personally, they will understand the importance of the continued coverage of Central City Opera and other arts organizations throughout Colorado. Thank you.

Colorado Springs Gazette, Features & Entertainment Editor, Nathan Van Dyne, nathan.vandyne@gazette.com Daily Camera, Quentin Young, Features & Entertainment Editor, quentin@dailycamera.com The Denver Post, Barbara Ellis, Features & Entertainment Editor, bellis@denverpost.com

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COSÌ FAN TUTTE | SYNOPSIS

CAST | COSÌ FAN TUTTE

Act One: Two classmates, Ferrando and Guglielmo, challenge the assertion of their professor, Don Alfonso, that women are untrustworthy. It is Alfonso’s confirmed opinion that all women are unfaithful and he is confident he can prove his point. The boys accept his wager that he can prove he’s right. However, they must follow his instructions for the next 24 hours.

Dorabella and Fiordiligi, also sisters and classmates, are in relationships with Ferrando and Guglielmo, respectively, and are distressed to hear that their sweethearts have been called up for military service. They and the rest of the community bid farewell to the fellows.

The junior house mistress Despina laments the challenges of her work. Fiordiligi and Dorabella, who are under her charge, dismiss Despina’s suggestion that, while the men are away, the ladies should amuse themselves by finding new masculine diversion. Alfonso recruits Despina as his ally in his plot. Now, two supposed Albanians – Ferrando and Guglielmo disguised as exchange students – enter the room. They swear their love for the young ladies, who storm out. It seems, at first, as if Ferrando and Guglielmo have won the wager.

Again, Fiordiligi and Dorabella are confronted by Alfonso and the Albanians, who now declare that, with their love rejected, they have taken a fatal dose of poison.

Dorabella and Fiordiligi are left to comfort the men in what are imagined to be their last minutes. A doctor arrives – Despina in disguise – who pretends to revive the Albanians, and the amorous protestations resume.

Act Two: later that day: Declaring that even a fifteen-year-old girl must know how to flirt so as to control men, Despina persuades Fiordiligi and Dorabella to give it a try. That the female students had just been studying the male form in art class may have also influenced their capitulation. Each lady

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Hailey Clark Tamara Gura Matthew Plenk David Adam Moore

chooses as her preference one of the Albanians, each happening to choose her sister's actual sweetheart.

The Albanians and the young ladies at first seem too shy to speak to one another, but at last they are paired off; Ferrando and Fiordiligi stroll away together, while Guglielmo and Dorabella chat flirtatiously.

When the two young men are again alone together, they learn that Fiordiligi had remained stalwart in her insistence that she will wait for the supposedly-absent Guglielmo, whereas Dorabella was less firm in her resolve. Meanwhile, the young ladies also compare notes; Dorabella is praised for having opened her heart, while Fiordiligi declares that she will go join her man in battle.

Before she can do so, her Albanian (Ferrando) bursts in with renewed declarations of passion, and Fiordiligi finally yields. The three men join in a trio declaring that “All women are like that” (literally Così fan tutte: the phrase to which they sing the words had also occurred in the opera’s overture).

Wedding preparations are underway, with the disguised Despina now serving as notary. Military fanfares suggest that the soldiers have returned. The sisters send their Albanians to hide, and very shortly afterward, Ferrando and Guglielmo reappear as themselves. Discovering their sweethearts about to marry someone else, they pretend outrage, but then reveal the scheme. Alfonso has won his wager, and the lovers are reunited. But what lessons have been learned?

- Betsy Schwarm

Megan Marino Patrick Carfizzi

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

FERRANDO

Matthew Plenk

GUGLIELMO

David Adam Moore

DON ALFONSO Patrick Carfizzi

FIORDILIGI

DORABELLA

DESPINA

Hailey Clark Tamara Gura Megan Marino

The conductor’s podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.

Assisted Listening devices generously donated by Myra B. Levy Set constructed by You Want What? Productions, Englewood, CO Costumes for Dorabella, Fiordiligi, Despina and most costumes for Ferrando and Guglielmo built by Utah Opera Costume Shop.

Additional costumes rented from Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Costume Rentals/The Gutherie Theater Foundation and the Children's Theatre Company, MN. Military uniform costumes rented from United American Costume Company, CA CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSORS Avenir Foundation, Inc. • Bonfils-Stanton Foundation • Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation • Lanny and Sharon Martin • State Historical Fund • Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District PRESENTING SPONSORS Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program • El Pomar Foundation • Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson • OPERA America, Inc. The Virginia W. Hill Foundation PRODUCTION SPONSORS Pamela and Louis Bansbach • Heather and Mike Miller PERFORMANCE SPONSORS Butler Family Fund • Phebe Berkowitz-Tanners and Dr. Paul Tanners • Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Corporation • First Western Trust Mr. and Mrs. John E. Fuller • Diana W. and F. Michael Kinsey • Jean and Larry Manion • Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. McGonagle • Phoebe Smedley Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Unger • Buzz and George Ann Victor

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COSÌ FAN TUTTE

Mozart longed to write Italian opera buffas.

If he were to stand a chance at popular success, he had to write one, and that required a gifted Italian librettist.

MOZART AND DA PONTE COLLABORATION

BY VALERIE SMITH

In a letter to his father, Mozart wrote, “...the best thing is when a good composer, who understands the stage enough to make sound suggestions, meets an able poet, the true phoenix.” Mozart’s “true phoenix” was Lorenzo Da Ponte, the court-appointed poet and librettist to the Italian Theatre in Vienna. The collaboration of the young and struggling composer with the older and more politically astute poet would produce three operas that have stood the test of time as masterpieces—The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte.

On the face of it, Mozart and Da Ponte seemed an odd pairing. A child prodigy, Mozart had spent his young life giving concerts before European royalty, while Da Ponte, the eldest son of a Jewish tanner, was essentially illiterate until he converted and entered a Catholic seminary at the age of fourteen. Mozart’s adolescence and young adulthood were spent under the controlling influence of his father Leopold, and then under the equally possessive

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hand of his patron, the Archbishop Collerado. The penniless and solitary Da Ponte would become a priest even though it was “wholly contrary to my temperament, my character, my principles, and my studies.” As soon as he was ordained, twenty-four-year-old Da Ponte escaped to “the permanent fancy-dress ball that is Venice,” to survive by his pen and his wits alone.

Both men arrived in Vienna in 1781. After quarreling with the Archbishop and with his father who urged him to persevere with Collerado, Mozart was allowed to resign his post in Salzburg. He was escorted from the Archbishop’s property with a “kick in the arse.” Mozart resolved to settle in Vienna and pursue a freelance career as a performer and composer.

Da Ponte experienced an equally inglorious departure from Venice where for seven years he had devoted himself to “cards and love.” In 1779, he was brought up on

charges of mal vida or immoral living, but more probably it was for writing seditious verse about local dignitaries.

Da Ponte was banished from Venice for fifteen years.

Prior to his arrival in Vienna, Da Ponte did some apprentice work in writing for theatre and opera and thought he would try his hand at writing opera buffa, a new, realistic, comic form that was fast surpassing the less fashionable, and often turgid opera seria. A lover of music, Emperor Joseph II decided to install an Italian opera company in Vienna’s Burgtheater in 1783.

The company needed a librettist. Owing to Da Ponte’s unique talent for persuading the powerful, and despite never having written a libretto, he landed the job. “Good, good!” he quotes the Emperor as saying, “We shall have a virgin muse!”

But the job would not prove easy. Da Ponte’s position required him to locate, translate, and adapt opera libretti,

as well as prepare the performances. Scores had to be retailored for the company singers. There was a lot to learn and Da Ponte would have to learn it quickly. As he had done for most of his life, he improvised.

His first commission was for an adaptation for the court composer Salieri. Looking at the work he was to adapt, Da Ponte knew that he was headed for disaster:

…I found as I advanced, that the dialogue was tame, the songs forced, the sentiments trivial, the action languid, and the characters uninteresting; in short, I seemed to have lost the entirety of the art of writing, and I felt like a child endeavoring to wield the club of Hercules.

Not surprisingly, the opera flopped. Salieri threatened to “cut off his fingers” before he would accept another Da Ponte libretto. Da Ponte persevered. He closely analyzed the successful operas of the day to understand what made

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COSÌ FAN TUTTE

...Both men knew they had created something thoroughly unique, a revolution in the world of opera.

But Mozart longed to write Italian opera buffas. If he were to stand a chance at popular success, he had to write one, and that required a gifted Italian librettist.

Mozart elicited a promise from Da Ponte for a libretto but only, said Da Ponte, after his other obligations were met. In a letter to his father, Mozart expressed concern that the court composers, now in fierce competition for Da Ponte’s talents, would commandeer the librettist’s time. As a freelancer, even a very well-known one, Mozart might never see his libretto.

True to his word, however, Da Ponte fulfilled his obligations and discussions began. Mozart was keen on adapting Beaumarchais’ stage play The Marriage of Figaro. Inconveniently, Joseph II had just banned the play for its subversive politics. Da Ponte suggested that they work on the opera in secret until an opportune moment presented itself and Da Ponte could bring his persuasive charm to bear on the Emperor. Da Ponte finished a draft of the libretto in November 1785. Mozart completed the music in six weeks.

them work and mastered the craft, all the while fending off vicious intrigues by court rivals who coveted his job.

Mozart and Da Ponte first met at a salon in 1783. Mozart had done well in his freelance career, prospering as a music teacher and performing in self-produced concerts with his own compositions. He had great success with his 1782 opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, which was performed throughout German-speaking Europe and established his talent for composing opera.

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When Da Ponte approached the Emperor, he was reminded sternly that the work was banned. The poet assured his Emperor that in converting the play into an opera, he had shortened the piece, being mindful to cut out all the offensive political content. Also, he told the Emperor, the music was “remarkably beautiful.” And it was. Once Joseph heard the music, he approved Figaro for performance.

The Marriage of Figaro premiered in 1786 and was an outright triumph. In the space of four years Mozart and Da Ponte would go on to write two more milestones, Don Giovanni in 1787, and Così fan tutte in 1790. Both men knew they had created something thoroughly unique, a revolution in the world of opera.

To understand how groundbreaking their operas were, it’s important to know that opera buffas of the time most often were disjointed hodgepodges. Confusing and absurd plots, stock characters, badly translated verse, and low, knockabout comic antics were cobbled together solely as a showcase for the singers, the best paid and most powerful people in the profession. Like Da Ponte, Mozart understood the problem: Why do the Italian comic operas please everywhere— in spite of their miserable libretti? Just because the music reigns supreme and when one listens, all is forgotten.

Composer and librettist set out to create a completely unified and coherent work and their strengths complemented one another. Da Ponte simplified plots, and cut or combined characters to heighten the dramatic action. He wrote elegant, concise, and witty verse that served Mozart’s genius for musical nuance, allowing the composer to use the full spectrum of vocal and orchestral tools at his command. What emerged was virtuosic music expressing the complicated emotions of dimensional characters and thematic sophistication in accessible stories. The effect on audiences was powerful.

Opera buffa had been raised to high art.

Così fan tutte was Mozart and Da Ponte’s final collaboration.

Though it used time-honored conventions such as the testing of love through disguise, love wagers, and partner swapping, the story was a wholly original work by Da Ponte, not a translation or adaptation. And unlike their preceding operas, the action of Così was set in the present with its location in Italy, not that far from Austria. It was designed to be more “real” to audiences of the day, and as such, audiences found the opera much darker and more challenging than either of the two previous works.

Some critics were delighted by it as a comic idyll, others condemned it as immoral, and still others were at odds to explain the story’s endless paradoxes; misogyny and deep love, despair and humor, joy and cynicism woven seamlessly together and accompanied by some of the most beautiful and poignant music ever written. The opera remains something of a mystery.

In understanding Così fan tutte, it is instructive to realize that even as the opera was being written, the glittering aristocratic world that Mozart and Da Ponte inhabited was in crisis and collapsing around them, consumed by the spirit of Revolution sweeping across the continent.

Due to the financial toll of his war with the Turks, Joseph II would be forced to withdraw support from his beloved opera house. Da Ponte would keep it operating through subscriptions now open to all classes. After just four performances of Così fan tutte, the Emperor would die in 1790, leaving Da Ponte bereft of a protector, out of a job, and again banished from a city he loved. Mired in debt and harried by creditors, Mozart would die in 1791.

Da Ponte would outlive his favorite composer by fortyseven years. He would flee Europe for America. He would run a grocery, a distillery, a bookstore, and an opera house and all of them would fail. He would be the first professor of Italian at Columbia University—and in the United States. He would become an American citizen.

And he would never write another libretto.

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DIRECTOR'S NOTE COSÌ FAN TUTTE

DIRECTOR: STEPHEN BARLOW

BY VALERIE SMITH

“Storyteller in Chief—that is how I describe my job to people who ask me what an opera director actually does.”

“There’s a phrase that goes something like ‘Life is what happens to you when you’re planning other things.’

And that’s certainly true when it comes to me being a director,” Stephen Barlow, the director of Central City Opera’s production of Così fan tutte, has said regarding his career as one of England’s more ground-breaking opera directors. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Barlow always harbored a deep love of music and drama. As a high school student he worked as a theatre usher, which

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enabled him to see touring productions of classical opera for free. Later, he studied music and drama at Melbourne University and moved to London with the intention of becoming an actor. His ultimate vocation presented itself when a director of a show he’d acted in invited him to direct a revival, telling him, “You’ve got a director’s eye and a director’s brain.” Barlow says that although he was apprehensive, he took on the assignment and realized he enjoyed the larger responsibilities that a director shoulders. “I love the fact that as a director I’m helping so many people—it’s very altruistic.”

never feel that I have to make any opera relevant to a modern audience, but nonetheless we all enjoy finding parallels to our own life and times in any given story.

Certainly updating an opera can allow the audience to have more familiar points of reference in the story and our shared quest to connect with its truths.” For some operas, especially those that are not often seen, he tends to stay with the original context. His staging for Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmelites, for example, kept Poulenc’s setting of a convent coping with the turbulence of the French Revolution.

Barlow has acquired an impressive array of directorial credits at home and abroad. Apart from England and Wales, where he has established a career as one of England’s more groundbreaking opera directors, he has worked in Russia, Romania, Hong Kong, Singapore, Monte Carlo, and Denmark. In the United States, he has directed for the Met in New York, and for opera companies in San Francisco, Santa Fe, Chicago, St. Louis, and now Colorado. The range of works that Barlow has directed includes revivals, new works, and works for children, as well as musical theatre. But his career has mostly been built on his inventive and imaginative interpretations of classical operas.

“I love looking at famous pieces through different prisms or filters,” says Barlow, “and not for the sake of being novel, which is virtually impossible anyway, or for simply decorative reasons. Rather, because a different time and/or location from the original can open up a new connection with the story and its characters. And I never forget that ultimately my responsibility is to tell the story in an imaginative and coherent way. Storyteller in Chief – that is how I describe my job to people who ask me what an opera director actually does.” In terms of finding an appropriate “frame” for an opera, Barlow points out that “…what one always has is the music…I always hear something new, something different each day in rehearsal—a note, or a phrase, or a harmonic structure that catches me by surprise and gives me an idea.”

Barlow admittedly likes to follow his instincts about time and place. For the Bucharest production of Rigoletto, for instance, he updated the setting to 1920’s Chicago as a recognizably modern and parallel backdrop for the corruption and scandal of the opera’s plot. But Barlow’s re-envisioning of an opera’s time and place is invariably married to a strong idea already inherent in the work.

That idea forms the basis for the opera’s design, as well as a directorial conception that strives for connection to contemporary audiences. For Barlow, then, the re-setting of a classical work is never frivolous. Barlow says, “I

Prima la musica o prima le parole? First the music or first the words? What’s more important? A topic debated in Richard Strauss’ opera Capriccio and a pertinent subject when it comes to the three operas Mozart wrote with the picaresque librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. We know that with Così fan tutte, their final collaboration, Da Ponte’s words came first as he offered the libretto to Antonio Salieri (who was, if we are to believe Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus, supremely jealous of Mozart). Salieri made little headway and abandoned the composition leaving Mozart, perhaps in a competitive spirit, to take up the challenge of setting Da Ponte’s story to music.

Da Ponte was a serial womaniser and his libretto takes a rather cynical, arguably misogynistic, view of women being incapable of fidelity. Given that one of his mistresses was in the original cast one might say he was a hypocrite too! Whilst all four lovers are eventually humiliated, it is the women, if you read the libretto in isolation, who are pinpointed as the perpetrators.

Enter Mozart. He transformed the text through music into something supremely compassionate, erotic and emotionally honest. It’s perhaps not surprising that he found such traction with the story as he was in love with two sisters in his short adult life, Aloysia Weber and her younger sibling Constanze, whom he married.

Fiordiligi and Dorabella are of course sisters and Mozart clearly empathizes with their predicament, especially the older Fiordiligi for whom he writes music of stunning emotional complexity and maturity.

If Da Ponte perhaps imagined himself as Don Alfonso, the unflappable older man who stage manages the experiment that proves his thesis, then maybe Mozart identified with the troubled young Ferrando who sings possibly the greatest aria about the ecstasy and agony of love ever composed.

In staging this opera for the first time I have allowed the music to be Prima, to come first as it were. I have also taken creative inspiration from Da Ponte’s alternative title La scuola degli amanti – the School for Lovers and from Proverbs 4:7 – “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

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Second Parable for Church Performance

COMPOSER

Benjamin Britten

LIBRETTIST

William Plomer

CONDUCTOR

DIRECTOR

COSTUME DESIGNER

Stacie Logue

WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER

Ronell Oliveri

MUSICAL PREPARATION

Sheldon L. Miller

STAGE MANAGER

Makayla Michael

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Christopher Zemliauskas Ken Cazan

Lisa Tinker

Text by William Plomer from the Book of Daniel Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, U.S. and Canadian agent for Faber Music Ltd., London, publisher and copyright owner.

HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH CENTRAL CITY OPERA?

mixed media painting by karen fisher.

