PROGRAM: Breaking the Waves April 2024

SAT / A PR 06 / 7:30P M

FR I / A PR 1 2 / 7:30P M SUN / A PR 14 / 2:30P M

PHOTO BY HELMUT ZIE W ER S

TABLE of CONTENTS 2

Board of Directors

2

Board of Trustees

5

A Message from Yuval Sharon

7

Composer Note and Librettist Note

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Missy Mazzoli, Royce Vavrek and Diana Wyenn in conversation

12

Christine Goerke and Arthur White in conversation

15

Program

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Thank You to Our Donors

46 Administration and Staff 48

General Information

Shauna Ryder Diggs Enrico Digirolamo Maria C. Duey Marianne Endicott Fern Espino Paul E. Ewing John P. Hale John W. Ingle III Barbara Kratchman Dexter Mason Ali Moiin Donald Morelock Allan Nachman

BOARD OF DIRECTORS JULY 1, 2023— JUNE 30, 2024

Ann Nicholson Sara Pozzi Paul Ragheb Ruth Rattner Irvin D. Reid Pamela E. Rodgers

CHAIR

Evan D. Ross

Ethan D. Davidson

Ankur Rungta

VICE CHAIR

Terry Shea

Mary Kramer

Matthew Simoncini

VICE CHAIR

Richard Sonenklar

Denise J. Lewis

Peter C. Stern

VICE CHAIR

Lorna Thomas

Don Manvel

Jesse Venegas

PRESIDENT & CEO

Gary L. Wasserman

Patty Isacson Sabee

Ellen Hill Zeringue

SECRETARY

Gene P. Bowen

DIRECTORS EMERITI

TREASURER

Elizabeth Brooks

Bharat C. Gandhi

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

R. Jamison Williams

Shelly Cooper

BOARD OF TRUSTEES JULY 1, 2023— JUNE 30, 2024 Lourdes V. Andaya Naomi André Harold Mitchell Arrington Floy Barthel Barbra Bloch Gene P. Bowen Richard Brodie Charles D. Bullock James & Elizabeth Ciroli Lois Pincus Cohn Thomas Cohn Françoise Colpron Peter & Shelly Cooper Maureen D’Avanzo Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Kevin Dennis & Jeremy Zeltzer Cristina DiChiera Lisa M. DiChiera Shauna Ryder Diggs Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo Debbie Dingell Mary Jane Doerr Maria C. Duey Kenneth & Frances Eisenberg Marianne Endicott Alex Erdeljan Fern R. Espino & Thomas Short Paul & Mary Sue Ewing

Marjorie M. Fisher

Margo Cohen Feinberg & Robert Feinberg

Herman Frankel

Oscar & Dede Feldman

Dean Friedman

Carl & Mary Ann Fontana

Jennifer Nasser

Bharat & Lynn Gandhi

Naomi André

Charlotte Podowski

Barbara Garavaglia

Richard A. Brodie

Audrey Rose

Yousif & Mara Ghafari

James Ciroli

William Sandy

Toby Haberman

Kevin Dennis

C. Thomas Toppin

John & Kristan Hale

Lisa M. DiChiera

Richard Webb

Derek Hodgson

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John & Tara Ingle III Patty Isacson Sabee & David Sabee

Ankur Rungta & Mayssoun Bydon Hershel & Dorothy Sandberg

Kent & Amy Jidov

Terry Shea

Jill Johnson

Matthew & Mona Simoncini

Ellen Kahn

Sheila Sloan

Stephanie Germack Kerzic

Richard A. Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes

Mary Kramer Michael & Barbara Kratchman Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr. Denise J. Lewis Arthur & Nancy Liebler Stephan & Marian Loginsky Mary Alice Lomason Don Manvel Jack Martin & Bettye Arrington-Martin Dexter Mason Benjamin Meeker & Meredith Korneffel

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FOUNDING MEMBERS Lynn* & Ruth* Townsend

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Ted & Carrie Pryor Paul & Amy Ragheb John & Terry Rakolta Ruth F. Rattner Irvin D. Reid & Pamela Trotman Reid Pamela E. Rodgers Jacqueline Roessler Audrey Rose Evan & Kelsey Ross Anthony & Sabrina Rugiero

D E T R OI T O P ER A 3

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A message from

Yuval Sharon My advice to anyone experiencing Breaking the Waves for the first time: Listen for the electric guitar.

That won’t be hard, since its presence is forceful and ferocious, like the blast of the ocean against the rocks of the Scottish Highlands. But Missy Mazzoli not only uses the amplified instrument to devastating dramatic effect. She also weaves its sound into her overall sonic landscape in a bravura way that displays why journalists hail her as a “post-millennial Mozart.” Let your ear be caught by the novelty of the electric guitar, but let it lead you into a deeper awareness of how Mazzoli lends an unmistakably original voice to even the most conventional instrument in her orchestra.

Of course, Breaking the Waves is hardly a conventional opera. With her frequent collaborator, librettist Royce Vavrek, Mazzoli has asked opera audiences to journey into territory we’re never asked to go. The piece requires our maturity in thinking about sex. It asks us to consider why the most natural and beautiful thing we humans do has been weaponized for so long by men seeking to place women in socially disadvantageous circumstances. When our culture sharply separates morality and sex, we internalize that conflict in devastating ways. Victimization becomes an inevitability. But the opera’s hero, Bess McNeill, refuses to be a victim, even as she knows the choices she makes will set her at odds with her severe community. As ambiguous and sometimes uncomfortable as these topics may be, Tom Morris’s hypnotic production, like Mazzoli’s astonishing score, won’t fail to lure you in.

Thank you for joining us at Detroit Opera!

Yuval Sharon Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director, Detroit Opera

D E T R OI T O P ER A 5

PHOTO BY JA MES GLOS SOP, C OUR TESY OF SC OT TISH OPER A

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Composer Note I have never had a story sing to me like Bess McNeill's in Breaking the Waves.

Immediately upon seeing this film I felt that Bess's crushing vulnerability, steadfast faith and shocking bravery could manifest in a refreshing and provocative new character on the operatic stage. I imagine music that illuminates the complexity von Trier brings to his characters—a chorus of men sing a hymn that is beautiful but chilling in its austerity, Jan sings to Bess of his desires in a way that is at once tender and calculating, Bess sings a delicate melody with a turbulent and distorted accompaniment that hints at her inner rages and longings.

In creating music for Bess McNeill and her world I see an opportunity to create a new kind of heroine, and a new kind of opera that presents complex characters in an intricate and unblinking light.

—Missy Mazzoli

Librettist Note I have been haunted by the story of Bess McNeill since first seeing Lars von Trier's film in 1997. A boy of only 14, I first sat arrested by the plight of Bess, in many ways, feeling a kinship with her. I did not know then how informative the film would be, but it has also sunk into my marrow, become a part of my body's chemistry, and I carry it with me as the foremost example of the power of storytelling. In Jan, Bess finds a man with whom she joins into an unbreakable covenant with God, a marriage that breaks open the floodgates of one of the most passionate romances I've encountered in the cinema (or any other medium, for that matter). Bess's journey is operatic: from her unbridled commitment to Jan, to his absences that lead to her desperation, to her unquestioning willingness to put herself in harm's way believing that her sexual sacrifices will save his life. Her story sings, and with Missy I believe that we can translate her singular narrative into an important, intoxicating work of contemporary opera.

—Royce Vavrek D E T R OI T O P ER A 7

Asking the

Difficult uestions In February, stage revival director Diana Wyenn sat down with composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek for a chat about Breaking the Waves. This is an opera that asks tough questions with no easy answers, about conflict between freedom of choice and agency, and the roles women might be expected to take in today’s society. Mazzoli and Vavrek, long-time collaborators as well as best friends, share their thoughts in a conversation that has been condensed and edited. You can listen to the full conversation on Detroit Opera’s YouTube channel.

Diana Wyenn: What is most important for people to know about Breaking the Waves?

Bess is telling her what to do, and they’re all saying different things. So she’s forced to create her own path.

Missy Mazzoli: This is an opera about big ideas: the nature of faith, the nature of loyalty and ultimately what it means to be a good person in extreme circumstances. This is a piece that tackles everything: there are moments of great beauty, great sorrow, great tragedy. Ultimately the thing that made me say yes to this project was the idea that I could portray Bess as a woman in an impossible situation. That’s a situation that I relate to. That’s a situation that every woman in my family relates to. Everyone around

Wyenn: Why were you interested in turning the film Breaking the Waves into an opera?

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Royce Vavrek: I saw [the film] Breaking the Waves when I was 14 years old, and it changed my life.

It completely blew my mind that something like this could exist. The film was a narrative that I carried with me for my entire life, and I was hoping that at some point I would be able convince somebody to help me tell the story. I’m glad that Missy was convinceable!

Wyenn: How did you approach adapting a cinematic story into an operatic format?

Vavrek: Film is this huge canvas to tell stories, and opera at its finest is a broad, epic canvas. In the original film, there are these extraordinary close-up shots of Emily Watson, these extreme beautiful emotional passages where she communicates so much with her eyes. In opera, we don’t usually have access to people a foot away. So these internalized moments become a sort of a substitute for the close-up. There are tricks that we’ve learned to find ways to translate cinematic ideas into new spaces that are exciting, thoughtful and wild.

Mazzoli: We intentionally did something very different from the film. The film is already great—a masterpiece—so why would we want to just recreate that on the stage? In opera, the music is happening in every single moment, which provides a different emotional and psychological lens into these characters. We were able to provide a more nuanced, complete picture of these characters than you get in the film.

Wyenn: Who or what does Bess stand for?

Mazzoli: Bess to me is a representative of many aspects of the experience of being a woman.

The staging reflects that. There are only three women in this opera—

Bess, her mom, and her sister-inlaw—and then there’s a chorus of men and several male characters.

That’s intentional. It’s meant to feel a little bit claustrophobic for these women. As a woman, there’s a very thin line of acceptable behavior, and women are constantly falling off of it. In daily life, you’re either too promiscuous or too prudish, or you’re too outspoken or you’re not speaking up enough.

It is maddening.

Wyenn: Can you talk about the musical language in Breaking the Waves?

Mazzoli: It’s all from the characters. With Bess, there’s a certain naivete to her, but also this strong sense of self. I’ve translated that into the music. The Men’s Chorus sometimes represents the voice of God, sometimes the men in the church, sometimes the drunk people in the town who are spitting beer at Bess.

Wyenn: What were the primary sources for Breaking the Waves?

How did you use music to convey the emotional depth of the characters?

Mazzoli: I was doing research into other existing operas as I was writing this opera. I listened to a lot of Peter Grimes, which has parallels to Breaking the Waves, and [George Benjamin’s 2012 opera] Written on Skin and also La bohème, which always works—why?

D E T R OI T O P ER A 9

How does that piece create drama?

Another big inspiration was the physical landscape of Scotland—a landscape of violent extremes. In the first couple of chords of the opera you hear this landscape, this combination of rolling, lush, soothing texture, and then these massive chords, which are the rocks and the waves. In every moment of this opera, there’s a bunch of things happening at the same time.

There’ll be a major chord with one weird wrong note that gives you a sense of doubt, anxiety or tension.

Or this big minor-chord swoop, which indicates a sort of tempest.

But then there’ll be one beautiful melody floating on top of it. Where opera can excel is in its ability to have a subtext and many layers, and I think that this is the perfect story for that.

Wyenn: The opera delves into themes of faith. How do you approach portraying the complexity of faith in this story?

