Welcome to The Glimmerglass Festival, a place of innovation, creativity, and community for nearly 50 years.
If it’s your first time joining us, we hope you are bowled over by our unique combination of world-class theater, breathtaking natural beauty, and local charm; for those who have visited us before, we hope you find something special and new in our work this season, whether it is a piece you may have never encountered before like La Calisto or Elizabeth Cree, a great artist whom you are seeing perform for the first time, or the outdoor experience of “Lyrics on the Lawn.”
Each piece in our 2024 “Identity & Illusion” season reflects on who we are and the roles we play, onstage and off — the entire season is filled with disguises, plays-within-plays, mistaken identities, and whodunnits. Even the way we present each piece brings a new dimension to a title you may feel you already know well: a storied production of Pirates given professional dancers for the first time, an immersive take on Pagliacci spanning the whole campus, my new realization and orchestration of the Baroque masterpiece La Calisto, and a new production of Elizabeth Cree performed with a full string section for the first time.
Most excitingly, we look to the future of the artform, investing in the next generation with a brilliant new youth opera, Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children, from composer Jens Ibsen and librettist Cecelia Raker. We also affirm Glimmerglass’s ongoing commitment to contemporary American work with “Project Pipeline,” featuring a chance to meet the Pulitzer Prize-winning creators behind Elizabeth Cree and a first look at next season’s major world premiere, The House on Mango Street. The future is bright at Glimmerglass.
It takes a whole village and more to get to opening night, and I am deeply grateful to the incredible Glimmerglass staff and Board of Trustees for their tireless work, passion, and determination as we navigate this challenging time for the performing arts. Of special note is our Board Chair, Michael Young, who has gone above and beyond in his new role, donating countless hours of his time and expertise to ensure the season is a success.
But my greatest gratitude is to you, our audience and our supporters. Thank you for being here today to complete the circle with our amazing artists on stage, in the pit, and behind the scenes. Theater is a dialogue — that’s what makes not only each production, but each performance, a new, never-to-berepeated event. We come together in the theater, on both sides of the curtain, to wrestle with what it is to be human. There are so many ways in which you, our community, support our mission of putting great stories onstage; now, we invite you to join the ever-unfolding conversation.
Rob Ainsley, Artistic & General Director
PHOTO: KARLI CADEL
On behalf of all my colleagues on the Glimmerglass Board of Trustees, I welcome you to our 49th Season of opera and musical theater productions and related activities.
This season also marks the beginning of our year-long 50th anniversary celebration, which will culminate with our productions and acknowledgment events in Summer 2025. You will hear more about all of the activities that will comprise the celebration, but during this summer season, we are kicking it off with a full schedule of inspiring music and engaging story-telling.
The 2024 season is the second for our still relatively new Artistic & General Director, Rob Ainsley. You have surely already witnessed his wit and charismatic personality. You will now witness the full extent of his artistic talents — his encyclopedic knowledge of the canon as evidenced by his selection of the traditional and more modern titles we are performing this summer, his ability to attract talented directors and performers, and his direct role in the creation of the non-mainstage events and the other happenings on campus that will make our season a true Festival. You will also witness his extensive musical abilities. As the following pages in the program reflect, he will be conducting the charming production of La Calisto.
But to quote a hackneyed phrase, “it takes a village” to put on a Festival season. Rob is not alone in creating the artistic experience or maintaining the lovely, idyllic atmosphere you experience when visiting our campus on beautiful summer days. Most visible are the guest directors, guest performers, Young Artists, and summer Apprentices, as well as our Music Director, Maestro Joseph Colaneri, and the orchestra he leads. Less visible, but equally important, are the year-round staff, seasonal staff, and summer volunteers.
I also wish to publicly acknowledge all the support that the Glimmerglass Guild, led by Laura Wetzel, extends to all the staff and performers during the summer and off-season.
Finally, we thank you all — our audience members, patrons, and donors. Without your attendance and support of the Festival, we could not exist. Your expressions of appreciation, whether in the form of applause, informal comments, or contributions, make it all possible and worthwhile.
Michael Young, Chair of the Board of Trustees
HONORARY CHAIR
Peter Duchin
OFFICERS
Michael Young, Chair
Erna Morgan McReynolds, Vice-Chair
Mark Luis Villamar, Treasurer
Thomas Simpson, Secretary
TRUSTEES
Georg Budenbender
Patricia Chadwick
Anne M. Curtis
Wendy Curtis
Nellie Gipson
Sherwin M. Goldman
Allison Hill-Edgar
Tim Lord
Robert Nelson
Thomas C. Ragan
John Ryland
Michael Sekus
Senator James L. Seward
Ted Snowdon
Jean Stark
Debra Valentine
EX-OFFICIO LIAISONS
William Goodenough1
Sage Mehta1
Eric Owens2
Laura Tansey Wetzel3
HONORARY LIFE TRUSTEES
John* and Wendy Curtis
Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
Andrea K. Fallek*
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello
Nellie Gipson
Sherwin M. Goldman
Mrs. John H. J. Guth*
Alfred F. Hubay*
Mrs. John R. Hupper*
Dudley D. and Carole H. Johnson
Patricia Kavanagh and James Grant
Robert Nelson and Van Broughton Ramsey
Robert B. Schlather*
Senator James L. Seward
Lady Juliet and Dr. Christopher Tadgell
Eugene V.* and Clare E. Thaw*
ARTISTIC & GENERAL DIRECTOR
Rob Ainsley
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Joseph Colaneri
ARTISTIC ADVISOR
Eric Owens
ARTISTIC ADVISORY BOARD
Eric Owens, Chair
William Burden
Alyson Cambridge
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Rod Gilfry
Christine Goerke
Anthony Dean Griffey
Peter Kazaras
Ryan McKinny
Erie Mills
Patricia Racette
Neil Shicoff
LEADERSHIP
EMERITUS
Paul Kellogg*
Artistic Director Emeritus
Stewart Robertson*
Music Director Emeritus
John Conklin
Associate Artistic Director Emeritus
Hugh Hardy*
Architectural Advisor Emeritus
Francesca Zambello
Artistic & General Director Emerita
FOUNDING TRUSTEES
Beekman C. Cannon*
Ferdinand Ermlich*
Thomas Goodyear*
Louis Busch Hager*
Mrs. Louis C. Jones*
Dr. Peter Macris*
Mary-Jo Merk
Mrs. James M. Symington*
FOUNDING LEADERSHIP
Peter Macris*
Founding Artistic Director
Charles Schneider*
Founding Music Director
1 Young Glimmerglass Representative
2 Chair, Artistic Advisory Board
3 Guild President
* deceased
Produce new, lesser-known, and familiar operas and musical theater in innovative productions; provide professional training and performance opportunities for emerging artists and apprentices; engage acclaimed artists who inspire the highest standards of achievement; inspire dialogue around meaningful issues of the day through song and story; collaborate with regional organizations, schools and businesses to enhance life in Central New York.
