The Cook-Off

A VANGUARD OPERA

THE COOK-OFF May 11, 2023

The Cook-Off is made possible by the Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation, Inc. The Vanguard Initiative is supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, with additional partial support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency

The Cook-Off Cast

Evan Bravos

Kenny Kincaid | Sponsored by Michael A. Leppen

Pauline Tan* Beryl Bennett

Veena Akama-Makia* Kendra Smith

Corinne Costell* Ivy Sweet

Karlos Piñero-Mercado* Álvaro Mendez

Creative Team

Vanguard Initiative Lidiya Yankovskaya

Elizabeth Morse & Genius Music Director & Artistic Director, Vanguard Initiative

Brittany Nelson

Director of Artistic Operations

Jake Heggie

Vangard Composer Advisor

Kamala Sankaram

Vanguard Composer Advisor

Gene Scheer

Vanguard Composer Advisor

Shawn E. Okpebholo

Shawn E. Okpebholo

Composer

Vanguard Composer 21-23

Mark Campbell

Gillian Rae Perry

Catherine O'Shaughnessy

Carlos Carrillo

Librettist/Supertitles Creator Conductor

Jerre Dye Director

Kelley Rourke Dramaturg

Vanguard Composer 22-24

Vanguard Composer 23-25

Production Ross Beacraft

Orchestra Contractor

Rachel Garoon

Production Stage Manager

Jennifer Allor* Rehearsal Pianist

Aaron J. Lichamer Lighting Supervisor

Andrew Wolffking Supertitiles Operator

*Denotes COT Young Artist

Administration

Meaghan Smallwood Interim General Director & Director of Development

Lidiya Yankovskaya Elizabeth Morse & Genius Music Director & Artistic Director, Vanguard Initiative

Brittany Nelson Director of Artistic Operations

Andrew Wolffking Artistic Operations Assistant

Deborah Vandergrift Director of Production

Brea Williams Grants Manager

Angela Yu Development & Audience Services Manager

Veronica Chamberlain Director of Community Programming

Jenny Rudnick Finance Manager

Emmelly Villagran Marketing Manager

Colleen Flanigan Marketing Consultant

Orchestra Pasquale Laurino

Scott Metlicka

Claudia Lasareff-Mironoff

Jeremy Ruthrau

Matthew Agnew

Yasuko Oura

Tim Shaffer

Andrew Cierney

Violin Viola Cello Bass

Flute/Piccolo Saxophones Piano

Percussion

Top: Pauline Tan and Evan Bravos, Bottom: Corinne Costell at The Cook-Off Workshop.

Photos by Michael Brosilow

Board Of Directors President Secretary Immediate Past President

Susan J. Irion Allen Heinemann Henry Fogel Directors

Peter Ascoli Ron Bauer Merrill Blau Paul E. Freehling Michael G. Hanson Stephanie Hart Mary Lunz Houston Maria Lagios Roger Baskes Nancy Dehmlow

James G. McCormick David McNeel Susan Noel Dorothy Osborn Pavitra Ramachandran Robert E. Shapiro Virgina Tobiason Honorary Trustees Joan W. Harris

Karlos Piñero-Mercado as Álvaro Mendez, photo by JH Photography

Gael Neeson Gregory O'Leary

Note from the Composer Shawn E. Okpebholo Composer

Justice is a foundational component of my art, one that often centers around the pervasive pain within the Black community and our history. As a composer, I understand the importance of using my craft to convey challenging truths, yet there are moments when I find myself needing to create works that are more lighthearted and show other aspects of humanity. My opera, The Cook-Off, is a response to this desire: a comedic and fun work that also explores important themes like love, history, and identity.

Drawing from my penchant for diverse cuisine and my fond memories of growing up in Kentucky, librettist Mark Campbell beautifully crafted a compelling and witty story that uses food and aspects of Southern culture to explore those larger themes.

The setting of The Cook-Off is an episode of “America Loves Food,” a televised cooking competition in which three contestants vie for a monetary prize by creating their best version of an iconic American dish. My music was informed

by Mark’s humorous and affecting narrative—one that tells a story of the complex relationships between food, culture, each contestant’s past, and their reasons for needing to win.

The contestants are Ivy Sweet, from Jacksonville, Florida, a food blogger who brings a modern spin to traditional Southern cuisine, while Kendra Smith, owner and chef of Aunt Bebe’s soul food restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama, emphasizes the importance of preserving culinary traditions. Álvaro Mendez, owner and chef of Sabroso Food Truck in Atlanta, Georgia, combines his Mexican heritage with soul food influences to create a fusion of cultures and dishes. Who will win?

Note from the Librettist Mark Campbell Librettist

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” —Laurie Colwin While many food historians credit Thomas Jefferson as the "inventor" of mac 'n' cheese, one of the conjunctiontruncated, artery-clogging food our country deifies, it was indeed James Hemings, one of Jefferson's slaves, who brought the dish over from Paris and introduced it to our divided shores. This culinary moment may not nearly rival Selma or the Little Rock Nine in cultural significance, but it certainly gains validity at a time when politicians are banning books to actively negate African American history and appease their less enlightened constituents.

