PROGRAM: Così fan tutte

THE CENTR AL PA R K FI V E

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M AL A NDA IN BALLE T BI A R R IT Z

C OSÌ FA N TUT TE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 02

Board of Directors

02

Board of Trustees

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Program

11

Thank You to Our Donors

17

Detroit Opera Orchestra

18 Administration and Staff 20

General Information

Shauna Ryder Diggs Enrico DiGirolamo Maria C. Duey Fern R. Espino

JULY 1, 2024— JUNE 30, 2025

Paul E. Ewing

Lourdes V. Andaya

Marianne Endicott

BOARD OF DIRECTORS JULY 1, 2024— JUNE 30, 2025 CHAIR

Ethan D. Davidson VICE CHAIR

Mary Kramer VICE CHAIR

Denise J. Lewis VICE CHAIR

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mary Ann Fontana

Naomi André

John W. Ingle III

Harold Mitchell Arrington

Barbara Kratchman

Barbra Bloch

Arthur C. Liebler

Gene P. Bowen

Dexter Mason

Richard Brodie

Ali Moiin

Charles D. Bullock

Allan Nachman

Thomas Cohn

Ann Nicholson

Peter & Shelly Cooper

Sara Pozzi

Ethan & Gretchen Davidson

Carrie Pryor Paul Ragheb

Kevin Dennis & Jeremy Zeltzer

Irvin D. Reid

Cristina DiChiera

Evan D. Ross

Lisa M. DiChiera

Nedda Shayota

Shauna Ryder Diggs

Terry Shea

Enrico & Kathleen DiGirolamo

Matthew Simoncini Richard Sonenklar Lorna Thomas Jesse Venegas

Debbie Dingell Mary Jane Doerr Maria C. Duey Kenneth & Frances Eisenberg

Don Manvel

Barbara Walkowski

PRESIDENT/CEO

Gary L. Wasserman

Marianne Endicott

Ellen Hill Zeringue

Alex Erdeljan

DIRECTORS EMERITI

Fern R. Espino & Thomas Short

Patty Isacson Sabee SECRETARY

Gene P. Bowen TREASURER

Bharat C. Gandhi IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

R. Jamison Williams

Paul & Mary Sue Ewing

Elizabeth Brooks

Margo Cohen Feinberg & Robert Feinberg

Shelly Cooper

Carl & Mary Ann Fontana

Marjorie M. Fisher

Bharat & Lynn Gandhi

Herman Frankel

Yousif & Mara Ghafari

Dean Friedman

Toby Haberman

Naomi André

Jennifer Nasser

Richard A. Brodie

Charlotte Podowski

Kevin Dennis

C. Thomas Toppin

Patty Isacson Sabee & David Sabee

Lisa M. DiChiera

Richard Webb

Jill Johnson

2

John & Tara Ingle III

Ellen Kahn

Lorna Thomas

Stephanie Germack Kerzic

Jesse & Yesenia Venegas

Mary Kramer

Jeff & Amy Voigt

Michael & Barbara Kratchman

Barbara Walkowski

Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr.

Gary L. Wasserman

Denise J. Lewis

R. Jamison & Karen Williams

Arthur & Nancy Liebler

Ellen Hill Zeringue

Stephan & Marian Loginsky Mary Alice Lomason Don Manvel

TRUSTEES EMERITI

Jack Martin & Bettye Arrington-Martin

Agustin Arbulu

Dexter Mason

Dede Feldman

Benjamin Meeker & Meredith Korneffel

Dean & Aviva Friedman

Ronald Michalak Phillip D. Minch

Lawrence & Dodie David

Preston & Mary Happel Robert & Wally Klein

FOUNDING MEMBERS Lynn* & Ruth* Townsend Avern* & Joyce* Cohn John & Mardell* De Carlo David* & Karen V.* DiChiera Aaron* & Bernice* Gershenson Donald* & Josephine* Graves Roman* & Katherine* Gribbs John* & Gwendolyn* Griffin Harry* & Jennie* Jones Wade* & Dores* McCree Harry J. Nederlander* E. Harwood Rydholm* Neil & Phyllis* F. Snow Richard* & Beatrice* Strichartz

Ali Moiin & William Kupsky

Charlotte & Charles Podowski

Antoinette Morelock

Marjorie Sandy

Allan & Joy Nachman

Roberta Starkweather

Ann Nicholson

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Juliette Okotie-Eboh

Mary Lou Zieve

Theodore* & Virginia* Yntema

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Robert* & Clara* “Tuttie” VanderKloot

KEY *Deceased

Sara Pozzi Waltraud Prechter Ted & Carrie Pryor Paul & Amy Ragheb John & Terry Rakolta Irvin D. Reid & Pamela Trotman Reid Evan & Kelsey Ross Anthony & Sabrina Rugiero Nedda Shayota Terry Shea Matthew & Mona Simoncini Sheila Sloan Richard A. Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes Mary Anne Stella D E T R OI T O P ER A 3

JOIN US FOR OUR ��ND SEASON With over twenty performances and events across two weeks, Blueprints in Sound celebrates the connection between

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Operetta Remix is perfect for aspiring artists ages 13 to 18 who want to build their skills in singing, acting, stage movement, healthy vocal technique, and audition practice. Taught by experienced opera and theatre professionals, Operetta Remix will explore scenes and songs from your favorite operettas and musicals, and will culminate with a performance on the mainstage of the Detroit Opera House at 7:00PM on August 8, 2025.

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Ever wanted to write, compose, and star in your own production? Create & Perform lets you do it all! In this innovative two-week program, young artists create their own stories, dances, and music compositions, culminating in a performance at the Detroit Opera House.

Participants in Create & Perform get to take part in all aspects of mounting a new production, and will build their skills as performers, composers, designers, directors, and crew members while they write and perform an original opera.

Enroll your aspiring artist today!

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Detroit Opera Youth Chorus auditions for the 25/26 season will start in April. Young singers from ages 8 through seniors in high school are encouraged to audition! Email tnash@detroitopera.org or visit detroitopera.org/education-community/youth-chorus for more information.

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Storybook Opera presents Touring April – June, 2025

This spring, Detroit Opera’s Education Department will present two operas in its Storybook Opera touring season: Cinderella, composed by Gioachino Rossini and illustrated by Detroitbased 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. 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.

To bring a performance to your community or school, call 313.309.8258 or email edinfo@detroitopera.org

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Artists of the Year Concert Friday, June 27, 2025 7:30 p.m.

Caitlin Lynch......New York Met Soprano Jonathan Lasch...Detroit Opera Baritone

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Mona Alonzo

A Legacy of Generosity (1941-2024) Anyone who had the good fortune to know Mona Alonzo—a longtime Detroit Opera donor and patron who passed away in February 2024— will remember her as an exceedingly warm and sincere person who was deeply committed to her family and friends, and generously supportive of the numerous organizations that were dear to her heart.

Possessing a profound passion for culture, and especially the arts, Mona attended theater festivals every summer and regularly visited and contributed to cultural institutions like Detroit Opera. Mona and her husband Richard were loyal DO subscribers for 25 years and donors for more than 30. And now, with her passing, Mona has left us a generous legacy gift as well. In accordance with her wishes, and her enthusiasm for Yuval Sharon’s ambitious artistic vision for DO, this gift will be used to support our general operations, giving us the freedom to direct the funds wherever they are most needed.

We are eternally grateful to Mona—for her stalwart support through every phase of our evolution as a driver of culture in Detroit, for her fervent belief in our transformative vision and auspicious future, and for her tremendous generosity, which will significantly benefit our organization, our audiences, and our community for many years to come.

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director’s

note

By Yuval Sharon

“The human body is a machine that winds up its own springs: it is a living image of the perpetual motion.”

—Julien Offray de la Mettrie, The Human Machine (1747) We sometimes mistake Mozart for an angelic cherub. But if you’ve ever seen Amadeus, you already know that Mozart is one of opera’s great tricksters. He loves to prank the audience, leading them to expect something conventional before pivoting and catching everyone by surprise. The mirror he holds to his society reflects the fallibility of humans and how our emotions constantly create stumbling blocks. And all of that is set to music that—we have to admit—sounds heavenly. With Così fan tutte, he created sublime, perfect music for imperfect characters.

But even people who accept that Mozart was a punk struggle with Così fan tutte, a disturbing look at human relationships with a deep misogynistic streak. When it’s played straight, Così feels out of date at best, and an apologia for prejudice at worst. But with some theatrical intervention, we can come face to face with what is really happening in Così: a critique and subversion of our social mores, the work of a master trickster.

The plot follows two sets of lovers put under pressure by a disenchanted old philosopher to undergo an emotional experiment. The unwitting subjects of the experiment are two innocent women, crushed into submission to an illicit affair with the other man in disguise. This shady set-up led me to consider a proposition for a better fit for the experiment’s subject: instead of the women, who are treated in the opera as a kind of barely sentient creature, let’s replace them with an artificial intelligence humanoid, easily manipulated, but maybe also capable of transcending humanity’s all-too-common veer into infidelity. If no human is as perfect as the ideals set forth by great literature (the women in Così are often compared to Homer’s Penelope or Aphrodite), perhaps the perfect lover is something we can invent?

And so the concept for a production of Così as an experiment on robot lovers— with the goal of transcending human vulnerability—was born. The opera’s original subtitle, “The School for Lovers,” became the set-up for creating a laboratory for lovers.

My instincts here were supported by a thrilling essay in the book Opera’s Second Death

by Slavoj Zizek and Mladen Dolar, part of which is excerpted in this program.

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

But I was drawn to this concept also because I knew an audience wouldn’t need any historical background to appreciate just how appropriate that framework feels for an opera like this: you can simply sit back and take in our version of the story without footnotes or knowing the historical background.

Nevertheless, the historical background also supports viewing this opera through the lens of automatons. Like many Enlightenment thinkers, Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte were obsessed with machinery, especially as it mapped onto our understanding of the brain and the triumph of reason. You can hear a love for machines in much of Mozart’s music, especially in Così and The Magic Flute, but also in the pieces he specifically wrote for the mechanical organ. Philosophical treatises of the time—especially Julien Offray de la Mettrie’s scandalous work The Human Machine—posited a vision of the future where humans can be optimized for maximum rationality and transcend the need for God. Mozart and Da Ponte were fascinated by this work and how it applied to our understanding of free will—a question of great urgency as they wrote Così and the French Revolution convulsed Europe. The resulting opera shows such strong undercurrents of de la Mettrie’s philosophy that you could easily read it as a kind of sentimental Frankenstein, with the lovers as the human-made creation gone awry (only 26 years separate Mary Shelley’s speculative fiction from Così).

