THE ATLANTA OPERA
FRIDA She made wings to fly. music: Robert Xavier Rodríguez book: Hilary Blecher lyrics & monologues: Migdalia Cruz
October 5, 9, 11, 13, 2019 Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center at City Springs
THE DISCOVERIES SERIES SPONSORED BY
The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Welcome! Oscar Wilde once said, “The stage is not merely the meeting place of all the arts, but is also the return of art to life.” Welcome to our new stage... and the new life of Encore! For the past five months, the Encore team has worked tirelessly behind the curtain to create and curate our new look and feel alongside our fabulous director, Debbi Shapiro, and her amazing cast of brand ambassadors at HSP Marketing. Our goal? To become the defining voice of performing arts in Atlanta. We offer to you, the Atlanta arts patron, a cleaner, crisper, more updated, more relevant version of our previous self – one that is clearly defined and recognizable from afar, one that has a well-defined stage presence. Our insides have changed, too. No longer will we perform, editorially, in topics outside of the arts. Readers will now find photos and features focused exclusively on celebrating and chronicling the performing arts, and will enjoy arts-focused content on our newly redesigned website. Across all platforms, Encore is committed to bringing quality content to Atlanta’s arts patrons – from breaking news to backstage stories, and from season announcements to red carpet excitement. As this new Encore comes to life, we continue to be so grateful to our partners around town, without whom we couldn’t perform at all: The Fox Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta Ballet, The Atlanta Opera, Rialto Center for the Arts and Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center. So please join us as we allow our former Encore to take a bow – and help us raise the curtain on the new and improved Encore! We hope you enjoy it – and we hope you enjoy the show!
Brantley Manderson Publisher
The energy of the stage.
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FEATURES 4
WELCOME LETTER FROM TOMER ZVULUN
16 PRODUCTION NOTE BY NOEL MORRIS
PERFORMANCE 6 8 8
SPONSORS CREDITS SYNOPSIS
20 31 32
CAST & CREATIVE FRIDA ORCHESTRA CORE ORCHESTRA
THE ATLANTA OPERA 34 36
BOARD OF DIRECTORS STAFF
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AN EXPERIENCE
Beyond Theater
“An extraordinary experience... Exquisitely beautiful!” —Cate Blanchett, Academy Award-winning actress
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“Demonstrating the highest realm in arts!” —Chi Cao, principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet
January 3–12, 2020 Cobb Energy Centre
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WELCOME Mexican artist Frida Kahlo rubbed elbows with legends in music, art, politics, and industry. She had uncommon talent, uncommon beauty — and a horrific existence. Her colorful, operatic life is captured by Robert Xavier Rodríguez’s opera Frida, which transports the audience deep into her tortured life and will bring a bewitching mashup of art forms to Sandy Springs.
Many of you have been part of The Atlanta Opera’s Discoveries series and its dizzying success. In just five seasons, the series has grown from three to sixteen performances, and the audience has grown by 500 percent. We’ve even scrambled to add performances to soldout shows. And news from the box office is good: 42 percent of our Discoveries series audience had been brand new to the opera — 24 percent of those returned to see a mainstage production. Through the Discoveries series, we’ve brought more contemporary and intimate shows to neighborhoods throughout the city, repositioning opera in Atlanta while delivering riveting vocal and theatrical experiences. The 2019-20 season promises unforgettable artistry, starting with the return of Catalina Cuervo in this production of Frida. The season continues on the mainstage with operas by Rossini, Puccini, and Richard Strauss, and closes with the Discoveries series’ riveting portrait of America’s longest-held prisoner of war, Glory Denied. This line-up offers breathtaking range, yet it all comes down to music and storytelling. And that’s where the magic begins. Thank you for joining us in the theatre. Please come again. And bring your friends.
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photo: Jeff Roffman
Tomer Zvulun Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director The Atlanta Opera
©2017 The Coca-Cola Company.
Proud supporter of
DISCOVERIES SERIES SPONSORED BY
The Molly Blank Fund of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
Official Beverage of The Atlanta Opera
Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
Major support for The Atlanta Opera is provided by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. This program is also supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts.
THE ATLANTA OPERA DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE Cathy & Mark Adams Mr. & Mrs. Ronald R. Antinori Nancy & Jim* Bland Laura & Cosmo Boyd Harold Brody & Donald Smith John & Rosemary Brown Mr. & Mrs. John L. Connolly Ann & Frank Critz Martha Thompson Dinos John L. Hammaker Mr. Howard W. Hunter, Gramma Fisher Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Michael L. Keough Mr.* & Mrs. Carl W. Knobloch, Jr.
Mary Ruth McDonald Mr. James B. Miller, Jr. Victoria & Howard Palefsky Mr. William E. Pennington Jerry & Dulcy Rosenberg Ms. Janine Brown & Mr. Alex J. Simmons, Jr. Mr. William F. Snyder Judith & Mark Taylor Triska Drake & G. Kimbrough Taylor Mr. & Mrs. Brian Ward Rhys & Carolyn Wilson Ms. Bunny Winter & Mr. Michael Doyle The Mary & Charlie Yates Family Fund
Full donor list is published in the ARIA for all mainstage productions.
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*deceased
So many ways to save. Find tools and resources to help save money and energy. Georgia Power has energy-saving tips on everything from controlling airflow to adding weatherstripping. Plus you’ll have access to resources like Online Energy Checkup and My Power Usage to learn about your energy consumption. There are hundreds of simple ways for you to save energy – and saving energy means saving money. To learn more, visit georgiapower.com/save. ©2019 Georgia Power. All rights reserved.