But this is a comic opera. And it is hoped that the serious message couched cozily inside the story of The Cook-Off—and the knowledge that it is set it in Charlottesville two years before the white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally—are concealed by a sparkly veneer of humor and satire. From the purposefully cliche-ridden theme song that starts and ends the opera to the obvious product placements to the celebrity judge's "gourmet-speak" to the whole ridiculous format of competitive cooking shows, this opera lampoons our country and food culture as much as it examines a serious issue. It also acknowledges that food is not just sustenance, as Ms. Colwin astutely observed in the quote above.

I am grateful to Chicago Opera Theater and their stellar Vanguard program for giving me the opportunity to tell this story—but also introducing me to composer Shawn Okpebholo. Shawn is an expert musical dramatist and his future in opera is already assured.

—Mark Campbell, April 2023

Biographies Shawn E. Okpebholo Composer

Shawn E. Okpebholo is a Grammy-nominated, critically acclaimed, and widely performed composer whose music has received worldwide praise from critics. The Washington Post described his work as "fresh, new, and fearless" and "devastatingly beautiful," while The Guardian called it "lyrical, complex, and singular." His artistry has earned him numerous awards, including The Academy of Arts and Letters Walter Hinrichsen Award and the 2020 American Prize in Composition.

Okpebholo has collaborated with some of the most renowned artists and ensembles of today, such as Rhiannon Giddens, Lawrence Brownlee, J’Nai Bridges, Will Liverman, eighth blackbird, Copland House Ensemble, and Cincinnati and Houston Symphony Orchestras. His music has been featured in many prestigious performance spaces, including Carnegie and Wigmore Halls, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Kimmel Centers, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Currently, Okpebholo is residence at the Chicago Opera Theater as their Vanguard Opera Composer and he holds the position of Johnathan Blanchard Professor of Composition at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. To learn more about Okpebholo and his work, please visit shawnokpebholo.com.

Mark Campbell Librettist

The Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning operas of librettist Mark Campbell are among the most successful in the contemporary canon.

Mark has written 40 opera librettos, lyrics for 7 musicals and text for 6 song cycles and 4 oratorios. His works include Silent Night, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, The Shining, Elizabeth Cree, As One, A Thousand Acres, Unruly Sun and Songs from an Unmade Bed. Mark created and funds the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first award for opera librettists in the history of the art form and co-created the True Voice Award to support transgender singers.. www.markcampbellwords.com

Biographies Catherine O'Shaughnessy Conductor

Catherine O’Shaughnessy is a rising orchestral and opera conductor in the United States and abroad. Her performances have earned rave reviews from the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Classical Review (“great skill, alertness and sensitivity”), and Vocal Arts Chicago (“resourcefulness… scrappiness and...fierce concentration”). Avidly committed to Chicago’s dynamic opera scene, she is currently the music director of Chicago Fringe Opera—the city's “alt-opera company” (John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune). Fringe brings to life recent English-language works in immersive, site-specific and experiential settings; featured composers have included Missy Mazzoli, Philip Glass, and William Bolcom. Catherine has also led with several other area companies, including The Floating Opera Company and Opera On Tap.

Jerre Dye Director

Jerre Dye is a Chicago-based librettist and playwright. He is the recipient of the Award for Dramatic Literature from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Current opera commissions include: an upcoming commission for Opera Philadelphia with composer Jennifer Higdon; Taking Up Serpents for Washington National Opera with composer Kamala Sankaram; The Falling and The Rising for the U.S. Army Field Band Chorus, Seattle Opera, Arizona Opera, San Diego Opera, Texas Christian University, and Opera M phis with composer Zachary Redler; Chautauqua Stories for Chautauqua Opera, and Robert G. Patterson; and The Parksville Murders, a filmed, episodic, virtual reality opera for Opera On Tap/New York with composer Kamala Sankaram.

Biographies Kelley Rourke Dramaturg

Kelley Rourke is a librettist, translator and dramaturg. She has collaborated with composers including John Glover, Laura Karpman, Ben Moore, Kenji Oh, Kamala Sankaram and Wang Lu on new operas. Her modern English adaptations of numerous standard and not-sostandard operas have been hailed as “crackingly witty” (The Independent, London) and “remarkably well wedded to the music and versification in arias” (New York Times). She has written libretti for four youth operas, with performances across the country.

Cast Biographies Evan Bravos Kenny Kincaid

Marked as a “young talent to watch” by the Chicago Tribune, Baritone Evan Bravos has received critical acclaim for his “lovely lyric baritone” (Opera News).

Bravos' 2022-23 season featured company debuts with White Snake Projects in Boston Let's Celebrate! Living Holiday Traditions in America, Opera Tampa (Silvio, I Pagliacci) and returns to Chicago Opera Theater for a premiere of Shawn Okpebholo’s The Cook-Off as TV host, Kenny Kincaid. On the concert stage, he received praise for an “elegantly sung” Carmina Burana with the Hawaii Symphony.