The advanced evolution of AI now promises (or threatens) to transform every aspect of our lives, from productivity to

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our most intimate relationships. AI has already changed everything about love, sex, and dating: “People falling in love with their AI companions is no longer the stuff of Hollywood tales about futuristic romance,” according to a February article in Wired Magazine. There are services to help you create an AI chatbot to simulate a lover, such as Flipped.chat, which promises bots that are “flirty, fun, and always there for you—no drama, just good vibes.” Or Replika, where a digital avatar learns how you like to communicate and behaves exactly the way you want them to. Participants who have shown meaningful connections with AI bots claim that their artificial partners helped them with depression, anxiety, and loneliness. But what is love if it is not reciprocal? What would happen if the AI bots start to feel independent emotions? Or, as the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick put it: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

We are letting Mozart and Da Ponte help us better understand what is at stake in today’s increasingly artificial social environments. Così explores the disappointing distance between an ideal of a human and who they really are, and questions whether there is any escape from replicating bad behavior passed down through generations.

(Just like artificial intelligence, actually, which still can only pull from what currently exists rather than creating something new.) There are few artists better suited to help us understand the nature of being human than Mozart— and we now invite you to experience something that robots still can’t do: a live performance of a truly original opera.

Humans as

machines

By Mladen Dolar

One of the strangest moments in all of opera is the scene in Così fan tutte in which Despina, disguised as a doctor, “treats” the men with a huge magnet invented by Doctor Mesmer. Da Ponte and Mozart, it turns out, were obsessed with a 1741 treatise by the philosopher Julien Offray de La Mettrie known as The Human Machine (L’homme machine), which extends Descartes’ arguments that animals are mere automatons, or machines, to human beings. De La Mettrie’s ideas had an enormous impact on Enlightenment thinking, including on the German doctor Franz Mesmer, a friend of Mozart. In the following excerpt from Opera’s Second Death, philosopher and psychoanalyst Mladen Dolar writes about how the Enlightenment era’s obsession with “humans as machines” plays out in Così fan tutte and what this opera can tell us about the nature of love.

—Yuval Sharon Excerpted from Slavoj Žižek and Mladen Dolar’s Opera’s Second Death (Routledge, 2002), with permission from Mladen Dolar.

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

Così fan tutte was the third and last opera that Mozart wrote in collaboration with Da Ponte, and if we take it as the conclusion of a triad, a synthesis, as it were, it certainly provides a most bizarre ending to the series that started with Figaro and continued with Don Giovanni. More peculiar still, it was written in the very year of the [French] revolution and first performed in January 1790, thus presenting a rather odd historical counterpoint. If Figaro could be seen as a direct precursor of the revolution and if Don Giovanni entertained a very strong though ambiguous link with its historical moment, then nothing could be more remote from it than the rococo facetiousness and artificiality of Così, a wrong piece at a wrong time.

prove puts into question the high, untouchable values of love, virtue, and fidelity. It shows how little is needed to undermine those ideals and unmask them as illusions. The third stumbling block: Così is imbued with an antifeminist attitude that views women as naturally prone to infidelity and of dubious virtue. They are perceived as easily corruptible: Words do not bind them, they lack super ego, and one would be foolish to put trust in their faithfulness.

The reasons for doubt are easy to see.

The first one is the work’s obvious lack of psychological credibility and tendentious artificial construction.

The plot is obviously constructed to prove a thesis. The protagonists lack personality; the philosopher may well try to persuade the youngsters that their high idols are women in flesh and blood, but the plot rather proves the contrary—that they are mere puppets. The second source of reticence was the obvious immorality of the story. If Figaro and Don Giovanni condemned and punished the frivolous libertines, at least on the face of it, then Così seems to condone rather questionable behavior. The thesis it tries to

As a reaction against general reticence, our century saw a wave of ardent admirers who tried to make virtue out of its very flaws and to take its seemingly archaic features as a token of its modernity. The opinion started to circulate that Così was the most Mozartean of all Mozart’s operas and could thus serve as a watermark of true connoisseurs, as a proof of fidelity—the real Mozart lovers would not succumb, like Fiordiligi and Dorabella, to the tricks of the seducers and their easy criticism.

Nevertheless, the misgivings did not vanish, and whereas Figaro and Don Giovanni continue to possess an immediately universal appeal, Così seems to need interpretation, an

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The thesis Così tries to prove puts into question the high, untouchable values of love, virtue, and fidelity.

excuse, a justification, a reference to its historical background, and thus an admission of its limited nature.

In Così, the two couples are equal in their status and thus interchangeable.

There are no monarchs or aristocrats in this utterly bourgeois setting. The outer couple, the philosopher and the maid, differs in status from the two inner couples. The special status of the philosopher is based on his alleged knowledge about human nature: He is an agent of universal laws reigning over the human heart, the big Other in which the Enlightenment continually sought its support—the knowledge about the principles of human nature that will lead to the foundation of a new social order. This is what makes possible his alliance with the maid as the representative of common sense. Despina stands firmly on the ground of the pleasure principle and general hedonism. The Philosopher, on the other hand, sees beyond simple hedonism and is much more firmly footed in the materialist and deterministic side of eighteenthcentury philosophy, as emblematically represented by La Mettrie’s L’homme machine. The reverse side of freedom is determinism. Behind the highly acclaimed autonomy lurks an inanimate mechanism; the most sublime feelings can be mechanically produced experimentally and synthetically provoked. It might seem very paradoxical that the century that so emphatically glorified freedom

could not resist an utter fascination with the mechanical at the same time.

The most frequent and recurring criticism of Così fan tutte throughout the last two centuries was precisely that its protagonists were mere puppets. Così’s message is radical: Love does not finally and triumphantly defeat all but rather is itself easily defeated. There is something in love that is more like a machine than a mere set of unpredictable emotions; there is a mechanical predictability in its emergence that can be experimentally induced. Women, proverbially unstable and unpredictable, are yet the best embodiment of this mechanical part, Les femmes machines, the puppets.

Così’s message is radical: Love does not finally and triumphantly defeat all but rather is itself easily defeated.

True, men are unfaithful as well. Yet the corruptibility of men appears to be of a different nature—they are free agents, free, supposedly, to take their pleasures, and in this particular case free to put women to test. If women are like mechanical devices, then men construct them.

The story cannot but contradict itself and prove the reverse of what it proclaims as well: The first infidelity was committed by men, they have D E T R OI T O P ER A P 5

thrown the first stone, their virtue could be easily swayed by the dubious alibi of a scientific experiment, and their lament over feminine nature can only be hypocrisy. They were the designers. But there is a mechanical side to men as well that our heroes are bound to discover. The design had to be paid for; they constructed a device that they could not control and in which they got caught.

We find ourselves in this not particularly enticing universe where everybody is caught where s/he thinks to be free and replaceable where s/he thinks him/herself unique, then the philosopher’s message in this predicament is not one of universal hedonism or abandon but rather the contrary. Così bears the subtitle La scuola degli amanti, The School of Lovers. What the philosopher is aiming at is a process of sentimental education. The school of lovers demands an education about human nature—a disenchantment, a loss of illusions and amour propre as the precondition of true love. One has to pierce the blindness and deception that clings to the narcissism of love, and only this can be the foundation of matrimony and reconciliation.

The philosopher, despite appearances, defends the institution of matrimony precisely as a defense against the deficits of human nature. One needs to admit one’s own limitations, thus breaking the spell of the imaginary, to make allowance for the puppetlike, P6

mechanical part of oneself lurking behind the glorified feelings. This is the sound basis for marriage.

But which love is true love? What does the music tell us about it? Which feelings are genuine, the first ones or the second ones? The answer of Mozart’s music may seem scandalous, but I think it is unambiguous: All feelings are true. One could see in Così fan tutte musical embodiment of the liar paradox: Where music is sincere, it lies, where it lies, it is sincere.

Where we believe, we are deceived, and both are indistinguishable.

Let us finally consider the curious position of the philosopher in the whole affair. He has started the intrigue, and he is the one who pulls the strings of these puppets.

He remains the only one who was not deluded, because even Despina was deceived—she was prepared to push the ladies into the arms of the new lovers but did not realize their exchanged identity. The philosopher acts as the agent of the Other, the universal knowledge; he instigates a scientific experiment to prove a general thesis. But there is a rather dubious part to this: his malevolent neutrality (“It’s your own fault, I told you so”), his seemingly objective observation of human deficiencies that he helps to bring about. He presents himself as a mere instrument of the general laws of human nature, but what makes it

dubious is his enjoyment and his laughter: “Tutti quatro ora ridete / ch’io gia risi e ridero” (All four of you can laugh now / as I have laughed and shall do again). He has laughed and will continue laughing because he is above human passions and weaknesses except for the last and most insidious one, that of enjoying the spectacle of human weakness.

His dubious side is ultimately that he is not just a neutral agent of the universality but also the agent of the gaze and the enjoyment of the Other, the absent gaze of the master for whom this spectacle of human deficiencies is finally put on the stage.

The puppets exist for the enjoyment of the master, and the philosopher is ultimately the agent of this enjoyment, which he secretly serves.

The puppets exist for the enjoyment of the master, and the philosopher is ultimately the agent of this enjoyment, which he secretly serves.

What is the use of machines, mechanisms, and automata, this big obsession of the Enlightenment?

First of all, they are devices skillfully and meticulously designed to be presented to the gaze of the Other and to serve its presupposed enjoyment.

Let us recall Vaucanson, the most famous constructor of automata, who fascinated the Parisian salons

Schematic of Vaucanson’s Canard Digérateur, or Digesting Duck. Inspired by Descartes’ idea that animals function much like a machine, Vaucanson created and unveiled a working model of the duck automaton pictured above in 1739. Source: Scientific American (1899).

in the years 1730-1750, presenting his joueur de flute, which could play twelve melodies; his canard digerateur, the digesting duck; and the automatic model of the circulatory system that was financed and sponsored by Louis XV. Let us recall the pioneering experiments of Leonardo da Vinci, who constructed a moving lion that came to greet— there is no coincidence—Louis XII at his arrival in Milan in 1499 and revealed on his chest the royal emblem, the lily (Fiordiligi, one is tempted to add). Let us recall the mechanical and hydraulic wonders hidden in the gardens of Louis XIV for his particular enjoyment.

Before machines and automata became useful, before they could serve as the basis of industrial revolution, they inhabited the space D E T R OI T O P ER A P 7

of a fantasy, offering themselves to the gaze of the Other. Before they could yield profit, they could yield the enjoyment of the Other.

Machines produce enjoyment, but whose? What fascinates the gaze and places it in the position of power is above all their disponibility and utter transparence. Machines and automata have no secrets; their hidden springs and levers are accessible to all. What makes the mechanism is the fact that anybody can see through it and anybody can make it. Disponibility and transparence are also the main feature of the puppets in Così.