FRIDA CREDITS MUSIC Robert Xavier Rodríguez BOOK Hilary Blecher LYRICS & MONOLOGUES Migdalia Cruz FIRST PERFORMANCE April 7, 1991, American Music Theater Festival, Philadelphia CONDUCTOR Jorge Parodi PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Jose Maria Condemi SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGNER Moníka Essen WIG DESIGNER Sue Sittko Schaefer ASSOCIATE WIG DESIGNER Kellen Eason LIGHTING DESIGNER Ben Rawson CHOREOGRAPHER Ricardo Aponte CAST FRIDA KAHLO Catalina Cuervo DIEGO RIVERA Ricardo Herrera CRISTINA KAHLO Maria Valdes ALEJANDRO / LEON TROTKSY Andres Acosta DIMA’S MOTHER / LUPE MARÍN Gina Perregrino** PETATE VENDOR / GUILLERMO KAHLO / MR. ROCKEFELLER Jonathan Bryan* MRS. ROCKEFELLER / NATALIA TROTSKY Eliza Bonet MOURNER / MR. FORD Nathan Munson MOURNER Jouelle Roberson* BARKER Isaac Kim* CALAVERA / EDWARD G. ROBINSON Zachary Owen CALAVERA / MRS. FORD Bryn Holdsworth** CALAVERA Jasmine Habersham DANCERS Miriam Golomb, Rachel Shiffman, Cansler McGhee MUSICAL PREPARATION Paul Schwartz, Álvaro Corral Matute* ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Ellen Jackson†* CALLING STAGE MANAGER Marisa Brink ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS Kristin Kelley, Rachel Kilgore Scenery, costumes, and props created for Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit, Michigan Approximate running time: 2 hours 15 minutes *member of The Atlanta Opera Studio **alumni of The Atlanta Opera Studio †The Jerry & Dulcy Rosenberg Young Artist Stage Director, given in honor of Tomer Zvulun cover photo: J.Martin/Comet Interactive 8
Experience a hauntingly beautiful version of the South through the eyes of American photographer Sally Mann. A Thousand Crossings explores themes of memory, death, and the bonds of family while posing provocative questions about history, identity, and race. H I G H M U S E U M O F A R T AT L A N TA | O CT O B E R 1 9 – F E B R U A RY 2 | H I G H .O R G This exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SPONSOR
EXHIBITION SERIES SPONSORS
PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS The Antinori Foundation Sarah and Jim Kennedy Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot
BENEFACTOR EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTER Anne Cox Chambers Foundation AMBASSADOR EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS Tom and Susan Wardell Rod Westmoreland
CONTRIBUTING EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS Lucinda W. Bunnen Marcia and John Donnell W. Daniel Ebersole and Sarah Eby-Ebersole Peggy Foreman Robin and Hilton Howell Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones Joel Knox and Joan Marmo Margot and Danny McCaul The Ron and Lisa Brill Family Charitable Trust Elizabeth and Chris Willett
GENEROUS SUPPORT IS ALSO PROVIDED BY: Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, Isobel Anne Fraser–Nancy Fraser Parker Exhibition Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund. Sally Mann, Deep South, Untitled (Scarred Tree), 1998, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund. © Sally Mann.
SYNOPSIS
photos: Philip Groshong
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ACT I SCENE 1 The Street outside the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, Mexico City, 1923. Three Calaveras, death figures from Mexican folklore, introduce the scene. Schoolgirls enter. They are accosted by the unruly male gang of Cachuchas, led by the young Frida Kahlo and her boyfriend, Alejandro. Frida’s sister, Cristina, upbraids Frida for her boyish behavior. The Cachuchas chase off the schoolgirls, and Frida watches as a Mother whose child has died begs a Petate (straw mat) vendor for a mat with which to bury her son. Frida is moved by the poverty she sees. She then witnesses a celebration of the Zapatista movement and takes heart in the promise of the revolution.
SCENE 3 The Bus Crash, Mexico City. Frida and Alejandro kiss and board a bus. The bus crashes, and the scene is enacted by the Calaveras to the tune of a corrida. Frida is severely injured, but she resolves to live and to begin her life as a painter.
SCENE 2 Frida’s Room, Coyoacán. Frida tells Cristina of her expectations of life upon coming of age.
SCENE 5 Diego’s Studio. Frida critiques Diego’s work as he paints a portrait of Emiliano Zapata. They are interrupted
SCENE 4 Diego’s Mural at the Preparatoria/ Wedding. As Diego Rivera paints, his wife, Lupe Marín, poses. Frida and Cristina enter, and Frida presents her portfolio to introduce herself to Diego. Diego is fascinated by Frida. He leaves Lupe to ask Frida’s father, Guillermo, for Frida’s hand in marriage. At the wedding ceremony, Lupe dramatically appears and makes a futile attempt to win Diego back.
WARHOL DID WESTERN ART ? No Fooling?
Sure Shooting!
Through December 31 Andy Warhol, Cowboys and Indians: General Custer, 1986 Screenprint on Lenox, museum board Edition 55/250 36 × 36 inches, Collection Booth Western Art Museum, © 2019 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; Andy Warhol, Cowboys and Indians: Annie Oakley, 1986 Screenprint on Lenox museum board Edition 55/250 36 × 36 inches, Collection Booth Western Art Museum © 2019 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
BoothMuseum.org | Cartersville, GA
by revolutionaries, communists, businessmen, and government bureaucrats. All denounce Diego and tell him his career as an artist is finished in Mexico. He fires his pistol at them, and the Riveras resolve to try their luck in the USA.
the Crossroads,” while Frida paints. She is in despair at being unable to bear a child. Rockefeller berates Diego for displaying his communist sympathies by including Lenin in the painting. The mural is destroyed, and Frida miscarries. She persuades Diego to return to Mexico.
SCENE 6 New York City. Frida and Diego attend a dinner party hosted by the Fords and the Rockefellers. Diego enjoys the adulation, and Rockefeller commissions a mural. Frida ridicules the rich in “Gringolandia” and gives a spirited interview to a group of reporters.
ACT II SCENE 1 San Ángel, Mexico. At home in adjacent blue and pink houses, Frida expresses her joy at being home in Mexico. Diego is miserable. Frida chooses to ignore the parade of women through Diego’s house, but she is horrified to discover her sister, Cristina, among them.