OUR MISSION
RINALDO
ROMEO AND JULIET CANDIDE
1983, 1999 | Mozart/Stephanie | THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO 2000 | Handel/Gay | ACIS AND GALATEA 2001 | Handel/Grimani | AGRIPPINA 2012 | Verdi/Ghislanzoni | AIDA 1989, 1990 | Britten/Crozier | ALBERT HERRING 2014 | Picker/Scheer | AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY 2007 | Haydn/Badini | L’ANIMA DEL FILOSOFO† 2011 | Berlin/Fields & Fields | ANNIE GET YOUR GUN 1984, 1994, 2014 | R. Strauss/Hofmannsthal | ARIADNE AUF NAXOS 2012 | Lully/Quinault | ARMIDE 1979, 1994, 2006, 2018 | Rossini/Sterbini | THE BARBER OF SEVILLE 1985 | Smetana/Sabina | THE BARTERED BRIDE 1988 | Berlioz | BEATRICE AND BENEDICT 2011 | Tesori/Kushner | A BLIZZARD ON MARBLEHEAD NECK* 2019 | Tesori/Tompson | BLUE* 2003 | Offenbach/Meilhac & Halévy | BLUEBEARD 1975, 1990, 2000, 2016, 2023 | Puccini/Illica & Giacosa | LA BOHÈME 1996 | Cavalli/Faustini | LA CALISTO 2013 | Lerner/Loewe | CAMELOT 2015, 2023 | Bernstein/ Hellman, Wheeler, LaTouche, Wilbur, Sondheim | CANDIDE 2008 | Bellini/Romani | I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI 1984, 2011, 2022 | Bizet/Meilhac & Halévy | CARMEN 2014 | Rodgers/Hammerstein | CAROUSEL 2015 | Vivaldi/Metastasio | CATO IN UTICA 1976, 2002 | Mascagni/Targioni-Tozzetti & Menasci | CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA 1986, 2009 | Rossini/Ferretti | LA CENERENTOLA 1999 | Beaser/McNally; Drattell/Wasserstein; Torke/Gurney | CENTRAL PARK* 1993 | Rossini/Scribe & Delestre-Poirson | LE COMTE ORY 2009 | Menotti | THE CONSUL 1985, 1993, 2005 | Mozart/Da Ponte | COSÌ FAN TUTTE 2016 | Ward/Stambler | THE CRUCIBLE 2018 | Janáček | THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN 2005 | Britten/Piper | DEATH IN VENICE 2002 | Poulenc | DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES 2009 | Purcell/Tate | DIDO AND AENEAS 1988, 1995, 2003 | Mozart/Da Ponte | DON GIOVANNI 1982, 1996 | Donizetti/Ruffini | DON PASQUALE 2001 | Chabrier/Leterrier & Vanloo | L’ÉTOILE 1987 | Tchaikovsky/Pushkin | EUGENE ONEGIN 1985, 1998 | Verdi/Boito | FALSTAFF 2004 | Puccini/Civinini & Zangarini | LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST 1991 | Beethoven/Sonnleithner & Bouilly | FIDELIO 1996 | Mozart/Calzabigi | LA FINTA GIARDINIERA 1982 | J. Strauss II/Haffner & Genée | DIE FLEDERMAUS 2013 | Wagner | THE FLYING DUTCHMAN 1981 | Moore/Sundgaard | GALLANTRY 2019 | Corigliano/Hoffman | THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES 1986 | Puccini/Forzano | GIANNI SCHICCHI 2008 | Handel/Haym | GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO 2000 | Sousa/Liebling | THE GLASS BLOWERS 2003 | Kurka/Allan | THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK 1988 | Offenbach/Meilhac & Halévy | THE GRAND DUCHESS OF GEROLSTEIN 2006 | Hartke/Littell | THE GREATER GOOD* 1980 | J. Strauss II/Schnitzer | THE GYPSY BARON 1981, 1989 | Gilbert/Sullivan | H.M.S. PINAFORE 2022 | Geter/Palmer | HOLY GROUND* 2004 | Handel/Stampiglia | IMENEO 1981 | Mozart/Stephanie | THE IMPRESARIO 1994 | Monteverdi/Busenello | L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA 1990 | R. Strauss | INTERMEZZO 1994 | Gilbert/Sullivan | IOLANTHE 1997 | Gluck/Guillard | IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE 1997 | Rossini/Anelli | L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI 2006 | Janáček | JENUFA 2012 | Weill/Green | JOHNNY JOHNSON 2022 | Sankaram/Rourke | JUNGLE BOOK* 2013 | Verdi/Romani | KING FOR A DAY 2008 | Porter/Spewack & Spewack | KISS ME, KATE 2005 | Poulenc/Cocteau | LA VOIX HUMAINE 2011 | Musto/Campbell | LATER THE SAME EVENING*** 2008 | Wagner | DAS LIEBESVERBOT*** 2013 | Lang | THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION 2002 | Adamo | LITTLE WOMEN 1996 | Beeson/Elmslie | LIZZIE BORDEN 2012 | Weill/Anderson | LOST IN THE STARS
2016 | Rossini/Prividali | LOST LUGGAGE 2005| Donizetti/Royer & Vaëz | LUCIE DE LAMMERMOOR
WEST SIDE STORY | Bernstein/Laurents & Sondheim | 2018
*WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN | Lang | 2013
*WILDE TALES | Karpman/Rourke | 2016
XERXES | Handel/Minato & Stampiglia | 2017
THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD | Gilbert/Sullivan | 1995
THE 2024 FESTIVAL
Mon, July 22 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Mon, July 22 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance
Tue, July 23 12:00 PM Preview Tent
JULY
GETAWAY WEEKEND
Free Event: Preview Talk
Tue, July 23 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater La Calisto
Fri, July 26 3:00 PM The Otesaga Resort Hotel Ballroom Pipeline Talk: The Artistry of Creation
Fri, July 26 5:30 PM Pavilion 2024 Festival Dinner Fri, July 26 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Fri, July 26 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater La Calisto
Sat, July 27 11:00 A M Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Backstage Tour Sat, July 27 11:30 AM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk
GETAWAY WEEKEND 1
Sat, July 27 12:00 PM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn Sat, July 27 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Sat, July 27 ~3:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Changeover Talk Sat, July 27 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Sat, July 27 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance Sun, July 28 11:00 AM Pavilion 2025 Preview Brunch