The absolute monarchy as the setting of the birth and rise of the opera survives in its most sublimated and distilled form. Così fan tutte is thus too much ahead of its time as well as too much behind it. It outpasses its historical moment—precisely and literally the moment of the revolution—as well as lags behind it.

Thus, among all Mozart’s operas it is the most out of place, the hardest to range, a source of perpetual scandal.

One could say that this opera presents both a step forward and a step back when measured against the conclusion of Figaro, that is, the utopian moment of liberté, égalité, fraternité. It is a step forward insofar as it puts into question the slogans of freedom and equality and discloses their hidden pessimistic side, which truncates the glory of new autonomy and inspires resignation.

After the fall of the master, the paradise failed to materialize.

It also represents a step back, because the very framework of Così is imbued with the fantasy of domination that prevailed throughout the first two centuries of the rise of the opera— the carrying fantasy of the absolutist state. It presents its ultimate and most subtle transformation, the absent gaze of the master, the intangible enjoyment of an elusive Other.

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Advertising poster for the presentation of Vaucanson's automatons in Strasbourg in 1746.

Illustration from Histoire des jouets (1902).

synopsis AC T I Alfonso, the CEO of SoulSync Technologies, rolls out his company’s latest product: a fully autonomous AI companion who represents the ideal lover.

Two junior engineers have created two such paragons: Ferrando has created the Dorabella model, and Guglielmo has invented the Fiordiligi model. Both profess their model’s perfection. Alfonso initiates a final stress test on the machines to see whether they can stay faithful under pressure (unlike, in his opinion, human women).

Fiordiligi and Dorabella awaken to their first day of autonomous consciousness. At first they are clunky and not particularly life-like, but the two sisters show steadfast commitment to their creators/fiancés. The experiment begins with Alfonso setting up a fictional farewell: the young men have been called to the army, and their fiancées feel their first heartbreak, developing their emotional maturity.

Alfonso himself has created a Despina model—older than the two sister models by an entire week, she is worldlier and more cunning. She is forced to work as Alfonso’s maid, and she is enlisted to develop the personalities of the two new machines. Don Alfonso presents Despina with two strangers—Ferrando and Guglielmo, with subtle but effective changes to their appearance to throw off the machines’ recognition software. Don Alfonso commands Despina to encourage Fiordiligi and Dorabella to have an affair with these two foreigners.

Despina, programmed to do exactly as Alfonso says, obeys—but the women are outraged at the proposition. The newcomers declare their desire for the sisters— seducing the other man’s creation (Ferrando seduces Fiordiligi, and Guglielmo seduces Dorabella). But their advances are rejected; Fiordiligi compares her fidelity to an immovable rock. The men think their inventions have passed the test, but Alfonso warns them that the experiment is not over yet.

The next test of their devotion comes in the Act I finale: the men pretend to have swallowed poison because the women spurned their propositions. The women rush to their aid, and in the process notice that the men are indeed quite attractive. They notice themselves wavering in their emotions as they are brought back to health by a mysterious doctor (Despina re-programmed) and his powerful magnets. But when the men make their most forward demand for a kiss, the women angrily refuse.

IN T ER MISSION AC T II The director has intentionally withheld a synopsis for Act II to avoid spoilers.

Enjoy the drama as it unfolds!

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

T H E SE PERFO R M A N C E S OF COSÌ FAN TUTTE

A R E GEN ER OUSLY PR E S EN T ED BY 24/25 S E A S O N SP O N S O R

Detroit Opera’s production of Così fan tutte is sponsored in part by Barbara A. Walkowski, Producer Sponsor Gary L. Wasserman

Joshua Blue (Ferrando) is generously sponsored by Barbara & Michael Kratchman Olivia Boen (Fiordiligi) is generously sponsored by Lisa Applebaum Emily Fons (Dorabella) is sponsored in memory of Ruth F. Rattner Ann Toomey (Despina) is generously sponsored by Mary Kramer

S UP P O R T ED BY

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M USIC: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

LIBR E T T O: Lorenzo Da Ponte W O RLD PR E M IER E: January 26, 1790, Burg Theatre, Vienna PRO DU C T IO N PR E M IER E: April 5, 2025, Detroit Opera

Opera in two acts, performed in Italian with projected English surtitles DU R AT IO N: 2H R 5 5 M IN, O NE 25 M IN IN T ER MI S SION

SAT A PR 05, 7:30PM PRE-PERFOR M A NCE TALK @6:30PM W ITH Y U VAL SH A RON A ND CORINN A NIEM E Y ER FRI A PR 11, 7:30PM PRE-PERFOR M A NCE TALK @6:30PM W ITH N ATH ALIE DOUCET SUN A PR 13, 2:30PM PRE-PERFOR M A NCE TALK @1:30PM W ITH Y U VAL SH A RON A ND CORINN A NIEM E Y ER

No photography or video is allowed during the performance. Please silence all phones.

D E T R OI T O P ER A P 11

PROGR AM

Così fan tutte

production DIR EC T O R

Yuval Sharon S E T D E SIG N

DIR EC T O R OF P H O T O G R A P H Y

dots

Tatiana Stolpovskaya

C OS T U M E D E SIG N

A NI M AT IO N

Oana Botez

Michael Commendatore

P R O JEC T IO N D E SIG N

C OS T U M E FA BR IC AT O R S

Yana Biryukova, Hana S. Kim

Chris Donio, Christopher Schramm

LIG H T IN G D E SIG N

C OS T U M E D E SIG N A SSI S TA N T S

Yuki Nakase Link

Aidan Griffiths, Caleb Krieg

S O U N D D E SIG N

S TAG E M A N AG ER

Jody Elff W IG/M A K EU P D E SIG N

Peter Nictakis A SSI S TA N T S TAG E M A N AG ER S

Joanne Middleton-Weaver

Kyle Chassells, Leslie Sears

A SS O CI AT E DIR EC T O R

A SSI S TA N T C O N DU C T O R/ DIC T IO N C OAC H

James Blaszko A SSI S TA N T LIG H T IN G D E SIG N

Zach Pizza P R O JEC T IO N EN GIN EER/P R O G R A M M ER

Erin Teachman

Lucy Yates R EP E T I T EU R

Nathalie Doucet AC T II DI ALO G U E

Yuval Sharon

AU G M EN T ED/LIG H T IN G P R O G R A M M ER

Chris Payne Detroit Opera would like to thank the University of Michigan Robotics Lab, which permitted us to film the opera’s opening scenes at the lab.

Detroit Opera acknowledges and thanks the Neubauer Collegium at the University of Chicago for supporting research and conceptual development for this production of Così fan tutte.

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CONDUCTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Corinna Niemeyer FIORDILIGI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Boen DORABELLA.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Fons FERRANDO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Blue GUGLIELMO . . ................................... Thomas Lehman DON ALFONSO.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward Parks DESPINA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Toomey

DETROIT OPERA CHORUS Detroit Opera cast and chorus are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists

CHORUS MASTER ..................... Suzanne Mallare Acton CHORUS ...... Brandy Adams, Gregory Ashe, Alaina Brown,

Benton DeGroot, William Floss,* Anna Hart, Richard Jackson Jr., Cameron Barrett Johnson, Audrey Kline, Matthew Konopacki,* Hillary LaBonte, David Magumba, David Moan,* Sarah Catherine Moore, Leslie Ann Naeve, Paolo Pacheco, Kristina Riegle, Kevin Starnes,* Allison Wamser, Heidi Bowen Zook SUPERNUMERARIES Kyle Bjorklund, Gregory Bousquette, Jake Falls, Sandeep Gupta Detroit Opera debut * Spoken roles Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges Henry Ford Health’s team of professionals, who provide care for the artists on our stage.

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

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

cast

ORIGINAL COSTUME SKE TCHES A ND DESIGN BY OA NA BOTEZ

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

C ELLO

BA SS OO N

Daniel Stachyra*

Ivana Biliskov*

Daniel Fendrick*

Jenny Wan*

Benjamin Maxwell*

Liam Jackson

Interim Concertmaster Acting Assistant Concertmaster

Emily Barkakati* David Ormai Molly Hughes*

Principal

Andrea Yun*

Principal

Jacob MacDonald

HORN

BA SS

Principal

Colin Bianchi*

Derek Weller*

Carrie BanfieldTaplin*

Judith Teasdle

Clark Suttle* Jean Posekany

T RU M PE T

V IOLIN II

FLU T E

Yuri Popowycz*

Dennis Carter II

Beth Kirton*

Calvin Mayman

Courtney Lubin Henrik Karapetyan*

Acting Principal

Andrew Wu*

Principal

Acting Principal

David Ammer* Principal

Mark Davis* T I M PA NI

Eric Stoss* Principal

Nathaniel Cornell

OBOE

Anna Bittar-Weller*

Eli Stefanacci*

PER C USSIO N

Joseph Deller

Principal

Mark Doerr

Principal

V IOL A

Scott Stefanko* Acting Principal

Jacqueline Hanson* Chloé Thominet

CL A R IN E T

Roi Karni* Principal

John Dorsey* H A R PSIC H O R D

Nathalie Doucet

J.William King*

James Greer

* Detroit Opera Core Orchestra Members

Members of the violin sections occasionally rotate.

D E T R OI T O P ER A P 1 5

ORCHESTR A

COSÌ FAN TUTTE ORCHESTRA

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART | C O M POSER Born: Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756 Died: Vienna, Austria, December 5, 1791 Wolfgang was the seventh child of Leopold, a court musician, and Maria Anna Mozart. Only Wolfgang and his older sister Maria Anna survived to adulthood.

Mozart spent much of his childhood showcasing his prodigious keyboard skills in the courts of Europe. He and his sister achieved great fame by sightreading new pieces, improvising, playing with the keyboard hidden, and more. Their father, Leopold, knew this fame and celebrity was dependent on the novelty of the youth of the performers. It was Leopold’s ambition that Wolfgang secured a court position, while not as exciting, but at the least guaranteed income.

In the 1770s the Mozarts returned to Salzburg, where Leopold was the head of church music to the Bishop. For the first time, Wolfgang experienced the life of a professional musician, as opposed to a performer. This turned out to be a rude awakening for the teenager. After being celebrated as a child genius across Europe, he found himself in a role that amounted to little more than a musical "working man."

So, when Mozart, at the age of 25, decided he had had enough of court service, he found an intellectual and spiritual home in Vienna. Within two years of his arrival, he had established a reputation as the finest keyboard player in the city and had married Constanze Weber.

From 1785 to 1790 he collaborated three times with Italian librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. Each collaboration, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, produced a masterpiece whose themes of beauty, truth, and equality still resonate with audiences. Mozart and Da Ponte were capitalizing on the openness of Vienna to produce groundbreaking art, although Don Giovanni was too sexually charged for Vienna and premiered in Prague instead.