The current landscape has limited the amount of coverage the local arts community is receiving and we need your help.

Please share how much you enjoy Central City Opera by reaching out to the following editors.

By hearing from you personally, they will understand the importance of the continued coverage of Central City Opera and other arts organizations throughout Colorado. Thank you.

Colorado Springs Gazette, Features & Entertainment Editor, Nathan Van Dyne, nathan.vandyne@gazette.com Daily Camera, Quentin Young, Features & Entertainment Editor, quentin@dailycamera.com The Denver Post, Barbara Ellis, Features & Entertainment Editor, bellis@denverpost.com

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THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE | SYNOPSIS

CAST | THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE

One act opera To the serene strains of the plainsong Salus aeterna – an advent hymn to the eternal Savior – a group of monks arrives. Proclaiming “God be with you,” the Abbot describes to the congregation the Biblical play that shall be portrayed by the monks, the monks themselves adding their own remarks. An instrumental interlude gives the monks opportunity to prepare for their performance.

The tale is one of ancient Babylon, where the Herald proclaims that King Nebuchadnezzar has ordered a royal feast to honor three Israelites who shall rule three Babylonian provinces. These gentlemen – Ananias, Azarias, and Misael – shall now be known by Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. The Courtiers remark excitedly upon the upcoming celebration. King Nebuchadnezzar arrives. With him is the Astrologer, who has influenced the King in his insistence on continuing worship of the old Babylonian gods.

Festivities begin with entertainment. The Courtiers participate whole-heartedly in the celebration, though the Astrologer observes that Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego – the three guests of honor – remain quite unmoved. Insulted by this slight, Nebuchadnezzar departs, and the three Israelites declare their rejection of this new god that has been forced upon them. The Herald announces that a golden image of the Babylonian god Merodak shall be set up, and that anyone refusing to bow down to the image shall be cast into the fiery furnace.

Homage is paid to the image with the Courtiers joining in the ceremony. Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego refuse, proclaiming their assurance that their god shall protect them. Nebuchadnezzar orders that they shall pay the price with a fiery death.

The three protesters are thrown into a heated furnace, from which, before long, they emerge safely. All are astonished by their survival, and it becomes clear that the Israelite’s god has protected them. The discredited Astrologer is dismissed, and the image of Merodak falls.

Bille Bruley Zhiguang Hong Tim Murray Humberto Borboa

Nebuchadnezzar, the gathered Courtiers, and the three Israelites join the Angels in a Benedicte in praise of the true God. The monks who have been enacting the play resume their own garb and the Abbot explains the moral of the tale: that over Babylon, a new light had begun to shine.

“Gold,” he proclaims, “is tried in the fire, and the mettle of man in the furnace of humiliation.” As the monks process away, they sing again the plainsong with which the opera had begun, bringing the work full circle with this further reminder of the Savior.

- Betsy Schwarm

Stephen Clark Dean Murphy

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

ABBOT/ASTROLOGER

THE HERALD

NEBUCHADNEZZAR

ANANIAS

MISAEL

AZARIAS

FIRST ENTERTAINER

SECOND ENTERTAINER

ANGEL

Zhiguang Hong Dean Murphy Bille Bruley* Tim Murray Humberto Borboa Stephen Clark Marlen Nahhas Quinn Middleman Louise Rogan

This one-act opera features members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program. *Former Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Apprentice and Studio Artist, now returning as a Developing Artist.

The conductor's podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSORS Avenir Foundation, Inc. • Bonfils-Stanton Foundation • Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation • Lanny and Sharon Martin • State Historical Fund • Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District PRESENTING SPONSORS Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program • El Pomar Foundation • Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson • OPERA America, Inc. The Virginia W. Hill Foundation PRODUCTION SPONSORS City of Central PERFORMANCE SPONSORS Fred and Jana Bartlit • Robert A. Ellis and Jane Bernstein • Gates Family Foundation • John W. Kure and Cheryl L. Solich • Vic and Mary Ann Stabio

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THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE

Britten unabashedly championed the artist's role as servant to his community. were attempting—widening the audience for opera by creating successful homegrown works that could stand beside the European classics.

BRITTEN'S OPERAS

BY VALERIE SMITH peter pears; benjamin britten by kenneth green (1905-1986), national protrait gallery, london.

The great themes of Benjamin Britten’s operas—the marginalized individual persecuted by a hostile society, endangered innocence, the abhorrence of violence and war, the yearning for social connection and inclusion— clearly flow from Britten’s own life. He was a shy middleclass prodigy who grew up in an isolated village. He lived openly as a homosexual under threat of persecution.

He was a pacifist in a time of war. While composers of the era had discordant revolution on their mind, Britten would not totally abandon tonality and melody. Musical rivals courted greatness in large-scale productions, while Britten favored the intimacy of chamber operas. His avant garde contemporaries might attack the ideals of the middle-class; Britten unabashedly championed the artist’s role as servant to his community.

Born in 1913, Britten spent his early years in the fishing village of Lowestoft on the east coast of England.

In a 1968 interview, Britten said he had little musical education and at the prep school he attended from age nine to fourteen there was no music at all. Yet from age

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five, Britten wrote “reams and reams” of music. By the time he was fourteen, Britten had composed well over a hundred works.

In 1937, Britten met the tenor Peter Pears. A life-long partnership began, one that personally motivated Britten to compose for voice. But homosexuality was still illegal in England, heavily censured and punished. Europe also was turning toward war and Britten’s pacifism was not popular. He’d received hostile reviews criticizing his work as being technically brilliant but lacking in substance, which stung him. So in 1939, he and Pears followed their friend W. H. Auden and an exodus of other artists to America.

A volume of Suffolk poet George Crabbe’s poems that conjured the bleak landscape of Britten’s former seaside home convinced the homesick composer to return to England in 1942. The effect of his time in America, Britten said, helped to broaden and encourage him. It also stoked a desire to do what American composers

Britten’s opera Peter Grimes would fulfill that desire. It debuted June 7, 1945, marking the jubilant reopening of the Sadler’s Wells Opera House, closed during the war to accommodate the displaced whose homes had been destroyed. Based on a poem by Crabbe, Grimes was transformed by Britten into a tale of a fisherman persecuted and eventually destroyed by his community. The opera was a sensation. As one commentator observed, its opening was “a moment in national life.” Grimes anointed Britten thereafter as England’s national composer and secured his reputation on the international stage.

In Peter Grimes, Britten proved that a successful opera could be written in English, that the language’s inflections and rhythms could be powerfully transformed and wedded to instrumental music. It opened the door for Britten and others to write in their own language on British subjects and themes.

Though Britten enjoyed success with large-scale symphonic works and large-cast operas, working locally on a more intimate scale allowed him to experiment.

Britten’s Church Parables, Curlew River (1964), The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966) and The Prodigal Son (1968) are good examples of Britten’s imaginative innovations in operatic form, content, and setting.

During a 1956 tour to the Far East, Britten attended a Japanese Noh play and became fascinated by what he felt offered “a totally new ‘operatic’ experience.” For the

first production of Curlew River, Britten wrote: “…Was there not something—many things to be learned from [Noh drama]? Surely the Medieval Religious Drama in England would have had a comparable setting—an all-male cast of ecclesiastics—a simple austere staging in a church—a very limited instrumental accompaniment—a moral story?”

Britten and his librettist William Plomer would find that many of the essential elements of Noh theatre—flexible time and rhythm, stylized entrances and gestures, all-male casting, lack of a conductor, and the Noh tradition of a single magical episode had similar counterparts in Christian service and the medieval mystery play.

In The Burning Fiery Furnace, the story of Nebuchadnezzar and the three Israelites, Britten sought “something much less sombre” than Curlew River. Furnace utilizes a similar ritualistic presentation, and the same vocal and instrumental accentuation as its predecessor. But Furnace adds a greater range of colors via the alto trombone and the specially devised instruments that evoke the pagan atmosphere of the Babylonian court and its festivities. What Britten achieved in Furnace was a blurring of the boundaries between secular entertainment and religious ritual.

The Britten-Pears Foundation regards Britten’s fifteen operas as “the most substantial and important part of his compositional legacy.” Many of his operas premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival that he co-founded in 1948 and named for the small fishing village where he and Pears would make their home until Britten’s death in 1976.

Today, his operas remain steadfastly in the canon.

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THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE

DIRECTOR'S NOTE THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE BENJAMIN BRITTEN AT CENTRAL CITY OPERA

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON BENJAMIN BRITTEN

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1974, 1977, 2002

BY EMILY MURDOCK

Gloriana (North American Premiere Production) 2001

“He believed deeply in a Reality which works in us and through us and is the source of goodness and beauty, joy and love. He was sometimes troubled because he was not sure if he could give the name of God to that Reality.”

Paul Bunyan 2005 The Rape of Lucretia 2008 Curlew River 2008 The Turn of the Screw 2012 The Prodigal Son 2015 The Burning Fiery Furnace 2017

The Burning Fiery Furnace was first performed almost exactly 51 years ago. Britten had survived a world war during most of which he was in self-imposed exile as a conscientious objector. He had also endured the bigotry which came with being a gay man in a significantly less understanding era. I believe that all of this led to his exploration of the conversion of the totalitarian Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar. It is, ultimately, a hopeful telling of the theory that the egos and prejudices of petty dictators can be changed.

Little could Britten have known that the shuttered mentality of the wealthy egoist would become so prominent in the not too distant future. For me, this piece is directly relevant to our contemporary, American existence. As a storyteller, I find it necessary to equate Nebuchadnezzar’s story to the realities of our times. I don’t intend to editorialize but to draw a parallel between Britten’s far-reaching, ultimately simple story about three, non-political beings who are true to their faith and through that faith, redeem the spirit of a myopic tyrant. I write this just before the inauguration of our next president. I find (as a decidedly non-religious person) that this parable gives me hope for the future of our nation and our collective consciousness. That is why I am setting it in a contemporary vein. Not to do so would be counter to every theatrical instinct and belief I hold dear.

Benjamin Britten grew up in a mixed household in terms of religion; his father was an adamant agnostic, but his mother went to the local Anglican church every Sunday, often taking young Ben. As a young adult, however, Britten became disillusioned with the church for a variety of reasons. He did, however, remain spiritual throughout his life, and his beliefs and the Church of England’s influence permeated his musical tendencies. His spirituality was deeply rooted in his childhood, his belief that music had a place in God’s plan, and his admiration for Jesus Christ’s teachings. As his friend Bishop Leslie Brown said at Britten’s funeral in 1976, “He believed deeply in a Reality which works in us and through us and is the source of goodness and beauty, joy and love. He was sometimes troubled because he was not sure if he could give the name of God to that Reality.”

In 1956, while Britten was touring in Japan, he attended a play called Sumidagawa at the Suidōbashi Noh Theatre. He was deeply moved by the performance and saw it several times before he left. He remarked, “I shall never forget the impact made on me by Japanese theatre…above all the Noh plays….The deep solemnity and selflessness of the acting, the perfect shaping of the drama…coupled with the strength and universality of the stories are something which every artist can learn from.” He was determined to turn the play into an opera, eventually deciding that “Christianizing” the plot

in the tradition of a medieval mystery play would best suit himself as a composer and his audience. Mystery plays had recently been revived at the York Festival of Arts after a banishment of almost 400 years, and they enjoyed a huge following. Britten’s own Noye’s Fludde, premiered to great success in 1958, was modeled after the mystery play tradition. But Britten was determined to write an opera inspired by his experience in Japan, and in 1964, that opera was Curlew River, the first of the Parables for Church Performance.

The story of The Burning Fiery Furnace, the second of the Church Parable operas which premiered in 1966, comes from the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible, dating from the 3rd-century B.C. The three Israelites Ananias, Asarias, and Misael sing the Benedicte —a canticle or an extended prayer of blessing—while trapped in the furnace. Also called “The Song of Three Young Men,” the Benedicte was added to the Book of Daniel as part of the Apocrypha in the 2nd century B.C. and is used in the prayer books of the Anglican and Lutheran churches.

(Excerpt) O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; praise him and magnify him for ever.

O ye angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; praise him and magnify him for ever.

a midsummer night's dream, 2002. photo by mark kiryluk.

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THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE

Chant also influenced the way Britten set text to music. When chant is sung well, the listener cannot tell if the cantor is singing or speaking because the text and music are so beautifully intertwined.

The canticle appears in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer under the name of “The Song of Creation,” and it traditionally follows the first scripture lesson in the Order of Morning Prayer. Britten used the Benedicte as the “liturgical parable within the parable” at the climax of the opera. A very familiar text to British audiences, hearing it in such an atmosphere must have deeply resonated with them.

Each of the three Parables for Church Performance begins and ends with a plainsong chant. In addition to matching the solemnity and ritual of Noh theatre, the chant and processional mimic an Anglican service, which helps connect the operas with their audience by creating a familiar atmosphere and providing the musical inspiration for the rest of the piece. Chant also influenced the way Britten set text to music. When chant is sung well, the listener cannot tell if the cantor is singing or speaking because the text and music are so beautifully intertwined. Chant–and therefore Britten’s vocal writing– is linear, horizontal, with the inflection of the words perfectly matched to the musical pitch and stress.

Britten mastered the synthesis of word and music so well that the effect is mesmerizing. He used this masterful synthesis in all his vocal writing, not just in the Church Parable operas.

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Benjamin Britten’s heritage and exposure to the Anglican Church heavily influenced his composition style. The Burning Fiery Furnace and its plainsong introduction and conclusion, the way the melodies develop seamlessly from that plainsong, and the insertion of a familiar Anglican canticle into the climax of the story connected not only Britten with his own spiritual traditions, but also the audience with theirs. After World War II, traditional church attendance in England was declining, but the British people still overwhelmingly identified as Christian.

A resurgence of religious music, art, and theater served to remind the country of the possibility of renewal after destruction. Benjamin Britten drew on his spirituality to join this national renewal, and we are the better for it.

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COMPOSER

Douglas Moore

LIBRETTIST

Arnold Sundgaard

CONDUCTOR

DIRECTOR

Alison Moritz

COSTUME DESIGNER

Stacie Logue

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Szu-Yun Wang

WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER

MUSICAL PREPARATION

STAGE MANAGER

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Christopher Zemliauskas

Ronell Oliveri John Arida Kendra Green Lisa Tinker

HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH CENTRAL CITY OPERA? The current landscape has limited the amount of coverage the local arts community is receiving and we need your help.

Please share how much you enjoy Central City Opera by reaching out to the following editors.

By hearing from you personally, they will understand the importance of the continued coverage of Central City Opera and other arts organizations throughout Colorado. Thank you.

mixed media painting by karen fisher.

Colorado Springs Gazette, Features & Entertainment Editor, Nathan Van Dyne, nathan.vandyne@gazette.com Daily Camera, Quentin Young, Features & Entertainment Editor, quentin@dailycamera.com The Denver Post, Barbara Ellis, Features & Entertainment Editor, bellis@denverpost.com

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GALLANTRY | SYNOPSIS

CAST | GALLANTRY

A one-act opera The Announcer presents an effusive commercial promoting the virtues of Lochinvar Soap, which, we are told, is the choice of “damsels near and far.” Lochinvar is the on-air sponsor of the entertainment to follow: the soap opera Gallantry.

That tale takes place in a hospital where Dr. Gregg is enamored of his anesthetist Lola. Lola admits that she admires Dr. Gregg for his professional skills, but her heart already belongs to Donald, to whom she is engaged.

Undeterred, Dr. Gregg continues to protest his love for the unyielding Lola.

Before the adventure can continue, the Announcer presents another sponsor advertisement, this time for Billy Boy Wax, which, the music suggests, is a sassy, bluesy product.

Back in the operating room, Lola receives the patient, who proves to be her own dear Donald. That he is there for an appendectomy does not prevent him and Lola from rhapsodizing about their pangs of love. Dr. Gregg enters the scene to find his nurse and his patient in an embrace, and, in a cold fury, demands that the patient be sedated.

Before falling unconscious, Donald manages to remark upon Dr. Gregg’s wife; Lola, infuriated that the man who had made advances to her is already married has harsh words for the surgeon, but worries over how he might revenge himself upon Donald. Their argument continues over the sleeping form of their patient, until first Lola, then Dr. Gregg rush from the operating room. Donald awakes to find himself abandoned and still possessing an appendix in need of attention. Upon her return, Lola informs her darling that she has summoned another surgeon.

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The Announcer declares that the tale shall continue with the next episode, and the production closes with one last sponsor advertisement. Here Lochinvar Soap is again lauded, not merely by the Announcer, but also by Dr. Gregg, declaring that Lochinvar is the most superior of all soaps. Meanwhile, Lola and Donald continue to pledge their enduring love. As, we are told, one must “refuse all substitutes for Lochinvar,” so Lola and Donald refuse all substitutes for one another.

- Betsy Schwarm

Ann Fogler Zane Hill Kaileigh Riess Eric J. Taylor

CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

ANNOUNCER

DR. GREGG

Ann Fogler Zane Hill

LOLA Kaileigh Riess DONALD

Eric J. Taylor

This one-act opera features members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program.

The conductor's podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSORS Avenir Foundation, Inc. • Bonfils-Stanton Foundation • Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation • Lanny and Sharon Martin • State Historical Fund • Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District PRESENTING SPONSORS Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program • El Pomar Foundation • Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson • OPERA America, Inc. The Virginia W. Hill Foundation PRODUCTION SPONSORS Boettcher Foundation PERFORMANCE SPONSORS Estate of Vincent L. Bates • Lizabeth A. Lynner and James L. Palenchar • Colorado Creative Industries MDC/ Richmond American Homes Foundation

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GALLANTRY

DOUGLAS MOORE

BY VALERIE SMITH

The American composer Douglas Moore was born in Cutchogue, Long Island, New York in 1893. His family had deep roots in American soil, the Moores being one of the earliest families to arrive on Long Island in the 1600’s. His mother’s side of the family descended from Mayflower settlers. It was Moore’s mother who encouraged his early interest in music, insisting that he take piano lessons where he soon mastered the “light” classics and many of the old parlor standards.