Sun, July 28 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Sun, July 28 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Elizabeth Cree Mon, July 29 11:30 AM Outdoor Stage
Mon, July 29 12:00 PM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk
Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn
Mon, July 29 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Tue, July 30 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Tue, July 30 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance
Thu, Aug 01 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Thu, Aug 01 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance
Fri, Aug 02 6:00 PM Outdoor Stage
Fri, Aug 02 6:30 PM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk
Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn Fri, Aug 02 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Sat, Aug 03 11:00 AM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Backstage Tour
Sat Aug 03 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Sat, Aug 03 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater La Calisto
Sat, Aug 03 ~4:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Changeover Talk Sat, Aug 03 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Sat, Aug 03 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Elizabeth Cree
Sun, Aug 04 11:00 AM Pavilion
Sun, Aug 04 12:00 PM Preview Tent
2025 Preview Brunch
Free Event: Preview Talk
Sun, Aug 04 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance
Mon, Aug 05 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Mon, Aug 05 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater La Calisto
Tue, Aug 06 11:30 AM Outdoor Stage
Tue, Aug 06 12:00 PM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk
Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn
Tue, Aug 06 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Tue, Aug 06 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children
THE 2024 FESTIVAL
Thu, Aug 08 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children
Thu, Aug 08 6:00 PM Outdoor Stage
Thu, Aug 08 6:30 PM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk
Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn
Thu, Aug 08 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Fri, Aug 09 5:30 PM Pavilion
Fri, Aug 09 6:30 PM Preview Tent
GETAWAY WEEKEND 2
GETAWAY WEEKEND 3
2024 Festival Dinner
Free Event: Preview Talk
Fri, Aug 09 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance
Sat, Aug 10 11:00 AM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Backstage Tour
Sat, Aug 10 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Sat, Aug 10 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Elizabeth Cree
Sat, Aug 10 ~3:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Changeover Talk
Sat, Aug 10 6:00 PM Outdoor Stage
Sat, Aug 10 6:30 PM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk
Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn Sat, Aug 10 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Sun, Aug 11 11:00 AM Pavilion
2025 Preview Brunch Sun, Aug 11 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Sun, Aug 11 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater La Calisto
Sun, Aug 11 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children
Mon, Aug 12 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Mon, Aug 12 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Elizabeth Cree
Mon, Aug 12 6:00 PM Pavilion
Tue, Aug 13 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Pipeline Preview: The House on Mango Street
Free Event: Preview Talk
Tue, Aug 13 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance
Thu, Aug 15 4:30 PM Pavilion
Thu, Aug 15 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Horizons: Tara Erraught in Concert with Young Artists
Free Event: Preview Talk
Thu, Aug 15 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance Fri, Aug 16 5:30 PM Pavilion 2024 Festival Dinner
Fri, Aug 16 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Fri, Aug 16 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Elizabeth Cree
Sat, Aug 17 11:00 AM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Backstage Tour Sat, Aug 17 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Sat, Aug 17 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance Sat, Aug 17 ~4:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Free Event: Changeover Talk Sat, Aug 17 6:30 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk
Sat, Aug 17 7:30 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater La Calisto Sun, Aug 18 11:30 AM Outdoor Stage
Free Event: Preview Talk Sun, Aug 18 12:00 PM Outdoor Stage Free Event: Lyrics on the Lawn
Sun, Aug 18 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Pagliacci
Mon, Aug 19 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Mon, Aug 19 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater The Pirates of Penzance Tue, Aug 20 12:00 PM Preview Tent
Free Event: Preview Talk Tue, Aug 20 1:00 PM Alice Busch Opera Theater Elizabeth Cree
PHOTO:
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (1879)
An original production of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Sung in English with English projected lyrics.