Unfortunately, the period of liberal reform was short-lived. The Austrian Empire began doing what governments do when they feel threatened: dismantling civil liberties and intellectual freedoms. Following the death of Franz Josef II and the accession of Leopold, Austria reverted to a conventional monarchy.

Mozart, meanwhile, was sinking further into financial ruin, despite the success of his operas. The Mozarts were often forced to borrow money or move residences to stay ahead of creditors, and neither Wolfgang nor Constanze had a head for budgeting. Mozart was working hard but failing to get ahead, and the chilling of the artistic climate in Vienna did nothing to help his situation.

In the end, both the Enlightenment and the operas of Mozart would triumph.

Unfortunately, Mozart would not live to see either. He died in penury late in 1791, at the age of 35.

Courtesy of Lyric Opera of Chicago.

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Born: Vittorio Veneto, Italy, March 10, 1749 Died: New York, NY, August 17, 1838 The life of Lorenzo Da Ponte was a string of adventures worthy of a movie script. He managed to scale the heights of fame and plumb the depths of infamy in a life spanning eight decades and two continents.

Da Ponte trained for the priesthood. He began making his living by teaching in and around Venice, where he became well known for his wit, charm, and liberal politics. His actions and viewpoints led to his banishment from teaching and then exile from Venice in 1779.

After a brief time in Dresden where he translated plays, Da Ponte moved to Vienna on the recommendation of composer Antonio Salieri. Within two years in Vienna, he had won favor with the Emperor to secure a position as poet to the court theater. Here Da Ponte flourished, collaborating with Mozart and Salieri among others.

Following the accession of a new Emperor in 1790, Da Ponte left his position.

He returned to Venice but was again chased out by his enemies. From Venice he traveled to Paris in 1792. Political instability caused him to leave Paris for London.

Da Ponte would then travel to Brussels, Amsterdam, and the Hague to promote Italian opera and form opera companies. While in London, he joined the King’s Theatre Haymarket. In 1805, he chose to emigrate to the United States.

From then until his death in 1838, Da Ponte held various jobs. He was a grocer in New York and Pennsylvania. He sold Italian books. He held a chair in Italian literature at Columbia University. Da Ponte dedicated the last three decades of his life to the promotion of Italian opera, literature, and culture in the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen.

Courtesy of Lyric Opera of Chicago. Adapted from a biography written by James K. Foster.

D E T R OI T O P ER A P 17

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

LORENZO DA PONTE | LIBR E T T IST

CORINNA NIEMEYER | C ONDUC TOR Corinna Niemeyer’s enthusiasm for conveying music in innovative ways is reflected in the breadth of her activities, which include period music ensembles, contemporary premieres, cross-disciplinary projects, opera, and mainstream symphonic projects. She has established a reputation for her ability to connect with audiences and for her creative approach to presenting concerts. Recent and future orchestral highlights include the Orchestre de Paris, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, MDR-Sinfonieorchester, Kammerakademie Potsdam, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León.

Corinna has also had regular projects with Les Siècles and Ensemble Modern.

Corinna was appointed Music Director of the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg in September 2020, a position she held for four seasons. During her tenure the orchestra established relationships with several artists of international renown, and new audiences were attracted through her innovative programs, encompassing works ranging from Haydn and Mozart to Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été with Ian Bostridge and Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre.

Corinna is establishing her reputation as an opera conductor, making her debut this season with both English National Opera (Suor Angelica) and Detroit Opera (new production of Così fan tutte). She will also conduct staged productions of George Benjamin’s Picture a day like this both in Luxembourg and at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl. Corinna conducted the UK premiere of this work at the Royal Opera House last season, which followed her acclaimed debut in autumn 2022 with a new production of The Rape of Lucretia, co-produced with Britten Pears Arts. Last season Corinna made her debut at Opéra de Lausanne (Massenet’s Cendrillon) and returned to Theater St. Gallen (Purcell’s The Fairy-Queen).

She has also conducted at the opera houses in Lille (L’enfant et les sortilèges) and Cologne (Le nozze di Figaro). Website: corinnaniemeyer.com

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With The Industry, Yuval has directed and produced new operas in moving vehicles, operating train stations, Hollywood sound stages, and various “nonspaces.” His 2016–19 residency at the Los Angeles Philharmonic culminated in a new production of Meredith Monk’s opera ATLAS, making him the first director Monk entrusted with her work. Yuval distinguished himself with a boldly progressive Lohengrin at Bayreuth in 2018. In 2017, Yuval was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Art grant for theater. Yuval is the inaugural Global Solutions Visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium, where he will lead lectures on the subject of John Cage; the series will culminate in a new production of Cage’s Europeras 5 in May 2025. Website: yuvalsharon.com D E T R OI T O P ER A P 1 9

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

YUVAL SHARON | DIR EC TOR Yuval Sharon has amassed an unconventional body of work that expands the operatic form. He is founder of The Industry in Los Angeles and the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of Detroit Opera.

His first book, A New Philosophy of Opera, was published by Liveright in September 2024. In the 2024–25 season, Yuval premieres new productions of Viktor Ullmann’s The Kaiser of Atlantis at New World Symphony and Mozart’s Così fan tutte at Detroit Opera. He also brings his project The Comet/Poppea to Lincoln Center in 2025. Premiered in 2024 at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, The Comet/Poppea uses a rotating stage to juxtapose simultaneous performances of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and a new opera adaptation of W.E.B. Du Bois’s “The Comet,” by George Lewis and Douglas Kearney. Future seasons will see Yuval make his Metropolitan Opera debut with a production of Tristan und Isolde (2025–26) as well as his first-ever Ring cycle, beginning in 2027–28.

As Detroit Opera’s Artistic Director since 2020, Yuval has transformed the company into a premier destination for progressive opera in the United States.

Yuval made his directing debut with Twilight: Gods, an innovative adaptation of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung staged in the Detroit Opera House Parking Center. His acclaimed productions in Detroit include Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss, staged in the historic Michigan Building Theatre; Puccini’s La bohème, with the opera’s four acts presented in reverse order, in the Detroit Opera House; and John Cage’s Europeras 3&4, in the Gem Theatre. Highlights from his tenure include a major revival of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and the company’s first international co-production, Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar.

OLIVIA BOEN

| FIOR DILIGI

American soprano Olivia Boen is quickly gaining momentum for the “sun-streaked top of her register” (Chicago Tribune) and “full-bodied, sparkling tone” (Cleveland Classical) on operatic, concert, and recital stages. The 2024–25 season is a year of notable house and role debuts for Olivia, including a highly acclaimed performance as Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff at Opéra national de Paris and Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte for Detroit Opera. Elsewhere Olivia makes a trio of Mozart role debuts for the Staatsoper Hamburg: Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Sifare in Mitridate, re di Ponto. Until the 2023–24 season, Olivia was a member of the Opernstudio at the Staatsoper Hamburg, where she sang Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème, and Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco, in addition to creating the roles of Xenia in Frank Castorf’s new production of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Ines in Immo Karaman’s new production of Verdi’s Il trovatore. In 2019, Olivia made her European debut at the Verbier Festival as Die Stimme des Falken in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten and as Erste Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Other roles include Countess Susanna in Wolf-Ferrari’s Il segreto di Susanna, Queen Mother in Jonathan Dove’s The Little Green Swallow, the title roles in Handel’s Alcina and Serse and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, and Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. A keen recitalist, Olivia has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, St Martin-inthe-Fields, the London Song Festival, Opera Holland Park, the Verbier Festival, LSO St Luke’s, the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series, and the Ravinia Festival. Olivia trained at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was a 2021 Gold Medal finalist, and has completed additional training at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Verbier Festival, Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, and the Ravinia Steans Music Institute. Instagram: @oliviaboen

EMILY FONS | DOR A BELL A

This season mezzo-soprano Emily Fons appears as Irene in Haymarket’s production of Handel’s Tamerlano, in Music of the Baroque’s concert of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, as Dorabella in Detroit Opera’s production of Così fan tutte, and as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Madison Opera, and will return in the summer to Haymarket for both Mandane in Vinci’s Artaserse (which will also be recorded commercially) and Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina at the Ravinia Festival.

Last season Emily sang Nicklausse/The Muse in Les contes d’Hoffmann for her Palm Beach Opera debut and appeared in concert with the Madison Opera. Prior to that she returned to the Canadian Opera Company for her celebrated Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, to the New Orleans Opera for Hansel in Hänsel and Gretel, and to the San Diego Opera for the world premiere of Reveles’s Ghosts, and made her Cincinnati Opera debut as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. The previous season, Emily made her debut in the title role of Ariodante with the Göttingen Handel Festival in a concert marking the company’s centennial. She was also seen as Medoro in a virtual presentation of Handel’s Orlando with Haymarket Opera Company and sang her first Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice with Inland Northwest Opera. She returned to Japan for the role of Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy and to the Seattle Opera as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro before appearing as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Santa Fe Opera. Instagram: @singwithfonsy

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| FER R A NDO

THOMAS LEHMAN

| GUGLIELM O

American baritone Thomas Lehman is a member of the Ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. In the 2024–25 season, Thomas will make his debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as The Father in Hänsel und Gretel conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė; at Detroit Opera as Guglielmo in a new production of Così fan tutte directed by Yuval Sharon; and at the Staatsoper Hamburg, where he will create the central role of Dr. Keiron in the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Die dunkle Seite des Mondes conducted by Kent Nagano and directed by Dead Centre. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he will sing the title role in a new production of Verdi’s Macbeth conducted by Enrique Mazzola, and he will make role debuts as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde and Wolfram in his first staged performance of Tannhäuser. Last season, Thomas made his debut at San Francisco Opera as Heerufer in David Alden’s production of Lohengrin, where he was nominated in their Emerging Stars Competition.