Mazzoli: One of the things that drew me to this story is the presence of this church, these men from the church. Bess’s relationship with God is so interesting and so intense, and she’ll often talk to God. She’ll pose a question as Bess and then answer it in God’s voice. This is one of the most striking moments of the film and it’s something

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we have kept in the opera, and hopefully portrayed in an equally striking way. I use heavily distorted electric guitar to reflect the voice of God. I liked the idea of keeping the ambiguity of that relationship and the joy Bess gets from being in this tight-knit community early on in the opera, so when that turns at the end it’s heartbreaking for us as the audience.

Wyenn: What is the potential conflict between freedom of choice and agency, and the roles women might be expected to take?

Mazzoli: This piece, the opera maybe more than the film, addresses this idea of agency and choice. This is a small Calvinist community in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s—but it feels like the ’50s. Bess’s freedom of movement as a woman is very constricted. Bess is very happy in that life initially. With the catastrophe of her husband’s injury, there’s no plan for that within the prescribed actions of the church. So she is forced—in order to maintain her relationship with her husband and with God and with herself—to go outside of what is prescribed to her by the church. That moment, that break—it’s a symbol for choices women make every day. Even deciding what to wear, as a woman, is a calculation.

Wyenn: How are you feeling about bringing this work to Detroit audiences?

Wyenn: How do you hope Breaking the Waves will resonate with the audience?

Mazzoli: We’re ecstatic that Detroit audiences will be the first in America to see and experience this [new] production, which we originally created with director Tom Morris in Edinburgh in 2019. There’s a lot of amazing projection technology that blew our minds when we first saw it, and it’s become even more detailed over the last couple of years. And we’re bringing back Kiera Duffy in the role of Bess. I wrote this part for Kiera in 2016. We also have David Portillo from our premiere production, who will play the doctor again here. Their understanding of their roles has only deepened over the years. It’s going to be magic.

Vavrek: The arts, at their best, allow us a portal to empathy. If you come to this opera and allow yourself to be swept up in the emotional whirlwind that Bess gets deep into, it’s a really rewarding, cathartic experience. I hope that the audience really open their hearts to the story. It is a tragic but beautiful and strangely hopeful story of what it means to have agency over your body, your life and your choices.

To hear the full conversation, visit Detroit Opera’s YouTube channel at the QR code below.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 11

Grandmother’s Opera Since its premiere in 2016, Breaking the Waves has been a big critical success and traveled all over the world. It has had a powerful impact on audiences, and on soprano Christine Goerke, Detroit Opera’s Associate Artistic Director.

Goerke recently spoke with Arthur White, Detroit Opera’s Director of External Affairs, about the opera. Their discussion has been condensed and edited for space, but you can listen to the full conversation at Detroit Opera’s OperaHERE podcast, available via your favorite podcasting app.

Christine Goerke: I am so excited about these performances. This will be the first time that Detroit Opera has presented Breaking the Waves, and it also marks the first opera by a female composer that we’ve presented on our main stage. This is not your grandmother’s opera. We have the opportunity to incorporate other ways of telling our stories, and to address themes that are impactful on society.

As Cesar Cruz said, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” This piece disturbs and comforts me.

Arthur White: We opened the season with Madame Butterfly, another character who breaks away from societal norms. In Breaking the Waves, Bess McNeill also breaks away. In these societies, women have no power or agency, but somehow they find agency. It’s heartbreaking that they both end up being martyrs at the end.

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Goerke: We can look at it that way.

But with Cio-Cio-San, she is taking immense agency. This is her decision to die with honor. Do we regret that this happened? Of course, but there is immense agency that comes with that decision. Bess’s particular story is happening in a very insular community in Scotland in the 1970s, when women were demanding equal rights all over the world. This all ties into the same thing: is it being martyred, or is it taking control of her life and doing what she feels is best?

Is there something that is less of a martyr and more a woman in control of her own destiny?

We should talk about the fact that this is a difficult story. There is an advisory attached to this piece. We are recommending it for mature audiences only. There are so many ways that opera is disturbing, and it is blatant in this story. But there are other stories

that are equally as disturbing. I play the role of Elektra, and she is determined to kill her mother and avenge her father's death—with an axe. Think of Rigoletto: poor Gilda ends up in a bag. Somehow when it is in another language, it feels as though there's a pretty wrapper on it, and potentially not as hurtful or impactful as something that is very blatant can be.

White: There is maybe something about these pieces being grandfathered in, because we've considered them great works from the past.

Goerke: This story is especially difficult for the lead character. Putting together this creative team, we knew it was important to make sure that in telling this story, which is difficult for everyone in the room, to put women in places of creative power. The team is led by Stephanie Childress on the podium. We have Diana Wyenn, the revival director. Stephanie is an amazingly talented conductor, one of the fastest rising conductors in the business today. Kiera Duffy, who premiered the role of Bess in 2016, is so excited about these performances.

PHOTO BY JA MES GLOS SOP, C OUR TESY OF SC OT TISH OPER A

White: I had the chance to see an archival video of Kiera in those 2016 performances, and it's going to be wonderful to see where this role is now for her.

Goerke: This piece premiered in September 2016 in Philadelphia, when I was singing a run of Turandot at Opera Philadelphia. I decided to go to the final dress rehearsal. I didn't know anything about the story, hadn't seen the film. When it was over, I remember sitting in stunned silence—big emotions, big thoughts, big sadness. I thought about the immensity of grace, and what I would do to save someone I loved. I was destroyed. When the lights came up, people were sobbing. I went to five of six performances; the piece impacted me that much. Breaking the Waves changed the way I look at works being composed today, the kind of stories that we can tell and what opera can do with an underscoring of music that makes everything even more impactful.

White: We see so many new operas coming out of America right now. We love the stories that we've gotten from the past and from Europe. But it's time to tell our stories. And I think this is why you probably see this explosion of writing coming out of the United States. We are telling stories that relate to what is happening in our world today. And American composers are having their day. I'm very proud to have this piece here in Detroit.

Goerke: Breaking the Waves requires us to step out of our comfort zone. Hear this music, and come on this journey with us, because it is immense.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 1 3

These performances of Breaking the Waves are presented by

William Davidson Foundation 2023–24 SE A SON SPONSOR

with support from

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PHOTO BY JA MES GLOS SOP, C OUR TESY OF SC OT TISH OPER A

Thank You Detroit Opera Sponsors

PROGR AM

M USIC BY M I SSY M A ZZOLI LIBR E T T O BY R OYC E VAV R EK

SAT A PR IL 6, 7:30P M PR E- OPER A TALK @6:3 0P M W I T H M A Z ZOLI A ND VAV R EK

F R I A PR IL 1 2, 7:30P M PR E- OPER A TALK @6:3 0P M

SU N A PR IL 14, 2:30P M PR E- OPER A TALK @1:3 0P M

N O P H OTO G R A P H Y O R V ID EO D U RIN G TH E P E R FO R M A N C E IS ALLO W E D. PLE A S E SILE N C E ALL P H O N ES. DUR AT IO N: 2H R S 5 0 M IN

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M USIC BY Missy Mazzoli LIBR E T T O BY Royce Vavrek PERFORMED IN ENGLISH WITH PROJECTED ENGLISH SUBTITLES INSPIRED BY THE L A RS VON TRIER FILM BREAKING THE WAVES WORLD PREMIERE: OPER A PHIL A DELPHI A, 2016

DIR EC T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Morris R E V I VAL DIR EC T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diana Wyenn C H O R EOGR A PH ER & IN T I M ACY DIR EC T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Brodie

SE T & C OST U M E DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soutra Gilmour LIGH T IN G DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Howell PR O JEC T IO N DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Will Duke S OU N D DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Grey W IG & M A K EU P DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joanne Middleton-Weaver A SS OCI AT E LIGH T IN G DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan Stafford A SSI STA N T LIGH T IN G DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mario Raymond A SS OCI AT E S OU N D DE SIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Burke INTIMACY COORDINATOR & ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.. . . Katherine Coyl STAGE M A N AGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Nictakis A SSI STA N T STAGE M A N AGERS . . . . . . . . . . Nan Luchini, Hailli Ridsdale R EPE T I T EU R .............................................................. Michael Karloff DIC T IO N C OAC H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael J. Barnes 16

BE SS M C N EILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kiera Duffy* JA N N Y M A N .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benjamin Taylor M RS. M C N EILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth van Os* DO DO M C N EILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabrielle Barkidjija DR. R IC H A R DS O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Portillo* C H U R C H C OU N CIL M A N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nathan Stark* T ER RY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Mellon* SA DI ST IC SA ILO R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Starnes YOU N GER SA ILO R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David Moan T EN O R S OLO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cameron Barrett Johnson * D ETROIT O PER A D EBUT

DE T R OI T O PER A C H O RUS A SSI STA N T C O N DUC T O R & C H O RUS M A ST ER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suzanne Mallare Acton C H O RUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benton DeGroot, Kurt Frank, Regis Haynes,

Richard Jackson Jr., Cameron Barrett Johnson, Seth Johnson, Dean Joyce, Matthew Konopacki, David Magumba, David Moan, Paolo Pacheco, Kevin Starnes, Justin Watson D ETROIT O PER A PRIN CIPAL CAST AN D C H O RISTERS AR E REPRESENTED BY THE AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS A C O - PRO DU CTIO N OF O PER A VENTU R ES, SC OTTISH O PER A, H O USTO N G R AN D O PER A, AD ELAID E FESTIVAL AN D TH ÉÂTR E NATIO NAL D E L’O PÉR A C O MIQU E D E T R OI T O P ER A 17

C A S T / P R O D U C T IO N

C O N DUC T O R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephanie Childress

DETROIT OPERA ORCHESTRA Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local #5, of the American Federation of Musicians V IOLIN I

V IOL A

CL A R IN E T

Eliot Heaton* Concertmaster

Scott Stefanko* Acting Principal

Laurence Liberson Acting Principal

Yuri Popowycz* Acting Assistant Concertmaster

Jacqueline Hanson*

Anna Bittar-Weller*

Catherine Franklin

Molly Hughes*

James Greer

Daniel Stachyra*

Alycia Wilder

Jenny Wan* Andrew Wu*

Joseph Deller

BA SS OO N

Daniel Fendrick* Principal C O N T R A BA SS OO N

Liam Jackson C ELLO

Florina Petrescu

Ivana Biliskov* Principal

Judith Teasdle

Lauren Mathews*

Melody Wootton

Benjamin Maxwell* Adalus Low-Manzini

HORN

Colin Bianchi* Principal T R O M BO N E

Megan Yip

Ian Maser Acting Principal

BA SS

PER C USSIO N

Velda Kelly*

Derek Weller* Principal

John Dorsey* Principal

Beth Kirton*

Clark Suttle*

Karen Donato

Jean Posekany

Lorrie Gunn

Greg Sheldon

Juan Riveros Acting Principal

FLU T E

PI A N O/SY N T H E SIZER

Laura Larson* Acting Principal

Michael Karloff

V IOLIN II

Emelyn Bashour* Principal Henrik Karapetyan*

HARP

James Park Meg Rohrer

OBOE

Eli Stefanacci* Principal

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ELEC T R IC GUI TA R

Al Ayoub *Detroit Opera Core Orchestra Members of the violin sections occasionally rotate

The story of Breaking the Waves, courtesy of Wise Music Classical

AC T I Childlike Bess finds love with the offshore oil rigger, Jan, and they are married in the strict Calvinist church. While they receive the church elders’ blessings, Jan, a Norwegian, is viewed as an outsider. Bess takes her marriage vows seriously and undergoes a sexual enlightenment with her new husband. It is only a matter of time before Jan must return to the rigs to work, forcing Bess into a deep depression. In conversations with God, Bess seeks answers and solace, and hopes that spiritual intervention will bring Jan home. Shortly thereafter, a near-fatal accident on the rig forces Jan to be rushed to emergency medical attention.