Ten performances: July 22m, 27, 30m; August 1, 4m, 9, 13m, 15, 17m, 19m
Running time: 2 hours and 25 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission
This production is generously sponsored by Eugene and Jean Stark.
Music by SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN
Libretto by W.S. GILBERT
Major-General Stanley
The Pirate King
Frederic
Mabel
Troy Cook
Craig Irvin
Christian Mark Gibbs
Elizabeth Sutphen
Ruth Eve Gigliotti
Sergeant of Police
Samuel
Edith
Joshua Thomas*
Tshilidzi Ndou*
Saane Aziza Halaholo*
Kate Alexandra Sanchez*
Isabel
Queen Victoria
Emma Sucato*
Mary-Jo Merk
The Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor
Director
Choreographer
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Hair & Makeup
Projected Titles
Chorus Director
Assistant Director
Assistant Conductor
Principal Coach
Diction Coach
Dance Captain
Assistant Coach
Stage Manager
*member of the Young Artists Program
Joseph Colaneri
Seán Curran
Seán Curran
James Schuette
James Schuette
Robert Wierzel
Tom Watson
Kelley Rourke
Katherine Kozak
Nadja Simmonds*
Clancy Ellis*
Grant Wenaus
Lynn Baker
Blaise Rossmann*
Artyom Pak*
Laurel McIntyre
Scenery owned by The Atlanta Opera and Palm Beach Opera. Costumes are the property of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Detailed ensemble casting is available on glimmerglass.org.
Due to a mistake made by his nurse, Ruth, Frederic has been indentured to the Pirates of Penzance until his 21st birthday. When Frederic turns 21, he announces his intention to abandon the Pirates and live an honorable life. The Pirate King is disappointed to lose his apprentice, but he concedes that Frederic is duty-bound to follow his conscience. Ruth asks Frederic to take her with him; as he is considering her proposal, a bevy of maidens appears. One of them, Mabel, is deeply moved by Frederic’s situation. Meanwhile, the rest of the Pirates resolve to take the maidens by force. Mabel reveals that she and the other young women are wards of Major-General Stanley; the Major-General arouses the Pirates’ pity and secures his release by telling them that he, like them, is an orphan. As Frederic takes his leave of the Pirates, Ruth makes a last appeal, but Frederic rejects her in favor of Mabel.
The Major-General and his wards shelter in a chapel, where the MajorGeneral implores the ancestors to forgive him for lying about his orphan status. Frederic appears, closely followed by a band of insecure policemen, resolved to fight against the Pirates. Ruth and the Pirate King inform Frederic of a contractual loophole and appeal to his sense of duty. Frederic, slave to duty that he is, rejoins the Pirates and informs them of the Major-General’s lie. Furious, Ruth and the Pirate King plan an attack. In a confrontation, the police find a way to appeal to the Pirates’ own sense of duty and patriotism. Before the MajorGeneral can have the Pirates arrested, Ruth reveals their origins, and all is forgiven.
William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911)
began contributing columns, drawings, and verses to comic magazines as a “side hustle” when he was a 25-year-old clerk in the civil service. His first theatrical success was Dulcamara! or The Little Duck and the Great Quack (1866), a burlesque of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (1832), which he followed up with another Donizetti burlesque: La Vivandière; or, True to the Corps! (1867). Critics applauded Gilbert’s characters for being “very comic without being in the slightest degree vulgar.” The lack of vulgarity was remarkable — Elizabeth Cree, set around 1880, gives a sense of the seamy allure of the Victorian music hall.
Gilbert’s motivation was more practical than prudish: “It is not upon any high moral principle that I take this stand,” he said, “but I object to having déclassé women on the stage because I feel as a man of business that they keep more people out of the theatre than they put into it. They keep a number of staid, respectable, churchgoing, orderly, methodical British playgoers away from the theatre. What is worse, such plays also give these people a handle which they can use in their attacks upon the stage.”
In 1870, Gilbert made an explicit reform effort with The Princess, a Tennyson adaptation in blank verse, free of “meretricious accessories.” He followed The Princess with works based on Dickens (Great Expectations), Ovid (Pygmalion and Galatea), and others. By this time, Gilbert was not only writer but director, and here, too, he sought reform, preferring a sincere, naturalistic style to presentational mugging.
Gilbert & Sullivan’s first collaboration, Thespis (1871), was a Boxing Day extravaganza that ran for 63 performances; despite its hasty construction and rehearsal, critics remarked on its exceptional level of polish. A few years later, Gilbert & Sullivan reunited for Trial by Jury (1875) and The Sorcerer (1877). The latter was the first piece independently produced by Gilbert, Sullivan, and Richard D’Oyly Carte. The company’s first smash hit, H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), followed, with The Pirates of Penzance fast on its heels.
Gilbert’s reputation was built on his knack for comic wordplay — rhymes, punning, and the like — but the librettist’s architectural role is less often discussed. It was Gilbert who, beginning with Thespis, insisted on a central role in the chorus, and his libretto for The Pirates of Penzance showcases the male and female ensembles as much as the principals. Drawing on an intimate knowledge of operatic forms, W.S. Gilbert — who was knighted more than 20 years after his collaborator — created structures that served as vehicles for sincere sentiment in a topsy-turvy world.