Moore’s other early interest was theatre. At age seven Moore acted and directed a melodrama in the family home’s attic. In his high school years, he dabbled in music and drama, writing school songs, writing and performing amateur theatricals in the family home, and setting some of his friend Archibald McLeish’s poems to music. Both he and McLeish entered Yale together in 1911 and Moore went on to pursue a Masters degree in Musical Composition while continuing his interest in

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dramatics and writing incidental music for several of the Yale Dramatic Club’s productions.

Even military life offered opportunities for Moore to compose and pursue his interest in popular music. He wrote humorous songs meant to entertain the sailors, satirizing naval life or romantic liaisons abroad.

After graduation from Yale in 1917, he enlisted in the Navy as a first lieutenant. Even military life offered opportunities for Moore to compose and pursue his interest in popular music. He wrote humorous songs meant to entertain the sailors, satirizing naval life or romantic liaisons abroad.

Many of these songs would eventually be published in Songs My Mother Never Taught Me, an anthology Moore co-wrote with John Jacob Niles.

After the Navy, Moore spent two years in Paris where he studied composition with Vincent D’Indy and Nadia Boulanger. After his return, and with the help of MacLeish, Moore landed a position as Director of Music at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1921. He continued his musical studies with Ernest Bloch at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He also indulged his ongoing love of theatre by acting with the Cleveland Playhouse and enjoyed such success that he seriously considered exchanging a career in music for that of an actor.

In the early 1920’s, Moore concentrated on creating serious orchestral compositions. With The Pageant of P. T. Barnum, written in 1924, Moore began a life-long passion for American subjects and the traditional American musical forms he loved. In 1926, Moore was hired to teach at Columbia University where he was to stay for the next thirty-six years until his retirement, becoming Chairman of its prestigious Music Department in 1940.

In that position, and later as the President of American Arts and Letters, Moore would play a huge role in the great American Opera Movement, begun in the 1930s, and blossoming in the 1950s and 60s. Born of national pride, the movement strove to create an American repertoire that would compete seriously with the European works dominating American opera stages. Between the end of WWII and the premiere of Moore’s own influential opera,

The Ballad of Baby Doe in 1956, the Columbia Opera Workshop founded by Moore turned out eighteen operas by many leading American composers, playwrights, and poets of the day. They included Britten’s Paul Bunyan, Menotti’s The Medium and Virgil Thompson’s Mother of Us All. Moore’s belief in the necessity for America to have its own opera canon fueled his interest in the adaptation of American stories to opera. In 1961, he wrote: “We now have operas, or operas in the making…based upon plays by Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Archibald MacLeish, William Saroyan…and new librettos by such men as Thornton Wilder, Stephen Vincent Benet and Paul Horgan…No one can say today that our composers are out of touch with the contemporary theater.”

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DIRECTOR'S NOTE GALLANTRY His legacy lives on, particularly at Central City Opera with regular productions of The Ballad of Baby Doe, and across the nation with every new American opera written.

Music sounds better when you know more.

Listen, study, enjoy—with CPR Classical.

This, stated Moore, “is an indication of the increasing prestige of American opera.”

Moore’s own works reveal his conviction that the way to build an American audience for opera was to tap into the dramatic realism of American storytelling, the rhythms of American speech, and into American popular musical traditions. Collaboration with his old Yale friend, Stephen Vincent Benet, resulted in The Devil and Daniel Webster that stands as one of Moore’s most successful operas. Moore’s collaboration with Arnold Sundgaard, a fellow Columbia professor, led to an adaptation of the great American novel Giants in the Earth for which Moore received a Pulitzer in 1951. During the process of adapting The Ballad of Baby Doe into a one-hour version for live studio television, Moore was inspired to create Gallantry, a one-act chamber opera modeled after popular televised medical soap operas.

Another partnership with librettist Sungaard, Gallantry premiered in 1958 and remains in the canon. Altogether, Moore completed eight operas, and all but one dealt exclusively with American subjects.

Moore himself achieved national recognition for The Ballad of Baby Doe, a work that remains popular with audiences today. Premiered in 1956 by its original commissioner, Central City Opera, the opera got a second and more visible production at New York City Opera in 1958 with soprano Beverly Sills in the title role.

Eleven years later, Moore died at his home in Greenport, NY. His legacy lives on, particularly at Central City Opera with regular productions of The Ballad of Baby Doe, and across the nation with every new American opera written.

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Douglas Moore’s Gallantry cleverly skirts the line between high art and low, resulting in the ultimate entertainment—a “televised” soap-opera performed as an actual opera. Alternating between the realities of a 1950s television studio and the fictional hospital where Doctor Gregg attempts to win the affections of Nurse Lola, this comic intermezzo forces us to ask ourselves which is truly more diverting—the performance we’re meant to see, or the backstage show that naturally develops in order to support such a performance?

It’s easy to dismiss Gallantry as a singable spoof of televised soap operas. However, as the New York Times noted upon the opera’s 1958 premiere, “at times [Moore] forgot he was writing a parodistic work, and settled down to compose real ‘opera.’” In this case, the melodrama of Lola, Doctor Gregg, and Donald is wellrepresented in hyper-emotionalized vocalism and an overwrought scenario, then expertly contrasted by the comedic crises that arise in the backstage life of the television studio.

In the realm of opera, composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannstahl used this same formula approximately 50 years earlier than Moore and his librettist Arnold Sundgaard, resulting in the sublimely human Ariadne auf Naxos. More recently, millennial television comedies such as The Office and Parks and Recreation allow us to see the performers in their vulnerability as real people and, in turn, encourage us to see a bit more of the humor and drama inherent in our own lives.

“Music Forward” Saturdays at 7 p.m. on CPR Classical Explore music of the past century through musician interviews and discussion of Colorado’s contemporary performances.

COMPOSER

Amy Beach

LIBRETTIST

Nan Bagby Stephens

CONDUCTOR

DIRECTOR

Alison Moritz

COSTUME DESIGNER

Stacie Logue

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Szu-Yun Wang

WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER

MUSICAL PREPARATION

STAGE MANAGER

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Christopher Zemliauskas

Ronell Oliveri John Arida Kendra Green Lisa Tinker

HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH CENTRAL CITY OPERA?

The current landscape has limited the amount of coverage the local arts community is receiving and we need your help.

Please share how much you enjoy Central City Opera by reaching out to the following editors.

By hearing from you personally, they will understand the importance of the continued coverage of Central City Opera and other arts organizations throughout Colorado. Thank you.

Colorado Springs Gazette, Features & Entertainment Editor, Nathan Van Dyne, nathan.vandyne@gazette.com Daily Camera, Quentin Young, Features & Entertainment Editor, quentin@dailycamera.com The Denver Post, Barbara Ellis, Features & Entertainment Editor, bellis@denverpost.com

mixed media painting by karen fisher.

*Conducting July 14 | Nina Odescalchi Kelly Family Matinee August 1

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CABILDO | SYNOPSIS

CAST | CABILDO

A one-act opera Newlyweds Mary and Tom have joined a group touring historic sites in New Orleans, including a visit to the Cabildo prison and the cell where the pirate Pierre Lafitte was confined during the War of 1812. The Barker tells the tourists of the pirate’s love for Lady Valerie. The group moves onward, but Mary and Tom, inspired by the tale, pause to revel in their own love. When Tom rejoins the group, Mary lingers, and begins to dream of that earlier romance.

It is 1812, and the British are besieging New Orleans.

Having been captured earlier by local authorities, Pierre languishes in his cell, awaiting execution. He has been falsely charged with ordering the sinking of a passenger ship supposedly so as to conceal his theft of a bracelet belonging to Lady Valerie, who, aboard that ill-fated ship, then perished in the incident. Convinced that Valerie survived and thinking of the love they shared, Pierre is determined to find her and clear the air before going to his death.

Pierre’s lieutenant, Dominique, brings the prisoner news that General Andrew Jackson has reached an agreement with another pirate, Pierre’s brother Jean Lafitte. The bargain stipulates that Jean Lafitte will assist Jackson’s forces in breaking the British blockade, and, in return, Pierre will be allowed to escape. Dominique also shows to Pierre a bracelet—the one Pierre is charged with stealing—which had been recovered from the Governor’s desk; in fact, that bracelet had been a gift to Pierre from Valerie as a token of her love. Pierre refuses to cooperate in the rescue plan, wishing instead to truly clear his name.

Dominique departs.

Valerie’s ghost appears to Pierre, telling him of the ship’s destruction and her own drowning. Together, they realize that the ship on which Valerie had been passenger had been sunk by one of Pierre’s ships, though contrary to his orders: he is enraged by the betrayal of his men, but is not himself guilty of the act. Now, Pierre wishes only to join his lady love in death, but she attempts to persuade him to do what he can to save New Orleans from the British. They remember meeting in the moonlight at the Governor’s Ball; the recollection of their love persuades Pierre to accept the ghost’s plea. The cell door is open, and the guards away from their posts: Pierre is free to escape and help in the fight for Louisiana. Love has made the pirate into a hero.

Back in the present day, Tom has returned to find Mary. He admits that he thought he had heard sounds from the cell, and she declares that they were the sounds of her dream made real. Musing upon the love of the pirate and the lady leads the newlyweds to reflect upon their own love.

- Betsy Schwarm

John Kun Park Nathan Ward Louise Rogan Bryan Murray

Tyler Putnam Lucas van Lierop Shannon Jennings Betsy Diaz

CAST IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

THE BARKER

John Kun Park

TOM

MARY

PIERRE LAFITTE

Bryan Murray

THE GAOLER

Tyler Putnam

DOMINIQUE

THE LADY VALERIE

ENSEMBLE

Nathan Ward Louise Rogan

Lucas van Lierop Shannon Jennings Betsy Diaz

This one-act opera features members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program.

The conductor's podium is endowed in perpetuity by the Eleanore Mullen Weckbaugh Foundation.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSORS Avenir Foundation, Inc. • Bonfils-Stanton Foundation • Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation • Lanny and Sharon Martin • State Historical Fund • Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District PRESENTING SPONSORS Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program • El Pomar Foundation • Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson • OPERA America, Inc. The Virginia W. Hill Foundation PRODUCTION SPONSORS Galen and Ada Belle Spencer Foundation PERFORMANCE SPONSORS Anschutz Foundation • Ms. Lynn Campion & Theodore Waddell • Mabel Y. Hughes Charitable Trust • National Endowment for the Arts Dave and Mary Wood Fund

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AMY BEACH AND CABILDO

BY VALERIE SMITH

She was one of the few women composers, and even fewer American women composers, to tackle an opera.

But by the late 1990s, more women had entered the field of classical music and had studied its history.

Interest in Beach’s works and in the woman herself blossomed. Modern critics, such as Andrew Achenbach of Gramophone, lauded Beach’s Gaelic Symphony for its "big heart, irresistible charm and confident progress."

When her Quintet was reintroduced by pianist Mary Louise Boehm, Paul Hume, music critic of the Washington Post, wrote:

A prodigy, Amy Beach drew acclaim for her piano concerts as a solo pianist in the United States and in Europe. Her composing was versatile, virtuosic, and encompassed a wide range of genres—solo piano, vernacular songs, choral works, chamber music, concertos, and church music, all the more astonishing because she was primarily self-taught. She experimented with tonal scales, exotic harmonies and techniques. She was the first American woman to compose and publish a symphony, one that was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. She was one of the few women composers, and even fewer American women composers, to tackle an opera. She was the first president of the Society of Women Composers.

As a writer and an educator, she encouraged young composers, especially women, and because of her status, she proved a strong advocate for musical education at all levels. At the time of her death in 1944, she was a respected and legendary artist, influential in her field, one of the few women to achieve critical acclaim in a field dominated by men. And then, in a few short decades, Amy Beach and her entire body of work were forgotten.

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Where has this music been all its life? Why has it never been heard while performances of quintets that are no better are played annually? If the answer is not that the composer was a woman, I would be fascinated to hear it.

Other critics joined in, praising Beach’s Gaelic Symphony and her Piano Concerto as overlooked masterpieces. Accolades followed. In 1994, a bronze plaque was placed at her old Boston address by the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. In 1995, her gravesite at Forest Hills Cemetery received special dedication from the Cemetery’s Educational Trust. In 1999, Beach was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame. In 2000, her name joined eighty-six other famous composers—among them Bach, Handel, Chopin, Debussy and Beethoven—on the granite wall of Boston's famous Hatch Shell. Beach is the only woman on that wall.

Beach’s sole foray into the operatic form, Cabildo, experienced even more severe neglect. Unlike Beach’s other works, almost all of which could claim impressive

performance histories and critical acclaim, Cabildo was written when she was sixty-five, near the end of the composer’s full life of musical expression. With one exception, an amateur production in 1945, Cabildo went unpublished and unperformed for over a half century.

It had been composed in a surge of creativity in the summer of 1932, between June 1st and the 18th during Beach’s stay at her much beloved MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. She’d been talking about creating an opera for a long time, but as her biographer Adrienne Fried Block notes, “she put it off because of the pressures of concert life and the lack of a suitable libretto.” She was looking for a truly colorful story, she said, one that embodied “picturesque moments in our history,” something along the lines of the old New York legends of Rip Van Winkle or Ichabod Crane.

When her friend, the novelist and playwright Nan Bagby Stephens suggested her own play of the same name, Beach felt she had finally found an intriguing subject, one that was “really American.” With its cross-class and cross-cultural love affair between a French aristocrat and an outlaw pirate, its lush setting of New Orleans at the start of the 19th century, Cabildo also would allow Beach to explore the rich musicality of traditional Creole folksongs, and experiment with blending them with her own romantic compositional style.

Since it was to be a chamber opera with few characters, a chorus, and a single setting, both Beach and Stephens felt that the possibilities of a full staging of Cabildo would be good. But despite enthusiastic responses to Beach’s demonstrations, supportive backers proved hard to find in the depths of the Depression. In 1940, the University of Georgia scheduled a workshop production but the advent of war put a hold on those plans. When at last the University premiered its amateur production in February of 1945, Amy Beach was not in the audience. She had died nine weeks earlier.

At last, in 1995 Cabildo realized its first full professional staging at New York’s Lincoln Center, where it also was telecast for PBS’s Great Performances and recorded for Delos on CD. Its debut at Central City Opera will be the work’s third professional production by a major company.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE CABILDO

Many of the happiest evenings of my childhood were spent tucked in an armchair in my father’s study, bathed in the Technicolor glow of MGM musicals unearthed from the forgotten “Classics” aisle at our local video store. I grew to know my favorites by heart, and chief amongst these was the 1948 classic The Pirate, featuring Gene Kelly and Judy Garland.

Judy stars as the lovely Manuela, who is hypnotized by the handsome performer Serafin (Gene Kelly) and mistakenly believes him to be the dastardly pirate “Mack the Black” Macoco. Ultimately, the real Macoco is discovered when a piece of jewelry unlocks the key to his identity. The film exploits cliches of melodrama and swashbuckling adventure at every turn—using both hypnotism and the mind-bending effects of love itself as excuses for the wildest flights of fancy.

In approaching Amy Beach’s charming genre piece Cabildo, I cannot help but recall the heady adventures of “Mack the Black.” Not only are the plots strikingly similar, but both the film and the opera establish an ordinary couple as surrogates for an outlandish hero and heroine, ultimately suggesting that love and song lift us out of the everyday and into the realms of glamor, betrayal, honor, and pathos.

As an audience, our time in the dim lights of the theatre is analogous to Manuela’s hypnotic trance in the film and Mary’s romantic daydream in the opera although the enchantment is all too brief, it allows us to feel romance anew.

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COMPANY PROFILES Tamara Gura

Michael Baitzer

John Baril

Stephen Barlow*

Aaron Breid

David Martin Jacques

Megan Marino*

Patrick Carfizzi

Ken Cazan

Michael Mayes

Alison Moritz*

Hailey Clark*

Jose Maria Condemi*

David Adam Moore*

Angela Mortellaro*

Baritone: Guglielmo, Così fan tutte Recently: Col. Alvaro Gomez, The Exterminating Angel, Salzburger Festspiele; Sir John Ford, Falstaff, Arizona Opera

Soprano: Micaela, Carmen Recently: Juliette, Romeo and Juliette, The Minnesota Opera; Anna, The Book Collector/Carmina Burana, Dayton Opera; Fiorilla, Il Turco In Italia, Opera Southwest

Andrew D. Edwards*

Michael Ehrman

Matthew Plenk*

Emily Pulley

Principal Coach, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program Central City Opera: Principal Coach, 2012-present; Music Staff 1999-2004 Recently: Assistant Conductor (Partial Listing) Le nozze di Figaro, Dead Man Walking and Madama Butterfly, Washington National Opera

Director: Così fan tutte Recently: Madama Butterfly, Danish National Opera; Flight, Opera Holland Park; Rigoletto, Bucharest National Opera

Bass-Baritone: Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte Central City Opera: Dr. Bartolo, Il barbiere di Siviglia, 2013; Pandolfe, Cendrillon, 2007; Doctor, Vanessa, 2005.

Recently: Schaunard, La bohème, Metropolitan Opera; Dr. Dulcamara, L’elisir d’amore, Henry Kissinger, Nixon in China, Houston Grand Opera

Soprano: Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte Recently: Musetta, La bohème, Salzburger Landestheater; Freia, Das Rheingold, North Carolina Opera; Micaela, Carmen; Florida Grand Opera

Scenic and Costume Designer: Così fan tutte Recently: (Partial Listing) Labyrinth, Hampstead Theatre; La bohème, Holland Opera Park; Trabajos de Amor Periods, Tundación Siglo De Oro, Teatros del Canal

Central City Opera Music Director Conductor: Così fan tutte Central City: (Partial Listing) Tosca, 2016; La Traviata, 2015; Dead Man Walking, 2014 Recently: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Romeo et Juliette, Virginia Opera; The Turn of the Screw, UMKC-Opera, Kansas City

Associate Conductor, Chorus Master: Carmen, Così fan tutte Central City Opera: The Ballad of Baby Doe, 2016; The Impresario, 2016 Recently: Suor Angelica/Gianni Schicchi, Opera Santa Barbara; Opera Outdoors, Opera Omaha, Carmen, Die Zauberflöte, Turandot, Minnesota Opera; Beethoven Symphony No. 2 (cover conductor), Charlotte Symphony, Turandot (cover conductor), Virginia Opera; Così fan tutte (cover conductor), Sarasota Opera.