IN T ER MISSION, 20 MINU T E S AC T II Bess learns that the accident has left Jan almost completely paralyzed. She believes it to be her fault, having asked God to bring him home. Jan knows that Bess would never step outside her matrimonial covenant but feels that he needs to set her free so that she can live a full life. He encourages her to find men to sleep with and report back to him the events that transpire so that it will feel like they are making love. When Jan tries to kill himself by pill overdose, Bess becomes certain that she must obey her husband and find lovers. Failed attempts to woo a handsome doctor, and half-hearted sexual encounters with strangers coincide with a decline in Jan’s health. When Bess finds a man and has sex with him outside an old shed, Jan’s health stabilizes.

AC T III Bess’s reputation catches up to her, and she is excommunicated from the Church. She fails to understand why, as she is simply following her husband’s will, and his recovery seems directly proportional to her extramarital activities. Bess finds herself aboard a large commercial ship where she is savagely raped and cut up by sadistic sailors with knives. A second trip leaves her near death’s door, and it is only due to the kindness of a stranger that her nearly lifeless body is delivered to the hospital. She dies as Jan wakes from his surgery, his health dramatically improved. The elders agree to provide Bess a Calvinist funeral, but insist she be buried a sinner and consign her soul to hell. Jan, who has fully recovered, steals the body before she is interred, committing her remains to the ocean. God’s bells ring out Bess’s melody.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 1 9

S Y N O P SI S

SYNOPSIS

STEPHANIE CHILDRESS C O NDUC T O R

Strong ideas, lucid communication and intensely focused energy are among the qualities that define Stephanie Childress among today’s most compelling young musicians. Recently appointed principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, she has quickly gained attention on both sides of the Atlantic for the broad scope of her repertoire.

Having been inspired to start conducting due to her love of opera, the FrancoBritish conductor began the 2023–24 season making her Hamburg Staatsoper debut in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and returning to Glyndebourne for Don Giovanni. The 2023–24 season includes Stephanie’s conducting debut with Detroit Opera, in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves. On the orchestral podium, Stephanie will make debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, National Arts Centre Ottawa, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic and with Japan’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

From 2020 to 2023, she served as an assistant conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Following her 2020 second-prize win at France’s inaugural conducting competition, La Maestra, she has conducted top French orchestras including l’Orchestre de Paris, the Paris Mozart Orchestra and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Stephanie is an active supporter of the Tri-borough Music Hub, an award-winning British music-education organization. Website: stephaniechildress.com Instagram: @schildressofficial

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DIR EC T OR

Tom Morris was Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic from 2009 to 2022, where he re-established the theater’s program after closure, conceived and directed two landmark festivals (Bristol Proms and Bristol Jam).

Work as a director includes: Juliet and her Romeo, The Meaning of Zong (with Giles Terera), Cyrano, King Lear, Touching the Void, The Grinning Man, Swallows & Amazons and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (all for Bristol Old Vic and/or West End/International tour), Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Vienna Statsoper), Breaking the Waves (Scottish Opera/ Opera Ventures, Opera Comique, Adelaide Festival, Detroit Opera), The Death of Klinghoffer (ENO and Metropolitan Opera), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (National Theatre), War Horse (National Theatre, Lincoln Center and world tour, winning numerous awards including Tony for Best Director, with co-director Marianne Elliott), Disembodied, Newsnight: The Opera, Home, Passions, Unsung, Othello Music, Trio and All That Fall (all for BAC).

Writing includes A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker (Bristol Old Vic), World Cup Final 1966, Jason & the Argonauts and Ben Hur (all with Carl Heap for BAC), The Wooden Frock, Nights at the Circus and A Matter of Life and Death (all with Emma Rice for Kneehigh) and the libretto for Orpheus in Hell for ENO.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 21

A R T I S T P R O F ILE S

TOM MORRIS

DIANA W YENN

R E V I VAL DIR EC T OR

Diana Wyenn is a director, writer, choreographer, curator, and interdisciplinary artist from Los Angeles advocating for equity, environmental and disability justice. She has created, directed, and choreographed theater, film, and opera projects presented by Center Theatre Group, the LA Phil, LA Opera, LACMA, MOCA, the Roundabout Theatre Company, World Health Organization, Malmö Opera, National Sawdust, Beth Morrison Projects, REDCAT, Center for Cultural Power, LA Performance Practice, CalTech, UCLA, New York University, ASU Gammage, Yale University, Grand Performances, and more. Diana recently served as Executive Producer at REDCAT and has received project support from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Arts and Disability Center, Center for Cultural Innovation, and California Arts Council.

Her devised works, including Blood/Sugar and Kristina Wong for Public Office, have been performed at universities and performing arts centers across the U.S. A co-founder of Plain Wood Productions and co-artistic director of Ammunition Theatre Company, she earned her BFA from New York University and is a proud member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Website: dianawyenn.com Instagram: @dianawyenn

SARA BRODIE

C H O R EO G R A PHER / IN T IM ACY DIR EC T OR

Sara Brodie is an accomplished director and choreographer whose work spans theater, dance, opera and interdisciplinary productions. Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Sara worked in London for seven years as an actress, dancer, casting director and behind the scenes before returning to New Zealand. Sara has directed opera productions including Don Giovanni for New Zealand Opera, Ainadamar for the New Zealand Arts Festival, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at New Zealand School of Music, Fatal Desire for the Asia Pacific Arts Festival and the premiere of Jenny McLeod’s Hohepa for New Zealand Opera and the New Zealand Arts Festival. Sara has also had a long association with Days Bay Opera, having directed all eight of their productions. Sara directed the Kia Ora Khalid, with a score by composer Gareth Farr, and Skydancer, a symphonic work in collaboration with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

She directed John Adams’s Nixon in China for the 2016 Auckland Arts Festival.

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Soutra Gilmour, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a set and costume designer who has made a name for herself in theater and opera. Soutra’s work on the 2016 production of Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera in New York was well-received, with critics praising her ability to create a sense of grandeur and majesty on stage. Set and costume designs for opera include Down By the Greenwood Side/Into The little Hill (Royal Opera House), Anna Bolena, Don Giovanni, Mary Stuart (English Touring Opera), The Shops (Bregenz Festival), The Birds, Trouble In Tahiti (The Opera Group), El Cimmarron (Queen Elizabeth Hall), Saul, Hansel and Gretel (Opera North), A Better Place (English National Opera) and Girl of Sand (Almeida Opera). Her designs for theater include Antigone (National Theatre), Duchess of Malfi (Old Vic), Reasons to be Pretty (Almeida), Inadmissible Evidence (Donmar Warehouse), Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre), Piaf (Donmar Warehouse, The Vaudeville and Teatro Liceo, Buenos Aires), Ghost City (59e59, New York), When the World Was Green (Young Vic), and Modern Dance for Beginners (Soho Theatre). Website: soutragilmour.com Instagram: @soutra

RICHARD HOWELL

LIGHTING DESIGN

Richard Howell is a U.K.-based lighting designer working in theater, opera, and dance.

He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Designs include productions at the Old Vic Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Court, Public Theater New York, Kiln Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange, Chichester Festival Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Sheffield Crucible, Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Opera Holland Park, Gothenburg Opera, Danish National Opera, Scottish Opera and Sadlers Wells. In 2017, Richard won a Knight of Illumination award for Guards at the Taj at the Bush Theatre in London.

Website: richardhowell.co.uk Instagram: @richard_howell_lighting_

D E T R OI T O P ER A 2 3

A R T I S T P R O F ILE S

SOUTRA GILMOUR

SET / COSTUME DESIGN

WILL DUKE

PROJECTION DESIGN

Will is a video and projection designer working internationally across opera, theater, dance, musical theater and experimental performance.

Will’s work has been exhibited throughout the UK and internationally. Current and forthcoming credits include Breaking the Waves (Detroit Opera) and The Handmaid's Tale (San Francisco Opera). Dance and opera credits include: Peter Grimes (La Scala); Carmen (Scottish Opera); Nixon in China (Teatro Real, Madrid; Royal Danish Opera); Cabaret (Lido, Paris); Aida (Royal Danish Opera); The Life And Death of Alexander Litvinenko (Grange Festival); Don Giovanni (Greek National Opera, Royal Danish Opera); Peter Grimes (Teatro Real, Madrid); Orlando (Wiener Staatsoper); Giulio Cesare (La Scala); Idomeneo (Teatro Real, Madrid); Breaking The Waves (Scottish Opera); Die Tote Stadt (Komische Oper Berlin); Snow Maiden (Opera North); Simplicius Simplicissimus (Independent Opera, Sadler’s Wells); Kommilitonen!

(Welsh National Youth Opera); Benjamin, Derniere Nuit (Opera Lyon). Will is recipient of the 2016 Knights of Illumination Award for Best Projection Design for his work on The Encounter and was nominated for a Stage Award in 2022 as part of the design team for Into the Woods. Website: willduke.net

MARK GREY

S OUND DE SIG N

Mark Grey is an Emmy Award-winning sound designer and composer who made history as the first sound designer for The New York Philharmonic (On the Transmigration of Souls, 2002, which also won the Pulitzer Prize in Music) and The Metropolitan Opera (Doctor Atomic, 2008, Nixon in China, 2011, Death of Klinghoffer, 2014, The Merry Widow, 2015, Bluebeard’s Castle/ Iolanta, 2015, L’Amour de Loin, 2016). At the Detroit Opera, he also did the sound design for Blue at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre in September 2021 and for Fountain of Tears (Ainadamar) at the Detroit Opera House in 2023. The grand opera he composed, Frankenstein, premiered at La Monnaie in Brussels in 2019 as well as his mobile chamber opera, Birds In The Moon, with The New York Philharmonic in 2021. He also has had several commissions from The Atlanta Symphony and The Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has collaborated with composer John Adams and several others for nearly three decades. His sound designs have been heard throughout most major concert halls, HD simulcast theaters, and opera houses worldwide. Website: markgreycomposer.com 24

Born in England, Joanne Middleton Weaver came to the United States in the late 1980s.

She began apprenticing with Elsen Associates at what was then Washington Opera, now Washington National Opera. Joanne has since designed at many opera companies throughout the U.S. during her 30-year career: Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera, to name a few. She has designed for Detroit Opera since 1995. Her credits there include La bohème, The Passenger, Frida, Margaret Garner, Cyrano, Faust, and make-up design for X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.

K ATHERINE COYL

IN T I M ACY C O O R DIN AT OR / A S SI S TA N T DIR EC T OR

Katherine Coyl is a professional intimacy and fight director based in Chicago. Her recent and future work includes two world premiere operas, including fights and intimacy for the world premiere of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing with Chicago Opera Theatre. She also will serve as Intimacy Director for Carmen at Des Moines Metro Opera this coming June.

Other recent credits include the world premiere of Quamino’s Map at Chicago Opera Theatre, The Bacchae at University of Iowa, Athena at Urbanite Theatre, and La bohème at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Kat is the current president of the International League of Fight Directors and Choreographers, is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, an associate member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and proudly identifies as Latinx/Hispanic and Queer.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 2 5

A R T I S T P R O F ILE S

JOANNE MIDDLETON-WEAVER

WIG / M AKEUP DESIGN

KIERA DUFFY

BESS M C NEILL

American soprano Kiera Duffy is recognized for both her gleaming high soprano and insightful musicianship in repertoire that encompasses Handel, Bach, and Mozart to the modern sounds of Berg, Glass, and Zorn.