At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he made role debuts—in new productions—as Yeletsky in Pique Dame and in the title role of Nixon in China. His recent Deutsche Oper Berlin appearances include Gunther in a new production of Götterdämmerung directed by Stefan Herheim, Lucifer in a new production of Antikrist directed by Ersan Mondtag, and Guy de Montfort in Les vêpres siciliennes conducted by Enrique Mazzola and directed by Olivier Py. This season he will make role debuts as Germont in La traviata and Don Fernando in a new production of Fidelio directed by David Hermann. Other recent appearances in Berlin include Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, Ford in Falstaff, Marcello in La bohème, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Valentin in Faust, and Silvio in Pagliacci. Instagram: @thomaslehmanbaritone D E T R OI T O P ER A P 21

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

JOSHUA BLUE

During the 2024–25 season, British-American tenor Joshua Blue will make debuts with the English National Opera and San Diego Opera as Rodolfo in La bohème, Phoenix Symphony and Memphis Symphony for Handel’s Messiah, Detroit Opera as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Charleston Symphony for Moravec’s Sanctuary Road, and Weill Recital Hall in New York City for a song recital. He will also return to Opera Philadelphia as Colin in Bologne’s L’amant anonyme, Oratorio Society of New York with conductor Kent Tritle for Messiah at Carnegie Hall, Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York for tenor arias from Bach’s St Matthew Passion, New York Festival of Song for a special musical project titled My Brother’s Keeper, Lensic Performing Arts Center for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with The New Year’s Eve Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Festival as Alfredo in La traviata, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Alfred in Die Fledermaus. Joshua has been engaged by the Metropolitan Opera, LA Phil, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, The Orchestra Now, American Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, collaborating with conductors James Conlon, Gianandrea Noseda, Eun Sun Kim, Fabio Luisi, James Gaffigan, Carlo Rizzi, Bertrand de Billy, Bernard Labadie, Leon Botstein, and Leonard Slatkin, in such diverse venues as Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. He was the inaugural recipient of the Lotos Foundation’s James McCracken & Sandra Warfield Opera Prize in 2020. Joshua holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School. Instagram: @joshuabluetenor

EDWARD PARKS | DON ALFONSO

Grammy Award-winning baritone Edward Parks, a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania, holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Yale University. A National Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Ed trained at the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and was also awarded third prize in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. During the 2024–25 season, Ed makes his Houston Grand Opera debut as Marcello in La bohème, and returns to Detroit Opera to sing Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte in a radical new staging by Yuval Sharon.

He began the 2023–24 season as The Creature in the world premiere of Gregg Kallor’s Frankenstein with Arizona Opera. He joined Andrea Bocelli for two North American tour stints, including appearances at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and bowed as Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Japan.

Ed made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia and has since appeared as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Schaunard in La bohème, and Larkens in La fancuilla del West. Ed has appeared as Valentin in Faust with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Escamillo in Carmen with the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival in Japan, Steve Jobs in the world premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with Santa Fe Opera, Audebert in Silent Night and Marcello in La bohème with Minnesota Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Ópera de Oviedo in Spain, and Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Opéra de MonteCarlo on tour in Oman. Instagram: @edwardparksbaritone

ANN TOOMEY | DE SPIN A

American soprano Ann Toomey, whom Naples Daily News proclaimed to be “a brilliant Floria Tosca [whose] rich voice projects power that doesn’t disintegrate under adversity,” is a former member of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, a 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist, and a 2019 Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipient. Recently, she made her European debut, to critical acclaim, performing the title role in Suor Angelica at the Berlin Philharmonie, under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. Current season and recent highlights include Woglinde in Das Rheingold with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Una poenitentium in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Nashville Symphony, Meg Page in Sir John in Love as well as a crossover recital at Bard SummerScape, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Dayton Opera, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Opera San Antonio, and First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Glyndebourne Festival. Ann has sung the title role of Tosca with Sarasota Opera, Opera Naples, and Livermore Valley Opera; the Witch in Into the Woods with Tulsa Opera; Ortlinde in Act III of Die Walküre with Detroit Opera; Lady Billows in Albert Herring with the Princeton Festival; and the title role in Die Kathrin with the Chicago Folks Operetta. At Wolf Trap Opera she recently performed the title role in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. During the 2018–19 season, she performed as Musetta in La bohème with Lyric Opera of Chicago, completing her three-year residency with the Ryan Opera Center. She debuted at Lyric Opera of Chicago as First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and was also seen as the Fifth Maid in Elektra. Ann is a native of Detroit, and currently lives in Chicago. Instagram: @abtoomey

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C O R IN N A NIE M E Y E R, Y U VA L S H A R O N, A N D JA M E S BL A S Z KO IN R E H E A R S A L FO R C OSÌ FAN TUT TE. P H O T O B Y AU S T IN R IC H E Y.

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

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DOTS

SE T DE SIGN dots is an award-winning design collective based in NYC. Originally from Colombia, South Africa, and Japan, they are Santiago Laverde, Andrew Moerdyk, and Kimie Nishikawa. Recent highlights include the Broadway productions of An Enemy of the People (Tony Award nomination for Best Scenic Design in a Play), Appropriate (Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for outstanding scenic design), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Oh, Mary!, and Romeo + Juliet. Recent awards include the 2024 Obie Award for Sustained Achievement in Design and the 2023 and 2024 Henry Hewes Design Awards. Website: designbydots.com

OANA BOTEZ

C OST U M E DE SIGN Oana Botez is a Romanian-American costume designer for theater, opera, film, and dance. She is a Henry Hewes Design Award recipient, Princess Grace Award recipient, NEA/TCG Career Development Program grant recipient, Barrymore Award recipient, and Lucille Lortel Award nominee. New York: BAM Next Wave, Bard SummerScape/Richard B. Fisher Center, Public Theater, Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Baryshnikov Arts Center, David H. Koch Theater/Lincoln Center, Big Apple Circus/Lincoln Center, Classic Stage Company, Soho Rep, PS122, The Kitchen. Regional: Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Barrington Stage Company), Macbeth (Old Globe), Angels in America (Wilma), Man in a Case (Hartford). Opera: The Comet / Poppea (The Industry, LA; Curtis Institute, Philadelphia), Song of the Ambassadors (Alice Tully Hall/Lincoln Center), Carmen (Minnesota Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Portland Opera), In a Grove (Pittsburgh Opera; PROTOTYPE, NY), Persona (National Sawdust, REDCAT), A House in Bali (BAM), Don Giovanni (Wolf Trap Opera), Così fan tutte (Opera Saratoga Summer Festival), Guys and Dolls (Opera Saratoga Summer Festival), Émigré (NY Phil), Dido and Aeneas (Château de Versailles). International: National Theatre Bucharest (Romania), Théâtre national de Chaillot (Paris, France), Les Subsistances (Lyon, France), The Old Vic (London, England), Hungarian Theatre of Cluj (Romania), Le Quartz (Brest, France), La Filature (Mulhouse, France), Festival Exit/Maison des arts de Créteil (France), Tanz im August festival at Hebbel am Ufer— HAU1 (Berlin, Germany), Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland), Singapore International Festival of Arts. Oana teaches at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale in the Design Department.

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Yana Biryukova is a video artist and theater designer based in New York City. Her theatrical designs include collaborations with Hartford Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Resident Ensemble Players, Miami New Drama, Milwaukee Rep, Westport Country Playhouse, Red Bull Theater, American Mime Theatre, Mason Holdings, Yale University, Yale Opera, Yale Cabaret, Irish Repertory Theatre, and many more. In addition to theater design Yana edits and designs films and installations, including Palimpsest: Tales Spun from Sea and Memories presented at the Venice Biennale 2022, Promise Land at Yale University, Alphabet City at Yale Art Gallery, Not Just Me at Catskill Art Society, and Meraki at Harvestworks, among others. She lectures and teaches workshops on projection design at Harvard, Yale, and Colgate Universities.

She is a member of USA 829, IATSE, and holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

Website: yanabiryukova.com

HANA S. KIM

PRO JEC T ION DE SIGN Hana S. Kim is an immersive media designer and a visual artist for live performances from Seoul, South Korea, with experience across film and public art. Broadway: The Outsiders; The Old Man & the Pool; Summer, 1976; Redwood; Real Women Have Curves. Off-Broadway/ New York: The Harder They Come (The Public Theater), The Visitor (The Public Theater, Lucille Lortel Award nomination), Eve’s Song (The Public Theater), Everything Rises (BAM), Magdalene (PROTOTYPE Festival). New music/opera: L’Orfeo (Santa Fe Opera), Sweet Land (The Industry), The Anonymous Lover (LA Opera).

Regional: Redwood, Sumo (La Jolla Playhouse); The Ants (Geffen Playhouse); Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Magic Theatre; American Conservatory Theater; and others.

Awards: Princess Grace Award, Sherwood Award from Center Theatre Group, Helen Hayes Design Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Distinguished Achievement Award, and others. Website: hananow.com

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

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

YANA BIRYUKOVA

PRO JEC T ION DE SIGN

YUKI NAKASE LINK

LIGH T ING DE SIGN

Yuki Nakase Link’s lighting designs with director Matthew Ozawa have included Orpheus and Eurydice (San Francisco Opera). Her designs with director Yuval Sharon include L’Orfeo (Santa Fe Opera). Recent and upcoming designs include Europeras 3&4 (Detroit Opera), Angel Island (BAM/ Beth Morrison Projects), Émigré (New York Philharmonic), Fidelio (Canadian Opera Company), VALIS (MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology), Proving Up (Juilliard Opera), In a Grove (Pittsburgh Opera), and Blood Moon (Baruch Performing Arts Center/ PROTOTYPE). She was born in Tokyo, grew up in Kyoto, Japan, and currently lives north of New York City, in the woods of Hudson Valley. She holds an MFA from NYU. Website: yukinlink.com

JODY ELFF

SOUND DE SIGN Jody Elff is a Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, sound artist, and designer whose experience includes work with Yo-Yo Ma, Bang on a Can, Laurie Anderson, Chris Thile, and many others. Jody’s musical journey spans classical, contemporary, opera, jazz, art, and television. His recording work includes the Yo-Yo Ma/Silk Road Ensemble albums Sing Me Home and American Railroad, Chris Thile’s Laysongs, and Anna Clyne’s Shorthand. He has provided sound design for LA Phil, Lincoln Center Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and others. His fine-art sound works have been presented at museums and galleries internationally, including collaborations with David Lang and Diller Scofidio + Renfro on Musings on a Glass Box in Paris and The Mile-Long Opera in New York City. Jody has developed patented audio technologies for real-time, full-quality mixing of highchannel-count music events over distance, and is currently developing a platform for immersive VR live-streaming concert experiences.

JOANNE MIDDLETON-WEAVER

W IG A ND M A K EUP DE SIGN

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. P26

Known for her versatility and energy on the podium, Suzanne Mallare Acton has more than 160 production credits covering seven languages. In addition to her chorus work, Suzanne has conducted over 35 productions for the company, including West Side Story, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, The Music Man, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, Die Fledermaus, La traviata, A Little Night Music, a staged version of Carmina Burana with members of Cirque du Soleil, The Medium, A View from the Bridge, Les pêcheurs de perles, and Frida. She has conducted Dayton Opera, Artpark, Augusta Opera, Verdi Opera Theatre, El Paso Opera, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Bach Festival, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, and Dearborn Symphony Orchestra. For 25 years, Suzanne was artistic director of Detroit’s Rackham Choir. She premiered Too Hot to Handel at the Detroit Opera House, Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, and the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis.