Director: The Burning Fiery Furnace Central City Opera: (Partial Listing) The Ballad of Baby Doe, 2016; The Prodigal Son, 2015; Dead Man Walking, 2014 Recently: Chair of Vocal Arts and Opera/Resident Stage Director, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music; The Fall of the House of Usher, Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater; As One (World Premiere), American Opera Projects/ Brooklyn Academy of Music

Director: Carmen Recently: (Partial Listing) Tosca, Frida, Cincinnati Opera; Le Portrait de Manon, Suor Angelica, San Francisco Conservatory of Music; Carmen, Lyric Opera Kansas City Nacional, Santo Domingo; Director, Die Zauberflöte, Ravinia Festival

Administrator, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program Central City Opera: (Partial Listing) The Impresario, 2016; Later the Same Evening, 2016; Trouble in Tahiti, 2014 Recently: Director: The Tender Land, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Dead Man Walking, The Grapes of Wrath, Northwestern University; La bohème, Teatro Nacional, Santo Domingo; Die Zauberflöte, Ravinia Festival

Mezzo-Soprano: Dorabella, Così fan tutte Central City Opera: Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro Recently: Isabella, L’italiana in Algeri, Deutsches National Theater Weimar; Carmen, Carmen, Staatstheater Darmstadt; Carmen, Carmen, Wiesbaden

Resident Lighting Designer: 2017 Festival Central City Opera: Resident Lighting Designer 2007-present, 2000-2005 Recently: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia Valencia; As One (World Premiere), American Opera Projects/Brooklyn Academy of Music; Il barbiere di Siviglia, Florida Grand Opera

Baritone: Escamillo, Carmen Central City Opera: Scarpia, Tosca, 2016; Joseph De Rocher, Dead Man Walking, 2014; Past Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Apprentice Artist Recently: Wendell Swan, Great Scott (World Premiere, Heggie) Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera; Joseph De Rocher, Dead Man Walking, New Orleans Opera; Jack Rance, La fanciulla del West, Opera Omaha

Tenor: Ferrando, Così fan tutte Recently: Carmina Burana, Aspen Music Festival; Macduff, Macbeth, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Messiah, Houston Symphony

Adriano Graziani*

Tenor: Don José, Carmen Recently: Rodolfo, La bohème, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg Opera Zuid; Edgardo, Lucia di Lammermoor, Buxton Festival; Don José, Carmen, Vorarlberger Landestheater Bregenz

Mezzo-Soprano: Despina, Così fan tutte Recently: Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Virginia Opera; Jessie, The Long Walk, Utah Opera

Director: Gallantry and Cabildo; Assistant Director: Così fan tutte Recently: Hydrogen Jukebox, Tri-Cities Opera; The Tender Land, University of Postdam Crane School of Music; Candide, The Orlando Philharmonic

Soprano: Carmen, Carmen Central City Opera: (Partial Listing) Julie LaVerne, Show Boat, 2013; Beatrice, Three Decembers, 2010; Susannah Polk, Susannah, 2008 Recently: Peregrina, Vía Láctea, Opera Bend, 2016; Despina, Così fan tutte, Nashville Opera, 2016; Mrs. P, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, 2016

* Indicates a Central City Opera Debut

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COMPANY PROFILES CONTINUED Ronell Oliveri

Resident Wig/Makeup Designer and Supervisor Central City Opera: Wig and Makeup Co-Designer 2011 Recently: Emmy® Nominated Make-up Artist, Wig and Makeup Designer for Opera Omaha and Opera Colorado

Adam Turner

Conductor: Carmen Central City Opera: Conductor, Man of La Mancha, 2015; former Associate Conductor and Chorus Master Recently: Conductor, Three Decembers, Hawaii Opera Theatre; Der Freischütz, The Seven Deadly Sins/Pagliacci, Virginia Opera; The Halloween Tree, American Lyric Theater

Heidi Middendorf

Soprano Milwaukee, WI Recently: La Fée, Cendrillon, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Queen of the Night, The Magic Flute, Opera NEO; Ms. Wordsworth, Albert Herring, Oberlin Opera Theatre

Quinn Middleman

Mezzo-Soprano Portland, OR Recently: Lillian Disney (cover), The Perfect American, Chicago Opera Theater; Autumn, Secresy (cover), and Chinese Woman, Fairy Queen, Chicago Opera Theater; Alto III, Le Vin Herbé, Chicago Opera Theater

DEVELOPING ARTIST Colorado Children’s Chorale

Mary Louise Burke Associate Director and Conductor Children’s Chorus, Carmen: Kelton Ayars, Alicia Chavez, Ethan Conklin, Isabella Conklin, Emily Cull, David Downs, Caroline Donnelly, Charles Hutchings, Will Mahaffy, Jack Peterson, Ben Ragan, Teddy Sopkin, Max Trujillo-Acevedo, Cheranne Wang

APPRENTICE ARTISTS Humberto Borboa

Stephen Clark*

Betsy Diaz

Kira Dills-DeSurra

Soprano Miami, FL Recently: Liù, Turandot, Opera Naples; Mimi, La bohème, Miami Music Festival; The Foreign Woman, The Consul, Florida Grand Opera

Mezzo-Soprano Petaluma, CA Recently: Secretary and Nurse, The Perfect American, Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera; La Ciesca, Gianni Schicchi, Chicago Opera Theater; Stéphano, Roméo et Juliette, Castleton Festival

Zhiguang Hong

Shannon Jennings

Baritone Beijing, China Recently: Escamillo, Carmen, Connecticut Opera Theater; Il Conte, Le nozze di Figaro, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival; Bottom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Yale Opera

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Tenor: Nebuchadnezzar, The Burning Fiery Furnace Central City Opera: Tempter (Abbot), The Prodigal Son, 2015 Recently: Beadle Bamford, Sweeney Todd and Giles Corey, The Crucible, Glimmerglass Festival; The Father/Tenor 1, The Seven Deadly Sins, Virginia Opera

BONFILS-STANTON FOUNDATION ARTISTS TRAINING PROGRAM

Tenor Mexicali, BC, Mexico Recently: Spoleta, Tosca, Tulsa Opera; Tenor Soloist, Mozart’s Requiem, Signature Symphony; Ferrando, Così fan tutte, Opera Theatre of the Rockies

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Billie Bruley*+

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Bass-Baritone Tulsa, OK Recently: Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte, Yale Opera; Soloist, Renard, Orchestra New England; Soloist, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Waterbury Symphony

Soprano Orlando, FL Recently: Costanza, Richard the Lionheart, Pittsburgh Opera; Liù, Turandot, Pittsburgh Opera; Marguerite, Faust, Annapolis Opera

Dean Murphy

Bryan Murray

Tim Murray

Marlen Nahhas*

John Kun Park

Gina Perregrino

Tenor Los Angeles, CA Recently: Don José, Carmen, Trentino Music Festival; Anatol, Vanessa, Mannes School of Music; Lysander, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, State University of New York

Mezzo-Soprano Wilmington, DE Recently: Stephano, Roméo et Juliette, Minnesota Opera; Maddalena, Rigoletto, Lyric Opera of Guatemala; Blindwoman, Shalimar the Clown, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Tyler Putnam

Louise Rogan

Baritone Maynard, MA Recently: Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Yale Opera; Son ami, Le pauvre matelot, Yale Opera; Le Dancaïre, Carmen, Opera Theater of Connecticut

Baritone Milwaukee, WI Recently: Silvio (cover), I pagliacci, Cedar Rapids Opera; Baritone Soloist, Lélio, New Jersey Symphony; Pater Ecstaticus, Mahler’s 8th Symphony, Oratorio Society of New York

Bass Chebeague Island, ME Recently: José Castro, La fanciulla del West, Opera Omaha; Don Magnifico, La cenerentola, Salt Marsh Opera; Luther Billis, South Pacific, St. Petersburg Opera

Baritone West Babylon, NY Recently: John Proctor, The Crucible, Purchase College; Count Almaviva, Le nozze di Figaro, Purchase College; Demetrius, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Purchase College

Soprano Houston, TX Recently: Mimi (cover), La bohème, Utah Festival Opera; Rosalinde, Die Fledermaus, Indiana University; VoMo, World Premiere of The Tale of Lady Thi Kin, Indiana University

Mezzo-Soprano Manchester, U.K. Recently: Giovanna/Il Paggio, Rigoletto, Opera Colorado; Mercedes, Carmen, Opera Colorado; Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Opera Colorado

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APPRENTICE ARTISTS

CONTINUED

Lucas van Lierop

Tenor Vancouver, BC Recently: Vašek, The Bartered Bride, Yale Opera; Grimoaldo, Rodelinda, Yale Opera; Snout, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Yale Opera

STUDIO ARTISTS

Kellie Motter

Nathan Ward*

Soprano Atlanta, GA Recently: Marie, La fille du régiment, Indiana University Opera Theatre; Chorus, Macbeth, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Despina, Così fan tutte, Indiana University Opera Theatre

Tenor Lee's Summit, MO Recently: Sam Polk, Susannah, Northwestern University; Basilio, Le nozze di Figaro, Northwestern University; Howard Boucher, Dead Man Walking, Northwestern University

BONFILS-STANTON FOUNDATION ARTISTS TRAINING PROGRAM

Dongwhi Baek

Tenor Pusan, South Korea Recently: Arbace, Idomeneo, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi, Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music

Armando Contreras+

Baritone Phoenix, AZ Recently: Papageno, Die Zauberflöte, University of Missouri-Kansas City; Paris, Roméo et Juliette, The Aspen Music Festival; John Brooke, Little Women, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Ethan Greene

Bass Hamlet, NC Recently: Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro, Carroll Theatre; King Balthazar, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Bel Cantanti; Il Commendatore, Don Giovanni, University of Maryland

Rivers Hawkins

Bass Columbia, SC Recently: Capitán, Florencia en el Amazonas, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; Don Alhambra, The Gondoliers, New York University Steinhardt School

Soprano Chicago, IL Recently: Susannah, Susannah, Northwestern University; La Contessa, Le nozze di Figaro, Northwestern University; Kitty Hart, Dead Man Walking, Northwestern University

Ann Fogler

Jamie Groote

Mezzo-Soprano Toronto, ON, Canada Recently: Nicklausse, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Wilfrid Laurier University ; Romeo, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Opera NUOVA; Jade Boucher, Dead Man Walking, Opera NUOVA; Komponist, Ariadne auf Naxos, Wilfrid Laurier University

Zane Hill

Baritone Houston, TX Recently: First Apparition, Macbeth, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Ensemble, World Premiere of Shalimar the Clown, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Count Robinson, Il matrimonio segreto, Oberlin in Italy

Elizabeth Sarian

Jacob Scharfman

Eric J. Taylor

Baritone Boston, MA Recently: Pallante, Agrippina, The Juilliard School; Charlie, Three Decembers, Opera Fayetteville; Steward (cover), Flight, The Juilliard School

Mezzo-Soprano Los Angeles, CA Recently: Ruth, Dark Sisters, Boston Conservatory; Bradamante, Alcina, Boston Conservatory; Mrs. Herring, Albert Herring, Opera in the Ozarks

Tenor Evanston, IL Recently: Martin, The Tender Land, Northwestern University; Chaplain, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Northwestern University; Rinuccio, Gianni Schicchi, Miami Music Festival

Kaileigh Riess+

Soprano Foxborough, MA Recently: Blanche de la Force, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Northwestern University; Elaine, Later the Same Evening, Northwestern University; Trio Soprano, Trouble in Tahiti, Northwestern University

Regina Ceragioli+

Feng “Ricky” Nan

Mezzo-Soprano Plainview, NY Recently: Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro, Peabody Opera; Hänsel (cover), Hänsel und Gretel, Peabody Opera; Dorabella (cover), Così fan tutte, Peabody Opera

Tenor St. George, UT Recently: Tenor soloist, Carmina Burana, Ballet West; Nemorino, L'elisir d'amore, Westminster College; Rodolfo, La bohème, Westminster College

2016 ARTISTS AWARDS Armando Contreras Alice Anne Light Michael Anderson Anna Whiteway Regina Ceragioli John David Nevergall Chris Kenney Peter Lake

Award in Honor of John Baril Dana Krueger Memorial Award Christopher Kiryluk Memorial Award Adelaide Bishop Award Lew Cady Memorial Award Dorsey Family Award Studio Artist Award Apprentice Artist Award

Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program 2017 Sponsors

Stephen Clark Leroy Davis Danielle Palomares Kaileigh Riess Helen Huang Marlen Nahhas Miranda Nation Chelsea Kuehnel Marisa Brink

John & Ginny Starkey Award Iris Richards Memorial Award McGlone Award (CCO Guild) Award in Honor of Finlay & Zarlengo John Moriarty Award CCO Young Artist Award Outstanding Interns in Memory of Greg Miller Outstanding Interns in Memory of Greg Miller Outstanding Interns in Memory of Greg Miller

Denver Lyric Opera Guild Humberto Borboa

El Pomar Foundation Gina Perregrino Central City Opera Guild Shannon Jennings Zane Hill

* Indicates Past Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Apprentice Artist + Indicates Past Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Studio Artist

2017 awards will be announced at the closing performance of the festival.

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2017/2018 Season

60

th

2017-2018 SEASON

The Glories of Venice October 13, 14 & 15

Arcangelo’s Circle January 6 & 7

The Muse Project February 23, 24 & 25

Brandenburg Concertos May 18, 19 & 20

FRANK NOWELL Artistic Director CYNTHIA MILLER FREIVOGEL Leader

The Spirit of Boulder

Our 60th Anniversary season is packed with a creative combination of world-renowned artists, regional collaborations, and two works by major American composers co-commissioned by the Boulder Phil. · Pianists Jon Nakamatsu & David Korevaar · Philip Glass piano concerto, written for & performed

by Simone Dinnerstein · The Lark Ascending w/ Charles Wetherbee & Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble · Stefan Jackiw in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 · West Side Story in concert w/ Central City Opera & choirs · Cirque de la Symphonie Goes to the Movies · Nutcracker Ballet over Thanksgiving weekend NEW SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF SINGLE TICKET PRICES!

tickets bcocolorado.org

C olorado a Cademy

Congratulations to the 2017 Central City flower girls from Colorado Academy!

Sydney Mariel Kitsu Turner on the left; Lila Reed Arnold on the right.

Transformational Teaching for Pre-K–12th Grade The CA experience is defined by rigor and balance as well as personalized attention from classroom teachers, arts faculty, coaches, and college counselors.

Our innovative curriculum inspires critical thinking and creativity in a community that promotes courage and kindness.

Think, Create, Innovate.

3800 S. Pierce Street • Denver, CO 80235 • 303-914-2513

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www.BoulderPhil.org • 303.449.1343

GORGEOUS, ICONIC, HISTORIC JACQUES BENEDICT DESIGNED HOME!

WELCOME TO 910 GAYLORD STREET

Contact Julie & Nancy about this property for more information.

Built in the Beaux Arts tradition, this once-in-a-lifetime home sits on a stunning near halfacre bordering the Denver Botanic Gardens. Both home and grounds are absolutely lovely with extensive updating inside and beautiful spaces outside. The floor plan is wonderful for entertaining, as well as for relaxed daily living. Large formal rooms, 4 bedrooms and baths on the second level, and a fantastic family room on the third level. Truly special!

For guidance you can trust, whether selling or buying a home, call Julie Winger and Nancy Morgan today!

JULIE WINGER 303-946-2784 JulieWinger@Kentwood.com NANCY MORGAN 303-883-4707 NMorgan@DenverRealEstate.com

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. Neither listing broker(s) nor Kentwood Real Estate shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, misprints and shall be held totally harmless.

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25 TH A N N I V E R S A R Y

MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL

music in concert with the landscape

TM

August 31 – September 11, 2017 Michael Barrett, Music Director • Leslie Tomkins, Artistic Director

Chamber music, jazz, Latin, and traditional music with exceptional artists among

Come Sing with Us!

the unforgettable red rocks of Southeastern Utah

• • • •

Boys and girls entering 2nd through 5th grades Ten-minute audition is simple and fun No previous musical training is required Rehearsals are one day per week at one of two rehearsal sites located in west or southeast Denver • Financial Assistance is available

ChildrensChorale.org/Audition or 303.892.5600

Beth Riser, Photograph

Gallery is directly across from the Opera House and our new Showcase Gallery is just a block down the hill!

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(Main Gallery: 10 - 8 on Opera Nights!)

Visit us at www.gilpinarts.org

THE ARIAS OF YOUR LIFE

Blue Lake Acrylic on canvas by Monica Tymcio

Gallery is directly across from the Opera House and our Showcase Gallery is just a block down the hill!