SCENE 7 The RCA Buildling and Rockefeller Center, New York City. In a split scene, Diego works on his commission, “Man at
SCENE 2 San Ángel, Mexico. The communist Leon Trotsky and his wife, Natalia,
photos: Philip Groshong
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DISCOVER THE SPIVEY DIFFERENCE
2019-2020 Concert Series Clayton State University
CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF, violin LARS VOGT, piano Saturday, October 19, 2019
CHRISTOPH PRÉGARDIEN, tenor JULIUS DRAKE, piano Sunday, October 20, 2019
HORSZOWSKI TRIO Sunday, November 3, 2019
CHRISTIAN SANDS HIGH WIRE TRIO Saturday, November 16, 2019
For tickets or more information call (678) 466-4200 or visit
SPIVEYHALL.ORG
SUPERB ACOUSTICS • OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL MUSICIANS INTIMATE CONCERT EXPERIENCES
photos: Philip Groshong
join the Riveras in Mexico. Diego and Natalia confront Frida and Trotsky over their mutual affection. Cristina expresses her guilt for betraying Frida. Frida and Diego come to the realization that their differences cannot be reconciled. SCENE 3 Frida’s Bath. Frida retreats to the seclusion of her bath and the comfort of a female lover. SCENE 4 An Art Gallery and New York Apartment of Nicholas Murray (A Photographer Back in Mexico). Diego meets with the American actor Edward G. Robinson and sells him some of Frida’s work. Diego then urges Frida to pursue her own career, without him. Frida models for her lover, and talks to him as he photographs her. Frida and Diego decide to divorce. 14
SCENE 5 Frida’s Imagination. Haunted by her physical and emotional pain, Frida joins the Calaveras in depicting imagery from her paintings “The Broken Column,” “The Little Deer,” and “Self Portrait With Monkeys”. SCENE 6 – FINALE Frida’s Hospital Bed. In a delirium, Frida relives episodes of her life, including the assassination of Trotsky, of which she and Diego were accused. Diego returns and sings to entertain her, finishing with a proposal to marry her again. She agrees, saying he must realize that she is now her own creation, independent of him. The Calaveras and the entire cast join her, singing and dancing in a joyful celebration, and she departs with a cry of “Viva, la vida ... alegría ... and Diego.”
TOGETHER, LET’S MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OUR NATION’S HEROES The Home Depot Foundation is proud to partner with the Atlanta Opera to honor our U.S. military, veterans and their families.
© 2018 Homer TLC, Inc. All rights reserved.
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PRODUCTION NOTE Cincinnati Opera’s 2017 production of Frida with Catalina Cuervo as Frida Kahlo and Ricardo Herrera as Diego Rivera. photos: Philip Groshong
“I don’t paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.” – Frida Kahlo
BY NOEL MORRIS
Fierce. Wounded. Spellbinding. Frida Kahlo lived life like a work of art. With almost unnatural zeal she pursued her greatest passions: self-expression, Mexico, feminism, social justice, and love. Now fixed into the fabric of popular culture, her paintings bear witness 16
to her anguish. Beguiling as they are unsettling, her self-portraits ensnare the viewer in an accusing and uncompromising gaze. At the same time, they provide unvarnished testimony to major events in her life, flowing seamlessly into the 1991 opera Frida by Robert Xavier Rodríguez.
A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER: “The music of Frida is in the GershwinSondheim-Weill tradition of exploring the common ground between opera and music theater. The score calls for mariachi-style orchestration—with prominent parts for accordion, guitar, violin, and trumpet—in which authentic Mexican folk songs and dances are interwoven with bits of tangos, colorations of zarzuela, ragtime, and jazz. Among the ‘stolen’ musical fragments developed in Frida are such strange musical bedfellows as two traditional Mexican piñata songs (“Hora y fuego” and “Al quebrar la piñata”), two narrative ballads (“La Maquinita” and “Jesusita”), the Communist anthem (“L’Internationale”), Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony [to accompany the entrance of Russian dissident Leon Trotsky], and Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde [to accompany Kahlo’s confrontation with Henry Ford]. Spanish speakers might also listen for the rhythm of a familiar Mexican curse growling in the trombone as Lupe (Diego’s former wife) insults Frida and Diego at their wedding. PAIN On September 25, 1925, 18-year-old Frida Kahlo suffered devastating injuries when the bus she was riding collided with
a streetcar. She sustained fractures to her spine, collarbone, and ribs. Her pelvis was shattered, her shoulder dislocated. Her right leg sustained eleven fractures, and her foot was crushed. An iron rail pierced her abdomen and uterus. From that point on, her life was an unending succession of surgeries, including the amputation of her right leg below the knee in 1953. Some researchers believe that Kahlo was born with spina bifi da, a neural tube defect aff ecting the spine and spinal cord. In later years, she became addicted to painkillers. Already, the teenaged Kahlo had had an uneven gait: Her right leg was withered due to a childhood bout with polio. As an adult, Kahlo longed to bring a little “Dieguito” into the world (a reference to her husband Diego Rivera). Because of complications from the accident, more than one pregnancy ended in abortion or miscarriage. LOVE “There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.” Kahlo was 21 in 1928 when she met the great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. twenty years his junior, she became his third wife in 1929. Rivera’s persistent photos: Philip Groshong
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philandering put a tremendous strain on their marriage. Eventually, Kahlo took lovers of her own, including the famed Marxist Leon Trotsky (an affair which infuriated Rivera). Unconfirmed rumors suggest she also had liaisons with Josephine Baker and Georgia O’Keeffe. Nevertheless, when Rivera slept with Cristina Kahlo, Frida’s sister, the shock was unbearable. The couple divorced in 1939. They remarried in 1940 and kept a volatile union until her death in 1954.
makeup, she favored bold lipstick colors while applying an ebony eye pencil to emphasize the iconic unibrow. Spurning the day’s fashions, she favored the traditional Mexican Tehuana costume with braided hair, heavy jewelry, floral headpieces, and a faint mustache—all of which leapt into her 55 self-portraits. Documenting the surgeries, her marriage, the body cast, the brace, and her failed pregnancies, Frida Kahlo wrote the story of her life into her canvasses.