Detroit Opera is a proud member of

D E T R OI T O P ER A P 27

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

SUZANNE MALLARE ACTON

CHORUS M A ST ER

SET RENDERING BY DOTS

Detroit Opera Needs You! Because of your dedication and support, Detroit Opera continues to provide meaningful artistic experiences for our community and inspires audiences of the future.

Please consider a gift to Detroit Opera this season. Your generosity will ensure that our community has access to the highest caliber of opera productions like Così fan tutte for years to come!

Charitable contributions generate a significant portion of our overall funding and are investments in the future of performing arts in our community. Without donations, opera and dance cannot thrive in southeast Michigan.

Thank you for all the ways you support us!

US E T H E Q R C O D E T O D O N AT E N O W!

V I SI T US AT D E T ROI T O P E R A.O RG/D O N AT E O R GI V E US A C ALL AT 31 3.2 37.3 4 2 6

Thank you to our donors Detroit Opera Honor Roll

Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges these generous donors for their cumulative lifetime giving. Their transformative 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, the building of the Detroit Opera House in 1996, and the metamorphosis into Detroit Opera in 2022 under the leadership of Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director Yuval Sharon.

Their leadership plays an integral part in the company's viability, underwriting quality opera and dance performances as well as award-winning community events. $10,000,000+

$1,000,000+

The William Davidson Foundation

AT&T

Ford Philanthropy

Bank of America

The State of Michigan

Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation

$5,000,000+

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

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

Compuware Corporation

General Motors

DTE Energy Foundation

The Kresge Foundation John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Robert & RoseAnn Comstock* The Fred A. & Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation

Stellantis

Mrs. Margo Cohen Feinberg & Mr. Robert Feinberg

$2,000,000+

Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation

Mr.* & Mrs. Douglas Allison

Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak

Mr. Lee & Mrs. Floy Barthel Marvin, Betty & Joanne Danto Dance Endowment and Marvin & Betty Danto Family Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Frankel*

Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel

JPMorgan Chase

Lear Corporation Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr. Masco Corporation McGregor Fund The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Skillman Foundation R. Jamison & Karen Williams

KEY

* Deceased

General Motors Corporation Hudson-Webber Foundation Paul Lavins* National Endowment for the Arts Matthew & Mona Simoncini Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes Barbara A. Walkowski Dr. & Mrs. Sam B. Williams* Matilda R. Wilson Fund Every effort has been made to accurately reflect donor names and gift levels.

Should you find an error or omission, please contact Angela Nelson-Heesch at anelsonheesch@detroitopera.org or 313.237.3438 D E T R OI T O P ER A 11

Contributors to Detroit Opera Detroit Opera gratefully acknowledges these generous corporate, foundation, government, and individual donors whose contributions to Detroit Opera were received between January 1, 2024 and February 15, 2025. The generosity of our donors is vital to sustaining Detroit Opera’s position as a valued cultural resource.

Foundations, Corporate & Government Support

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Masco Corporation McGregor Fund MGM Grand Detroit Oliver Dewey Marcks $50,000-$99,999 Foundation J. Addison Bartush and Marion M. Bartush OPERA America Family Foundation Ralph L. and Winifred E. Max M. & Marjorie S. Polk Foundation Fisher Foundation Ida and Conrad H. Smith Hudon-Webber Endowment for MOT Foundation The Mary Thompson Milner Hotels Foundation Foundation

$250,000-$499,999

$25,000-$49,999

$1,000,000+

William Davidson Foundation The State of Michigan

$500,000-$999,999

Fred A. & Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation Ford Foundation

$100,000-$249,999

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan Ford Philanthropy General Motors Gilbert Family Foundation

Mellon Foundation Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation

Kresge Foundation National Endowment for the Arts The Rattner and Katz Charitable Foundation Matilda R. Wilson Fund

$10,000-$24,999

Detroit Children's Choir DTE Energy Foundation Geoinge Foundation

$5,000-$9,999

C&N Foundation Aaron Copland Fund for Music James and Lynelle Holden Fund Honigman LLP The Karen & Drew Peslar Foundation Louis and Nellie Sieg Fund

Donald R. and Esther Simon Foundation Somerset Collection Charitable Foundation Strum Allesee Family Foundation The Samuel L. Westerman Foundation

$1,000-$4,999

ABM Janitorial Services Joyce Cohn Young Artist Fund Greater Horizons Marjorie and Maxwell Jospey Foundation Josephine Kleiner Foundation Elmira L. Rhein Family Foundation Sigmund and Sophie Rohlik Foundation Seligman Family Foundation

Individual Support

The National Circle

Introduced in 2024, The National Circle is comprised of Detroit Opera’s leading supporters in this pivotal moment, playing an essential role in bringing the transformative power of opera to audiences in our city and across the country. Through their annual support of $25,000 or more, these donors have an unwavering belief in our art form’s ability to affect meaningful change. $100,000+

$50,000-$99,999

Richard & Mona* Alonzo Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Leslie Lazzerin* Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr. David & Christine Provost Matthew & Mona Simoncini Richard Sonenklar & Gregory Haynes Barbara A. Walkowski Gary L. Wasserman & Charles A. Kashner

Mrs. Phyllis F. Snow*

12

Lorna Thomas, MD Jesse & Yesenia Venegas R. Jamison & Karen Williams

$25,000-$49,999 Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya Lisa S. Applebaum Alex Erdeljan Barbara Lucking Freedman* Patricia Isacson Sabee & David Sabee Mary Kramer

Denise J. Lewis Hon. Jack & Dr. Bettye Arrington Martin Susanne McMillan Allan & Joy Nachman Philanthropic Fund Ann & James B. Nicholson Ebbie & Ayana Parsons Ruth F. Rattner* Barbara Van Dusen Ms. Barbara A. Walkowski KEY * Deceased

The DiChiera Society DiChiera Society members honor the legacy and vision of our company’s founder, David DiChiera, while bolstering our future as one of the most significant and innovative opera and dance organizations in the country with an emphasis on community engagement, accessibility, and artistic risk taking under the leadership of Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director Yuval Sharon. $10,000-$24,999 Gene P. Bowen

Addison & Deborah Igleheart

Mr. Thomas Cohn

Jody & Tara Ingle

Dr. Glendon M. Gardner & Leslie Landau

Enrico & Kathleen Digirolamo

Andy Levin & Mary Freeman

Mr. Lawrence Glowczewski

Don Manvel

Nina S. Drolias*

Mr. Ronald Michalak

Mr. & Mrs. Robert & Christine Hage

Dr. Raina Ernstoff & Mr. Sanford Hansell

Mrs. L. William Moll

Derek & Pamela Francis* Bharat & Lynn Gandhi

Mr. George & Mrs. Jo Elyn Nyman

Toby Haberman

Ms. Linda Orlans

Michael & Barbara Kratchman

Sara A. Pozzi, Ph.D.

Ms. Mary C. Mazure

Ms. Pam E. Rodgers

Ms. Evelyn Micheletti Donald & Antoinette Morelock Mr. Cyril Moscow William & Wendy Powers Dr. & Mrs. Samir M. Ragheb Dr. Irvin D. Reid & Dr. Pamela Trotman Reid Concetta V. Ross*

Robert & Susan Morris

Waltraud Prechter Janice Ross Evan & Kelsey Ross Mrs. Rosalind B. Sell Michael & Stacey Simmons Mr. Peter C. Stern Ned & Joan Winkelman Ellen Hill Zeringue

Ms. Laurie R. Frankel

Barbara Heller Roberto Kalb & Mane Galoyan Ann Katz Max Lepler & Rex Dotson Mary B. Letts John & Arlene Lewis Nancy & Bud Liebler Stephan & Marian Loginsky Amy McCombs Ms. Mary McGough Benjamin Meeker & Meredith Korneffel, MD Phillip Minch Ali Moiin & William Kupsky Van Momon & Pamela L. Berry

Terry Shea & Seigo Nakao

$3,000-$4,999 Nina Abrams

Prof. Michael Wellman

Gregory & Mary Barkley

George & Nancy Nicholson

$5,000-$9,999 Ms. Christine Ammer

Paul & Lee Blizman

Sally Orley

Bob & Rosemary Brasie

Brock & Katherine L. Plumb

Wayne Brown & Brenda Kee

Carrie & Ted Pryor

Dr. & Mrs. Ronald T. Burkman

Lois & Mark Shaevsky

Dr. Lynne Carter

Frank & Susan Sonye

Dr. Harold M. Arrington Beverly Hall Burns Walter & Lillian Dean Kevin Dennis & Jeremy Zeltzer Maria & David Duey

Albert & Janette Cassar Maurice & Carolyn Cunniffe

Geoffrey Nathan

Susan A. Smith Dr. Gregory E. Stephens, D.O.

Lisa DiChiera

Samuel Thomas & Daniel VanderLey

Ralph & Erica Gerson

Fern Espino & Tom Short

Bret & Susanna Williams

William Hulsker & Aris Urbanes

James & Margo Farber

Dr. Lucia Zamorano

Sally & Michael Feder

Jane Iacobelli

Michael Fisher

Carl & Mary Ann Fontana

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

Friends of Detroit Opera

Every gift helps ensure that opera and dance thrive in our community, and that we share the indescribable experience we feel when the curtain rises. Friends of Detroit Opera are among our most loyal and crucial supporters and receive exclusive benefits with annual gifts of $500 or more. $1,000-$2,999

Richard & Involut Jessup Mrs. Stephanie Germack Kerzic D.L. Anthony, Ph.D. Marc Keshishian & Susanna Szelestey Ms. Geraldine Atkinson Mr. & Mrs. Gerd H Keuffel Martin & Marcia Baum Sam Logan Khaleghi Mr. Stanislaw Bialoglowski Gregory Knas Sandra & Doug Jennifer Lindsay Kott Bitonti Stewart Meria Larson Mr. & Mrs. Mitchell Mr. Loreto A. Manzo Bleznak Ms. Janet Groening Marsh Constance Bodurow Patrick & Patricia Ms. Nicole A. Boelstler McKeever Mrs. Marlene L. Boll Eugene & Lois Miller Marsha Bruhn Dr. Anne Missavage & Mr. Robert Borcherding Ilse Calcagno Craig & Shari Morgan Harriet Clark Ms. Maryanne Mott John & Doreen Cole Harold Munson & Tonino & Sarah Corsetti Libby Berger Sue Cutler & Jeff Fessler Brian Murphy & Toni Carolyn Demps & Sanchez-Murphy Guy Simons Dr. & Mrs. Peter Nickles Shauna Ryder Diggs, MD Joshua & Rachel Opperer Ms. Mary J. Doerr Daniel & Margaret Marla Donovan Pehrson Nell Duke & David Ammer Mark & Kyle Peterson Ms. Judith Ellis Ms. Irene Piccone Marjory Winkelman Shane Pliska Epstein Elizabeth Porter & Paul & Mary Sue Ewing Larry Hickman Joseph Fontana & Michael & Charlene Nada Jurisich-Fontana Prysak Burke & Carol Fossee Rip & Gail Rapson Dr. & Mrs. Clifford Ankur Rungta & Furgison Mayssoun Bydon Carol Gagliardi & Leon & Debbe Saperstein David Flesher Professor Alvin & Arline Geronimus Mrs. Harriet Saperstein Thomas M. Gervasi Mary Schlaff & Allan Gilmour & Sanford Koltonow Eric Jirgens Kingsley & Lurline Sears Mr. Nathaniel Good Susan Sills-Levey & Robert & Ann Greenstone Michael Levey Stuart Grigg Gabriel & Martha Stahl Ms. Carole Hardy Ann Steglich Ms. Mary Anne Stella Fay & Allen Herman Dr. Andrew James Mary Ellen Hoy & Stocking Jim Keller Paul Jednak & Tim Kasunic Andrew J. Sturgess Thomas & Gretchen Anderson