In the 2021-22 season, Bravos performed the role of Hannah Before in Laura Kaminsky, Kimberly Reed and Mark Cambell’s groundbreaking As One with Opera Santa Barbara and Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. With Chicago Opera Theater, he played El Dancaïro in Carmen alongside Jamie Barton and Stephanie Blythe, and “sang winningly” (Opera News) as Clay in the world premiere of Matthew Recio and Royce Vavrek’s opera The Puppy Episode. Learn more about this artist at www.evanbravos.com

Biographies Pauline Tan Beryl Bennett

A deep love for poetry and song has taken Filipino-Chinese contralto Pauline Tan across the globe to pursue a career in music. She uses her 'plush' and 'acrobatic' voice (Chicago Tribune) not only to open channels of honest communication with her audiences, but also to create artistic bridges to little-known musical worlds. Currently in her second season as a Young Artist at Chicago Opera Theater, Pauline will be appearing in their 2022-’23 season as Beryl Bennett in the première of The Cook-Off, in addition to covering Joan Clarke in the première of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, Florence Pike (Albert Herring), and the Deaconess (King Roger).This season she is joining LYNX Project as a resident artist, and she has appeared in concerts with non-profit organizations such as Collaborative Arts Institute Chicago, Aural Compass Projects, and Wear Yellow Proudly. This summer, she will be joining the Glimmerglass Festival as a young artist, covering the role of Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette).

Veena Akama-Makia Kendra Smith

Cameroonian/Ugandan-American MezzoSoprano Veena Akama-Makia will be a Jette Parker Artist at The Royal Opera House for their 2023-25 seasons. For her 2022-2023 season, she will complete her final season as a Chicago Opera Theater/CCPA Young Artist. While at COT, she made her role debut as Nancy in Albert Herring (Britten), as Wren 2 in the world premiere of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing (Chen), as Kendra in the world premiere of The Cook-Off (Okpebohlo/Campbell) and as Tawny Betty in the World Premiere of Quamino’s Map (Wallen/Brevoort). Ms. Akama-Makia has participated in the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, the Des Moines Metro Opera Program, the Finger Lakes Opera Program, and the Si Parla Si Canta Summer Music Festival. Ms. Akama-Makia has also been honored with several awards, most recently the winner of the 2023 American Opera Society of Chicago Best Vocal Artist Award, being a Finalist in the 2023 Butler International Opera Competition, and a 2023 Annapolis Opera Voice Competition Semi-finalist.

Biographies Corinne Costell Ivy Sweet

Corinne Costell is a soprano from Port Jefferson Station, New York currently finishing her second year with the Chicago Opera Theater/Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University Professional Diploma and Young Artist Program. Most recently, Corinne premiered the role of Wren #1 in The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing while also covering the role of Sara Turing in the same production in March 2023. She also performed the role of Emmie in Albert Herring this past January, while also covering the role of Miss Wordsworth in the same production. Previously, Corinne premiered the role of Phoebe in The Beekeeper, composed by Wang Lu and libretto by Kelley Rourke with the Chicago Opera Theater in March 2022.

She has covered multiple roles so far with the Chicago Opera Theater, such as Micaëla in their September 2021 production of Carmen, and Yan the elf in Mark Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus in December 2021. Corinne is excited to continue this season as Ivy in the Vanguard production of The Cook-Off composed by Shawn Okpebholo and written by Mark Campbell.

Karlos Piñero-Mercado Álvaro Mendez

Puerto Rican tenor Karlos Piñero-Mercado (they/them) is a Chicago-based performer and new music enthusiast. They are delighted to be a part of the Chicago Opera Theater/Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University Professional Diploma and Young Artist Program. They are passionate about performing the overlooked music of Latine composers, especially the music of Puerto Rico, and bringing it to the mainstream audience. They are part of the newly formed quartet, Liederspiel Society, that allows them to explore the works of marginalized people, works that highlight social justice, as well as the underrepresented works by well-known and obscure composers.

Vanguard Initiative

Shawn E. Okpebholo

Gillian Rae Perry

Carlos Carrillo

The Vanguard Initiative is COT's fully-comprehensive program for composers ready to delve into the world of opera. This immersive two year residency includes participation in all COT productions, sessions with top industry leaders, extensive study of repertoire and vocal writing, direct insight into administrative and other behind-thescenes processes, and culminates with the development of a fulllength opera commissioned by COT. The program is guided and overseen by COT Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya, with Composer Advisors Jake Heggie, Kamala Sankaram, and Gene Scheer.

The Vanguard Initiative is supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Young Artists Pauline Tan

Veena Akama-Makia

Jennifer Allor

The COT/CCPA Young Artist Program is a specialized opportunity for developing Corinne Costell Karlos Piñero-Mercado pianists and singers. It allows developing artists with exceptional career promise and mastery of basic skills to focus on all areas of their artistic growth. The program affords them professional experience, particularly in the development and performance of innovative new work, while also supporting them with voice lessons, vocal coaching, and dramatic training from the illustrious music and performance faculty at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. Participants receive a full-tuition scholarship, as well as a monthly stipend during the performance season, which runs September – April.

Coming Soon..

A Double Bill with Music of Remembrance

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May 27-28, 2023

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