SELF-EXPRESSION
POLITICS
Frida Kahlo detested the conventional female identity. Instead, she put enormous care into cultivating a personal brand. Starting as a teenager, she embraced what she referred to as her masculine features and sometimes donned a man’s suit. Fastidious in her
With her customary flare for drama, Frida Kahlo liked to declare that she was born in the year of the Mexican Revolution, the conflict which led to the ouster of the ruling elite. In truth she was three years old at the outbreak in 1910. Throughout her life, she remained an ardent proponent of Mexican pride. Often, her politics were (and are) conflated with that of her husband, Diego Rivera, who was a Communist activist. While Kahlo was perhaps less interested in expounding upon political theory, she despised pretense and materialism, which she associated with American industrialists. She was outraged by their disregard for the poor and the working people.
photos: Philip Groshong
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In 1937, Rivera persuaded the leftist government of President Lázaro Cárdenas to grant asylum to the exiled Communist Leon Trotsky. Rivera welcomed the Russian exile into the Kahlo family home, La Casa Azul. When Trotsky had an affair with Kahlo, Rivera (himself an unapologetic womanizer) threw him out on the street. Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City in 1940.
CAST & CREATIVE ROBERT XAVIER RODRÍGUEZ COMPOSER
Robert Xavier Rodríguez has been called “one of the major American composers of his generation” (Texas Monthly). His music has been described as “Romantically dramatic” (Washington Post), “richly lyrical” (Musical America) and “glowing with a physical animation and delicate balance of moods that combine seductively with his allencompassing sense of humor” (Los Angeles Times). “Its originality lies in the telling personality it reveals. His music always speaks, and speaks in the composer’s personal language” (American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters). Rodríguez has composed a total of eight operas which have had over 2,000 performances throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe. The best-known of Rodríguez’s operas is Frida, based on the life of Frida Kahlo, which the New York Times named “The Best Opera/Musical Theater of 1991.” Opera News has listed his children’s opera as the fourth most oftenperformed contemporary opera in the United States. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Goddard Lieberson Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Prix Lili Boulanger and the Prix de Composition Prince Pierre de Monaco. Rodríguez has served as Composer-in-Residence with the San Antonio Symphony and the Dallas Symphony. Twenty CDs featuring his music have been recorded (1999 Grammy nomination), and his music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer. He holds an Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Dallas.
JORGE PARODI CONDUCTOR
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES, 2017 Internationally acclaimed conductor Jorge Parodi’s recent credits include Il barbiere di Siviglia, Les pêcheurs de perles, Le nozze di Figaro, and the world premieres of Anton Coppola’s Lady Swanwhite for Opera Tampa; María de Buenos Aires for The Atlanta Opera, New York City Opera, and Opera Grand Rapids; Lucrezia Borgia and I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Buenos Aires Lírica (Argentina); The Turn of the Screw for the Castleton Festival and The Banff Centre (Canada), and Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges for The Juilliard School. Upcoming engagements include his return to Opera Tampa and his debut at Chautauqua Opera. Reviewed as having “the most expressive conducting hands since Stokowski” by the New York Daily News, Argentinean-born Jorge Parodi has worked with such companies as the Teatro Colón in Argentina, the Volgograd Opera in Russia, and he has collaborated with such artists as Isabel Leonard, Eglise Gutierrez, Tito Capobianco, and Sherrill Milnes. Parodi is the Music Director of Opera in Williamsburg (VA) and also the Music Director of the Senior Opera Theatre at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has led its productions to critical acclaim. A featured interview about his work with MSM Opera recently appeared in Opera News. 20
JOSE MARIA CONDEMI PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: COSÌ FAN TUTTE, 2011
José Maria Condemi’s directorial work encompasses an eclectic range of styles and repertoire and has been consistently praised for its creatively theatrical and innovative approach. Notable engagements include Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Faust, Tosca, Così fan tutte, Un Ballo in Maschera, The Elixir of Love for Families, and the world premiere of The Secret Garden (San Francisco Opera); Ernani, Tristan und Isolde and Il barbiere di Siviglia for Families (Lyric Opera Chicago); Aida (Houston Grand Opera); Luisa Miller (Canadian Opera Company); Orphee et Eurydice, La bohème, Tosca and Il Trovatore (Seattle Opera); Frida (Michigan Opera Theatre); Tosca, Ainadamar, Don Giovanni, La traviata, Il Trovatore and Maria de Buenos Aires (Cincinnati Opera). Upcoming directing engagements include new productions of Le Portrait de Manon and Suor Angelica (San Francisco Conservatory of Music); Frida (Cincinnati Opera); Carmen (Central City Opera); Tosca (L’Opera de Montreal); and return engagements with Indiana University and Michigan Opera Theatre. Condemi is the Carol Franc Buck Distinguished Chair and the Director of Opera and Musical Theater at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He was also the Artistic Director of Opera Santa Barbara from 2010 until 2015 where he oversaw artistic planning and the Studio Artists Program.
MONÍKA ESSEN SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGNER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Moníka Essen is an award winning, nationally recognized artist and designer. The recipient of the prestigious Lawrence DeVine Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre, she studied interior architecture and environmental design at Parsons School of Design and received her Masters in Fine Arts in Scenography from the renowned Hilberry Repertory Company. She has designed for theatre, opera and film, and is currently the resident designer at Michigan Opera Theatre where she designed their highly acclaimed productions of The Tender Land and Amahl and the Night Visitors, as well as this production of Frida. Recently, she directed and designed La Cenerentola for Opera Modo in Detroit, with an entirely new concept she devised which included a new and modern libretto in English. She is working on designs for Dominique Morriseau’s Paradise Blue at Detroit Public Theatre, and A Doll’s House, Part 2 at Tipping Point Theatre. She is an accomplished painter, and creates murals, furniture, museum exhibits, interiors and full-sensory, multi-media environments for residential and commercial clients, including the Detroit Zoo. All of her design work can be viewed at studioepoque.com. She is a member of USA 829. 21
SUE SITTKO SCHAEFER WIG DESIGNER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Sue Schaefer has designed wigs and makeup for opera and theater for over 30 years. At The Atlanta Opera, she has worked on productions including Aida, Il trovatore, and La Cenerentola. Most recently, she has designed wigs and makeup for several seasons at Florida Grand Opera and Hawaii Opera Theatre. Other companies include: Kentucky Opera, Sarasota Opera, San Diego Opera, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Opera, Portland Center Stage, Guthrie Theater, Minnesota Opera, and many more.