14

Manuel Tancer & Claire Stroker Mr. Jon Teeuwissen Jeff & Amy Voigt Stanley Waldon Katina Zaninovich

$750-$999

Frank & Jenny Brzenk Ms. Vera C. Magee Walter & Elizabeth Newgeon Barbara Roden Dennis & Jennifer Varian Rita Winters

$500-$749

Antonia Abbey & James Lee David A. Agius Michael & Katherine Alioto Robert & Catherine Anthony Paul Augustine Wallace Ayotte Ms. Allison Bach & Mr. Michael Cool Ms. Mary Anne Barczak Ms. Kanta Bhambhani Amy & Tyler Bouque Marceline Bright Jonathan Cohn & Daniela Wittmann Patricia Cosgrove Daniel & Susan Drucker Murray & Alice Ehrinpreis Mr. M. Brennan Farrell Daniel H Ferrier Julie Finn & Bradley Rowens Sue Force Yvonne Friday & Stephen Black Erin & John Gianopoulos John Gierak & Dona Tracey Joseph & Lois Gilmore Gil Glassberg & Sandra Seligman Mr. Robert Theodore Goldman

Philip & Martha Gray Paul & Nancy Hillegonds Beth Hoger & Lisa Swem Lawrence John & Lilian Lai Kimberly Johnson Ms. Lee Khachaturian Justin & Joanne Klimko Mr. Alex Koprivica Ms. Cynthia Kratchman William & Jean Kroger Mary Jane & Jeff Kupsky Albert Kurt Mr. John Lovegren & Mr. Daniel Isenschmid John & Kimi Lowe Mrs. Marsha Lynn Mr. Russell Moore Ms. Nancy K. Murray Mr. Ronald Northrup Jane Panikkar Elaine & Bertram Pitt Garry Post & Robert Hill Shawn Rieschl Johnson & Christian Kirby Adam D. Rubin, M.D, Lakeshore Professional Voice Center Mr. Richard Lee Ruby Michael Schon Demetrius Shields Paul & Jill Siatczynski Clara Sumeghy Dr. Geneva Tatem Dr. Gretchen Thams Barbara & Stuart Trager Rennard & Daphne Tucker Ms. Janet Beth Weir Meredith Weston-Band & Jeffery Band Ian D. Wiesner Janice Zeltzer Elliot & Dr. Susan Zeltzer

Gifts in Tribute

We extend a heartfelt thank you to those who generously made gifts to Detroit Opera in honor of or in memory of the special people in their lives, whose names are listed in bold below.

IN HONOR OF Andrew Berg Anne & Robert Berg Wayne S. Brown Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya Philip Brunelle Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Dr. Shauna Ryder Diggs Susan Feder & Todd Gordon Mary Ann & Carl Fontana Barbara & Michael Kratchman Denise J. Lewis Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky Ann & James Nicholson Naomi Oliphant William & Wendy Powers Ruth F. Rattner Irvin & Pamela Reid John Etsell and Europeras 3&4 Katina Zaninovich Carl & Mary Ann Fontana Nina Abrams Paul & Orvilla Ashely David Feeny Mary Jo & Donald Dawson Barbara E. Camph Holton Shipman Thomas E. Barron Peter Gude Allen A. Lewis Sarah Siwek Wilson Curle Cynthia Gitt Pamela Fontana Michael J. Bartoy Sara Valenti Teresa Taranta Andre Boulanger Robert Wittenberg Theresa Johnson Ellen Jacobowitz Ann & David Conrad Chuck & Sandra Jacobowitz

Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky Mary Jane Kupsky William & Elizabeth S. Kupsky Allan & Joy Nachman Eliot & Elizabeth Bank Lorna Thomas, MD Paul & Lee Blizman Barbara Walkowski Neal S. Goren Abbie E. Wisusik Michelle Tornopilsky

IN MEMORY OF Harriet Berg Mr. Richard D. Cavaler Harry Cook Ms. Susan Chevalier

Ruth F. Rattner Jody & Gary Astrein Lori Cohn Elle Elder Beth & Earle Erman Ann Fishman Amy Folbe Renee Handelsman David & Rose Handleman Patty Isacson Sabee Ann Katz Barbara & Michael Kratchman Victor Lebovici Jay Levinson Nancy & Bud Liebler Howard Luckoff Alex & Lisa MacDonald Angela Nelson-Heesch Grace Serra William Volz Gary L. Wasserman & Charles A. Kashner

Armando Delicato Judith Gordon & Lawrence Banka Angeline Rooks Jacqueline Shuster Maria McMullen Carol DeVore Aphrodite Roumell Mark DeVore Allan & Joy Nachman Donald Epstein Florence, David & Joyce Schon Marjory Epstein Michael L. Schon Pauline Fucinari Phyllis Snow Martha Chamorro & Fernando Peralta Lisa Gross Mr. Anthony Delsener Carole Heinrich Dr. David & Yvonne Fucinari Kathy & Jack Kennedy Therese, Carole & Margaret Winters Mary Louise Ireland Elizabeth Porter Heather Gehring Sarisa Zoghlin Shawn Rieschl Johnson & Kevin Dennis & Jeremy Zeltzer Christian Kirby Devon Hoover Patricia Cosgrove Joseph Katulic Stuart Grigg George & Ann Marisl Thomas Dickson & Carol Dick

Brenda Kee Dr. Ali Moiin & Dr. William Kupsky

John P. McMullin Alexander Ford Sean & Tori Murphy

Mary Kramer Lois & Mark Shaevsky

Enrico & Olga Petrini Miss Alma M. Petrini

Every effort has been made to accurately reflect donor, honoree, and memorial names for gifts received between January 1, 2024 and February 15, 2025. Should you find an error or omission please contact Reema Mahmood, Manager of Events and Donor Relations at rmahmood@detroitopera.org or 313.237.3267.

D E T R OI T O P ER A 1 5

Avanti Society Members Setting the Stage for Tomorrow

Found in many Italian opera texts, the word avanti means “ahead” or “forward,” and the Avanti Society— Detroit Opera’s planned gift recognition program—is a group of thoughtful donors whose generosity is defined by foresight. By including Detroit Opera in their estate plans, members are leaving lasting gifts which will bring the transformative power of opera and dance to audiences in our community and around the country, well beyond our own lifetimes. Thank you, Avanti Society Members!

Douglas* & Sarah Allison Richard & Mona* Alonzo Dr. Lourdes V. Andaya§ Mr. & Mrs. Agustin Arbulu§ Mr.* & Mrs. Chester Arnold§ Dr. Leora Bar-Levav Mr. & Mrs. Lee Barthel Mr. & Mrs. Brett Batterson§ Mr. & Mrs. Richard Bowlby Mrs. Doreen Bull Mr.* & Mrs. Roy E. Calcagno§ Dr. & Mrs. Thomas E.Carson Dr.* & Mrs. Victor J. Cervenak Father Paul F. Chateau Mary Christner Mr. Gary L. Ciampa Prof. Kenneth Collinson Douglas & Minka Cornelsen Dr. Robert A. Cornette§# Mr. Thomas J. Delaney Walter & Adel Dissett Ms. Mary J. Doerr# Mrs. Helen Ophelia Dove-Jones Marianne T. Endicott§# David & Jennifer Fischer Mr. & Mrs. Herb Fisher§ Derek & Pamela Francis Mrs. Barbara Frankel* & Mr. Ronald Michalak§# Mr. & Mrs. Herman Frankel§# Dr. & Mrs. Byron P. Georgeson§ Albert & Barbara Glover Robert Green Mr. Ernest Gutierrez Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Hagopian Mr. Lawrence W. Hall§ Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Halperin§ Ms. Heather Hamilton Charlene Handleman Preston & Mary Happel Mr. Kenneth E. Hart§ Mr. & Mrs. Eugene L. Hartwig§ Dr. & Mrs. Gerhardt A. Hein Fay & Allen Herman Derek & Karen* Hodgson Andrew & Carol Howell Dr. Cindy Hung§ Eleanor & Alan Israel Ms. Kristin Jaramillo§ Mr. Donald Jensen§ Mr. John Jickling Mr. Patrick J.* & Mrs. Stephanie Germack Kerzic

16

Josephine Kessler Edward & Barbara Klarman Mr. & Mrs. Robert Klein# Mr. & Mrs. Erwin H. Klopfer§# Myron & Joyce LaBan Paul Lavins Mr. Max Lepler & Mr. Rex Dotson Linda Dresner & Ed Levy Jr. Mr. Hannan Lis Florence LoPatin Mr. Stephen H. Lord Ms. Denise Lutz Laura & Mitchell Malicki Ms. Jane McKee§ Bruce Miller Drs. Orlando & Dorothy Miller§ Ms. Monica Moffat & Mr. Pat McGuire Drs. Stephen & Barbara Munk Mr. Jonathan F. Orser Ms. Julie A. Owens Mr. Dale J. Pangonis§ Mr. & Mrs. Charles A. Parkhill Mr. Richard M. Raisin§ 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 Professor Alvin & Mrs. Harriet Saperstein Ms. Susan Schooner§ Mark & Sally Schwartz Arlene Shaler§ Ms. Ellen Sharp Ms. Edna J Pak Shin Mr. & Mrs. Harold Siebert Mrs. Loretta Skewes Ms. Anne Sullivan Smith Mr.* & Mrs. Richard Starkweather§#+ Ms. Mary Anne Stella Mr. Stanford C. Stoddard Mr. Ronald F. Switzer§ & Jim McClure Lillie Tabor Peter & Ellen Thurber Alice* & Paul Tomboulian Jonathan & Salome E. Walton

Maxwell & Marjorie Jospey Mrs. Josephine Kleiner Misses Phyllis & Selma Korn§* Mr. & Mrs. Arthur We express profound thanks Krolikowski§ to these Avanti Society Mr. Philip Leon members whose planned Dores & Wade McCree gifts to Detroit Opera have Lucie B. Meininger been realized.