Highlights of Kiera’s 23/24 season include a return to Opera Philadelphia for the world premiere of Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse and Comet / Poppea, a co-production with Anthony Roth Costanzo, Cath Brittan, and The Industry which debuts at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles. Recent engagements include a residency at the University of Iowa in collaboration with Miró String Quartet, Pierrot Lunaire with Long Beach Opera, a debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate conducted by Harry Bicket, the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Knussen’s O Hototogisu! fragment of a Japonisme conducted

by Daniela Harding, the Berlin Philharmonic as Le Feu/Princesse in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Lembit Beecher’s world premiere opera Sophia’s Forest in Philadelphia, and a solo recital at the Midland Center for the Arts in Michigan.

Instagram: @kierajduffy

BENJAMIN TAYLOR

JA N N Y M A N

Last season, Ben Taylor made his Boston Lyric Opera debut in La bohème (Schaunard), followed by debuts with Bayerische Staatsoper for La fanciulla del West (Bello), OperaDelaware/Opera Baltimore for La traviata (Germont), and Opera Philadelphia for La bohème (Schaunard). He returned to The Metropolitan Opera for The Magic Flute (Papageno) and Dialogues des Carmélites and Berkshire Opera Festival for La bohème (Marcello). On the concert stage he made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in La fanciulla del West (Bello). He recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2021 in Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Chester), followed by debuts with Detroit Opera and Spoleto Festival USA in La bohème (Schaunard), Cincinnati Opera for the world premiere of Castor and Patience (West), North Carolina Opera for Sanctuary Road (William Grant Still), Baltimore Concert Opera for Adriana Lecouvreur (Michonnet), and a return to Pittsburgh Opera for The Magic Flute (Papageno).

Website: benjaminctaylor.com Instagram: @bentaylor100

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American tenor David Portillo, winner of a 2024 Sphinx Medal of Excellence by the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, has established himself as a leading classical singer of his generation.

Recent and upcoming performance highlights include Tamino in The Magic Flute (Metropolitan Opera), Septimius in Handel’s Theodora (Theater an der Wien), Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier (Santa Fe Opera), Ferrando in Così fan tutte (Dallas Opera), Pirro in Rossini’s Ermione opposite Angela Meade and Lawrence Brownlee (Washington Concert Opera), Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers (Austin Opera), Tonio in La fille du régiment (Minnesota Opera), Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore (Calgary Opera), Hades in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice (Boston Lyric Opera), and Henry in Richard Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau (Bard Festival),. He joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel for a world tour of Beethoven’s Fidelio as Jacquino; St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for the Messiah and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and select Mozart arias; and Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque as the title role in Handel’s Jephtha.

Website: davidportillotenor.com Instagram: @davidportillotenor

NATHAN STARK

C HUR C H C OUNCIL M A N

Bass-baritone Nathan Stark has been praised by The Washington Post for his voice of “unearthly power” and by the Mercury News as a “natural comic actor.” Nathan has performed on opera, concert and recital stages in the U.S., Europe and China. He has performed more than 50 professional roles at opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, Virginia Opera, and Opera San José. Operatic roles include Don Basilio and Don Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mustafà in L’Italiana in Algeri, Leporello and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Monterone and Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Colline in La bohème, Banco in Verdi’s Macbeth, and Nick Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. As a concert soloist, Nathan has performed with the symphony orchestras of Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Holland (Michigan), and San Diego, as well as with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, and Chicago Philharmonic. As a recitalist, Nathan has performed throughout the United States and Germany, at the Great Wall of China, and at the Washington National Cathedral.

Website: nathan-stark.com Instagram: @nathanstarkopera D E T R OI T O P ER A 27

A R T I S T P R O F ILE S

DAVID PORTILLO

DR. R IC H A R DS O N

GABRIELLE BARKIDJIJA

D O D O M C N EILL

Gabrielle Barkidjija, hailed by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as “riveting on stage and [singing] with damnable commitment and satisfying vocal chops,” is an avid performer of new music and rarely performed works. As a 2022–23 Detroit Opera Resident Artist, she covered the roles of Siebel (Faust), Arsamene (Xerxes), and Federico Garcia Lorca (Fountain of Tears), and performed as a Voice of the Fountain (Ainadamar). At Detroit Opera this season, she sings the role of Dodo (Breaking the Waves) and covers the role of Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen). Previous roles include Zosia (Two Remain), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Brittomara (If I were You), Ada Lovelace (The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace), Fanny Price (Mansfield Park), Captain (Dog Days), Beatrice (Beatrice et Benedict), and Zerlina (Don Giovanni). Gabrielle has earned top awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the Orpheus Vocal Competition. She has been a young artist with the Merola Opera Program, Aspen Opera Theater, Central City Opera, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Website: gabriellebarkidjija.com Instagram: @g_a_barkidjija

ROBERT MELLON

T ER RY

Award-winning American baritone Robert Mellon has been acclaimed by Opera News for his “excellent comic timing” and a baritone “gleaming like polished copper.” Robert’s 2023–24 season includes a role debut as George Milton in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men at Livermore Valley Opera, a Detroit Opera debut as Terry in Breaking the Waves, and returns to Opera Tampa as Leporello in Don Giovanni and In Series Opera as Ulysses in a reimagined production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses. During the 2022–23 season his house debuts included Lyric Opera of Kansas City (Escamillo, Carmen), Tulsa Opera (Taddeo, L’italiana in Algeri), and Opera Tampa (Tonio, Pagliacci), plus a role debut as Dandini in Opera Maine’s La Cenerentola. Recent performances include Marullo in Rigoletto at Opera Philadelphia and Iago in a reimagined production of Verdi's Otello with In Series Opera in Washington, D.C. Other roles include Marcello in La bohème, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Gubetta in Lucrezia Borgia, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte.

Website: robertmellon.com Instagram: @bobby_mellon

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Elizabeth Van Os, known for her dynamic stage presence, flexible technique, and impressive vocal range, has been an active part of the music scene in New York City since 2012.

Her opera credits include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Mimì in La bohème, and Marguerite in Faust. In 2019, she sang the title role in Martinu’s Juliette in a concert performance with the American Symphony Orchestra. As a concert soloist, Elizabeth has performed with the Collegiate Chorale and the Ars Musica Chorale of New Jersey. In 2022, she was a featured soloist in Trinity Wall Street’s staged production of Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard. Other highlights include a concert performance of Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre with pianist Joseph Yungen. Elizabeth is an active chorister and has appeared with Musica Sacra, the New York Virtuoso Singers, MasterVoices, and the New York Philharmonic Chorus, and the Bard Festival Chorale.

Website: elizabethvanos.com TikTok: @elizabethvanos

KEVIN STARNES

SA DI S T IC SA ILOR

Bass-baritone Kevin Starnes, based in Detroit, is recognized for his rich tone and commanding voice. Kevin has performed a variety of styles in a career spanning more than 20 years.

Opera credits include the role of Jose Tripaldi in Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar, the Duke in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Max Kane in William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, and Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.

Music theater performances include Danny Zuko in Grease, Billy Flynn in Chicago, and as Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar.

Concert performances include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, and Twine’s Changed My Name under the direction of Mary Alice Stollak. Kevin is a professional chorister with the Choral Artists of Michigan in Lake Orion. He holds a bachelor of arts in music and a master’s degree in administration from University of Michigan-Flint, where he helped develop a community outreach program centered around opera education. He earned his master of music in voice performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Website: kevinstarnes.com Instagram: @the_bearded_baritone

D E T R OI T O P ER A 2 9

A R T I S T P R O F ILE S

ELIZABETH VAN OS

M R S. M C NEILL

ILLUSTR ATION BY V ITO VALDEZ

Detroit Opera Education

This spring, Detroit Opera’s Education Department will present two operas in metro Detroit public schools during its Storybook Opera touring season: Cinderella, composed by Gioachino Rossini and illustrated by Detroit-based artist Carole Morisseau, and Little Red Riding Hood, composed by Seymour Barab and illustrated by Detroit-based artist Vito Valdez. Storybook Opera shares these operas in a truncated form aimed at pre-K through 2nd-grade audiences. We will introduce the stories, dance elements, vocal exploration, and a few song

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selections from the operas. Advised by Dr. Shannan Hibbard, Assistant Professor of Vocal Music Education at Wayne State University, and instructed by DO teaching artists Lucia Flowers, Victoria Lawal and David Moan, this program encourages early literacy comprehension infused with the creativity of song and dance.

This program is made possible with a grant from The Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation.

THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS Detroit Opera Honor Roll Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges these generous donors for their accumulative lifetime giving. Their support has played a vital role in the history of Detroit opera since being founded by Dr. David DiChiera as Michigan Opera Theatre in 1971 and the building of the Detroit Opera House in 1996. Their leadership plays an integral part in the company's viability, underwriting quality opera and dance performances as well as award-winning community and education programs.

$10,000,000 and above The William Davidson Foundation

Estate of Robert & RoseAnn Comstock Foundation

Ford Motor Company Fund

DTE Energy Foundation

The State of Michigan

The Fred A. & Barbara M. Erb Family

$5,000,000 and above General Motors Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Stellantis The Kresge Foundation

Mrs. Margo Cohen Feinberg & Mr. Robert Feinberg Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Frankel* General Motors Corporation

$2,000,000 and above Mr.* and Mrs. Douglas Allison

Hudson-Webber Foundation

Mr. Lee and Mrs. Floy Barthel

Paul Lavins

Mr. and Mrs. Herman Frankel

Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation

Marvin, Betty & Joanne Danto Dance Endowment and Marvin & Betty Danto

JPMorgan Chase

Matilda R. Wilson Fund

Family Foundation

Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Lear Corporation

National Endowment for the Arts

Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.

Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes

Masco Corporation

United Jewish Foundation

McGregor Fund

Dr. & Mrs. Sam B. Williams*

The Skillman Foundation R. Jamison and Karen Williams $1,000,000 and above AT & T Bank of America

Every effort has been made to accurately reflect donor names and gift levels. Should you find an error or omission, please contact Zach Suchanek at zsuchanek@detroitopera.org or 313.237.3427

Mr.* & Mrs. John A. Boll Sr.

KEY

Compuware Corporation

* Deceased D E T R OI T O P ER A 31

T H A N K YO U T O O U R D O N O R S (co ntin u e d)

Contributors to Detroit Opera Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges the generous corporate, foundation, government, and individual donors whose contributions were made between December 1, 2022 and January 31, 2024. The generosity of our donors is vital to sustaining Detroit Opera’s position as a valued cultural resource.

Foundations, Corporate & Government Support $1,000,000 and above William Davidson Foundation

$500,000-$999,999

C&N Foundation

Five Star Sheets, LLC

Geoinge Foundation

Flagstar Bank

Herman and Sharon Frankel Foundation

FS Transportation, LLC

Honigman LLP

James & Lynelle Holden Fund

Ida and Conrad H. Smith Endowment for MOT

Josephine Kleiner Foundation

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

Oliver Dewey Marcks Foundation

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Masco Corporation

National Endowment for the Humanities

Penske Corporation

$250,000-$499,999 The Fred A. & Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation

$100,000-$249,999

MGM Grand Detroit

The Gilmour-Jirgens Fund

Marjorie & Maxwell Jospey Foundation Pellerito Manzella Certa & Cusmano Family Foundation Elmira L. Rhein Family Foundation

Ralph L. and Winifred E. Polk Foundation

Rugiero Promise Foundation

The Rattner and Katz Charitable Foundation

Sigmund and Sophie Rohlik Foundation

The Skillman Foundation

Somerset Collection Charitable Foundation

Sandy Family Foundation

Ford Motor Company Fund

The Mary Thompson Foundation

General Motors Corporation

Uniprop

Gilbert Family Foundation

Burton A. Zipser and Sandra D. Zipser Foundation

$100,000 and above

$5,000-$9,999

Ethan & Gretchen Davidson

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation

Individual Support Lee & Floy Barthel

Gerson Family Foundation, Inc.