— Kelley Rourke
Sir Arthur Sullivan: A Cosmopolitan Composer
Sir Arthur Sullivan was one-half of one of the most important showbiz duos of the late 19th century. More than 100 years later, the comic operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan continue to delight audiences, but the duo’s 20-year collaboration was only one chapter in the composer’s long and prolific career. Glimmerglass Music Director Joseph Colaneri, who conducts The Pirates of Penzance this summer, spoke with Dramaturg Kelley Rourke about Sullivan’s multifaceted musical legacy.
KR: Gilbert & Sullivan began to make their mark in the early 1870s, but by then the composer had already enjoyed considerable success on his own.
JC: Yes, he was a prodigy, in fact. When he was just 14 years old, Arthur Sullivan was the first recipient of the Royal Academy of Music’s Mendelssohn Scholarship, and the year-long scholarship was extended not once, but twice! The young composer spent his third scholarship year studying at the Leipzig Conservatorium. There, he would have been exposed to Bach, to Mendelssohn, to Schubert. You can hear those influences not only in his “serious” music, but in his comic operas. For example, “Climbing Over Rocky Mountain,” the women’s chorus entrance music in Pirates, reminds me very much of an art song. The melody has a classical elegance and a romantic warmth, with beautifully balanced phrases. For me, it is a clear connection to the time he spent in Leipzig, to the lineage from Mozart and Haydn through Mendelssohn and Schubert.
KR: Italian opera was part of the fabric of British musical life. Back in the 17th century, Handel had taken London by storm, and the craze for Italian opera came roaring back in the 19th century, so much so that all performances by the Royal Opera — including Carmen, Faust, and Wagner’s Der Fliegende Höllander — were performed in Italian, alongside the latest from Donizetti, Rossini, and Verdi. Can you speak about the influence of Italian opera on Sullivan?
JC: By the time Sullivan came of age, Verdi was mid-career, Donizetti was still writing, and Rossini’s Guillaume Tell was yet to come. And here comes this fellow Sullivan, son of a bandmaster, who was attracted to theater music from the beginning, having composed a lot of incidental music for Shakespeare plays. I’ve been getting to know some of it, and I was really struck by his “Overture to Macbeth.” It’s a really good piece. Sullivan knew
his way around an orchestra — by the time he was 12, he could play all the wind instruments in his father’s band.
One of the ways that Sullivan supported himself was as an editor for Boosey & Company (then the major publisher of operas in London, and still in existence today as Boosey & Hawkes), where he was responsible for publications including Il trovatore, Faust, Norma, Don Pasquale, and Guillaume Tell. This put Sullivan in direct contact with the major bel canto composers, Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini as well as Verdi. And on top of all of that, he knew Rossini personally.
KR: There are nods to Verdi and other composers in Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operas — what some people refer to as “parody.” I’ve been wondering, when does “influence” cross over into “parody,” and do you think that label is a fair assessment?
JC: People speak of Sullivan’s comic operas as parody, but I want to say it’s a bit more of a burlesque. Parody can have a kind of pejorative association, but ‘burlesque,’ with its root ‘burla,’ really expresses the joy that Sullivan found in the work of Verdi and others. It is parody with respect, with love, with the intent of highlighting the best of the tradition. The way he sets accompanied recitatives, like the encounter between Frederic and the women’s chorus, feels like a scena right out of Donizetti. And you have all these wonderful waltz tunes, like “Poor Wand’ring One,” which have a French flavor. To my ear, it’s a bit like “Ah, je veux vivre” from Roméo et Juliette. Sullivan’s comic operas still require a serious way of singing, not any different from how you’d approach, for instance, Donizetti’s comedy, La Fille du régiment. When you approach the music seriously, it becomes a terrific vehicle for comedy.
KR: The Pirates of Penzance includes significant “roles” for a men’s chorus and a women’s chorus; these groups are as important to the drama as the principal soloists. We know Sullivan wrote a lot of congregational hymns — including, most famously, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Do you see a connection between his sacred choral works and his choral writing for the stage?
JC: As a boy, Sullivan was a chorister in the Chapel Royal, singing a lot of Tallis and Byrd, and it is clear he learned a lot about the singing voice; he was in fact a sought-after treble soloist. In addition to the hymns you mentioned, he also composed some large-scale choral works, including two settings of the Te Deum and an oratorio called “The Light of the World,” which I’ve read was second only to Handel’s Messiah in popularity for a time.
Sullivan brings a classical balance to the various choral voice parts and creates clear textures that allow the melodies and the words to shine
through. It’s in his many sacred anthems and secular part songs that he honed this technique. “Hail, Poetry” is a terrific moment for the chorus in The Pirates of Penzance. There is something quasi-religious about it. It reminds me a little bit of “Immenso Jeovha” in Verdi’s Nabucco — another reference to Italian opera. At the same time, there is something very English about Sullivan’s writing.
KR: What do you mean by that? Are there aspects of Sullivan’s writing that you would highlight as particularly English?
JC: First, I think of English folksong that employs a lot of dance rhythms. One hears in Sullivan’s operettas the TUM-ta-TUM-ta-TUM accompaniment rhythm or the brisk swing of the English sea chanty. You also have to remember that all British composers, including Sullivan, wrote ceremonial music for royal events, so you often hear a sense of pomp and pageantry, whether you’re looking all the way back to Purcell or forward to Britten. That “ceremonial” sound also connects back to Sullivan’s father, the bandmaster, and the military marches that would have been part of his world.