Daily 10 - 6 (Main Gallery: 10am - 8pm on Opera Nights) Visit us at www. gilpinarts.org

moabmusicfest.org • 435.259.7003

Broker Associate 720-849-2732 Heather.Brecl@SothebysRealty.com www.livsothebysrealty.com

Celebrate

Gilpin Arts in Central City proudly supports the Central City Opera

HEATHER BRECL

with the Cast & Crew of Always Best Care

The Leader in: • Non-Medical Home Care • Assisted Living Placement

 Queen Rooms with Private Baths  Jetted Tubs  Gourmet Breakfast  One Block from Shopping & Restaurants

1639 Colorado Blvd.

Idaho Springs 303-567-4870 www.theminerspick.com

• 24/7 Personalized Assistance • Customized Care Plan • Free Assessment & Consultation • Fully Screened, Insured, Trained & Compassionate Staff • LongTerm Care Insurances Accepted

We are proud to support Central City Opera

Contact Nancy Hemming www.AlwaysBestCare.com/DenverWest (303) 952-3060 2 0 1 7

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2017 | FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

CENTRAL CITY OPERA | ADMINISTRATION Pelham G. Pearce, Jr., General/Artistic Director John Baril, Music Director John Moriarty, Artistic Director Emeritus Michael M. Ehrman, Director/Administrator, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program Paul Curran, Artistic Consultant

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

John Baril MUSIC DIRECTOR

Rita Sommers, Director of Operations Josy Ellis, Controller Wanda Larson, Office Administrator/Gift Shop Buyer Nancy Maley, Accounting Specialist

Kim Peoria ORCHESTRA MANAGER AND MUSIC LIBRARIAN

VIOLIN Rachel Segal, concertmaster Takanori Sugishita, 2nd chair first violin Sharon Park, principal second violin^ Chris Jusell, 2nd chair second violin Laura Tait Chang^ Natasha Colkett Angela Dombrowski Steven Erickson Emily Glover^ James Wyn Hart Filip Lazovski Susie Peek Ingrid Peoria Győngyvér Petheő VIOLA Hannah Rose Nicholas, principal^ Brian Cook Kostadin Dyulgerski^ N. Samantha Headlee Christopher McKay^ Lora Stevens Sarah Richardson* CELLO Jonathan Lewis, principal Cedra Kuehn, 2nd chair Kimberly Patterson Elle Wells BASS John Arnesen, principal Andy Holmes, 2nd chair

BOX OFFICE

Deb Mountain, Box Office Manager Rachelle Cole, Box Office Associate

FLUTE Masha Popova, principal^ Ebonee Thomas OBOE Jeffrey Stephenson, principal Sarah Bierhaus CLARINET Carmen Izzo, principal Michelle J. Orman BASSOON Jill Dispenza, principal Kim Peoria HORN Carolyn Kunicki, principal Jennifer D. Galvan* Chris Jackson^ Young Kim^ Devon Park

TIMPANI Michael P. Tetreault, principal PERCUSSION Carl Dixon, principal Peter Cooper Nena Lorenz Wright

CABILDO Rachel Segal, violin Jon Lewis, cello John Arida, piano GALLANTRY John Arida, piano

TROMBONE Bron Wright, principal Andy Wolfe Jeffrey J. Craig

^ new artist * leave of absence

HARP Janet Harriman, principal

Scott Finlay, Director of Development William Dehner, Associate Director of Development Katie Nicholson, Assistant Director of Development Clare Mail, Development Associate Cindy Kraus, Events Coordinator Shira Zimmerman, Grants Officer Nicole Roush, Grant Writer

HISTORIC PROPERTIES

THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE Masha Popova, flute and piccolo Carolyn Kunicki, horn Bron Wright, alto trombone Hannah Rose Nicholas, viola John Arnesen, bass Janet Harriman, harp Carl Dixon, percussion Sheldon Miller, organ

TRUMPET Leslie Scarpino, principal Mark Hyams

DEVELOPMENT

Jim Johnson, Director of Historic Properties Sam Carrington, Historic Property Maintenance

MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Lisa Zetah, Director of Marketing Sara M. Poorman, Associate Director of Marketing Janet Braccio, Publicist Melissa Rick, Art Direction and Graphic Design

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Deborah Morrow, Director of Education and Community Engagement Emily Murdock, Associate Director of Education and Community Engagement, Podcast Host and Producer Jonathan D. Allsup, Production Manager Kenny Martinez, Production Assistant

MUSIC AND COACHING STAFF

John Baril, Music Director & Principal Conductor - Così fan tutte Kim Peoria, Orchestra Manager/Assistant to the Music Director Adam Turner, Conductor - Carmen Christopher Zemliauskas, Conductor – The Burning Fiery Furnace, Gallantry, Cabildo Aaron Breid, Associate Conductor and Chorus Master Michael Baitzer, Principal Coach/Diction Coach Thomas Getty, Assistant Conductor Sheldon L. Miller, Assistant Conductor John Arida, Assistant Conductor Erick L. Wolfe, Stage Combat Instructor/Resident Fight Choreographer Melinda Sullivan, Movement Coach/Resident Choreographer Michael M. Ehrman, Director/Administrator, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program

PRODUCTION STAFF

Karen T. Federing, Director of Production Kerry M. Cripe, Technical Director Erin Thompson-Janszen, Stage Manager, Carmen Rachel L. Ginzberg, Stage Manager, Così fan tutte Bryce Bullock, Assistant Stage Manager, Carmen and Così fan tutte 78

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Matthew Haney, Assistant Director, Carmen Alison Moritz, Assistant Director, Così fan tutte Eric Nathan Brady, Production Scheduler Kurt Tiede, Properties Master Chelsea Kuehnel, Assistant Properties Master Stacie Logue, Costume Shop Manager Ana Walton Vallejo, Wardrobe Head/Assistant Costume Shop Manager Brianna Haynes, First Hand/Design Assistant Carmen Rossina Lozoya, Stitcher/Dresser Kelsey L. Albright, Stitcher/Dresser Ronell Oliveri, Resident Wig and Makeup Designer/Supervisor Sarah Annette Opstad, 1st Wig and Makeup Assistant Candace Leyland, 2nd Wig and Makeup Assistant Erick L. Wolfe, Stage Combat Instructor/Resident Fight Choreographer Melinda Sullivan, Movement Coach/Resident Choreographer Szu-Yun Wang, 1st Assistant Lighting Designer David Zahacewski, 2nd Assistant Lighting Designer

DIRECTORS/DESIGNERS/CHOREOGRAPHERS Jose Maria Condemi, Director, Carmen Stephen Barlow, Director, Così fan tutte Ken Cazan, Director, The Burning Fiery Furnace Alison Moritz, Director, Gallantry and Cabildo Michael C. Raiford, Original Set Designer, Carmen Sara Jean Tosetti, Original Costume Designer, Carmen Dana Tzvetkov, Costume Coordinator, Carmen Andrew D. Edwards, Set and Costume Designer, Così fan tutte David Martin Jacques, Resident Lighting Designer Ronell Oliveri, Resident Wig/Makeup Designer and Supervisor Lucy Martin, Associate Costume Designer, Così fan tutte Thomas Getty, Supertitles, Carmen and Così fan tutte

FESTIVAL SERVICES

Brendan McNamara, House/Festival Services Manager

FESTIVAL INTERNS

James Arnold, Costume/Wardrobe Assistant, Colorado Taylor Caldwell, Gift Shop Assistant, Idaho Shay Dite, Props Assistant, Colorado Steven Doucette, Props Assistant, Massachusetts William Gfeller, Assistant House Manager/Company Management Assistant, Pennsylvania Kendra L. Green, Stage Management Production Assistant, Carmen, Gallantry and Cabildo, California Makayla Michael, Stage Management Production Assistant, Così fan tutte and The Burning Fiery Furnace, Ohio Hallie Moore, Wig/Makeup Assistant, North Carolina Miranda S. Nation, Costume/Wardrobe Assistant, Kansas Sydney Roslin, PR/Marketing Assistant, Michigan Maria Servodidio, Events Assistant, New Jersey Linnea Jean Soderberg, Wig/Makeup Assistant, Massachusetts Lisa Tinker, Stage Management Production Assistant, The Burning Fiery Furnace, Gallantry and Cabildo, Kansas Jen Wallisch, Office and Music Library Assistant, Pennsylvania

IATSE/STAGE CREW HEADS

David E. Clough, Head Props and Union Steward James (Rusty) Culp, Assistant Props Ed Saindon, Assistant Props Michael Boswell, Head Carpenter Cindy Maupin, Assistant Carpenter Miles Stasica, Master Electrician Stephen D. Mazzeno, Board Operator Jeff Riedel, Head Flyman C.J. Polich, Head Sound 2 0 1 7

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A gift made through your estate ensures that the magic of Central City Opera continues for generations to come.

last a lifetime

MAKE A GIFT THAT WILL

BECOME A MEMBER OF

THE YELLOW ROSE SOCIETY

YELLOW ROSE SOCIETY MEMBERS Anonymous (2) Charles and Joan Albi Mr. and Mrs. Patrick K. Bains Nancy P. Brittain Kim I. Morss Dehncke and Richard J. Dehncke Cheryl and David Dutton Ms. Arline Echandia Mr. David Ericson Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson Mr. and Mrs. John E. Fuller Gina Guy Deborah Hayes and James L. Martin Cathey A. Herren Ms. Jane A. Hultin Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Huseby Kathryn S. Keller Johanna Elizabeth Kelly Phyllis Gottesfeld Knight Mrs. Ann C. Levy Dr. and Mrs. William Maclay Hilton G. and Elizabeth A. Martin Lanny and Sharon Martin Mrs. Buddie Mees Mr. and Mrs. John E. Ness, Jr. Nancy S. Parker Bette and David Poppers Pam and Korvin Powell Mr. and Mrs. John D. Priester Mr. Daniel L. Ritchie Steven and Barbara Sande Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Schaefer Terrence and Elaine Scholes Robert and Lucy Showalter Phoebe Smedley Mr. and Mrs. W. Thomas Stephens Susan Stiff Jenene C. and James J. Stookesberry Jane Alexandra Storm Ms. Barbara N. Walton Mr. Jerry F. Wathen

photo by joseph gaines.

For more information on planned giving, please contact CCO’s Development team at 303.292.6500 or dev@centralcityopera.org.

Remembering members of the Yellow Rose Society who passed away this year: Ms. Catherine H. Anderson Mr. Vincent L. Bates Dr. Ann M. Shaw

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ANNUAL FUND CONTRIBUTIONS INDIVIDUAL DONORS

TAKE A BOW! The Central City Opera (CCO) board and staff join the entire company in saying “thank you” to those generous donors who make outstanding performances like the one you’re about to enjoy possible. None of this happens without you. Bravo! The following supporters made gifts to CCO between May 1, 2016 and April 24, 2017.

While space limitations allow CCO to list only those donors of $100 or more, every gift is important and truly appreciated.

If your name is listed incorrectly or omitted, you have our sincere apologies. Please contact the CCO office at 303.292.6500 to ensure correction.

* Loyal donors who have made gifts to CCO for the past ten years or more. # Gifts made through Colorado Gives/ Community First Foundation + Friends who passed away in the last year ◊ Diva/Divo Guild Members

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL Sponsor ($100,000+) Lanny and Sharon Martin*◊ PRESENTING SPONSOR ($50,000-99,999) Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson*◊ PRODUCTION SPONSOR ($25,000 -$49,999) Pamela and Louis Bansbach*◊ Nancy P. Brittain*◊ Heather and Mike Miller Erin Nichols# Max Nichols# Mr. Daniel L. Ritchie* PERFORMANCE SPONSOR ($10,000-$24,999) Anonymous (1) Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Accetta Mr. and Mrs. Gerald L. Bader, Jr.* Mr. and Mrs. John Barker, Jr. Fred and Jana Bartlit Estate of Mr. Vincent L. Bates+ Phebe Berkowitz-Tanners and Dr. Paul Tanners Ms. Lynn Campion and Mr. Theodore Waddell Michelle and Mark Dorman Robert A. Ellis and Jane Bernstein*# Mr. and Mrs. John E. Fuller*◊ Judy and Newell Grant*◊ Diana W. and F. Michael Kinsey*

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John W. Kure and Cheryl L. Solich*# Lizabeth A. Lynner and James L. Palenchar* Jean and Larry Manion* Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. McGonagle*#◊ Mr. and Mrs. Larry A. Mizel Nancy S. Parker*◊ Mr. and Mrs. John D. Priester Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Schneider Phoebe Smedley*◊ Vic and Mary Ann Stabio Mr. and Mrs. Frederick K. Trask III Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Unger Buzz and George Ann Victor*◊ DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE ($5,000 -9,999) Anonymous (1) Charles and Joan Albi Estate of Ms. Catherine H. Anderson+ Mr. and Mrs. William D. Armstrong*◊ Janette W. Chase# John and Melinda Couzens John and Anne Draper Dr. and Mrs. Donald C. Ferlic Robert P. Fullerton and Beverlee Henry* Richard A. Goozh Mrs. James P. Gordon* Robert S. Graham* Frederic C. Hamilton+ Mr. Chevis Horne and Dr. Jan M. Kennaugh Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Huseby*◊ Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Hutcheson, Jr. Mark and Barbara Kiryluk# Mrs. Susan Mammel Mr. and Mrs. Brian Schaub Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Shamos Estate of Dr. Ann M. Shaw+

Mr. and Mrs. David Tryba◊ Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Tyree, Jr.◊ Pam and Sonny Wiegand* CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE ($2,500- 4,999) Anonymous (3) C. Deen Buttorff Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Billings Ms. M. Karen Christiansen◊ Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay Mr. and Mrs. James R. Hilger* Gregg Kvistad and Amy Oaks*# Mr. Poe Leggette Hilton G. and Elizabeth A. Martin* Mrs. Barbara Meckel Robert Montgomery* Pelham G. Pearce, Jr.* Mr. and Mrs. George Secor*◊ Mr. Darin M. Snow Mr. and Mrs. J. William Sorensen Dorothy Watts and Mike Jenkins Eva and Marvin Womack* Dr. Dean Yannias ARTIST'S CIRCLE ($1,000-2,499) Anonymous (2) Mr. Roopesh Aggarwal and Ms. Lauren Lovejoy William and Louise Atkinson Mr. Edward F. Altman and Dr. Dina Brudenell Altman Hartman Axley* Earl D. and Julia A. Banks*◊ John Baril and Brian Cook* Nancy Benson* Jack and Karen Berryhill* Leslie Cady* Mr. and Mrs. John I. Taylor Mr. and Mrs. Collis P. Chandler III Sue Cole* Jeanne Collopy and Christopher Koenigs

Mr. and Mrs. Douglas A. Comstock Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Danos* Dr. and Mrs. Michael G. Davis Riisa and Panayes Dikeou# Max and Joyce Douglas*# Cheryl and David Dutton* Mr. John Ekeberg and Mrs. Jennifer Schwem Mr. and Mrs. Martin J. Erzinger Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Fowler Mrs. Thomas Francis Robert K. and Virginia E. Fuller*◊ Hugh Grant and Merle Chambers* Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Hanson Deborah Hayes and James L. Martin* Rox Ann and Fred Haynes* Kathryn Heider*# Nora and Scott Heitmann A. Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld Julie Hughes*# Mr. and Mrs. George G. Hutchison III◊ Ms. Barbara Kelley Mrs. Zeze Kreidle Ken and Barbara Laff* Mr. and Mrs. David F. Lawrence, Jr. Mrs. David F. Lawrence* Rosalind G. Lidstone Carolyn L. Longmire*◊ John and Merry Low Jim and Rea Ludke Tom and Ginnie Maes Brooke and Charles Maloy Mr. and Mrs. Christopher J. Marsico Mrs. Suzanne Matthews Mr. and Mrs. Ted Millice* Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. McCann Sharon L. Menard# Jon and Lynne Montague-Clouse◊ Carl and Deborah Morrow*# The Dehncke Family*#◊ Mr. James V. Neely*# Mr. and Mrs. Gordon R. Parker* Dan and Susan Paulien

Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Phelps, Jr.* Mr. John Potter Mr. and Mrs. Alfred W. Powell◊ Andrew and Karen Ritz* Mr. Paul Ruotolo Mr. and Mrs. James W. Sanderson Helen Scott Santilli and Lyn Barber Dr. Sarah K. Scott and Mr. Kevin Kearney◊ Robert and Lucy Showalter* Mr. and Mrs. Douglas S. Sparks◊ Mr. and Mrs. John David Strohm Mr. and Mrs. Dale S. Sweat, Jr. James and Kathy Switzer# Mr. and Mrs. John I. Taylor Joyce Thurmer Mr. Roy Varela Patrice Von Stroh*# Mr. and Mrs. Rick Walker Ed and Patty Wahtera* Sandy and Jerry Wischmeyer*#◊ Mr. Duain Wolfe# BENEFACTOR ($500-999) Anonymous (6) Mr. and Mrs. Guy M. Arnold Gary D. Autrey Janice H. Baucum Libby Bortz Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brecl Ms. Joyce Castle Marty and John Chamberlin# Ms. Ann M. Corrigan and Mr. Kent A. Rice# Polly W. Cox Mr. Thomas Cox# Mr. and Mrs. Richard Cross# Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Davis Mrs. Mary Ann G. Davis Jack and Vicki Dehner# Mr. William B. Dehner and Ms. Emily Busalacchi# Michael and Sara DiManna Mr. and Mrs. Leonard A. Dinegar*◊ Ms. Marian Dines and Ms. Joanne Christensen Ms. Barbara Dorsey Mrs. Nancy W. Downing Missy and John Eliot* Ronald Engels and Zane Laubhan* Mr. and Mrs. Donald G. Leitch* Larry and Joanne Fisher Allan and Margot Frank◊

Mr. and Mrs. Vern Goodwin Mr. Lyman Ho and Ms. Joani Cravens Bruce and Heidi Hoyt# Cynthia R. Kendrick Mr. and Mrs. Hal Kepner Mr. and Mrs. Brian G. Kusher# Elizabeth B. Labrot# Mr. Neil Houston and Ms. Elizabeth J. Labrot Mr. and Mrs. Mark Laitos Bruce and Eileen Leland Stan and Jody Lipson# Bob Meade William R. Moninger and Bonnie J. Phipps# Mr. and Mrs. Kevin O'Hara Dr. Ronald Otsuka Carl Patterson# Ann and Ralph Poucher# Ms. Emily Pulley# Mr. and Mrs. Robert Quillin* Richard B. Robinson and Nina Saks Robinson* Mr. Sheldon Sager Mr. and Mrs. George G. Shaw Lorraine and Craig Shuler*# Mr. Stephen M. Strachan Mr. and Mrs. James A. Swanson* Ms. Tolly Tate ◊ Peter W. Van Etten# Mollie Mitchell and John Wilson Joe and Donna Worsham* PATRON ($250-499) Anonymous (2) Frank J. Adler Mr. Mahlon D. Amstutz Robert C. Anderson* Mr. and Mrs. Edward James Anderson◊ Mrs. Jane Andrews Sue Anschutz-Rodgers* Carolyn and Ron Baer Mr. and Mrs. Dennis E. Baldwin*# Ms. Barbara Benedict Mrs. Joan Berg Ms. Elena Berlinsky Brewster and Helen Boyd Ron and Gordon Butz* Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Calkins Sue M. Cannon* Mr. Christopher T. Clark