Mr. G. Michael Golden*

$50,000-$99,999

Huntington Bank

Paul Lavins

Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation

J N Grosfeld Foundation

Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.

James & Lynelle Holden Fund

Vivien McDonald*

McGregor Fund

David & Christine Provost

Karen & Drew Peslar Foundation

Matthew & Mona Simoncini

Applebaum Family Philanthropy Hudson-Webber Foundation

Louis and Nellie Sieg Fund

Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes

The Kresge Foundation

Strum Allesee Family Foundation

Gary L. Wasserman & Charles A. Kashner

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$50,000-$99,999

Matilda R. Wilson Fund

$1,000-$4,999

Don Manvel

Worthington Family Foundation

ABM Janitorial Services

Allan & Joy Nachman Philanthropic Fund

Milner Hotels Foundation

$25,000-$59,999

The State of Michigan National Endowment for the Arts

$10,000-$24,999

Azimuth Capital Management

Richard & Mona* Alonzo

Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner

DTE Energy Foundation

John A. & Marlene L. Boll Foundation

J. Addison Bartush and Marion M. Bartush Educational Fund

Book Corp

The Estate of Mr. David W. Schmidt

Joyce Cohn Young Artist Fund

Jesse & Yesenia Venegas

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$20,000-$49,999

$5,000-$9,999

$3,000-$4,999

Mr. Joseph A. Bartush

Michael & Adele Acheson

Nina & Howard Abrams

Richard & Joanne Brodie

Dr. Harold M. Arrington

Paul & Lee Blizman

Wayne Brown & Brenda Kee

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Robert C. & RoseAnn B. Comstock*

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Cristina DiChiera & Neal Walsh

Barbara Heller

Joseph Fontana

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Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak

Marianne T. Endicott

Richard & Involut Jessup

Fern Espino & Tom Short

Roberto Kalb & Mane Galoyan

Paul & Mary Sue Ewing

John & Arlene Lewis

Yvonne Friday & Stephen Black

Sharon Madison

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Mr. Loreto A. Manzo

Ralph & Erica Gerson Allan Gilmour & Eric Jirgens

Benjamin Meeker & Meredith Korneffel, MD

Susanne McMillan

James & Nancy Grosfeld

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Ali Moiin & William Kupsky

John & Kristan Hale

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R. Jamison & Karen Williams

Kent & Amy Jidov

Brock & Katherine L. Plumb

Mrs. Stephanie Germack Kerzic

Magdalena Predeteanu*

Stephan & Marian Loginsky

Ted & Carrie Pryor

Ms. Mary McGough

Anthony & Sabrina Rugiero

Mr. Stuart Meiklejohn

Mrs. Rosalind B. Sell

Mrs. L. William Moll

Lois & Mark Shaevsky Laura Sias* & Kathy Coburn

James & Elizabeth Ciroli

Mr. George & Mrs. Jo Elyn Nyman

Nina S. Drolias*

Sara A. Pozzi, Ph.D.

Dr. Gregory E. Stephens, D.O.

Ms. Laurie R. Frankel

Ms. Stephanie M. Prechter

Mark Stewart & Antonio Galaz

Nancy B. Henk*

Waltraud Prechter

Mary Kramer

Ms. Pam E. Rodgers

Buzz Thomas & Daniel Vander Ley

Denise Lewis

Janice Ross

Bret & Susanna Williams

Robert & Terri Lutz

Terry Shea & Seigo Nakao

Lucia Zamorano

Ms. Mary C. Mazure

Mr. Michael Simmons

Ellen Hill Zeringue

Phillip Minch

Susan A. Smith

Anonymous

Mr. Cyril Moscow

Ms. Mary Anne Stella

James & Ann Nicholson Peter Oleksiak

The Strum Allesee Family Foundation

William & Wendy Powers

Mr. & Mrs. C. Thomas Toppin

Dr. & Mrs. Samir Ragheb

Barbara Van Dusen

Dr. Irvin D. Reid & Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid

Mr. Lewis Wagner

Ankur Rungta & Mayssoun Bydon

Margaret Winters & Geoffrey Nathan

Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel Ann Katz Michael & Barbara Kratchman Alphonse S. Lucarelli* The Hon. Jack & Dr. Bettye Arrington Martin

$10,000-$19,999 Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya Ms. Pamela Applebaum Lisa S. Applebaum Gene P. Bowen

Frank & Susan Sonye

Ned & Joan Winkelman

Lorna Thomas, MD

D E T R OI T O P ER A 3 3

T H A N K YO U T O O U R D O N O R S (co ntin u e d)

$2,500-$2,999

Devon Shea Cook

Mark & Kyle Peterson

Thomas & Gretchen Anderson

Tonino & Sarah Corsetti

Michael & Charlene Prysak

D.L. Anthony, Ph.D.

Patricia Cosgrove

Ms. Alice Rea

Ms. Nicole A. Boelstler

Fred & Michele Doner

Marlo & Lauren Roebuck

Mr. Randall Book

Marla Donovan

Evan & Kelsey Ross

Dr. & Mrs. Ronald T. Burkman

Linda Forte & Tyrone Davenport

George & Aphrodite* Roumell

John & Doreen Cole

Burke & Carol Fossee

William & Marjorie Sandy

Walter & Lillian Dean

Mr. William Fulton

Kingsley & Lurline Sears

Carolyn Demps & Guy Simons

Thomas M. Gervasi

Anthony L. Smith

Lisa DiChiera

Erin & John Gianopoulos

Ms. Mary J. Doerr

Linda & Roderick Gillum

Ms. Theresa Spear & Mr. Jeff Douma

Dr. Raina Ernstoff & Mr. Sanford Hansell

Mr. Lawrence Glowczewski

Garry Spector

Mr. Nathaniel Good

Gabriel & Martha Stahl

Joi & Korey Harris

Cynthia Stephens

Joya Harris-Sherron

Manuel Tancer & Claire Stroker

Ms. Joyce Hayes-Giles

Frank & Sandra Tenkel

Beth Hoger & Lisa Swem

Esther Thomas

Patty Isacson Sabee & David Sabee

Paul Tomboulian

Eleanor & Alan Israel

Margaret Trimer

Dr. Charmaine D. Johnson

Jill Veneable

Victoria Lynn Johnson

Joseph & Rosalie Vicari

Theodore & Pamela Jones

Deborah Wahl

Ellen Kahn

Edward Weiss

Marc Keshishian & Susanna Szelestey

Meredith Weston-Band & Jeffery Band

Edward & Barbara Klarman

Torben Winther & Linda Hall

Gregory Knas

John & Susan Zaretti

Sally & Michael Feder Michael Fisher Dr. Glendon M. Gardner & Leslie Landau Samuel* & Toby Haberman Doreen Hermelin Max Lepler & Rex Dotson Mary B. Letts Mr. John Lovegren & Mr. Daniel Isenschmid Eugene & Lois Miller Van Momon & Pamela L. Berry Dr. & Mrs. Peter Nickles Mr. Jonathan Orser Hershel & Dorothy Sandberg Mary Schlaff & Sanford Koltonow Mrs. Phyllis F. Snow Joel Tauber Jeff & Amy Voigt Stanley Waldon

Jeff & Joanne Kukes Meria Larson Nancy & Bud Liebler Ms. Janet Groening Marsh Mr. Dexter C. Mason

Jeffrey Tranchida & Noel Baril

$750-$999 Mr. David A. Agius Frank & Jenny Brzenk Judith & Stephen Kesler Mrs. LaDonna Leyva

$1,000-$2,499

Kyle McCree & Camille Kroger-McCree

Dennis Archer Jr.

Patrick & Patricia McKeever

Ms. Geraldine Atkinson

Pamela Moore

John & Marilyn Belamaric

Cheryl Moore

$500-$749

Peggyann & Ramon Berguer

Ms. Maryanne Mott

Robert & Catherine Anthony

Mr. Stanislaw Bialoglowski

Ms. Shirley Moulton

Brian Atwater

Eugene & Roselyn Blanchard

Harold Munson & Libby Berger

Paul Augustine

Constance Bodurow

Ms. Allison Bach

Mr.* & Mrs. John A. Boll Sr.

Brian Murphy & Toni Sanchez-Murphy

Donald & Marilyn Bowerman

Richard & Kathleen Nauer

Martin & Marcia Baum

Marceline Bright

Ms. Faye Alexander Nelson

Mr. Al Beachum

Thomas & Sharon Butler

Joshua & Rachel Opperer

Henri & Anaruth Bernard

Mrs. Judith Christian

Coleen Pellerito

Ms. Fay Beydoun

Ms. Lisa Cobbs

Verne K. Perigord

Barbra Bloch

34

John & Marie McElroy Huel & Priscilla Perkins Rita Winters

Julio Bateau

Ms. Terry P. Book

Mr. Gary M. Hawkins

Bertram & Elaine Pitt

Ms. Joann C. Brooks

Paul & Nancy Hillegonds

Angela Porter, MD

Dr. Cynthia Browne, MD

Kairi Horsley

Marsha Bruhn

Ms. Theresa Munger Howard

Mr. Dennis C. Regan & Miss Ellen M. Strand

Ms. Susan Cameron

Mary Ellen Hoy & Jim Keller

Concetta Ross*

Jonathan Cohn & Daniela Wittmann

Ms. Jill Johnson

Adam D. Rubin, MD, Lakeshore Professional Voice Center

John and Cynthia Cross Charitable Fund

Geraldine & Jacqueline Keller

Debra DeBose Mr. Leonard R. Dimsa Mrs. Blondell Doughty Tricia Edwards Ms. Christine Estereicher Daniel H. Ferrier Carol Gagliardi & David Flesher Mrs. Louise Giddings John Gierak & Dona Tracey Joseph & Lois Gilmore Gil Glassberg & Sandra Seligman

David & Theresa Joswick Ms. Lee Khachaturian

Leroy & Maria Runk Linda Schlesinger

Justin & Joanne Klimko

Walter Shapero & Kathleen Straus

Mr. Alex Koprivica

Ms. Brenda Shufelt

Ms. Cynthia Kratchman

Paul & Jill Siatczynski

William & Jean Kroger

Allan Skoropa

Mary Jane & Jeff Kupsky

Dr. Andrew James Stocking

Andy Levin & Mary Freeman

Norma Stone

John & Kimi Lowe

John M. Toth

Joseph & Sandra Lupo

Barbara & Stuart Trager

Mrs. Marsha Lynn

Nicole M. Valentini

Lori Maher

Dennis & Jennifer Varian

Natasha Moulton-Levy

Christine Goerke

Ms. Lois Norman

Dr. John Weber & Dr. Dana Zakalik

Mr. Robert Theodore Goldman

Ms. Heddie O'Connor

Ms. Janet Beth Weir

Todd Gordon & Susan Feder

Adrian Ohmer

Dr. Ruth A. Worthington

Larry Gray

Donald Dietz

Mr. Stuart Grigg

Ms. Haryani Permana

Gifts in Tribute We extend a heartfelt thank you to the families, friends, colleagues, businesses, and groups who generously made gifts to Detroit Opera in honor of or in memory of the special peoples in their lives, whose names are listed bold below.