BEN RAWSON LIGHTING DESIGNER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Ben Rawson is an Atlanta-based lighting designer, member USA 829. His theatrical and opera design work can be seen at the Alliance Theatre, The Atlanta Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Aurora Theatre, Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Actors Express, Theatrical Outfit, 7 Stages, Theatre Buford, Weird Sisters Theatre Project, and Synchronicity Theatre. His dance design work includes work with choreographers Danielle Agami, Ana Maria Lucaciu, and Troy Schumacher as well as Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, Fly On A Wall, Staibdance, Bluebird Uncaged, Proia Dance Project, and Emily Cargill and Dancers. Ben has also worked across the country as an Associate/Assistant Lighting Designer for The Glimmerglass Festival (NY), San Diego Opera (CA), the Alliance Theatre (GA), Berkshire Theatre Festival (MA), The Atlanta Opera (GA), Lyric Opera of Kansas City (MO), Utah Opera (UT), Palm Beach Opera (FL), and Playmakers Repertory Company (NC). benrawsondesign.com
RICARDO APONTE CHOREOGRAPHER ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Ricardo Aponte is an Atlanta based director and choreographer and a two-time Suzi Award winner whose work has been seen at the Alliance Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, Actor’s Express, Atlanta Lyric, Aurora Theatre, and many others. His most recent theatre work includes Men with Money (World Premiere), Newsies, and Mamma Mia! at the Aurora Theatre; The Dancing Handkerchief at Theatrical Outfit (World Premiere: Music by Robert Lopez); Frozen Jr. at City Springs Theatre; The Buddy Holly Story and Once On This Island at Georgia Ensemble Theatre; The Wedding Singer and Jesus Christ Superstar at Atlanta Lyric; The Lizard and The Sun, and James and the Giant Peach at the Alliance Theatre; The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Legend of Georgia McBride at Actor’s Express; 1001 Nights and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at Center for Puppetry Arts, among other productions. His choreography can also soon be seen on the Netflix series Heartstrings, starring Dolly Parton. Ricardo is also the founder of the The Theatre Platform Project, a nonprofit organization that focuses on providing theatre education to underserved communities. Reach us at: theatreplarformproject.org 22
CATALINA CUERVO FRIDA KAHLO
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES, 2017 Known as the “Fiery Soprano,” Colombian born Catalina Cuervo holds the distinction of having performed the most productions of Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires in the history of the opera, performing Maria over 50 times and for numerous companies including Florida Grand Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and Syracuse Opera. She debuted in Detroit as Frida Kahlo in the revival of the opera Frida with Michigan Opera Theatre in 2015 and performed the role again with Cincinnati Opera for their 2017 season. Frida gave her a huge following in Michigan and Cincinnati, with the opera seeing triumphant reviews and sold out shows in both locations. One review even called Frida the best opera of the 2015 season. In March 2019, Frida was presented in Miami with Florida Grand Opera with more rave reviews and sold out shows. Catalina was named one of the five most successful Colombian sopranos in the opera world by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia. Other recent roles include Adriana in the Zarzuela Los Gavilanes, and Hanna in the operetta The Merry Widow with La Fundacion Manzur in Bogota, Colombia. Before that, she performed the role of Amapola in the Zarzuela La Leyenda del Beso, the role of Musetta in La bohéme with La Fundación Prolirica in Medellin, and the role of Magda in Puccini’s La rondine as a young artist for Chicago Opera Theater.
RICARDO HERRERA DIEGO RIVERA ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Bass-baritone Ricardo Herrera performed the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Aspen Music Festival under Julius Rudel in 1997, and the next year he became a member of the Juilliard Opera Center and sang in several opera productions directed by Frank Corsaro and Ted Altschuler including La Calisto, Così fan tutte and Weill’s Der Kuhhandel. In 1999 he was honored with the First Prize Award Winner of the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition in NYC and was also invited to participate in Placido Domingo’s Operalia World Opera Contest. While at Juilliard, he was chosen to represent the Voice Division for a PBS City Arts documentary on Juilliard entitled Taking the Vow. He was a 1999 Merola Opera Center participant in San Francisco and performed the title role in the Western Opera Theater National Tour of Don Giovanni. During the summer of 2000, after participating in the premiere season of Opera Aegean in Greece under the Artistic Direction of Sherrill Milnes, he received the Demodocus Award that entitled him to his Carnegie Hall debut as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor. In 2002, he received the Adler Fellowship with San Francisco Opera and appeared in many San Francisco Opera productions including La traviata, Eugene Onegin, The Mother of Us All, and Billy Budd. 23
MARIA VALDES CRISTINA KAHLO ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: CHARLIE PARKER’S YARDBIRD, 2018
American soprano Maria Valdes was recently described as a “first-rate singing actress and a perfectly charming Gilda” (New York Times). Highlights of the 2018-19 season include a debut with The Atlanta Opera as Doris Parker in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, a company debut with Washington Concert Opera for their Opera Outside series, and a return to Phoenix Symphony for performances of Handel’s Messiah. She will also make her company and role debut as Violetta in La traviata at Gulfshore Opera, her Rochester Philharmonic debut, reprising the role of Despina in Così fan tutte and will debut with West Edge Opera as Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice. In the fall of 2019, she will make her debut with the Brooklyn Art Song Society singing Chants d’Auvergne by Joseph Canteloube.