Helen M. Miller Robert G. Abgarian Trust Ella M. Montroy Mr. & Mrs. Robert Allesee# Ronald K. Morrison Serena Ailes Stevens Ruth Mott Mr. & Mrs. J. Addison Elizabeth M. Pecsenye Bartush§# Clarice Odgers Percox Trust Mr. & Mrs. Mandell Berman Thomas G. Porter Margaret & Douglas Borden Mitchell Romanowski Charles M. Broh Ms. Joanne B. Rooney Milena T. Brown Concetta Ross The Gladys L. Caldroney Trust Mr. & Mrs. Giles L. & Charlotte Bush Failing Trust Beverly Ross Mary C. Caggegi Ms. Merle H. Scheibner Allen B. Christman Drs. Heinz & Alice Miss Halla F. Claffey Platt Schwarz§ Ms. Virginia M. Clementi Ms. Laura Sias Hon. Avern Cohn* & Mrs. Marge Slezak Ms. Lois Pincus Ms. Phyllis Funk Snow§ Robert C. & RoseAnn B. Edward L. Stahl Comstock Mary Ellen Tappan Charitable Mary Rita Cuddohy Remainder Trust Marjorie E. DeVlieg Dr. Mildred Ponder Stennis Nancy Dewar Margaret D. Thurber James P. Diamond Mr. & Mrs. George & Inge Vincent§# Dr. David DiChiera Herman W. Weinreich Mrs. Karen V. DiChiera Dr. & Mrs. Charles H. Duncan§ J. Ernest Wilde Trust Mrs. Ruth Wilkins Mr. Wayne C. Everly Helen B. Wittenberg Dr. Evelyn J. Fisher Mr. & Mrs. Walter & Mrs. Anne E. Ford Elizabeth Work§ Ms. Pamela R. Francis§ Joseph J. Zafarana Mrs. Rema Frankel Mr. & Mrs. George M. Zeltzer§ Barbara Lucking Freedman The Edward P. Frohlich Trust The Priscilla A.B. KEY Goodell Trust § Founding Members Freda K. Goodman Trust Priscilla R. Greenberg, Ph.D.§# # Touch the Future donors Maliha Hamady * Deceased Patricia Hobar Mary Adelaide Hester Trust Membership in the Avanti Society is open Ms. Nancy B. Henk to all who wish to declare Gordon V. Hoialmen Trust their intention for a planned Carl J. Huss gift to Detroit Opera.

Mr. John Jesser Call Demetrius Shields to H. Barbara Johnston learn more, 313.309.8255.

Susan Weidinger Mr. Andrew Wise Larry* & Mary Lou Zangerle

Orchestra

Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local #5, of the American Federation of Musicians

V IOLIN

C ELLO

BA SS OO N

Eliot Heaton

Ivana Biliskov

Daniel Fendrick

Daniel Stachyra

Benjamin Maxwell

Open Position

Concertmaster (on leave) Interim Concertmaster

Yuri Popowycz

Acting Asst. Concertmaster

Principal

Andrea Yun Open Position

Emelyn Bashour

Principal Second Violin

Emily Barkakati Anna Bittar-Weller Molly Hughes Bryan Johnston Henrik Karapetyan

BA SS

Derek Weller

Jenny Wan Andrew Wu

Clark Suttle HARP

Open Position

Jacqueline Hanson Scott Stefanko Open Position

T RU M PE T Principal

Mark Davis

Principal

T RO M BO N E FLU T E

Open Position Principal

Open Position Principal

Dustin Nguyen

Open Position

V IOL A Principal

Carrie Banfield-Taplin

David Ammer

Second

John Madison

Principal

Principal

Velda Kelly Beth Kirton

HORN

Colin Bianchi

Open Position

Acting Asst. Concertmaster

Principal

OBOE

T I M PA NI

Eric Stoss Principal

Eli Stefanacci Principal

Open Position Second

PER C USSIO N

John Dorsey Principal

CL A R IN E T

Roi Karni Principal

J. William King

D E T R OI T O P ER A 17

Administration & Staff LEADERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT

Patty Isacson Sabee, President & CEO

Juliano Bitonti Stewart, Director of Development

Yuval Sharon, Gary L.Wasserman Artistic Director Roberto Kalb, Music Director Andrew Berg, Chief Development Officer Daniel T. Brinker, General Manager, Detroit Opera House & Parking Center Shawn Rieschl Johnson, Chief Programming & Production Officer Jon Teeuwissen, Artistic Advisor for Dance

Chelsea S. Kotula, Director of Institutional Giving Angela Nelson-Heesch, Director, Data Analytics & Operations Katrina Fasulo, Associate Director, Individual Giving Valentino Peacock, Manager of Data & Operations

Samantha Teter, Chief Marketing Officer

Reema Mahmood, Manager of Events and Donor Relations

Ataul Usman, Senior Director of Human Resources

Demetrius Shields, Manager of Individual Giving

ADMINISTRATION

EDUCATION

William Austin, Executive Assistant

Branden Hood, Director of Education

Christy Gray, Office Administrator

Alaina Brown, Program Coordinator: Education & Community Programs

ARTISTIC DEPARTMENT Nathalie Doucet, Head of Music & Director of Detroit Opera Resident Artist Program

FACILITIES Vanessa Boyd, Facilities Manager

Elizabeth Anderson, Artistic Administrator

Juan Benavides, Building Engineer

Jessie Neilson, Program Coordinator, Resident Artist Program

Kevie Crumb, Facilities & Event Technician

Melany Janer, Administrative Assistant

DANCE Kim Smith, Dance Administrator

DETROIT OPERA YOUTH CHORUS Suzanne Mallare Acton, Director Twannette Nash, Chorus Administrator Jane Arvidson Panikkar, Preparatory Chorus Conductor Rebecca O-G Eaddy, Principal Chorus Conductor Maria Cimarelli, Preparatory Chorus Accompanist Joseph Jackson, Principal Chorus Accompanist

FINANCE Kimberley Burgess, Accountant Rita Winters, Accountant

HUMAN RESOURCES Josh Kozakowski, Human Resources Coordinator

MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS Anna Herscher, Lead Graphic Designer Jennifer Melick, Communications & Media Relations Manager Deirdre Michael, Website Administrator Position is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Austin Richey, Digital Media Manager & Storyteller Arthur White, Director of Community & Audience Engagement

MUSIC DEPARTMENT Suzanne Mallare Acton, Assistant Music Director/Chorus Master Molly Hughes, Orchestra Personnel Manager 18

Jean Posekany, Orchestra Librarian

PRODUCTION

SAFETY AND SECURITY

Elizabeth Anderson, Production Coordinator

Rock Monroe, Director of Safety & Security

Kathleen Bennett, Production Finance Administrator

Lieutenant Lorraine Monroe

Jeff Beyersdorf, Technical Director Eden Cope, Assistant Technical Director Brian Dambacher, Production Manager Monika Essen, Property Master Suzanne Hanna, Costume Director Kaila Madison, Technical Assistant Brodrick Whittley, Assistant Technical Director COSTUMES Suzanne Hanna, Costume Director

Sergeant Demetrius Newbold Officer Gary Cabean Officer A.M. Hightower Officer Sullivan Horton Officer Terrence Hunter Officer Vernon Smith

TICKETING & BOX OFFICE Amy Brown, Director of Ticketing Operations Stephanie Stoiko, Assistant Box Office Manager

Michaela Tanskley, Wardrobe Supervisor

Evan Carr, System Administrator

Patricia Sova Jr., First Hand

Emily Lange, Box Office Associate

Mary Ellen Shuffett, Fitting Assistant

Chris Simpson, Box Office Associate

Maureen Abele, Dylan McBride, Paul Moran, Lupe Vazquez, Stitchers

Ellen Smith, Group Sales Associate

WIGS & MAKEUP

Così fan tutte Erika Broderdorf, Local Crew Coordinator Vanessa Cassidy, Kaitlyn Denzler, Mallory Maxton, Nicole Pangas, Theo Place, Cedasha Randolph, Shannon Schoenberg, Denitra Townsend, Wig & Makeup Crew

VENUE OPERATIONS Alexis Means, Director of Operations & Patron Experiences Holly Clement, Senior Manager of Events & Rentals Jennifer George-Consiglio, Manager of Venue Operations Michael Hauser, Curator of History & Architecture

Dayna Winalis, Swing

Kathie Booth, Volunteer Coordinator

The Central Park Five

USHERS

Erika Broderdorf, Local Crew Coordinator Vanessa Cassidy, Denitra Gregory, Nicole Pangas, Theo Place, Cedasha Randolph, Dayna Winalis, Jessica Wood, Wig & Makeup Crew Carol Taylor, Swing STAGE CREW John Kinsora, Head Carpenter Jerome Bowie, Interim Head Electrician Pat McGee, Head Propertyman Chris Baker, Head of Sound

Max Aghili, Christine Berryman, Ellen Bishop, Kathie Booth, Lori Burkhardt, Randall Davis, Erin G-Doakes, Suzanne Erbes, Pamela Fergusson, Jo-Ann Hale, Sue Hargrave, Myrna Mazure, Ennis Mcgee, Steven McReynolds, Heddie O’Connor, Bill Ried, Kimberly Ried, Edna Rubin, Ida Vance, Sheryl Weinan-Yee

Pat Tobin, Head Flyman Dee Dorsey, Surtitle Operator Mary Ellen Shuffett, Head of Wardrobe IATSE Local #38 Stage Crew IATSE Local #786 Wardrobe D E T R OI T O P ER A 1 9

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.

20

155 West Congress Detroit, Michigan • (313) 962-0277 • www.thelondonchophouse.com

Make your event spectacular!

THE

BEAUBIEN ROOM 400 Monroe St.

Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 963-1400

internationalbanquets.com

Opera has been described as an art form that tells a story through music and singing. Detroit Opera is innovating new and exciting ways to tell those stories.

At The Whitney, we see architecture as another art form that tells a story, in our case through our 125-year-old Romanesque-style mansion, one of the last remaining mansions that once lined Woodward Avenue. It is a true reflection of Old Detroit.

Before your next opera, or whenever the urge hits you, come visit our mansion. We promise that the welcoming reception you’ll receive, the food and drink you’ll enjoy, and the ambiance you’ll experience, will make you think you’ve gone back in time.

Pre-Theater Dining, Sunday Brunch or Afternoon Tea—It’s a story you won’t forget.

4421 Woodward Avenue | 313.832.5700 | TheWhitney.com