IN HONOR OF Harriet Berg Mr. Richard D. Cavaler Eleanor Bodurow Constance Bodurow Wayne S. Brown & Brenda Kee Todd Gordon & Susan Feder Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Honigman LLP R. Jamison & Karen Williams Roberto Kalb Barbara & Michael Kratchman Sally Koh Mr. Tony P. H. Tan

Barbara & Michael Kratchman Anonymous David & Nancy Barbour Jeff & Joanne Kukes Dr. William J. Kupsky & Dr. Ali Moiin Carolyn Demps & Guy Simons Mary Jane & Jeff Kupsky William & Elizabeth S. Kupsky Joseph Locasio & Julia Sprangers Ms. Mary E. Puls Ruth Rattner Ann Katz

Lois Shaevsky Everett & Margery Jassy Yuval Sharon Dr. Myra Danish Barbara & Michael Kratchman Mali Sharon Gary L. Wasserman Rodger & Loree Wasserman Dr. Shunbin Xu Ali Moiin & William Kupsky Lee Hsien Yang Mr. Tony P. H. Ta

D E T R OI T O P ER A 3 5

GIF T S IN T R IB U T E (co ntin u e d)

IN MEMORY OF Maggie Allesee Azimuth Capital Management George Bodurow Constance Bodurow John Boll R. Jamison & Karen Williams David DiChiera Richard & Mona* Alonzo Karen DiChiera Dennis Archer Jr. J. Addison Bartush and Marion M. Bartush Educational Fund Mr. Luis Resto Cameron “Sandy” Duncan Wayne S. Brown & Brenda Kee Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Gary L. Wasserman & Charles Kashner Elva Ebersole Ms. Brenda Shufelt Elaine Fontana Five Star Sheets, LLC Carl & Mary Ann Fontana Joseph Fontana Bryan Pukoff Deborah Logan Robert Ruddy Ms. Angela Smith Diedre Turner Louis & Elaine Fontana John Reinhard Barbara Frankel Wayne S. Brown & Brenda Kee Joan M. Bussell Ms. Carol Camiener Janice & Larry Cohen Melissa Cohen Couzens, Lanksy, Fealk, Ellis, Roeder & Lazar P.C. Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo Janet & Robert Epstein James & Margo Farber Mr. Ronald Michalak Herman & Sharon Frankel Foundation Ms. Laurie R. Frankel Carolyn Gordon James Grant David & Rose Handleman Patti Kommel Barbara & Michael Kratchman Mark & Debbie Landau Sarah Larges

36

Stanley Lecznar Bryan & Susan Ludwig Mr. Richard McIntyre Richard & Kathleen Nauer Jan Rosen Bernard & Donna Rubin Barry & Deane Safir Layne Sakwa William & Marjorie Sandy Brian Slickis Dean Allan & Maya Rose Slickis Charles & Virginia Slickis Mr. Charles Slickis Wendy Starr Debra Wichterman Pauline Virgina Fucinari Martha Chamorro & Fernando Peralta Dr. David & Mrs. Yvonne Fucinari Terese, Carole & Mary Louise Ireland Marie Osborne Paul & Kathy Schneider Eugene Hillelfinger Wallace Ayotte Samson Crowl & Carolyn Crowl Karen Hodgson Dr. & Mrs. Stephan & Marian Loginsky Dr. Devon Hoover Michael Artman & Anita Shagena Richard A. Berg Mrs. Chris Bogojevich Ms. Stacey Cassis Patricia Cosgrove Konstantin Elisevich & Candace Eliesevich Delena A. Ickes Mr. David Edward Laski Dr. & Mrs. Stephan & Marian Loginsky Rozanne Paton Thomas Quilter DeAnne Spurlock Mary Stewart Dr. Andrey Volkov Herbert Wendt Dr. David Wu The Physicians of Great Lakes Cancer Management Specialists Stuart Itzkowitz & Larry Zimmerman Mrs. Sharon Skorupski

Alphonse Lucarelli John & Marilyn Belamaric Wayne S. Brown & Brenda Kee Mrs. Judith Christian Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo Stephanie M. Prechter Waltraud Prechter Matthew & Mona Simoncini Norma Stone Dawn Minch Dr. & Mrs. Stephan & Marian Loginsky Daniel Pehrson Larry Shulman Irene Piccone Teresa Gualtieri-Clark Peter Polidori Phyllis Pransky Nancy Rade Paula Lisa Cole David Schon Michael Schon Dr. Charles B. Smith Dr. Peggie J. Hollingsworth Anne Stricker Torben Winter & Linda Hall William P. Vititoe Stephen Economy Tamara Lehew Whitty Mrs. Phyllis Osler David Delos Woodard Ms. Dorothy Bennoune

Every effort has been made to accurately reflect donor and honoree/memorial names for gifts received between December 1, 2022, and January 31, 2024. Should you find an error or omission, please contact Zach Suchanek at zsuchanek@detroitopera.org or 313.237.3427 KEY * Deceased

THE DAVID DiCHIERA ARTISTIC FUND In remembrance of our founder and long-term general director, the David DiChiera Artistic Fund has been established to support and honor his artistic vision.

The fund enables Detroit Opera to produce compelling opera, present innovative dance, and engage with thousands of students and members of our community through our educational and outreach programs. Most importantly, it allows Detroit Opera to preserve David's legacy and his dedication to the young people of southeast Michigan, and young emerging artists from all over the country.

Detroit opera gratefully acknowledges the generous corporate, foundation, and individual donors whose gifts were made to the David DiChiera Artistic Fund before January 31, 2024.

INDIVIDUAL Joe Alcorn (in memory of Joan Hill) Richard & Mona* Alonzo Carl Angott & Tom Ball Pamela Applebaum Hon. Dennis W. Archer & Hon. Trudy Duncombe Archer Gordon & Pauline Arndt Timothy & Linda Arr Mr. Jeffrey Atto Kenan Bakirci Landis Beard Virginia Berberian (in memory of Joan Hill) Jere & Carole Berkey Henri & Anaruth Bernard Mr. Robert Hunt Berry Ms. Christine Jessica Berryman Martha & Peter Blom* (in memory of Joan Hill) Mrs. Judith B. Boesky Douglas & Rhonda Bonett Ms. Priscilla Bowen Wayne S. Brown & Brenda Kee Frank & Jenny Brzenk Ms. Patricia Byrne James & Susan Catlette Mr. Richard D. Cavaler Mrs. Judith Christian Howard & Judith Christie Mrs. Judith K. Christie Hon. Avern Cohn* & Ms. Lois Pincus Paula Lisa Cole Mr. Martin Collica Deborah L. Connelly (in honor of Nadine DeLeury) Holly Conroy (in honor of Nadine DeLeury) Carmen & Telman Constan

James & Diana Cornell Patricia Cosgrove Mr. John Craib-Cox Geoffrey Craig (in memory of Joan Hill) Mr. Stephen J. Cybulski Gail Danto & Arthur Roffey Dodie & Larry David Walter & Lillian Dean (in honor of Nadine DeLeury) Kevin Dennis & Jeremy Zeltzer Cristina DiChiera & Neal Walsh Lisa DiChiera Nicholas Dorochoff & Joe Beason Max Lepler & Rex L. Dotson Linda Dresner & Ed Levy, Jr. Mr. Keith Otis Edwards Ms. Elaine K. Ellison Marianne T. Endicott Daniel Enright Ms. Sundra Michelle Epps Beth Erman (in honor of Ruth Rattner) Paul & Mary Sue Ewing Sandra Fabris Barbara Fisher & William Gould Mr. Andrew D. Fisher Carl & Mary Ann Fontana Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel Peter & Nancy Gaess Lawrence & Ann Garberding Wika Gomez Mrs. Sylvia Graham Mr. William Greene William Greene & Peter McGreevy Kristina K. Gregg John & Kristan Hale

D E T R OI T O P ER A 37

T H E DAV ID D iC HIE R A A R T I S T IC F U N D (co ntin u e d)

Stephen Hartle Ms. Rhea Hill Ms. Rita Hoffmeister Ms. Anne M. Horner William & Sarah Hufford Patricia Jeflyn Dirk A. Kabcenell (in memory of Joan Hill) Mr. Martin Kagan Mrs. Ann F. Katz, Ph.D (in honor of Ruth Rattner) Ms. Francine C. Kearns-King Mr. & Mrs. Gerd H. Keuffel (in memory of Joan Hill) Colin Knapp Michael & Barbara Kratchman Mr. Jacob Krause (in memory of Manya Korkigian) Arthur & Nancy Ann Krolikowski James & Ellen Labes Chak & Beth Lai Mado Lie* Bryan R. Lind William & Jacqueline Lockwood Stephan & Marian Loginsky James LoPrete Stephen Lord Ms. Renee Lounsberry Alphonse S. Lucarelli* Mr. Evan R. Luskin Ms. Jennifer Marling Diana Marro Salazar Ms. Alex May Ms. Mary C. Mazure (in honor of Nadine DeLeury & Gregory Near) Nadine & Haden McKay Dr. Lisa Meils Ms. Lynne M. Metty Ali Moiin & William Kupsky Mary Rose & Bill Mueller Sarah Mumford Katharine Nipper Ms. Julia O'Brien Mr. & Mrs. Ralph A. Orlandi Mrs. Sally Orley Bonnie Padilla (in honor of Joan Hill) Charles & Mary Parkhill Nicole Patrick Christopher F. Patten Mr. Michael Poris Ms. Stephanie M. Prechter Mr. Wade Rakes II Rip & Gail Rapson Ms. Deborah Remer Ms. Marija D. Rich Pamela Rowland Ankur Rungta & Mayssoun Bydon Ms. Loretta W. Ryder

38

Barry & Deane Safir Dmitriy & Svetlana Sakharov William & Marjorie Sandy Professor Alvin & Mrs. Harriet Saperstein Dr. Mary J. Schlaff & Dr. Sanford Koltonow Mr. David Schon* Yuval Sharon Terry Shea & Seigo Nakao Dorienne Sherrod Peter & Mary Siciliano (in honor of Nadine DeLeury) Ted & Mary Ann Simon Matthew & Mona Simoncini Joe Skoney & Luisa Di Lorenzo Hugh Smith & Marsha Kindall-Smith Mr. Kendall Smith Lee & Bettye Smith Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes Ms. Janet Stevens Dr. Austin Stewart & Mr. Charlie Dill Ronald Switzer & Jim McClure Angela & Joseph Theis Mrs. Beverly A. Thomas Buzz Thomas & Daniel Vander Ley Ms. Patricia A. Thull Mr. Jason P. Tranchida Jeffrey Tranchida & Noel Baril Elliott & Patti Trumbull Barbara & Mat Vanderkloot Berwyn Lee Walker William & Martha Walsh Gary L. Wasserman & Charles A. Kashner Kevin & Andrea Webber Mr. Kevin Webber Bradford J. & Carol White R. Jamison & Karen Williams Peter Wilson (in honor of Nadine DeLeury) Blaire R. Windom Mary Lou Zieve

Corporations & Foundations AOM, LLC The Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Family Foundation J. Addison Bartush and Marion M. Bartush Educational Fund Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan DeRoy Testamentary Foundation The Kresge Foundation MOT Orchestra Fund Northern Trust Bank Pal Properties, LLC

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE DETROIT OPERA HOUSE The Detroit Opera Board of Directors began the first phase of fundraising for the Detroit Opera House capital improvements in January 2020. This multiphase capital campaign grew from recommendations identified in the facilities master plan completed by Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. Scheduled facility improvements and upgrades will shape the patron experience at the opera house for years to come.