24 Philip Groshong photos:
ANDRES ACOSTA ALEJANDRO / LEON TROTKSY ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Praised for his sweet lyric voice, Cuban-American tenor Andres Acosta continues to stand out through his strong vocal presence and magnetic acting. In the 2019-20 season, Acosta makes his Ravinia Festival debut in Bernstein’s Mass, reprises the role of Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas in his house debut with Pittsburgh Opera, makes his Houston Grand Opera debut as Father Matias in the alternate cast of El Milagro del Recuerdo, reprises the role of Timothy Laughlin in Fellow Travelers in his company debut with Madison Opera, and returns to Minnesota Opera for his role debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. His 2018-19 season included his highly acclaimed portrayal of Timothy Laughlin in Minnesota Opera’s production of Fellow Travelers by Greg Spears, and he reprised the role of Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas with Pensacola Opera. In concert, he debuted with the Cincinnati Symphony for their autumn Pops Concert, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, and LOFTrecital for Bernstein’s Songfest. Acosta joined Theatre Latté Da’s national tour of Peter Rothsteins’s All is Calm as Victor Granier. He also competed as a semifinalist in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition.
GINA PERREGRINO DIMA’S MOTHER / LUPE MARÍN
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS, 2017 Praised by Opera News as a “standout,” young Italian-American mezzo Gina Perregrino is already garnering attention on stages around the country. This past summer she made her debut with the Santa Fe Opera as Paquette in a new production of Candide by Laurent Pelly. In the 2017-18 season, Gina performed with The Atlanta Opera where she sang Anna I in The Seven Deadly Sins, Edka in the world premiere of Out of Darkness: Two Remain by Jake Heggie, and Nica in eight performances of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird. She made her company debut at Central City Opera as an apprentice artist where she sang the title role in a performance of Carmen.
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JONATHAN BRYAN PETATE VENDOR / GUILLERMO KAHLO / MR. ROCKEFELLER
STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: DEAD MAN WALKING, 2019 Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Jonathan Bryan returns to The Atlanta Opera for his second season as the company’s resident baritone. He holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Louisiana State University and received his master of music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with worldrenowned baritone, Wolfgang Brendel. He has performed many leading operatic roles, including the title character in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Danilo in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Other roles include Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Owen Hart in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and Rambaldo in Puccini’s La rondine, among others. He has frequently appeared as a concert soloist in a number of master works, including Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Missa in angustiis, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and sung with orchestras such as the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. He is a former member of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio, and recently returned for his second season as a young artist at The Glimmerglass Festival. This season at The Atlanta Opera, Mr. Bryan will be performing the roles of First Nazarene in Salome, and Yamadori as well as covering the role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.
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photos: Philip Groshong
ELIZA BONET MRS. ROCKEFELLER / NATALIA TROTSKY ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: WEST SIDE STORY, 2018
Cuban-American mezzo-soprano Eliza Bonet continues to garner critical praise for her “sparkling, uninhibited delivery” (SF Classical Music Examiner) and “full, bright, warm sound” (Mercury News). She recently made her Carnegie Hall debut singing selections from Manos Indocumentados by Jorge Lockward with the Mimesis Ensemble. The program entitled A Long Way From Home explored migration journeys and the trials and tribulations one faces within them. Recently, in a season full of company and role debuts, she debuted with the San Francisco Symphony this June to present the role of Fyodor in Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, joining an internationally renowned cast under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas.
NATHAN MUNSON MOURNER / MR. FORD
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, 2011 A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Nathan Munson has been praised for his vocal beauty, and proven to be a versatile presence on the concert and operatic stage. Recent roles include Beppe in I pagliacci with both the Sarasota Opera and the Hawaii Opera Theatre. Also with Hawaii Opera Theatre, he debuted as the tenor soloist in Carmina Burana, as Tom Snout in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and in performances of the Steersman in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer. With The Atlanta Opera, he has performed the Camera Man in The Golden Ticket, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, the Emperor in Turandot and, most recently, the Father in Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins. Other recent performances include Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi and Buoso’s Ghost, Bastien in Bastien und Bastienne and Alberto in La Curandera with Opera Piccola San Antonio, Valére in Tartuffe with Capitol City Opera, El Dancaïre in Carmen with Opera North, and Dr. Baglioni in a world premiere revision of Daniel Catan’s La Hija di Rappaccini with the Illinois Opera Theater. He has appeared as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, and Cassio in Verdi’s Otello. For dell’Arte Opera, he has sung Laurie in Adamo’s Little Women, and Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail. As a Young Artist at Opera North, he was a featured artist in various venues in semi-staged performances as Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos and Lippo Fiorentino in Street Scene.
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JOUELLE ROBERSON MOURNER STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT
Jouelle Roberson hails from Washington, D.C. She began her musical studies at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts. Following graduation, she was accepted into the vocal studies program at Morgan State University where she graduated with both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in vocal performance studying with Marquita Lister. On the operatic stage, she has performed the role of Marenka in Bedrich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride with the Bethesda Summer Music Festival. Following her successful performances as Marenka, she was invited by the AAMS Opera to perform the role of the Countess (excerpts) from Le nozze di Figaro in Ischia, Italy. With Opera at Morgan, she has performed in several scenes and fully staged productions, including the 2018 production of Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadows by Steven M. Allen where she portrayed the title role of Alice Ruth Moore. Most recently, by request of the composer, she repeated her portrayal of Alice Ruth Moore in an Opera Showcase presented by CAAPA. She has advanced to the semifinals of the 2019 Annapolis Opera vocal competition, and she is the 2018 winner of the Emerging Young Artist Regional competition presented by the National Association of Negro Business Women and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity.
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photos: Philip Groshong
ISAAC KIM BARKER
STUDIO ARTIST ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT Isaac Kim has developed himself as a professional and performed with various opera houses. His recent operatic credits include Dottore Grenvil in La traviata, Don Pedro in Béatrice et Bénédict, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, and Zuniga in Carmen with the Aspen Opera Center. During his tenure as a Resident Artist at the Opera Institute at Boston University, he performed as Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande, Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring, Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, Pastor Avery in Emmeline, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also performed as Don Profondo in Il viaggio a Reims with USC Thornton School of Music. He has participated as a soloist at the DMZ International Music Festival. He was a winner of the South Carolina District Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition and won Ben DeBolt Memorial Award at The Henry and Maria Holt Memorial Scholarship Competition. He is the recipient of the prestigious Phyllis Curtin Award at Boston University. He is a graduate of Kyung Hee University (BM), USC Thornton School of Music (GC), Boston University (MM) and Boston University Opera Institute.