Mr. and Mrs. Jon B. Clarke* Fran Corsello Dr. Stephen L. Dilts* Mr. and Mrs. Laurence S. Donovan Mrs. Nancy W. Downing Peter and Marian Downs*# Mr. and Mrs. H. Benjamin Duke, III Mr. and Mrs. Baker Duncan* Walt Duncan Geoff and Scarlett Ponton de Dutton Jack Dysart and Carole Milligan Mr. Bayard C. Ewing Ms. Christine W. Farrel Mr. and Mrs. Paul Finkel Dick and Sigrid Freese Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Frisch# Mr. and Mrs. Karl Garrett K. Sue Giovanini# Mrs. Lillian M. Glahn* Michael and Susan Grace Gina Guy*#◊ Dr. Linda J. Hargrave*# Alfred and Ingrid Lenz Harrison Carolyn L. Harrison Jane Hascall Janet Hayes and Arthur Morrissey#◊ Norma and Phil Heinschel*# Mr. Richard C. Hepworth* Cathey A. Herren* Jack Hidahl Mr. Robert Homiak and Ms. Susan Schneider Jane A. Hultin# Mr. and Mrs. Bob Kalpelke Theresa and Bob Keatinge# Kathryn S. Keller# Robert and Mary Kelman Mr. and Mrs. Greg Kintzele Dr. and Mrs. Melvyn H. Klein* Mr. and Mrs. Karl Frederick Koch Ms. Wendy Kroner Mr. and Mrs. Mark Laitos Mrs. R. T. Lyford, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. William Maclay Katie MacWilliams# Dr. Charles Mader Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Y. Marchand* Susan Martin and Chet Hampson Mr. and Mrs. Dirk McDermott*◊ Mr. and Mrs. James Edgar McDonald, Jr.◊

Dr. Vicki McFarlane Mrs. M. Jean McMillin Pamela A. Merrill Kimberly Victor Neckers◊ Mr. and Mrs. W. Peterson Nelson* Dr. and Mrs. Joe K. Ozaki Mr. and Mrs. David J. Palenchar* Mr. and Mrs. Richard Quiroga Mr. and Mrs. Bruce A. Rifkin Marcia and Richard L. Robinson Mary Ann Ross* Mary Scarpino# Ruth E. Schoening* Mr. and Mrs. Warren Schlichting Anton and Clare Schulzki Stephen W. Seifert# Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Shaller Terry and Bonnie Shetler*# Nancy J. Siegel Rita Sommers*# Ms. Eva Spitz* Ms. Carol Stamm Steve and Phyllis Straub Marcia D. Strickland* Laura Stuntz# Frank and Sylvia Sullivan Mrs. Mary G. Symonton* Dr. and Mrs. Lynn Taussig Frances and Erik Taylor Ms. Christine M. Thompson Mr. Lloyd O. Timblin, Jr.* Mr. Robert C. Tripp John Uppendahl# Frank and Karen Van De Water◊ Russ and Margaret Wehner Mr. Gregory Weiss Mr. and Mrs. John Wells Ms. Cia Wenzel# Ms. Marilyn L. Wheeler Mr. and Mrs. Christopher G. Wiedenmayer, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Woodward Dr. and Mrs. Ray Yost* Ms. Barbara E. Zarlengo ASSOCIATE ($100-249) Anonymous (16) Norm and Margaret Aarestad*# Dave and Nancy Abbott Mr. Peter Abuisi Ms. Raydean Acevedo and Mr. Walter Jenkins James and Lorraine Adams

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Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Adams Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Adams Ms. Jeanne M. Adkins# Ms. Shelby Green and Mr. Joseph Adler* Ms. Nancy L. Anderson Susanne and Michael Anselmi Ms. Clara Wilbrandt and Mr. John Arneseni Edwin A. Austin# Carolyn and Ron Baer Don Bain Mr. Richard Banks# Mr. and Mrs. Francis Barron# Ms. Jennifer N. Bater*# Ms. Nancy L. Battan Mr. and Mrs. Donald C. Bauder Mr. and Mrs. Donald J. Baxter Robert and Mildred Beebe Mariette Bell# Mr. and Mrs. James Bender◊ Mr. Reid Benes John and Colleen Binder Dr. and Mrs. Mark Birner Linda Bjelland# Bob Spencer and Sondra Bland# Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Gordon E. Bloom Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bowers* William E. Bradford, Jr. and Chin Keong Tan# Christopher and Margot Brauchli# Mr. and Mrs. James E. Briggs Mr. and Mrs. James Brothers# Mr. Jeffrey A. Brown Janet Bruchmann# Sandra and William Bruns Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Budy Mr. Thomas Bunge Mr. and Mrs. Gary L. Buntmann Mr. Kenneth L. Burroughs Philip and Joann Burstein Mr. John Burt and Ms. Kari Franson Ms. Patricia A. Butler# Ms. Anne Wattenberg and Mr. Peter Buttrick Ms. Patricia Carney Gregory Carpenter# Mr. and Mrs. Al Carrier Dr. David B. Carrington Ms. Teresa D. Case Joseph and Delphine Casey Ms. Grayson R. Cecil Mr. and Mrs. Robert Charles Mr. and Mrs. Allan Gray Clark Ethel Clow#

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Dr. and Mrs. Charles L. Cocke# Mr. Robert H. Coe Andrea and Ken Cohen*# Mr. Michael Collins Mr. David A. Connell Mrs. Phyllis J. Cotton* Mr. and Mrs. Byron R. Craig Ms. Tinka Crosby Nancy R. Crow and Mark A.A. Skrotzki# Chris and Lisa Curwen# Dr. and Mrs. William W. Dahlberg Mr. and Mrs. Tim Damour William E. Daniel* Ronald L. Deal* Mr. Wilson Dennehy Joy Dillon# Mr. Teck Dines Mrs. Ruth S. Disher Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Dodge Mr. and Mrs. Albert W. Drews Douglas and Martha Dyckes# Ms. Josy Ellis Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Ellis Ms. Frances B. Evans Mrs. Beverly Fernald Mrs. Mary Lou H. Flater Ms. Ann Fleckenstein Fred and Susan Forman* Mr. Robert M. Frank Richard M. and Marguerite W. Franklin Richard Stieg and Lucille Gallagher Mr. Terrence Gallagher Caleb and Sydney B. Gates* Lloyd and Mary Gelman# Mr. and Mrs. Brent Gephart Mr. Steve Green Ms. Jacqueline Greenberg Dr. and Mrs. Daniel J. Greenholz Tennyson Grebenar and Judy Graese# Ms. Sue Anne Griffith Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Grow# Mr. and Mrs. Russell W. Haas Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Hamilton Richard R. and Carolyn C. Hansen Richard L. Hay* Richard W. Healy# Ms. Holly Heaton Robert and Nancy Hemming# Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Heusterberg Mr. and Mrs. Martin B. Hidalgo Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Hilt* Mrs. Sarah C. Hite

Gail and James D. Hoffman Cindy Hohman# Mrs. Rita E. Horiguchi Stephen and Dona Horne# Mr. Edmond Horsey Ms. Sarah Hughes Mr. Tom Hughes Mrs. Helen Olson Hull Mr. Paul Hultin# Mr. and Mrs. Franz Hummel Catherine Cole Janonis# Ms. Charlotte A. Johnson Ms. Sydney E. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kane Mr. Carl Kantner# Mr. David Kanzeg Jim and Charla Kates* Ms. Joan Keith+ Ms. Bonnie Kipple* Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Kitchen Mr. and Mrs. James Klein Ms. Barbara L. Knight Hal and Marianne Knott Mr. Richard M. Kohl Ms. Gabriele Korndorfer Dr. and Mrs. Patrick Kosmicki, M.D. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kreith Ms. Cynthia Kruse Mr. and Mrs. John Kwaak Mr. and Mrs. John P. LaFollette Ms. D. L. Langdon Ms. Anja Lange and Mr. Clayton McMillan Wanda M. Larson Mr. George M. Lawrence and Ms. Judith Auer Mr. and Mrs. Warren Lawrence* Wesley E. and Catherine H. Le Masurier Mr. Nicholas Lee Mr. and Mrs. Mark Leonard Igor and Jessica Levental Dr. and Mrs. Nicholas G. Loutsion Ms. Jane Lowery Mr. Curtis M.D. Lundberg Frances A. MacAnally* Henry Mahlman# Ms. Victoria Makings Ms. Nancy L. Maley Ms. Joan L. Malm Peter A. Mandics and Agnes M. Takacs* Ms. Marjorie J. Marks Mr. and Mrs. Ron Marshall George Mathews# Ms. Jeanine Matney

Catherine B. Maxwell* Yolanda McAllister# Ms. Deborah McBride# Dr. and Mrs. Charles K. McClean*#◊ Mr. John McClellan Mr. Ed McDowell# Dr. and Mrs. James P. McElhinney Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth W. McLagan◊ Darrell Brown and Suzanne McNitt# Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. McWilliams, Jr. Russell R. Mellon and Lauretta C. Moell*# Christopher H. Merrell Mr. and Mrs. William Migneron Mr. Ben Milazzo Mr. Reese Miller Mr. Richard Miller Mr. and Mrs. Tim Miller Ms. Missy Minor Carrie M. Mitchell Doug and Laura Moran Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Mordhorst The Mossman Family Mr. and Mrs. Christopher James Munson Emily Murdock and Steven Aguilo-Arbues# Cynthia Nagel# Sue and Walter Nagel Jane and Skip Netzorg Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Nichols*#◊ Mr. and Mrs. Peter Niederman Mr. and Mrs. Kent Obee* Mr. Richard O'Brecht John and Betsy O'Conner Mr. and Mrs. J. Kent Oehm Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Olson Roger and Stephanie Berg Oram# Mr. John Kinsey and Mrs. Joyce K. Paloma◊ Ms. Karen Parrack Mary R. Payson* Mr. Gary Pearl Dr. and Mrs. David S. Pearlman Mrs. Dorothy A. Pearson Mr. and Mrs. Bill Pecchio Ms. Barbara Pehrson Bonnie C. Perkins Rhona and David Pessel Ms. Jan Pettegrew Mrs. Margaret A. Phannenstiel Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Pierce

tosca, 2016. photo by amanda tipton.

Fay Plummer Rich and Kim Plumridge Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Pons Bette and David Poppers◊ Ms. Priscilla L. Porter Mr. and Mrs. Jack D. Priddy Kathryn L. Pride* Ms. Wanda W. Putnam Mr. and Mrs. Matt Rawley Elisabeth Rebman# T. R. Reid# Richard Replin and Elissa Stein Mr. and Mrs. Cameron J. Richards Nancy and Gene Richards Mr. and Mrs. John B. Riede Mr. and Mrs. John Cooper Robbins Ms. Rebecca Roser and Mr. Ron Stewart Mr. and Mrs. E. Michael Rosser Mr. and Mrs. Leo Rostermundt* Richard L. Roth Ms. Sharon N. Rouse Mr. William Ruffer, Jr. Nancy and Charlie Runion Kathryn and Tim Ryan Ms. Lidanne Sandberg Ms. Karen L. Scharinger Mr. and Mrs. Brian Schaub Ms. Anne W. Schenkman Mr. Hubert Collins and Mrs. Cathy J. Schuler-Collins Ms. Nanette Schulz Ms. Mary Scott

Karl and Jocelyn Seller Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Sender Mr. and Mrs. Edward Clarkson Shaw Mr. and Mrs. Richard Shaw◊ Daniel P. and Boyce Sher Park Showalter and George Ward# Mr. and Mrs. Peter D. Shultz Lois L. Sidebottom* Catherine and Jacob Skokan Marriott and John A. Smart# Nancy and HJ Stalf# James B. Steed# Mrs. Willa Mae Stein Susan Stiff*# Libby Stokes Jenene C. and James J. Stookesberry* Mr. and Mrs. Jeffry S. Strauss Dr. and Mrs. John W. Tabash Vincent and Gay Taglialavore Ms. Judith Taubman Barbara Thorngren Ms. Colleen W. Thumm Mr. Robert Trembly and Ms. Martha Coffin Evans Barbara Trick# Bill and Deborah Tryon Howard and Susan Turetzky Mr. and Mrs. James Zachry Turner Mr. and Mrs. Gary R. Vickers Richard A. Vickery, Jr.#

Teresa Vogler Terry and JoAnn Vogt Bernd and Marta Wachter Mr. James Wade Mr. and Mrs. George M. Wagoner Betty Wall and Rolland Fischer Bill and Midge Wallace Mr. Ned Walley John and Susan Ward Ms. Shirley C. Ward* Mr. Claude M. Weil and Ms. Carolie J. Coates Hedy and Michael Weinberg Ms. Mary Ann Welch David Wenke# Mr. and Mrs. Norman Williams Karl and Beth Williamson*# Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D. Willis* Mr. and Mrs. Grant R. Wimbush Mr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Wintergalen Mr. and Mrs. Frederick L. Wolfe Mr. and Mrs. Jean-Marc Wong Ms. Nancy Workman Mr. and Mrs. Steven M. Wyman◊ Don and Sandy Yale# Mr. and Mrs. Gene A. Young Mr. Ray C. Young George and Arla Zimmerman Mary Zulack Mr. and Mrs. Paul Zweig

DIVA/DIVO GUILD MEMBERS **Not listed Above** Mr. Daniel Bettinger Ms. M. Karen Christiansen Ms. Alison M. M. Dehncke Ms. Heather Ehret-Faircloth Mr. and Mrs. B.J. Ellison Ms. Amy Estes Mrs. Julie A. Ferguson and Mr. Frank McGinty Mr. and Mrs. John P. Fischer Mr. and Mrs. Josh Heidbrink Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Hess, Jr. William and Susan Hiatt Mrs. Margaret Krawiec Mrs. Wendy E. Labbett Ms. Diane Lesher William Malone Kathleen M. Ness Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Peterson Dave and Cici Peterson Mr. Alexander and Mrs. Cynthia Read Ms. Glenda Richter Sally and Richard Russo Mr. and Mrs. Don D. Schlup Mrs. Marlene Siegel Mr. and Mrs. Lars O. Soderberg, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. W. Thomas Stephens Roberta and Leonard Waldbaum Mr. and Mrs. Steven M. Wyman

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ANNUAL FUND

ANNUAL FUND CONTRIBUTIONS

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, ASSOCIATION AND GOVERNMENT DONORS The Central City Opera (CCO) board, staff, and Company are honored to acknowledge the following donors for their leadership and generous investment in CCO’s cultural and economic impact. Gifts listed were received between May 1, 2016 and April 24, 2017.

While space limitations only allow CCO to list only those donors of $100 or more, every gift is important and truly appreciated. If your name is listed incorrectly, or omitted, you have our sincere apologies. Please contact the CCO office at 303.292.6500 to ensure correction.

* Loyal donors who have made gifts to CCO for the past ten years or more.

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSOR ($100,000+) Avenir Foundation, Inc. Bonfils-Stanton Foundation* Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund* Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation* State Historical Fund Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District* PRESENTING SPONSOR ($50,000-99,999) Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program* El Pomar Foundation* OPERA America, Inc. The Virginia W. Hill Foundation* PRODUCTION SPONSOR ($25,000 -$49,000) Always Best Care Senior Services# Boettcher Foundation* Bansbach Foundation* City of Central Galen and Ada Belle Spencer Foundation* R.C. Kemper, Jr. Charitable Trust PERFORMANCE SPONSOR ($10,000-24,999) Anschutz Foundation Butler Family Fund

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Barbara J. Hartley Fund Citywide Banks Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Corporation Collage Giving Fund Colorado Creative Industries Endeavour Capital First Western Trust* Fuller Real Estate* Gates Family Foundation Mabel Y. Hughes Charitable Trust* Lloyd J. King and Eleanor R. King Foundation Jeanne Land Foundation LARRK Foundation MDC/Richmond American Homes Foundation National Endowment for the Arts* Priester Foundation* Stabio Family Trust Trask Family Foundation Dave and Mary Wood Fund DIRECTOR'S CIRCLE ($5,000-9,999) A. E. H. Royalty Co.* Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation* Armstrong Foundation Barbara and Charlie Ferguson Foundation* Denver Lyric Opera Guild* Fuller Family Fund* Goozh Philanthropic Fund Mammel Family Fund Northern Trust RLC Foundation Shamos Family Foundation Tom and Joan Tyree Memorial Fund

CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE ($2,500-4,999) Assured Partners Colorado, LLC* Denver Private Wealth Management Land Title Guarantee Company Greg Miller Memorial Fund Dean Yannias Charitable Fund Eva and Marvin Womack Foundation* ARTIST'S CIRCLE ($1,000-$2,499) Anonymous (1)* Catharine Hawkins Foundation Colorado & Company The Gilman Family Foundation* The Deborah Hayes & James L. Martin Fund Haynes Family Foundation* Henry R. Schwier Charitable Fund Kanter Kallman Foundation, Inc. The David and Katherine Lawrence Foundation* Lone Tree Farm Fund Ludke Foundation Monaghan Foundation The Parker Foundation Schramm Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation* Henry Wurst, Inc.- West BENEFACTOR ($500-999) Applejack Wine and Spirits Autrey Foundation# Colorado Natural Gas, Inc. Innovest Portfolio Solutions, LLC* National CineMedia LLC

Silver Oak Cellars Xcel Energy Foundation PATRON ($250-499) ARC Thrift Stores Barbara U. Calkins Trust Bayard C. Ewing Trust Gaynor Family Foundation Jay’s Valet Halvorson-Freese 21st Century Fund Nelson Family Foundation* ASSOCIATE ($100-249) Briggs Family Trust High Rise Coffee Roasters Records-Johnston Family Foundation, Inc. Rosser-Call Family Fund Wallace Properties MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES AMG Charitable Gift Foundation Caterpillar Foundation GE Foundation IBM International Foundation The Colorado Health Foundation

DONOR PRIVILEGES GIFTS OF $100 - $249 Recognition in the Festival Program Subscription to E-Newsletter Advance Notice of Ticket Sales Invitation to Pre-Curtain & Intermission Receptions in the Teller House’s VIP Terrace Room GIFTS OF $250 - $499 All Benefits Listed Above Plus…

Invitations to CCO Special Events Complimentary Season Festival Poster (upon request) GIFTS OF $500 - $999 All Benefits Listed Above Plus…

Invitation to CCO Apprentice Performances Invitation to CCO’s Annual Opera Teaser Performance

GOLD NUGGET SOCIETY PRIVILEGES All gifts to Central City Opera are greatly appreciated. A gift of $1,000 or more goes even further to provide vital General Operating & Festival support for CCO’s full range of activities.