We extend heartfelt thanks to the following donors who made contributions that enabled capital improvements to begin.

Leadership Gifts Ethan & Gretchen Davidson William Davidson Foundation National Endowment for the Humanities Matthew & Mona Simoncini

Campaign Contributors Naomi André Michael Azar Nancy Azizi Lee & Floy Barthel Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Gene P. Bowen Elizabeth Brooks Mr. Elliott Broom Wayne S. Brown & Brenda Kee Mrs. Judith Christian James & Elizabeth Ciroli Hon. Avern Cohn* & Ms. Lois Pincus John & Doreen Cole Mr. Adam Crysler & Dr. Oxana Crysler Joanne Danto & Arnold Weingarden Ms. Julia Donovan Darlow & Hon. John C. O'Meara Kevin Dennis & Jeremy Zeltzer Shauna Ryder Diggs, MD Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo

David & Carol Domina Mr. Cameron B. Duncan* Ms. Wendy L. Ecker Mr. Michael Einheuser Marianne T. Endicott Alex and Lil Erdeljan Foundation Fern Espino & Tom Short Carl & Mary Ann Fontana Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel Samuel* & Toby Haberman John & Kristan Hale Dr. Devon Hoover* Eleanor & Alan Israel Robert Jesurum & Christine Petrucci The Karen & Drew Peslar Foundation Ms. Velda Kelly Mary Kramer Michael & Barbara Kratchman Denise Lewis Alphonse S. Lucarelli* Don Manvel Marvin, Betty & Joanne Danto Family Foundation McGregor Fund Benjamin Meeker & Meredith Korneffel, MD

Ali Moiin & William Kupsky Donald & Antoinette Morelock Allan & Joy Nachman Philanthropic Fund James & Ann Nicholson Peter Oleksiak Ms. Linda Orlans Penske Corporation Mr. Shane Pliska Prof. Sara A. Pozzi, Ph.D. Waltraud Prechter Paul & Amy Ragheb Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner Ankur Rungta & Mayssoun Bydon Terry Shea & Seigo Nakao The Skillman Foundation Mr. Richard Slama SOLO World Partners LLC Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes The State of Michigan Lorna Thomas, MD Mr. & Mrs. C. Thomas Toppin Jesse & Yesenia Venegas R. Jamison & Karen Williams Ellen Hill Zeringue

Listing reflects gifts and pledges as of January 31, 2024, in alphabetical order.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 3 9

AVANTI SOCIETY MEMBERS ENSURING THE FUTURE Imagine a gift that outlives you, allowing future generations to experience and enjoy the world of opera and dance. That's the goal of the Avanti Society, Detroit Opera’s planned gift recognition program.

The Italian word Avanti means “ahead,” or “forward.” Detroit Opera’s Avanti Society represents a designated group of friends who have made plans to include Detroit Opera in their estates—whether by will, trust, insurance, or life income arrangement. We are grateful for the generosity and foresight of those listed below who have chosen to declare their intentions and join the Avanti Society.

Thank You Avanti Society Members!

Sarah Allison

David & Jennifer Fischer

Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya§

Mr. & Mrs. Herb Fisher§

Mr. & Mrs. Agustin Arbulu§

Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak§#

Josephine Kessler

Dr. Leora Bar-Levav

Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel§#

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Klein#

Mr. & Mrs. Lee Barthel

Mr. & Mrs. Harvey Freeman*

Mr. & Mrs. Erwin H. Klopfer§#

Mr. & Mrs. Brett Batterson§

The Edward P. Frohlich Trust

Misses Phyllis & Selma Korn§ *

Mr. W. Victor Benjamin

Mrs. Jane Shoemaker French

Myron & Joyce LaBan

Dr. & Mrs. Byron P. Georgeson§

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Bowlby

Albert & Barbara Glover

Mr. Max Lepler & Mr. Rex Dotson

Mrs. Doreen Bull

Robert Green

Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.

Mr.* & Mrs. Roy E. Calcagno§

Mr. Ernest Gutierrez

Mr. Hannan Lis

The Gladys L. Caldroney Trust

Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Hagopian

Florence LoPatin

Dr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Carson

Mr. Lawrence W. Hall§

Mr. Stephen H. Lord

Dr.* & Mrs. Victor J. Cervenak

Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Halperin

Father Paul F. Chateau

Ms. Heather Hamilton

Mary Christner

Charlene Handleman

Ms. Jane McKee§

Mr. Gary L. Ciampa

Preston & Mary Happel

Bruce Miller

Ms. Virginia M. Clementi

Mr. Kenneth E. Hart

Hon. Avern Cohn* & Ms. Lois Pincus

Mr. & Mrs. Eugene L. Hartwig

Prof. Kenneth Collinson

Ms. Nancy B. Henk

Douglas & Minka Cornelsen

Mrs. Fay Herman

Dr. Robert A. Cornette§#

Derek & Karen* Hodgson

Mr.* & Mrs. Tarik Daoud§#

Andrew & Carol Howell

Mr. Randal Darby

Dr. Cindy Hung§

Mr. Thomas J. Delaney

Eleanor & Alan Israel

Walter & Adel Dissett

Ms. Kristin Jaramillo§

Ms. Mary J. Doerr#

Mr. Donald Jensen§

Mr.* & Mrs. Chester Arnold§

Mr.* & Mrs. Art Blair

§

Mrs. Charles M. Endicott Mr. Wayne C. Everly

40

§#

Edward & Barbara Klarman

Ms. Denise Lutz

§

Laura & Mitchell Malicki

Drs. Orlando & Dorothy Miller§

§

Dr. & Mrs. Gerhardt A. Hein

Mrs. Helen Ophelia Dove-Jones

Mr. Patrick J.* & Mrs. Stephanie Germack Kerzic

Mr. John Jesser Mr. John Jickling Maxwell & Marjorie Jospey

§

Ms. Monica Moffat & Mr. Pat McGuire Drs. Stephen & Barbara Munk Miss Surayyah Muwwakkil Mr. Jonathan F. Orser Ms. Julie A. Owens Mr. Dale J. Pangonis§ Mr. & Mrs. Charles A. Parkhill Mr. Richard M. Raisin§ Mrs. Ruth F. Rattner§# Ms. Deborah Remer Dr. Joshua Rest Mr. & Mrs. James Rigby§

Mr. Bryan L. Rives Ms. Patricia Rodzik§ David & Beverly Rorabacher Dulcie Rosenfeld Concetta Ross* Professor Alvin & Mrs. Harriet Saperstein Ms. Susan Schooner§ Mark & Sally Schwartz Drs. Heinz & Alice Platt Schwarz§ Mrs. Frank C. Shaler§ Ms. Ellen Sharp Ms. Edna J. Pak Shin Mr. & Mrs. Harold Siebert Mrs. Loretta Skewes Ms. Anne Sullivan Smith Ms. Phyllis Funk Snow§ Mr.* & Mrs. Richard Starkweather§#+ Ms. Mary Anne Stella Mr. Stanford C. Stoddard Dr. Jonathan Swift* & Mr. Thomas A. St. Charles§ Mr. Ronald F. Switzer§ Lillie Tabor Mary Ellen Tappan Charitable Remainder Trust Peter & Ellen Thurber Alice* & Paul Tomboulian Mr. Edward D. Tusset§ Jonathan & Salome E. Walton Susan Weidinger Mrs. Amelia H. Wilhelm§# Mrs. Ruth Wilkins Mr. Andrew Wise Mr. & Mrs. Larry Zangerle

We express profound thanks to these Avanti Society members whose planned gifts to Detroit Opera have been received.

Robert G. Abgarian Trust Mr. & Mrs. Robert Allesee # Serena Ailes Stevens Mr. & Mrs. J. Addison Bartush§# Mr. & Mrs. Mandell Berman Margaret & Douglas Borden Charles M. Broh Milena T. Brown Charlotte Bush Failing Trust Mary C. Caggegi Allen B. Christman Miss Halla F. Claffey Robert C. & RoseAnn B. Comstock Mary Rita Cuddohy Marjorie E. DeVlieg Nancy Dewar James P. Diamond Dr. David DiChiera Mrs. Karen V. DiChiera Dr. & Mrs. Charles H. Duncan§ Mrs. Anne E. Ford Ms. Pamela R. Francis§ Mrs. Rema Frankel Barbara Lucking Freedman The Priscilla A.B. Goodell Trust Freda K. Goodman Trust Priscilla R. Greenberg, Ph.D.§# Maliha Hamady Patricia Hobar Mary Adelaide Hester Trust Gordon V. Hoialmen Trust Carl J. Huss H. Barbara Johnston Mrs. Josephine Kleiner Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Krolikowski§ Mr. Philip Leon Dores & Wade McCree

Lucie B. Meininger Helen M. Miller Ella M. Montroy Ronald K. Morrison Ruth Mott Elizabeth M. Pecsenye Clarice Odgers Percox Trust Thomas G. Porter Mitchell Romanowski Ms. Joanne B. Rooney Mr. & Mrs. Giles L. & Beverly Ross Ms. Merle H. Scheibner Ms. Laura Sias Mrs. Marge Slezak Edward L. Stahl Dr. Mildred Ponder Stennis Margaret D. Thurber Mr. & Mrs. George & Inge Vincent§# Herman W. Weinreich J. Ernest Wilde Trust Helen B. Wittenberg Mr. & Mrs. Walter & Elizabeth Work§ Joseph J. Zafarana Mr. & Mrs. George M. Zeltzer§

KEY §

Founding Members

#

Touch the Future donors

* Deceased members Membership in the Avanti Society is open to all who wish to declare their intention for a planned gift to Detroit Opera. To learn more, call Juliano Bitonti Stewart at 313.965.4271.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 41

PHOTO BY K A RLI CA DEL / THE GLIM MER GL A S S FESTI VAL

SAT UR DAY, A PR IL 20 @ 2:30P M, DE T ROI T OPER A HOUSE

Tickets A DULTS: $35 STUDENTS AGES 6-17: $15

Odyssey

by Ben Moore and Kelley Rourke

CHILDREN 5 A ND UNDER,

Originally commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival

TO PURCH A SE TICKETS:

Detroit Opera Youth Chorus will be the stars of Ben Moore and Kelley Rourke’s full-length opera Odyssey. Homer’s epic tale of a hero’s journey home has been wedded to the singing voice in this action-packed, colorful operatic rendition. “Odyssey…with an ebullient, lyrical score by Ben Moore and a witty, tightly-rhymed libretto by Kelley Rourke, is more than just an opera for young audiences…it’s an opera for all ages.”

(Opera News) DOYC will hold auditions for the 2024-25 Season in May and June.

Please email tnash@detroitopera.org for more information.

FREE!

bit.ly/DOYCOd yssey FOR MORE INFO:

tna sh@detroitopera.org

School groups are invited to attend a final dress rehearsal on Friday, April 19 at 11:00am. All seats, just $10. Visit bit.ly/ DOYCOdyssey to fi ll out a group reservation form.

Supported by

IN TRIBUTE: WAYNE S. BROWN Wayne S. Brown succeeded David DiChiera as Detroit Opera’s President & CEO in 2014, leading the company for a remarkable 10 years until his retirement in December 2023. At the time of his appointment, Wayne pledged to find inspiring new artistic leadership for Detroit Opera. This charge was fulfilled with outstanding success, with the appointments of Yuval Sharon as the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director, Christine Goerke as Associate Artistic Director, and Roberto Kalb as Music Director.