ZACHARY OWEN CALAVERA / EDWARD G. ROBINSON
ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: WEST SIDE STORY, 2018 Bass-baritone Zachary Owen has been noted for his “intensity and handsome legato” (Opera News) and for having “deftly created complete portraits of sound and movement” (Gay City News.) During the 2018-19 season, he made his Atlanta Opera debut as Lt. Schrank in West Side Story as well as his Pensacola Opera debut as Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette. In the winter of 2020, he will return to Kentucky Opera as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro. During the summer of 2018, he returned to The Glimmerglass Festival, to perform the Badger and the Parson in The Cunning Little Vixen covering Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, performing Lt. Schrank in West Side Story and covering the French General in Silent Night. Earlier in the 2017-18 season, Mr. Owen returned to the Marion Roose Pullin Studio at Arizona Opera. While a member of the studio he performed several roles including Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Angelotti in Tosca, Lycos in Hercules vs. Vampires, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, and The Bonze in Madama Butterfly.
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BRYN HOLDSWORTH CALAVERA / MRS. FORD ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: SILENT NIGHT, 2016
Praised by the New York Times for her “limpid-toned, articulate soprano,” Bryn Holdsworth is already garnering attention. This summer, she joined The Glimmerglass Festival for a second season singing Annina in La traviata and Opera Box Ghost in John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles which she will perform again this winter at the Château de Versailles. Last season, she performed Vixen (cover) in The Cunning Little Vixen and Bard 2 in Francesca Zambello’s original production of a new youth opera by Ben Moore, Odyssey. In the 2017-18 season, she joined The Atlanta Opera for a second season where she performed in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, Marie (cover & student performance) in The Daughter of the Regiment, and Pamina (outreach) in The Magic Flute. She performed the role of Krysia in Jake Heggie’s world premiere, Out of Darkness: Two Remain. Other credits include Norina in Don Pasquale and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, both with Crested Butte Opera Studio, and Rachel Dowling in Patience and Sarah with New York Opera Festival. She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. She was awarded the prestigious Rodgers and Hammerstein/ Richard Rodgers Scholarship as well as the ASCAP Foundation Fran Morgenstern Davis Scholarship. She was a National Finalist in the New York Lyric Opera competition and a National Semifinalist in both the Classical Singer and Palm Beach Opera competitions.
JASMINE HABERSHAM CALAVERA ATLANTA OPERA DEBUT: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, 2016
American soprano Jasmine Habersham is a versatile and dynamic performing artist. She most recently performed the role of Pip in Moby Dick (Utah Opera), Pamina in The Magic Flute (Opera Theater St. Louis: Opera on the Go), Papagena in Die Zauberflöte (Cincinnati Opera), Yum Yum in the The Mikado (Kentucky Opera), Esther in Intimate Apparel (Cincinnati Opera Fusion), and Clara in Porgy and Bess (Utah Festival Opera). She has also performed as Papagena in The Magic Flute and as an Apparition in Macbeth at The Glimmerglass Festival. She has performed as a featured soloist in numerous concert productions including Szymanowski: Stabat Mater, Schubert: Mass in G, Bach: B minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah and Duke Ellington’s Concert of Sacred Music. As a finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition, she is well versed as a crossover artist in opera and musical theater. She has performed the roles Edith in The Pirates of Penzance (The Atlanta Opera), Susannah in the musical Tintypes (Janiec Opera Company), and Pearl in Morning Star (Cincinnati Opera Fusion). She won second place in the 2018 Southeast Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In past summers, she has participated in several young artists programs including The Glimmerglass Festival, Central City Opera, Kentucky Opera, and the Brevard Music Center. 30
FRIDA ORCHESTRA VIOLIN Peter Ciaschini The Loraine P. Williams Orchestra Concertmaster Chair
VIOLA William Johnston Principal
CELLO Charae Krueger Principal
BASS Lyn DeRamus Principal
CLARINET/ALTO SAXOPHONE John Warren Principal
TRUMPET Yvonne Toll Principal
TROMBONE Mark McConnell Principal
GUITAR John Huston
ACCORDION Henry Doktorski
PIANO Paul Schwartz
PERSONNEL MANAGER Mark McConnell
PERCUSSION Mike Cebulski Principal
Musicians employed in this production are represented by the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.
ALMA MEXICANA DANCERS Iván Becerra Alejandro Magaña
Cydney Casarrubias Hilda Estrella de Lev
Maria Sara Trejo Lizbeth Cárdenas
Alma Mexicana is a dance group that has presented traditional Mexican dance in the Atlanta area since 2008. Starting with four original members, the group now has 12 dancers performing repertoire from most regions of México. Hilda Estrella de Lev is the artistic director of Alma Mexicana. She has been dancing folklorico since 1988 and completed professional studies in Monterrey Music and Dance Superior School. almamexicanaatlanta.com
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THE ATLANTA OPERA ORCHESTRA VIOLIN
CELLO
HORN
Peter Ciaschini The Loraine P. Williams Orchestra Concertmaster Chair
Charae Kreuger Principal
David Bradley Principal
Hilary Glen Assistant Principal
Jason Eklund
Helen Kim Assistant Concertmaster Fia Durrett Principal Second Adelaide Federici Assistant Principal Second Edward Eanes
David Hancock Mary Kenney Cynthia Sulko
BASS
TRUMPET Yvonne Toll Principal Hollie Lifshey
TROMBONE
Felix Farrar
Lyn DeRamus Principal
Robert Givens
Emory Clements
Patti Gouvas
Christina Ottaviano
Richard Brady Bass Trombone
Lisa Morrison
FLUTE
TUBA
Shawn Pagliarini Anastasia Petrunina
James Zellers Principal
Virginia Respess-Fairchild
Kelly Bryant
Patrick Ryan Angèle Sherwood-Lawless Jessica Stinson Rafael Veytsblum
VIOLA William Johnston Principal Elizabeth Derderian-Wood Assistant Principal
OBOE Diana Dunn Principal Christina Gavin
Donald Strand Principal
TIMPANI John Lawless Principal
PERCUSSION
CLARINET
Mike Cebulski Principal
David Odom Principal
HARP
John Warren
Julie Rosseter
BASSOON
Karl Schab
Ivy Ringel* Principal
Joli Wu*
Mark McConnell Principal
Debra Grove
Susan Brady Principal
PERSONNEL MANAGER Mark McConnell *on leave
Musicians employed in this production are represented by the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.