BASIC GOLD NUGGET SOCIETY PRIVILEGES Includes All Annual Fund Donor Privileges Plus…

Invitation to Behind-the-Scenes Tour of CCO’s Historic Opera House Invitation to Attend “A Day in the Life of an Aspiring Artist” ARTIST’S CIRCLE - $1,000 - $2,499 Basic Gold Nugget Society Privileges Plus…

Two (2) Complimentary Passes to a Dress Rehearsal Performance CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE - $2,500 - $4,999 Basic Gold Nugget Society Privileges Plus…

Four (4) Complimentary Passes to a Dress Rehearsal Performance Two (2) Complimentary Passes to an Apprentice Short Works Performance DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE - $5,000 - $9,999 Basic Gold Nugget Society Privileges Plus…

Six (6) Complimentary Passes to a Dress Rehearsal Performance Four (4) Complimentary Passes to an Apprentice Short Works Performance Invitation to Attend the Annual Meeting with Special Recognition PERFORMANCE SPONSOR - $10,000 + Basic Gold Nugget Society Privileges Plus…

Eight (8) Complimentary Tickets to an Opera Performance* Four (4) Complimentary Parking Passes Private Pre-Performance Reception Held in a CCO Historic Property Special Recognition as a Performance Sponsor on Opera House Doors, Supertitles and in the Festival Program and Invitation to Attend the Annual Meeting *Excludes Opening Night performances; space available basis

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Congratulations

St. Martin’s Festival Singers: Symphonic A Cappella

CENTRAL CITY FLOWER GIRLS

SEPTEMBER 22 & 24

A Mighty Fortress: The Reformation and Music OCTOBER 27, 28 & 29

A Winter’s Night: Christmas with British Composers DEC 15, 16, 17 & DEC 22

Voices and Winds: Anton Bruckner and Daniel Kellogg FEBRUARY 23 & 25

Mozart and Scarlatti: Fathers and Sons APRIL 13, 14 & 15

Remembrance and Redemption: Howells, Finzi, and Wilberg MAY 18 & 20

STMARTINSCHAMBERCHOIR.ORG 88

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Ellie Corporon ’18

Hannah Lester ’18

Wylie Schwartz ’18

www.regisjesuit.com

Men and Women with and for Others Regis Jesuit High School admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin.

Congratulates Central City Flower Girl

Sarah Hutson Emmanuel Educating students in Colorado for over 150 years Coeducational Pre-K - Grade 8 All Girls High School stmarys.academy | 303.762.8300 2 0 1 7

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TRIBUTES | IN HONOR OF Central City Opera acknowledges with gratitude the following gifts made in honor or in memory of the persons below.

Gifts listed were received between May 1, 2016 and April 24, 2017.

In honor of 2016 Flower Girls Mr. and Mrs. Stanley A. Baker Missy and John Eliot Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Tyree, Jr. In honor of Pamela Bansbach George and Carol Canon Mr. and Mrs. Frederick L. Wolfe In honor of Jason Baldwin Mr. Ed McDowell In honor of John Baril Anonymous Gregory Carpenter In honor of Maureen Barker Ms. Ann M. Corrigan and Mr. Kent A. Rice In honor of Riley Louise Bechter The Monaghan Foundation In honor of Elizabeth Bellamy Dr. and Mrs. William D. Bellamy In honor of Lyndsey Frances Benes Mr. and Mrs. Craig Richard Benes Mr. Reid Benes In honor of Nancy Brittain Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay In honor of Mallory Lucetta Burbage Mr. and Mrs. Craig Albert Burbage Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin R. Sanders In honor of Elizabeth Chandler Mrs. Ronald Sevier In honor of Alicia Holt Corliss Nancy and HJ Stalf In honor of Will Dehner Alicia and Greg Corliss Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay

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In honor of Michelle Dorman Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay In honor of Scott Finlay C. Deen Buttorff Joan Carter Mr. William B. Dehner and Ms. Emily Busalacchi Mr. Poe Leggette In honor of Torge and Suzanne Goderstad Mr. and Mrs. William D. Atkinson Mr. and Mrs. Francis Barron Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Huseby The Morss Dehncke Family In honor of Judy Grant Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay Mr. and Mrs. Warren Schlichting In honor of George Gulberg Mr. and Mrs. Craig Richard Benes In honor of The Hartley Family Barbara J. Hartley Trust Ms. Lynn Campion and Mr. Theodore Waddell In honor of Hannah Elizabeth Hess The Monaghan Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Richard Matheson Hess, Jr. In honor of Jane Hultin Mr. Paul Hultin Ms. Cia Wenzel In honor of Audrey McGowan Hummel Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. Hummel Bruce and Heidi Hoyt Mr. and Mrs. Franz Hummel

In honor of Allie Ingalls Dr. and Mrs. Gregory Ingalls In honor of Maeve Corcoran Kearney Mr. and Mrs. James Campbell Crossman Ms. Crilly Elizabeth Kearney and Mr. Yaw Osei Kumah Mr. and Mrs. Christopher James Munson Mr. and Mrs. John David Strohm In honor of Katherine Rose Kovarik Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Davis Miss Amalia Rose Frommelt Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kovarik In honor of Sarah Grant MacKenzie Mr. and Mrs. David Bruce Benson Mr. and Mrs. John Cooper Robbins In honor of Bridget Lee McCann Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. McCann National CineMedia LLC In honor of Anne McGonagle Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay In honor of Albert and Rosie Melcher T. R. Reid In honor of Kathlyn Maeve Moran The Monaghan Foundation Mr. John Robert Moran, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. William Joseph Moran In honor of John Moriarty Melinda Sullivan In honor of Bianca and Levi Morris Paul and Robin Morris In honor of Nancy Parker Mrs. Nancy W. Downing Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay Bev and John Howell

In honor of Pat Pearce Anonymous Pamela and Louis Bansbach John Baril and Brian Cook Phebe Berkowitz-Tanners and Dr. Paul Tanners Mrs. Joan Berg Jack and Karen Berryhill Mr. John Burt and Ms. Kari Franson Ms. Joyce Castle Mr. and Mrs. Robert Charles Mr. and Mrs. Allan Gray Clark Mr. Christopher T. Clark Dr. and Mrs. William W. Dahlberg Mr. Teck Dines Walt Duncan Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson Mr. Robert M. Frank Robert K. and Virginia E. Fuller Robert P. Fullerton and Beverlee Henry Mrs. Lillian M. Glahn Jane Hascall Gail and James D. Hoffman Mr. Robert Homiak and Ms. Susan Schneider Jane A. Hultin Mr. and Mrs. George G. Hutchison III Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Kitchen Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Ladd, Jr. Mr. George M. Lawrence and Ms. Judith Auer Mr. and Mrs. Mark Leonard Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Y. Marchand Susan Martin and Chet Hampson Catherine B. Maxwell Dr. and Mrs. James P. McElhinney Mr. Richard Miller Mr. and Mrs. Ted Millice Carrie M. Mitchell The Dehncke Family Mr. and Mrs. Kent Obee Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Olson Dr. Ronald Otsuka Dr. and Mrs. Joe K. Ozaki Ms. Barbara Pehrson Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Phelps, Jr. Christine and Gregory Phoebe

Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Pierce Bette and David Poppers Mr. and Mrs. Robert Quillin Mr. and Mrs. John B. Riede Ms. Rebecca Roser and Mr. Ron Stewart Stephen W. Seifert Dr. and Mrs. John W. Tabash Mr. Roy Varela Buzz and George Ann Victor Ed and Patty Wahtera Betty Wall and Rolland Fischer John and Susan Ward Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth D. Willis Ms. Suzanne Yoe Mr. and Mrs. Eugene A. Young Ms. Barbara E. Zarlengo In honor of Jody Phelps The Dehncke Family In honor of Nicole Diane Seavall Mr. and Mrs. John Robert Trigg In honor of Steve Seifert Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. In honor of Phoebe Smedley Robert A. Ellis and Jane Bernstein Ms. Sharon N. Rouse In honor of Kathy Tyree Mr. and Mrs. Edward James Anderson Mrs. Jane Andrews Riisa and Panayes Dikeou The Morss Dehncke Family In honor of George Ann and Buzz Victor Bill and Deborah Tryon In honor of Barbara Zarlengo C. Deen Buttorff

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TRIBUTES | IN MEMORY OF Central City Opera acknowledges with gratitude the following gifts made in honor or in memory of the persons below.

Gifts listed were received between May 1, 2016 and April 24, 2017.

In memory of Kay Brady Amberg Chris and Mary Kuser

In memory of Dr. John Denst Eva Marie Denst

In memory of Tibor Kozma Edwin A. Austin

In memory of Terry Ann Biddinger Pelham G. Pearce, Jr.

In memory of John Dexter Phebe Berkowitz-Tanners and Dr. Paul Tanners

In memory of Dana Krueger Anonymous

In memory of Edward E. and Jean Bolle Pamela and Louis Bansbach Bansbach Foundation William E. Bradford, Jr. and Chin Keong Tan Lanny and Sharon Martin In memory of Thomas Bittner Mr. and Mrs. Al Carrier Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Heusterberg The Mossman Family Mr. Gary Pearl Ms. Karen L. Scharinger Mr. and Mrs. James Speerschneider In memory of Anne F. Bryant Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. In memory of Erna Butler Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Accetta Butler Family Fund In memory of Lewis Cady Susan Martin and Chet Hampson In memory of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Caton, Jr. Anonymous In memory of Brett Clough Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. In memory of Robert L. Cohen Mr. and Mrs. John E. Fuller RLC Foundation In memory of Thelma Nedra Coyner Ms. Nichole Kirkpatrick In memory of Lynda Dalton Mr. and Mrs David Lubchenco In memory of Frank Dell’Apa Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay In memory of Vivian R. Delmonico Ms. Charlotte A. Johnson

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In memory of Lloyd Dreasher Ron Dreasher In memory of Werner Dreher Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Huseby In memory of Duane M. Engels Ronald Engels and Zane Laubhan Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. In memory of Charlie Ferguson Ms. Jeanne M. Adkins Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson In memory of Dean Gillespie and Walter Land Jeanne Land Foundation In memory of Carol and Bill Gossard Carolyn L. Longmire In memory of Robert Ralph (Sandy) Hoffman Ms. Charlotte A. Johnson In memory of Peter Hughes Dr. and Mrs. William D. Bellamy In memory of Deb Hruby Anonymous Carl and Deborah Morrow Betsy Schwarm and Rick Glesner In memory of Joan G. Keith C. Deen Buttorf Ms. Barbara Dorsey Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay Tennyson Grebenar and Judy Graese Ms. Jeanne C. Kostelic Bili Morrow Shelburne Ms. Barbara Zarlengo In memory of Christopher Mark Kiryluk Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Mark Kiryluk

Join the Guild

AND JOIN US IN SUPPORTING CENTRAL CITY OPERA

In memory of Knute Kvistad Pelham G. Pearce, Jr.

THE CENTRAL CITY OPERA GUILD MEMBERSHIP OFFERS A VARIETY OF WAYS TO BE INVOLVED:

In memory of Greg Miller Dorothy Watts and Mike Jenkins Greg Miller Memorial Fund

Education Programs Historic Preservation Bonfils-Stanton Apprentice Artists & Company Audience Development & L’Esprit de Noël

In memory of Edwin M. Poorman Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. In memory of Wendel A. Pugh Pelham G. Pearce, Jr.

Learn more at CentralCityOpera.org/Guild/Overview See the Annual Fund Contributions for a complete list of Central City Opera Guild Divas/Divos.

In memory of Jane and Gene Pulley Ms. Emily Pulley In memory of Iris Henwood Richards Anonymous

photos by kathy wells.

In memory of Bill & Kay Russell Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Pons In memory of Donald E. Scott Nancy S. Parker In memory of Shirley Smith Mr. Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. Ms. Barbara E. Zarlengo In memory of Marjorie Stuntz Laura Stuntz In memory of Arliss Swartzendruber Pelham G. Pearce, Jr. In memory of Gordon E. Von Stroh Patrice Von Stroh In memory of Edda Wenke David Wenke In memory of Elizabeth Barkley Wilson Mr. Thomas J. Duggan and Mr. Scott Finlay Pelham G. Pearce, Jr.

Save the Date

NOVEMBER 17 & 18, 2017

l’esprit de noël holiday home tour

THANK YOU 2016 L’ESPRIT DE NOËL SPONSORS PRESENTING SPONSOR: Coldwell Banker Devonshire GOLD SPONSORS: City of Glendale SILVER SPONSORS: Land Title Guarantee Company BRONZE SPONSORS: Colorado & Company • Greg and Peggy Hanson • Denise and Jim Sanderson • Kelly and Troy Westergren

2017 | THEATRE OF DREAMS GALA This year’s Theatre of Dreams Gala treated patrons of Central City Opera to an elegant evening of superb music and dining at the sleek and brand new Mike Ward Maserati Headquarters in Highlands Ranch. Colorado Native and World-Renowned sensation, Elizabeth Welch, wowed the

guests with a touch of musical theatre and selections from The Phantom of the Opera. The evening raised money for Central City Opera’s annual Summer Festival productions, year-round programs, and ongoing operations.

The organizing committee included a group of new and long-time Central City Opera supporters.

PLATINUM SPONSORS Citywide Banks El Pomar Foundation Endeavour Capital Lanny and Sharon Martin

GOLD SPONSOR Northern Trust

SILVER SPONSORS

Denver Private Wealth Management Judy and Newell Grant Mike Ward Maserati

GALA CHAIRS

Judy Grant Michelle Dorman

GALA COMMITTEE Margaret Baker Pam Bansbach Heather Brecl Lisa Curwen Sarah DeMeola Riisa Dikeou Christina Dinegar Lisa Duke Scott Finlay Suzanne Goderstad Nora Heitmann Emily Hemming Kitty Koch Harriet LaMair Clare Mail Brooke Maloy Anne McGonagle Kim Morss Dehncke Meg Nichols Nancy Parker Jody Phelps Sara Poorman Karen Ritz Denise Sanderson Sally Scott Jodi Sorensen Kimberlee Sullivan Tolly Tate Kathy Tyree Sandy Wischmeyer Lisa Zetah

PATRON TABLE CONNOISSEURS photos by kathy wells.

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Margaret and Stan Baker Pam and Dutch Bansbach Nancy Brittain Melinda and John Couzens

Michelle and Mark Dorman Barbara Ferguson Suzanne and Torge Goderstad Judy and Newell Grant Betsy and Mike Huseby Jeannine and Heath Hutchison Gregg Kvistad & Amy Oaks Brooke and Chas Maloy Anne and Tom McGonagle Meg and Ed Nichols Pam and Sonny Wiegand

CONNOISSEURS

Louise and William Atkinson Roopesh Aggarwal and Lauren Lovejoy Julia and Earl Banks Nancy Benson Judeth Shay Comstock and Doug Comstock Michelle and Mark Dorman Cheryl and David Dutton Tom Duggan and Scott Finlay Trudy and Wayne Fowler Gail G. Gordon Judy and Newell Grant Arlene and A. Barry Hirschfeld Janie and Buck Hutchison L. Poe Leggette Lynne and Jon Montague-Clouse Kim Morss and Richard Dehncke Nancy S. Parker Jody and Bob Phelps Ursula and Alfred Powell Karen and Andrew Ritz Sally Scott and Kevin Kearney Julia and George Secor Jodi and Bill Sorensen Diane and Buzz Sweat George Ann and Buzz Victor Pam and Sonny Wiegand Sandy and Jerry Wischmeyer

GALA AND DREAM EVENT MAJOR DONORS

AEG Live Amizetta Fresh Flowers & Missy Fisher ART Hotel Liz and Bill Armstrong Margaret and Stan Baker Nicole and Bart Bansbach Kristin and Jim Bender Birdsall & Company Blocki Perfumes Bob’s Piano Service BŌLDI Fashion Bouzy Wine and Spirits Heather and Peter Brecl Butler Rents Catering by Design Charming Chairs Liz and Jon Clarke

Classic Wines Melinda Couzens Lisa and Chris Curwen Riisa and Panayes Dikeou Michelle Dorman The Denver Art Museum The Duncan Family Denver Botanic Gardens Christina and Leonard Dinegar Epoch Vineyards Evans Ranch Barbara Ferguson Craig Ferguson Karen Fisher: Mixed Media Painting Garden of the Gods Club Gerard’s Pool Hall Judy and Newell Grant Mag Hayden Nora Heitmann HookFish Manufacturing Jennifer and Chad Hulan Betsy and Mike Huseby Image Audiovisuals Justin Jelenik Johanna Kelly Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group Kitty Koch Dorothy and Sandy Kraemer Tammy and Tyler Kraemer Dewey Kratzer Brooke and Chas Maloy The Mavin Hotel Ericka and Eric McDaniel Mike Ward Maserati Florence Müller Nancy Parker Planet Bluegrass Red Rocks Amphitheatre Karen and Andrew Ritz The Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Sally Scott and Kevin Kearney Silver Oak Cellars Jane and Lars Soderberg Stabio Productions Jenny and Don Strasburg Sur La Table Tolly Tate Kathy and Tom Tyree Evelyn Waldron Waters Edge Winery Kathy Wells Wells Fargo Private Bank Sandy and Gerald Wischmeyer

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SPECIAL THANKS

2017 | FLOWER GIRLS

Central City Opera sincerely appreciates the following individuals, corporations, and associations who have contributed much-needed products and services. The list includes gifts made between May 1, 2016 and April 24, 2017.