Upon his retirement, Detroit Opera’s Board of Directors honored Wayne with the establishment of a tribute fund in his honor, to recognize his decade of leadership and achievements. Commemorated by the renaming of our stage door entrance as “Wayne’s Way,” gifts to the Wayne S. Brown Tribute Fund support a vital program that grew under his leadership: the Detroit Opera Resident Artist Program. Led by Christine Goerke and Nathalie Doucet, the Detroit Opera Resident Artist program has quickly gained national recognition, cultivating the next generation of opera talent.

Gifts from the Wayne S. Brown Tribute Fund will provide necessary funds to name a Resident Artist position in his honor through the 2024-2025 season.

Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges the generous donors whose gifts were made to the Wayne S. Brown Tribute Fund before March 1, 2024.

Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya

Barbara & Michael Kratchman

Barbra Bloch

Denise Lewis

Gene P. Bowen

Arthur & Nancy Liebler

Richard & Joanne Brodie

Stephan & Marian Loginsky

Philip Brunelle James & Elizabeth Ciroli

Hon. Jack Martin & Dr. Bettye Arrington-Martin

Larry & Dodie David

Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky

Ethan & Gretchen Davidson

Allan & Joy Nachman

Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo

James & Ann Nicholson

Linda Dresner & Edward Levy Jr.

William & Wendy Powers

Marianne Endicott

Prof. Sara A Pozzi, Ph.D

Alex Erdeljan

Waltraud Prechter

Fern Espino & Tom Short

Ted & Carrie Pryor

Paul & Mary Sue Ewing

Ruth Rattner

Mary Lou Falcone

Irvin & Pamela Reid

Carl & Mary Ann Fontana

Anthony & Sabrina Rugiero

Bharat & Lynn Gandhi

Ankur Rungta & Mayssoun Bydon

John & Kristan Hale

Matthew & Mona Simoncini

Ellen Hill Zeringue

Dr. Lorna Thomas

Patty Isacson Sabee & David Sabee

Jesse & Yesenia Venegas

Kent & Amy Jidov

R. Jamison & Karen Williams

Ms. Jill Johnson

Rita Winters

Mary Kramer D E T R OI T O P ER A 4 3

Detroit Opera

Podcast Network Whether you’re at home, on a lake, or in your car, you can listen to Detroit Opera podcasts. OperaHERE examines historical contexts of operas and features personal interviews with members of the cast and creative team. You can also catch our Pre-Opera Talks, which occur before each live performance, where you’ll be able to hear from members of the Detroit Opera company.

Follow and subscribe to our podcasts wherever you listen and stay tuned for more episodes.

Volunteers

Have Fun For lovers of opera, dance, theater, history, and community.

Volunteers are the heart of Detroit Opera and the Detroit Opera House.

Volunteers perform a number of vital tasks — not only ushering.

You’ll have fun and make new friends as a volunteer at Detroit Opera.

Learn more at DetroitOpera.org/volunteer or e-mail us at volunteer@DetroitOpera.org

F U N F R I E N D S G I V I N G S E R V I C E S H A R I N G CA R I N G C O M M U N I T Y O P E R A DA N C E S H OWS B E A U T Y H I S T O R Y I N T E R A C T I O N T H E AT R E

To join Detroit Opera Volunteer Association or for more information, please visit

DetroitOpera.org/volunteer

DETROIT OPERA ADMINISTRATION & STAFF LEADERSHIP

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Patty Isacson Sabee, President & CEO

Alaina Brown, Program Coordinator

Yuval Sharon, Gary L.Wasserman Artistic Director Christine Goerke, Associate Artistic Director

Branden Hood, Program Manager Mark Vondrak, Associate Director/Tour Manager

HOUSE OPERATIONS

Roberto Kalb, Music Director

Juan Benavides, Building Engineer

DEPARTMENT HEADS

Jennifer George-Consiglio, Manager of Venue Operations

Andrew Berg, Chief Development Officer Daniel T. Brinker, General Manager, Detroit Opera House & Parking Center Alexis Means, Director of Operations & Patron Experience

Kathie Booth, Volunteer Coordinator

Dennis Wells, Facilities Manager Holly Clement, Senior Manager of Events & Rentals Emily White, Events Coordinator

Rock Monroe, Director of Safety & Security, DOH & DOHPC

FINANCE

Shawn Rieschl Johnson, Director of Production

Rita Winters, Accountant

Samantha Teter, Chief Marketing Officer Ataul Usman, Director of Human Resources Arthur White, Director of External Affairs

ADMINISTRATION William Austin, Executive Assistant Christy Gray, Office Administrator Laura Nealssohn, Board Liaison Timothy Lentz, Archivist & Director, Detroit Opera Archive & Resource Library

Kimberley Burgess, Accountant

HUMAN RESOURCES Josh Kozakowski, HR Coordinator

PATRON SERVICES

Development Chelsea Kotula, Director of Institutional Giving Valentino Peacock, Development Operations Coordinator Zach Suchanek, Manager of Annual Giving

Catherine Staples, Associate Archivist, Detroit Opera Archive & Resource Library

Juliano Bitonti Stewart, Director of Development

Bryce Rudder, Digital Asset Manager & Senior Librarian, Detroit Opera Archive & Resource Library

Katrina Fasulo, Associate Major Gifts Officer

Michael Hauser, Curator of Architecture & History

Marketing/Public Relations Jennifer Melick, Communications & Media Relations Manager Austin Richey, Digital Media Manager & Storyteller Anna Herscher, Lead Graphic Designer Deirdre Michael, Website Administrator

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BOX OFFICE

Wigs & Makeup

Amy Brown, Senior Manager of Ticketing & Box Office Operations

Elizabeth Geck, Local Crew Coordinator

Evan Carr, System Administrator Ellen Smith, Group Sales Associate Stephanie Stoiko, Assistant Box Office Manager Emily Lange, Box Office Associate

Erika Broderdorf, Denise Llombart, Mallory Maxton, Nicole Pangas, Cedasha Randolph, Wig & Makeup Crew Kaitlyn Denzler, Swing

Stage Crew John Kinsora, Head Carpenter

Mark Ujkstivani, Box Office Associate

Frederick Graham, Head Electrician

ARTISTIC DEPARTMENT

Gary Gilmore, Production Electrician

Nathalie Doucet, Head of Music & Director of Resident Artist Program

Pat McGee, Head Propertyman

Matthew Principe, Director of Media & Special Projects

Pat Tobin, Head Flyman

Melany Janer, Administrative Assistant

Chris Baker, Head of Sound Dee Dorsey, Surtitle Operator John Costa, Video Programmer

DANCE

Mary Ellen Shuffett, Head of Wardrobe

Jon Teeuwissen, Artistic Advisor for Dance

IATSE Local #38 Stage Crew

Kim Smith, Dance Coordinator

IATSE Local #786 Wardrobe

PRODUCTION

DETROIT OPERA YOUTH CHORUS

Administration

Suzanne Mallare Acton, Director

Elizabeth Anderson, Production Coordinator & Artistic Administrator

Twannette Nash, Chorus Administrator

Kathleen Bennett, Production Administrator

Jane Panikkar, Preparatory Chorus Conductor

Technical & Design Staff Jeff Beyersdorf, Technical Director Brodrick Whittley, Assistant Technical Director

Joseph Jackson, Accompanist

Maria Cimarelli, Preparatory Chorus Accompanist

SAFETY & SECURITY

Moníka Essen, Property Master

Lt. Lorraine Monroe

Kaila Madison, Technical Assistant

Sgt. Demetrius Newbold

Music

Officer Gary Cabean

Suzanne Mallare Acton, Assistant Music Director & Chorus Master

Officer A.M. Hightower

Molly Hughes, Orchestra Personnel Manager Jean Posekany, Orchestra Librarian

Costumes Suzanne Hanna, Costume Director Michaela Tanskley, Wardrobe Supervisor Patricia Sova, First Hand Mary Ellen Shuffett, Fitting Assistant Maureen Abele, Dylan McBride, Paul Moran, Rachel Parrott, Lupe Vazquez, Stitchers

Officer Sullivan Horton

USHERS Max Aghili, Christine Berryman, Ellen Bishop, Kathie Booth, Lori Burkhardt, Sharon Cardeccia, Randall Davis, Dianne Deinek, Suzanne Erbes, Pamela Fergusson, Erin Gaston-Doakes, Jo-Ann Hale, Marilyn Luberti, Sydney May, Myrna Mazure, Ennis Mcgee, Heddie O’Connor, Edna Rubin, Ida Vance

D E T R OI T O P ER A 47

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY Please observe the lighted exit signs located throughout the theater. In the event of an emergency, remain calm and walk, do not run, to the nearest exit.

Ushers and security personnel are trained to assist. An emergency medical technician (EMT) is on-site during most events. Contact an usher or staff member if you need medical assistance.

GUEST SERVICES­: Vincent Lobby and Broadway Lounge There are a variety of amenities for your comfort and use located in both guest services locations. Wheelchairs, booster seats*, earplugs, assisted listening devices, feminine hygiene products, basic first aid items, and more are complimentary and available for your convenience. Coat check is also available.

The Vincent Lobby is located on the Madison Street side of the building and the Broadway Lounge is located on the Broadway Street side of the building. *Limited quantity

PHOTOGRAPHY, RECORDING, AND CELL PHONE USE Photography and/or recording during any performance is strictly prohibited.

Photographs taken in the lobby areas, before or after a performance, and during intermission are welcome. As a courtesy to all guests, please turn off all electronic devices and refrain from use during the performance.

RESTROOMS Women’s restrooms are located off the Ford Lobby (Broadway Street entrance) and down the stairs, and on third floor (Madison Street entrance). Men’s restrooms are located under the Grand Staircase and on the third floor (Broadway Street side). There are two sets of elevators or stairs available to access all third-floor restrooms. All third-floor restrooms are wheelchair accessible (women’s restroom, press 3R in the elevator). There are single-use unisex wheelchair accessible restrooms on the first floor of the Broadway Street side of the building and the Madison Street side of the building. There is also a wheelchair accessible women’s restroom on the Broadway Street side of the building.

NO SMOKING The Detroit Opera House is a non-smoking facility. This includes e-cigarettes, vapes, and other “smokeless” products.

USHERS Ushers are stationed throughout the building to assist patrons as needed.

Please direct questions, concerns, and feedback to them during your visit.

Enjoy volunteering? Please go to guest services or the Detroit Opera website, detroitopera.org/volunteers, for information on becoming a volunteer.

LOST AND FOUND During the performance, lost and found is located in guest services.

Unclaimed items are logged and taken to the Safety and Security office after each performance. To inquire about a misplaced or lost item, please call 313.961.3500. Items left over 30 days will be discarded or donated.

RECORDING IN PROGRESS Entry and presence on the event premises constitute your consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded, and to the release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction of any and all recorded media for any purpose whatsoever in perpetuity in connection with Detroit Opera and its initiatives. By entering the event premises, you waive and release any claims you may have related to the use of recorded media of you at the event.

Detroit Opera is a proud member of

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restaurant | ghostbar | gardens

A Spirited Place to End Your Evening Join us in The Ghostbar for after-show cocktails and desserts.

Pastries, flaming desserts and specialty beverages Dessert reservations available

4421 Woodward Avenue, Detroit | 313.832.5700 | thewhitney.com