KR: Going back to the operas Sullivan wrote with Gilbert, I’d like to talk a little bit about comedy, which is one of the hardest things to pull off. What makes a great comic composer?
JC: The secret of comedy is timing. Sullivan loves to startle the audience with these big, explosive chords that come out of nowhere. It’s a trick that goes back to Haydn and his “Surprise Symphony” and yet is also reminiscent of dramatic passages in Aida. The juxtaposition of the comic and dramatic makes the musical jokes land. He also has the ability to set text with great clarity, so all of Gilbert’s jokes really sparkle.
Gilbert & Sullivan did not invent the “patter song,” of course, but they had a real genius for it. You could draw a strong parallel between Bartolo’s “A un dottor della mia sorte” in The Barber of Seville and “I am the very model of a modern Major-General.” It’s built on a simple melodic cell that gets rhythmically activated with rapidly delivered text in complex rhymes. The faster it goes, the funnier it is, as long as it’s clear. As they say in the theater, comedy is clarity! And yet it is more sophisticated than it sounds — which I found out first-hand when I learned a version with your parody lyrics for the Glimmerglass Gala. It sounds fairly simple, musically, but the details show Sullivan’s real classical craft in the melody and harmony.
Sullivan absorbed so many musical influences, and he had an uncanny ability to evoke moments from the grand opera tradition. But his music is always his music. You hear the tradition standing behind him, but there is a lively elegance and charm that is uniquely his. His music is shot through with sunlight.
LA CALISTO (1651)
New production, sung in Italian with English projected text.
Six performances: July 23m, 26; August 3m, 5m, 11m, 17
Running time: 2 hours and 25 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission
This production is generously sponsored by Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar.
Music by FRANCESCO CAVALLI
Libretto by GIOVANNI FAUSTINI
Calisto
Diana/Jove-as-Diana
Endymion
Juno
Jove
Mercury
Linfea/Destiny
Young Satyr/Eternity
Pan/Nature
Sylvan
Fury 1
Fury 2
Dancers
Emilie Kealani*
Taylor Raven
Kyle Sanchez Tingzon*
Eve Gigliotti
Craig Irvin
Schyler Vargas
Winona Martin*
Amanda Sheriff*
Namarea Randolph-Yosea*
Cameron Rolling*
Lauryn Davis*
Xiao Xiao*
Kailee Reagan Brandt*
Peter Murphy*
Blaise Rossmann*
Emma Sucato*
Truman Tinius*
The Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra
Conductor
Director
Rob Ainsley
Mo Zhou
Set Designer Charlie Corcoran
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Hair & Makeup
Projected Titles
Assistant Director
Assistant Conductor
Principal Coach/Continuo
Assistant Choreographer
Assistant Coach
Stage Manager
*member of the Young Artists Program
Eric Sean Fogel
Carlos Soto
Amith Chandrashaker
Tom Watson
Kelley Rourke
Joshua R. Horowitz
Clancy Ellis*
J. Bradley Baker
Truman Tinius*
Artyom Pak*
Jo Fernandez
Original set pieces were designed by Adrianne Lobel for Die Feen.
Special thank you to the Fenimore Chamber Orchestra Inc. for the use of their Hubbard Flemish single manual harpsichord during the 2024 season.
Jove catches a glimpse of the beautiful nymph Calisto and sets out to seduce her. But Calisto, a follower of the goddess Diana, has taken a vow of chastity and will not be swayed. Mercury suggests that Jove disguise himself as Diana and try again. Calisto, ever obedient to her goddess, accepts the overtures of Jove-as-Diana.
Meanwhile, the shepherd Endymion sings of his love for the moon, personified as Diana, who secretly returns his love. The young nymph Linfea chides Endymion for approaching the chaste goddess, who rejects the shepherd to preserve her reputation. Calisto appears, bewildered by the intense experience she believes she has just shared with Diana. When Diana realizes Calisto has broken her vow of chastity, she expels the nymph from the forest. Linfea, observing all of this, wants to learn more about the power of love. A Young Satyr offers his services, but Linfea dismisses him. Meanwhile, Pan laments the loss of Diana’s favors and wonders if she has found a new lover; his companions console him and promise to kill any rivals.
Endymion serenades the moon and is rewarded by kisses from Diana; their confession of love is witnessed by one of Pan’s followers. Juno, having heard rumors of Jove’s latest dalliances, descends to earth and finds Calisto weeping. When Jove-as-Diana appears to reassure Calisto, Juno confronts “Diana” about her lascivious behavior, but the disguised Jove does not crack. Endymion approaches the false Diana next, unwittingly revealing the real Diana’s recent breach of chastity. Pan reproaches Diana, and the satyrs threaten to kill Endymion. Linfea arrives, still in search of a husband. The nymphs and satyrs face off in a dance.
The jealous Juno finds Calisto and punishes her for Jove’s transgressions, turning the nymph into a bear. Jove reveals his identity to Calisto and promises that she will one day ascend to the heavens. Meanwhile, Pan and Sylvan demand that Endymion relinquish Diana, but he refuses. Diana and Endymion pledge their ongoing love but agree to limit its physical expression. Jove gives Calisto a glimpse of her celestial future before returning her to earth as a bear who will give birth to their son. He promises that both will one day be immortalized in the stars.
A TALE OF TRANSFORMATION: FROM MYTH TO LIBRETTO
BY KELLEY ROURKE
“My spirit moves to tell of shapes transformed into new bodies.”