GIFTS IN KIND Anonymous AEG Live Applewood Valley United Methodist Church Liz and Bill Armstrong Applejack Wine and Spirits ART Hotel Mr. and Mrs. John Barker, Jr. Kristin and Jim Bender Birdsall & Company Blocki Perfumes BŌLDI Fashion Nicole and Bart Bansbach Heather and Peter Brecl C. Deen Buttorff Ms. M. Karen Christiansen Liz and Jon Clarke Melinda Couzens Lisa and Chris Curwen Christina and Leonard Dinegar Riisa and Pany Dikeou Michelle and Mark Dorman Ms. Barbara Dorsey Mr. and Mrs. Charles Banks Duke Epoch Estate Wines Denver Art Museum Denver Botanic Gardens Judy and Newell Grant Evans Ranch Barbara Ferguson Craig Ferguson Garden of the Gods Club Gerard’s Pool Hall Mag Hayden Nora Heitmann History Colorado Center Jennifer and Chad Hulan Betsy and Mike Huseby Johanna Kelly Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group Kitty Koch Dorothy and Sandy Kraemer Tammy and Tyler Kraemer

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Mr. and Mrs. Michael E. LaMair Drs. Ana and Jeremy Law Dr. Lloyd Lewan Brooke and Chas Maloy Ericka and Eric McDaniel Dr. Vicki McFarlane Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. McGonagle Mike Ward Maserati MLC Publishing, LLC Florence Müller Newberry Brothers Greenhouse & Florists Nancy Parker Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Phelps, Jr. Platform T Ann Randolph Mr. and Mrs. Bruce A. Rifkin Karen and Andrew Ritz Sally Scott & Kevin Kearney Mr. and Mrs. Richard Shaw Silver Oak Cellars Phoebe Smedley Mr. Joseph Sobin and Ms. Robin Wright Jane and Lars Soderberg Sotheby’s Auction House Mr. and Mrs. J. William Sorensen Sur La Table Starkey International Institute for Household Management Jenny and Don Strasburg Ms. Mary Louise Starkey Tolly Tate Tesla Tivoli Brewery Kathy and Tom Tyree Mr. and Mrs. David Tryba Evelyn Waldron Waters Edge Winery Mr. and Mrs. John Wells Henry Wurst, Inc. - West Mr. and Mrs. David G. Wilkins Sandy and Jerry Wischmeyer Joe Woods, Woods and Son Piano Co. Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Woolley II

SPECIAL THANKS Ed Anderson Fred Baker Roger Baker Mary Bell, Mountain Goat Gallery Nancy Brittain Tom Duggan Ron Engels Jeremy Fey Dave Forsyth Gilpin County Arts Gilpin Historical Society Kathy Heider Jane Hultin Kathy Jolly Mark and Barbara Kiryluk Wayne Kjorvestad Travis LaBerge, Parlando School of Musical Arts Kathryn Keller Don Larson Suzanne Matthews Anne and Tom McGonagle Daniel Miera Nexustek/Illumen Ed and Meg Nichols Pacific Office Automation Nancy Parker Ray Rears Messner Reeves LLP Nicole Roush St. James United Methodist Church Denise Sanderson Seasonally Yours Sharing Connexion Barbara Thielemann Tommyknockers Holiday Craft Fair Trinity United Methodist Church Shirley Voorhees Kathy Wells Sandy Wischmeyer Shira and Marty Zimmerman The University of Denver Music Library

photo

© bettinger photo

Lila Reed Arnold

Emma Mills Domich

Madeline Knight Johnson

Katherine Wycoff Sawyer

Sophia Clare Corbett

Sarah Hutson Emmanuel

Molly Jordan Little

Wylie Eastman Schwartz

Elise Haehn Corporon

Lauren Laird Eppich

Hannah Nicole Lester

Allison Booth Smith

Julia Christine DellaSalle

Claire Catherine Hutchison

Alexandra Kiley Niles

Sydney Mariel Kitsu Turner

Sarah Katherine Dencker

Sarah Mallory Hybl

Carolyn Cooper Robbins

Kelly Maureen Quinn Wulf

The Central City Opera Flower Girl Presentation is the oldest debutante ceremony in Colorado. This special Central City Opera tradition began in 1932, at the grand re-opening of the Opera House, in the midst of the Great Depression. Two strong-willed women with powerful pioneer roots—Anne Evans and Ida Kruse McFarlane – engaged key members of the community and founded the Central City Opera House Association. With great vision, they created a summer music festival, bringing world-class theatrical and opera artists to the stage—a tradition that continues to this day.

Prior to each Opera Festival, young women from prominent Colorado families are invited to be Central City Opera Flower Girls. A dynamite blast celebrating the rich mining history of Central City heralds their presentation and the church bells ring while the Flower Girls and their fathers dance the traditional “Yellow Rose Waltz” on Eureka Street in front of the Opera House. During intermission, patrons still receive flower nosegays to toss on stage, celebrating the beginning of another Opera Festival.

Two young ladies, who often watched the rehearsals of the inaugural production of the play Camille, were asked to pass out nosegays to members of the audience at intermission. The audience tossed the bouquets across the footlights at the end of the production, much as the miners had tossed gold coins onto the stage during curtain calls in the 1880s.

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Tickets: $30.00 ea. (students and children no charge) can be purchased at the door or online.

All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7:00 p.m.)

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Congratulates our 2017 Central City Flower Girl 2 0 1 7

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The Art and History of Air Sick Bags.”

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More than just the face...

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CENTRAL CITY OPERA | REPERTORY Opera, Operetta, Musical Theatre by Composer

ADAMO Little Women, 2001 regional premiere AITKEN Fables, 1981

DÉLIBES Lakmé, 1965

ANDERSON Soyazhe, 1979 world premiere

DONIZETTI The Daughter of the Regiment, 1985 Don Pasquale, 1950, 1951, 1967, 1978, 1987 The Elixir of Love, 1961, 1983 Lucia di Lammermoor, 1960, 1980, 1989, 2009

ARGENTO The Boor, 1978, 1980 Postcard from Morocco, 1980 regional premiere BALFE The Bohemian Girl, 1978 BARBER Vanessa, 2005 regional premiere BEACH Cabildo, 2017

EDWARDS 1776, 1972 FLOTOW Martha, 1947 FLOYD Of Mice and Men, 1970 regional premiere Susannah, 1997 regional premiere, 2008 FRIML Rose Marie, 1993 The Vagabond King, 1987, 1994

BEETHOVEN Fidelio, 1947

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CAVALLI Scipio Africanus, 1975 regional premiere

BERNSTEIN Candide, 1980, 2000 West Side Story, 2008 Trouble in Tahiti, 2014 apprentice production

GERSHWIN The Gershwin Years A Review, 1973

BIZET Carmen, 1953, 1966, 1985, 1993, 2002, 2011, 2017

GOUNOD Faust, 1954, 1992 Romeo and Juliet, 1951, 1991

BOISMORTIER Don Quixote and the Duchess, 2015

GRANADOS Goyescas, 2003 regional premiere

BRITTEN The Burning Fiery Furnace, 2017 Curlew River, 2008 apprentice production Gloriana, 2001 North American premiere A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1974, 1977, 2002 Paul Bunyan, 2005 regional premiere The Prodigal Son, 2015 The Rape of Lucretia, 2008 The Turn of the Screw, 2012

GUO WENJING Poet Li Bai, 2007 world premiere

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GLUCK Orpheus, 1941

HÄNDEL Amadigi di Gaula, 2011 North American fully-staged premiere Rinaldo, 2009 regional premiere HEGGIE Three Decembers, 2010 regional premiere Dead Man Walking, 2014

HERBERT Naughty Marietta, 1986 HOIBY The Scarf, 1981 apprentice production Summer and Smoke, 2002 regional premiere KERN Show Boat, 2013 Denver LEHAR The Merry Widow, 1933, 1967, 1979, 1990, 1997 LEIGH Man of La Mancha, 2015 LEONCAVALLO I Pagliacci, 1958, 2003 LOEWE Gigi, 1974 MARSCHNER The Vampyre, 1980 apprentice production MASCAGNI Cavalleria Rusticana, 1958 MASSENET Manon, 1965, 1994 Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, 2004 regional premiere Cendrillon, 2007 MENOTTI Amelia Goes to the Ball, 1951 The Medium, 1979, 2012 The Saint of Bleecker Street, 2007 MOLLICONE The Face on the Barroom Floor, 1978 world premiere through 2010 Gabriel’s Daughter, 2003 world premiere MONTEVERDI L’Incoronazione di Poppea, 2006 MOORE The Ballad of Baby Doe, 1956 world premiere, 1959, 1966, 1976, 1981, 1988, 1996, 2006, 2016 Gallantry, 2017

MOZART The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1946 Così fan tutte, 1948, 1990, 2017 Don Giovanni, 1963, 1975, 2006 The Impresario, 2016 The Magic Flute, 1989, 1995 The Marriage of Figaro, 1952, 1972, 1979 apprentice production, 2014

ROSSINI The Barber of Seville, 1941, 1965, 1973, 1979, 1986, 1998, 2013 Cinderella, 1984 The Italian Girl in Algiers, 1966, 1992, 2003

MUSTO Later the Same Evening, 2016

SCHEFTER The Mistake, 1981 apprentice production

NICOLAI The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1953

SMETANA The Bartered Bride, 1940, 1977

OFFENBACH Isle of Tulipatan, 1981 apprentice production La Périchole, 1958 Orpheus in the Underworld, 2010 The Tales of Hoffmann, 1948, 2004

SONDHEIM A Little Night Music, 2009

PASATIERI Signor Deluso, 2010 apprentice production, 2011 apprentice production POULENC Dialogues of the Carmelites, 2000 Les Mamelles de Tirésias, 2011 PUCCINI La bohème, 1952, 1962, 1970, 1976 Denver, 1986, 1994, 2001, 2012 Gianni Schicchi, 1978 apprentice production, 2011 The Girl of the Golden West, 1962, 1999 Madama Butterfly, 1950, 1964, 1981, 1987, 1997, 2005, 2010 Tosca, 1956, 1969, 1991, 1998, 2016 PURCELL Dido and Aeneas, 2008 apprentice production RODGERS Oklahoma!, 2012 The Sound of Music, 2014 ROMBERG The Desert Song, 1985, 1989 The New Moon, 1988, 1996 The Student Prince, 1984, 1992, 2004 ROREM Our Town, 2013

SCHMIDT I Do! I Do!, 1971

STRAUSS, J. Die Fledermaus, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1977 apprentice production, 1991, 1999 The Gypsy Baron, 1957 STRAUSS, R. Ariadne auf Naxos, 1954 Capriccio, 1976 apprentice production Salome, 1978 Denver SULLIVAN The Gondoliers, 1936 H.M.S. Pinafore, 1955, 1968 Iolanthe, 1955, 1968 The Mikado, 1955, 1968 The Pirates of Penzance, 1968 Trial by Jury, 1955 The Yeomen of the Guard, 1939, 1955, 1968 SUPPE The Beautiful Galatea, 1951 TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades, 1995 regional premiere ULLMAN Der Kaiser von Atlantis, 2013 Denver VERDI Aida, 1960, 1975 Denver Falstaff, 1972, 1973, 1993 Macbeth, 1988 A Masked Ball, 1967 Rigoletto, 1957, 1974, 1984, 1996 La Traviata, 1946, 1961, 1983, 1990, 2000, 2007, 2015 Il Trovatore, 1963

WARD The Crucible, 1998 regional premiere The Lady from Colorado, 1964 world premiere WEILL Die sieben Todsünden, 2011 regional premiere Street Scene, 1999 regional premiere The Threepenny Opera, 1995 WILDER Sunday Excursion, 1978 apprentice production WOLF-FERRARI The Four Ruffians, or School for Fathers, 1975 apprentice production THEATRE PIECES And Perhaps Happiness, 1958 Anna Russell, 1977 Any Wednesday, 1965 Barefoot in the Park, 1964 Seeing Things with John Mason Brown, 1951 An Afternoon with Ilka Chase, 1953 Buried Child, 1980 Bus Stop, 1955 Cactus Flower, 1967 The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, 1954 Camille, 1932 Central City Nights, 1935 The Circle, 1979 The Constant Wife, 1951 The Devil’s Disciple, 1950 Diamond Lil, 1949 A Doll’s House, 1937 Forty Carats, 1970 The Gazebo, 1959 Harvey, 1947, 1971 Hay Fever, 1980 The Hollow Crown, 1973 The Irregular Verb to Love, 1973 The Lark, 1956 Last of the Red Hot Lovers, 1972 Lillian Gish and the Movies, 1971 Mary, Mary, 1962 Max Morath at the Turn of the Century, 1971 Burgess Meredith in An Unpleasant Evening with H. L. Mencken The Miracle Worker, 1961 A Month in the Country, 1979

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CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OPERA HOUSE POLICIES

BOX OFFICE

Thank you for attending this Central City Opera performance. For the benefit of all patrons, please note the following policies: • Performances begin promptly at the advertised time. Latecomers and those that exit during a performance will not be admitted until the next intermission but can view the performance on closed-circuit television located on the first floor of the Teller House.

• Patron use of cellular phones, cameras and recording devices is not allowed in the Opera House. Food and drink are also not allowed in the Opera House.

• Please be considerate of other patrons and refrain from talking or making other audible disturbances during the performance.

• Unless the performance is cancelled, no refunds are given for any reason, including supertitle malfunction and weather conditions.

• Casting is subject to change without notice.

The Denver Box Office is located at 400 S. Colorado Boulevard, Suite 525, Denver, CO 80246. Hours are 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. The Box Office in Central City is located at the Teller House adjacent to the Opera House and is open one hour before each performance. The Central City Opera Box Office number is 303.292.6700 or 1.800.851.8175. Ticketing online is available at CentralCityOpera.org.

Restrooms are located off the Opera House Patio and on the lower floor of the Teller House. Should first aid become necessary, please contact the nearest usher.

GIFT SHOP Be sure to stop by the Central City Opera Gift Shop, located in the Teller House adjacent to the Opera House to find CCO 2017 Festival apparel and souvenirs, stylish opera hats and unique gifts.

SPECIAL THANKS TO Tom Brock, Publisher Melissa Rick, Art Director and Program Designer Karen Fisher, Artist - 2017 opera illustrations Mark Kiryluk and Amanda Tipton, Photographers

PROGRAM CREDITS Sara Poorman, Editor Deborah Morrow, Emily Murdock, Lisa Zetah, Advisors Contributors: Stephen Barlow, Ken Cazan, Jose Maria Condemi, Michael Dixon, Karen T. Federing, Judy Grant, Deborah Morrow, Emily Murdock, Nancy Parker, Pat Pearce, Valerie Smith.

Contributing photographers: Mark Kiryluk, Anne McGonagle, Erin Joy Swank, Amanda Tipton and Kathy Wells.

GROUP SALES Groups of 10 or more receive a 20% discount. Contact the Box Office at 303.292.6700.

ADVERTISER INDEX

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Always Best Care of Denver & the West........ 77

Estes Park Music Festival....................................99

Mullen High School..............................................89

Antlers at Vail............................................................2

Friends of Chamber Music................................. 24

Newman Center for the Performing Arts....... 21

Aspen Music Festival & School........................... 4

Gilpin Artists Association................................... 76

Nicki Lee Mansion.................................................98

Balfour Senior Living.............................................. 1

Gilpin Historical Society..................................... 101

Opera Colorado.......................Inside Front Cover

Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado..... 75

Glimmerglass Festival.............................................5

Opera Steamboat................................................. 24

Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra...................... 75

The Golden Stethoscope....................................99

Opera Theatre Saint Louis................................. 23

Heather Brecl - Liv Sothebys Realty............... 77

Hand Surgery Associates of Colorado.........100

Phase One Landscapes....................................... 25

Century Casino..................................................... 101

Historic Georgetown............................................98

Regis Jesuit High School....................................88

City of Glendale - Infinity Park........................... 6

Kentwood Real Estate - Morgan/Winger Team.75

Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre................89

Clear Creek County Tourism..............................88

Lamont School of Music..................................... 22

Sarasota Opera........................................................ 4

Colorado Academy............................................... 74

Littleton Public Schools......................................99

Saratoga Casino Black Hawk.............................98

Colorado Children’s Chorale.............................. 76

Lone Tree Arts Center......................................... 22

Shaver-Ramsey....................Outside Back Cover

Colorado Public Radio.......................................... 61

Loveland Opera Theatre.....................................89

Ski Country Antiques & Home........................100

Colorado Springs Conservatory....................... 74

Steve A. Miller, PC.................................................98

Skye Cottage Bed & Breakfast..........................99

Denver Centre Theatre Company..................... 15

Miner’s Pick Bed & Breakfast............................. 76

St. Martin’s Chamber Choir................................88

Denver Lyric Opera Guild.................................100

Moab Music Festival............................................. 77

St. Mary’s Academy..............................................89

Dostal Alley........................................................... 101

Monarch Casino Black Hawk..... Inside Back Cover

Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre.............3

Eron Johnson Antiques....................................... 25

Mountain Goat Gallery........................................ 74

Vail Racquet Club Mountain Resort.................14

C e n t r a l

C i t y

O p e r a

~ P a s s i o n ~ Denver’s Finest Artisanal Rugs 3 0 3 . 3 2 0 . 6 3 6 3 • w w w. s h a v e r - r a m s e y. c o m 2414 E. Third Avenue (Cherry Creek North) - Denver 80206 mon - sat 10am to 6pm • sun 11am to 5pm • free parking behind the store