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emoryhealthcare.org/voicecenter 288
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS
CHAIR Mr. Rhys T. Wilson IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Ms. Cathy Callaway Adams VICE CHAIR Mr. John L. Hammaker VICE CHAIR Mr. Charles “Charlie” R. Yates, Jr. TREASURER Ms. Bunny Winter SECRETARY Mr. Michael E. Paulhus
MEMBERS
Mrs. Elizabeth Adler Mr. Bryan H. Barnes Mr. Dante Bellizzi Mr. Montague L. Boyd, IV Dr. Harold J. Brody Mrs. Rosemary Kopel Brown Mr. Frank H. Butterfield Ms. Mary Calhoun Mr. Mario Concha Dr. Frank A. Critz Mr. Robert Dean Ms. Martha Thompson Dinos Mr. Dieter Elsner Dr. Donald J. Filip Mr. Kevin Greiner Mrs. Joanne Chesler Gross
HONORARY MEMBERS
Mrs. Nancy Carter Bland The Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler Mr. Robert G. Edge Mr. Carl I. Gable, Jr. Mrs. Nancy Hall Green Mr. Gregory F. Johnson Mr. Carter Joseph Mr. Alfred Kennedy, Jr. Mr. Michael Keough Mrs. Emily C. Knobloch
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Mr. Howard W. Hunter Mr. Andrew R. Long Mr. James B. Miller, Jr. Mrs. Stephanie Morela Mrs. Sandra S. Morelli Mr. William E. Pennington Mr. Herbert J. Rosenberg Mr. Charles Sharbaugh Mr. Alex Simmons, Jr. Mr. Paul T. Snyder Mr. William F. Snyder Mrs. Christine St.Clare Mr. G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr. Mr. William E. Tucker Mrs. Marie Ward Mr. Tomer Zvulun, ex-officio member Mr. George Levert Mrs. Peggy McDowell Mr. Harmon “Sandy” B. Miller, III Mr. Bruce A. Roth Mr. J. Barry Schrenk Mr. Timothy E. Sheehan Mr. Mark K. Taylor Mr. Thomas R. Williams Mr. Robert G. Woodward
Mr. Rhys T. Wilson BOARD CHAIR Mr. Tomer Zvulun CARL W. KNOBLOCH, JR. GENERAL & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ex-officio member Mr. John L. Hammaker VICE-CHAIR Mr. Charles “Charlie” R. Yates, Jr. VICE-CHAIR & CO-CHAIR OF DEVELOPMENT, NOMINATING, & BOARD ENGAGEMENT COMMMITTEES Mr. Michael E. Paulhus SECRETARY Ms. Bunny Winter TREASURER Mr. Bryan H. Barnes AUDIT CHAIR Mr. Alex Simmons, Jr. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CHAIR Mr. G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr. INVESTMENT CHAIR & DEVELOPMENT CO-CHAIR Ms. Cathy Callaway Adams NOMINATING AND BOARD ENGAGEMENT CO-CHAIR Mr. Howard W. Hunter AT-LARGE MEMBER Mrs. Christine St.Clare AT-LARGE MEMBER Mrs. Sandra S. Morelli AT-LARGE MEMBER
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OCtOBeR at tHe RIaLtO 2019 | 2020 RIaLtO SeRIeS Sat, Oct 26, 2019 | 8 PM
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STAFF EXECUTIVE Tomer Zvulun CARL W. KNOBLOCH, JR. GENERAL & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Micah Fortson MANAGING DIRECTOR Chamberlynn Shelton EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ARTISTIC Arthur Fagen CARL & SALLY GABLE MUSIC DIRECTOR Lauren Bailey DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION Rolando Salazar ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR / CHORUS MASTER Wade Thomas ARTISTIC SERVICES & STUDIO MANAGER Katie Lawrence ARTISTIC COORDINATOR & ORCHESTRA LIBRARIAN Mark McConnell ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER Jessica Kiger AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION MANAGER Alexandria Sweatt EDUCATION COORDINATOR PRODUCTION Kevin G. Mynatt DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Joshua Jansen ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Brian August PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Marisa Brink ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Renée Varnas ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Justin Michel LIGHTING SUPERVISOR Kelsey Bailey PROPERTIES COORDINATOR Joanna Schmink COSTUME DIRECTOR Lauren Allmeyer ASSISTANT COSTUME SHOP MANAGER / WARDROBE SUPERVISOR Kelly Isaac WORK ROOM MANAGER Elizabeth Payne FIRST HAND Brandon T. Thompson STITCHER Brianna Wiegand STITCHER FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Kathy J. White DIRECTOR OF FINANCE Inga V. Murro CONTROLLER Kenneth R. Timmons HUMAN RESOURCES & OFFICE MANAGER Ruth Strickland BOOKKEEPER DEVELOPMENT Paul Harkins CHEIF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Amy Davis ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Jonathan Blalock INDIVIDUAL GIVING OFFICER Camille Cordak INSTITUTIONAL GIVING OFFICER Elizabeth Root DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Sandy Feliciano EVENTS & VOLUNTEER MANAGER MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Holly Hanchey DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Rebecca Danis ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Laura Lucas MARKETING MANAGER Renee Smiley SENIOR MANAGER, TICKETING SERVICES Matt Burkhalter CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER 36
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