So begins Ovid’s sprawling Metamorphoses, an epic unified not by a hero, or even an event, but a theme: Change. Ovid’s poem begins at the moment of creation, the transformation of chaos to order, before zooming in on more than 200 individual metamorphoses.
To look closely at La Calisto, the ninth libretto Giovanni Faustini created for Francesco Cavalli, is to witness another kind of transformation. Not only did the librettist create a text optimized for musical expression, with its succession of love songs, laments, and merry taunts, he also tweaked the titular tale and added an overlapping episode, shifting our attention from the tragic elements of Calisto’s story to a mostly celebratory exploration of desire.
Ovid and Faustini begin Calisto’s story in the same way. Jove is entranced by Calisto, a nymph pledged to Diana. When Calisto rebuffs Jove, the god disguises himself as Diana, for whom Calisto would do anything. (Director Mo Zhou has noted parallels with sexual predators who use sympathetic older women to “groom” the objects of their attraction; in this case, Jove is simultaneously Epstein and Maxwell.)
In Ovid’s telling, Calisto recognizes the ruse as Jove begins to force himself on her; she fights, but is powerless against the god, who completes the act and impregnates her. Calisto’s response, as painted by
Ovid, is heartbreaking: “Now she hates the woods and grove since they were witnesses to this. As she retreats, she nearly leaves the quiver, the arrow, and the bow she had hung up.”
Faustini’s presentation of the fateful event departs significantly from Ovid’s. In his libretto, the innocent Calisto has no name for what is happening to her when Jove-as-Diana overpowers her, but instead of fighting, she enjoys it. Later, when Calisto encounters the real Diana, she seeks more of the same and is banished for her impudence.
Does the famously chaste goddess protest too much? Can anyone deny the power of desire? In case there is any doubt about where Faustini stands, he adds a subplot that is a fun-house mirror of Calisto’s story: even as Diana chastises Calisto, the goddess surrenders to the shepherd Endymion, to the dismay of Pan (whom Diana previously loved, then abandoned). It is a clever inversion of the power dynamics of the titular plot, in which a nymph is seduced by a god, to the dismay of the god’s divine consort.
No one is immune from the transformative power of desire — not gods, not mortals, and certainly not the rutting satyrs inserted by Faustini to amplify the opera’s theme. But how are we to categorize the transformation? Whether Calisto resists Jove-as-Diana (as in Ovid) or embraces him/her (as in Faustini), she is punished: first banished by Diana, later turned
into a bear by Juno. Diana regrets letting things get out of hand with Endymion, and while she can’t quite quit him, they vow to limit themselves to chaste kisses. Juno, the one married lady we meet, finds that the vows that legitimize her desire have cooled her powerful husband’s.
“One of the key themes I aim to explore in this production is the privilege and accessibility of love or desire,” says Zhou. “We see Diana, a goddess, attaining a happy ending with Endymion, while an obedient nymph like Calisto, who has committed no wrongdoing, is taunted, tortured, deformed, and ultimately placed on a lonely pedestal.”
Faustini’s libretto, especially in the company of Cavalli’s achingly beautiful music, paints love as exquisite pleasure — with complex repercussions. Calisto’s metamorphosis, set in motion by Jove’s desire, is threefold: first she is robbed of her innocence, then her human form, and finally her earthly existence. In Faustini and Cavalli’s telling, the final transformation is a moment of happiness for Calisto, but sadness for Jove. “Death will no longer touch you,” the god tells the nymph. He leaves the obvious unsaid: In her new state, she will be impervious not only to death, but also to desire — others’ and her own.
PICTURE THE SCENE: you’ve booked a trip to the coolest party on earth, with people flocking from all over the world to see and be seen. It’s a grand costume ball with glitzy prizes for the best masks and the most elaborate outfits; intrigue is the name of the game. For these few days leading up to Lent, anything goes, and you can be whoever you want to be — gambling is legal, there are lavish nightly parties in every mansion and courtyard, and the strict class conventions of normal life are set aside. Every alleyway is packed with street vendors, magicians, clowns, and entertainers of all kinds — the theaters are crammed with audiences clamoring for a ticket to the latest hit show, with each season more spectacular than the last. Celebrities are two-a-penny — you might bump into your favorite star around the next corner.
preference for big, recognizable “numbers.” Rather than Monteverdi’s seamless pages of speech-like declamation, called recitar cantando, the score of La Calisto contains nearly 60 aria-like passages and closed musical forms, with some of his later operas packing in nearly double that amount. Even in the more recitative-like passages, variety and expressivity are maximized, with extraordinary moments of dissonance and word-painting. Cavalli and his contemporaries were anything but precious, with text and music being constantly rewritten, substituted, edited, repurposed, and transposed to fit the forces at hand for any given performance.
How do we present a piece like this today? For me, the primary driving forces for a modern production should
OPERA AS MASS ENTERTAINMENT: CAVALLI’S VENICE
BY ROB AINSLEY
The Venetian Carnival was the Coachella of its day, and many of our biggest modern-day celebrations are inspired by it. It taught cities how to party.
In the 17th century, it also became the cradle of commercial theater, with 17 public theaters being built in the space of a few decades. Opera’s move from courtly luxury to mass entertainment meant that the paying public suddenly became the arbiter of success, and it has been a fickle mistress ever since. Jacopo Peri and Claudio Monteverdi’s grand innovation of “music theater,” in which they sought to recapture long-lost traditions of the ancient world, suddenly acquired a leaner, more populist mien, all driven by the balance sheet. Audiences wanted entertainment, spectacle, laughter, and tears, not a musical Fabergé egg crafted for the highest-paying patron anxious to ascend the social ladder. Theaters wanted packed houses and healthy profits.
The result was an artform razor-sharpened to satisfy all tastes. At times rowdy, intimate, bawdy, sublime, absurd, clever, sensual, witty, and topical, Venetian opera was a smorgasbord for the eyes and ears. The theaters used smaller orchestras and avoided big choruses to keep costs down, preferring to throw their budgets at the starriest singers they could afford. Plots tended to reflect all ages and social classes, represented in La Calisto by an earthy mix of characters spanning shepherds, nymphs, satyrs, gods, and goddesses who all end up intermingling much as the Carnival audience would have; a thin lacquer of classical myth allowed for much more pointed social commentary.
be resourcefulness and popular appeal, much as they were back in 1651. The orchestra we have on hand is the great Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra, and I’ve written instrumental parts to involve more of them while also catering to our modern ears, accustomed nowadays to a more symphonic tonal palette. The sprawling four- and five-hour all-evening affairs of the Seicento theater scene, designed for a rather less attentive and less captive audience, would be out of place in a modern setting, and so we’ve cut the piece down to around half that length, retaining all the best musical moments and dispensing with the more obscure mythological references. We cannot recreate the dizzying effect that complex stage machinery would have had on contemporary Venetian audiences, but we can aim for a magical, mythical visual world and stylish costuming that mimics their sense of whimsy and high fashion.
The story itself requires no updating. La Calisto is about the many forms of love: forbidden love, sublime love, platonic love, unrequited love, love across class and age difference, lust, jealousy, chastity — what could be more universal than Love?
The music molded itself to the theater audience’s perennial
La Calisto’s story is also one of irony — suffering all manner of misfortune in its premiere run (replacements, cancellations, even death in the cast), Cavalli probably thought of it as a failed experiment destined for that season’s trash heap, swiftly cutting his losses and moving onto his next project. It is now one of the most performed operas from that century, certainly the most popular of the 41 from his hand, helping pave the way for the entire Italian operatic tradition to follow. So when you next listen to your favorite aria or hit musical number and feel the urge to burst into cheers and applause, remember to thank Papa Cavalli!
PAGLIACCI (1892)
Music
by
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
Libretto by
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
New production, sung in Italian with English projected text.
Seven performances: July 27m, 29m; August 2, 6m, 8, 10, 18m
Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, including one 25-minute intermission
This production is generously sponsored by Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard.
Canio
Nedda
Tonio
Silvio
Peppe
Peasant #1
Peasant #2
Clown Performer & Consultant
Commedia Trio
Son of Nedda & Canio
Robert Stahley
Amber R. Monroe
Troy Cook
Jonathan Patton*
Fran Daniel Laucerica*
Geoffrey Schmelzer*
Ajit Persaud*
Holly Adams
Kailee Brandt*
Scout Santoro*
Peter Murphy*
Ethan Chen**
The Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra, Chorus, and Youth Ensemble
Conductor
Director
Choreographer
Scenery Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Hair & Makeup
Projected Titles
Sound Designer
Chorus Director
Assistant Director
Assistant Conductor
Principal Coach
Fight & Intimacy Director
Assistant Youth Chorus Director
Assistant Coach
Stage Manager
*member of the Young Artists Program
**member of Youth Ensemble
Joseph Colaneri
Brenna Corner
Eric Sean Fogel
James Rotondo
Erik Teague
Robert Wierzel
Tom Watson
Kelley Rourke
Joel T. Morain
Katherine Kozak
Marinette Gomez*
Christian Olson*
Anna Betka
Casey Kaleba
Laura Bleakley*
Laura Bleakley*
Jenna Jacobson
Detailed ensemble casting is available on glimmerglass.org.
An aging Tonio recalls his life on the stage, when he played the role of Taddeo in a traveling commedia dell’arte troupe. Drawing us into his memory, he cautions the audience that the story he is about to unfold is inspired by truth — a slice of life.
A troupe of players arrives at a village where they plan to offer an evening performance. In addition to Tonio, the troupe includes Canio (who plays Pierrot, or “Pagliaccio”), Nedda (Columbina), and Peppe (Arlecchino); traveling with them is Canio and Nedda’s young child. To fill the time before the performance, Canio and Peppe accept the villagers’ invitation to a drink at the local tavern. When Tonio stays behind, the villagers tease Canio, suggesting his wife, Nedda, is having an affair with Tonio. Canio is not amused. After the others leave, Tonio makes advances to Nedda, but she rejects him; he threatens her as he departs. Silvio, Nedda’s lover, pleads with Nedda to flee with him. Tonio overhears their plot and informs Canio, who hurries back to catch his wife’s lover, but Silvio escapes as Nedda calls, “I will be yours forever..” Canio demands that Nedda reveal her lover’s name, threatening murder, but Nedda refuses.
Later that evening, the troupe begins the play. Left alone by her husband, Pagliaccio, Columbina anxiously awaits her lover, Arlecchino, but is interrupted by Taddeo, who declares his love. Columbina mocks Taddeo and welcomes Arlecchino. After kicking Taddeo out, Arlecchino and Columbina make plans to run away together; Arlecchino gives Columbina a sleeping potion for her husband, Pagliaccio. Taddeo returns, warning the lovers that Pagliaccio is on his way. As Arlecchino flees, Columbina calls, “I will be yours forever.” When Canio, as Pagliaccio, reenters, the boundaries between life and art begin to blur. Nedda/Columbina tries unsuccessfully to continue the farce as Canio/Pagliaccio becomes more and more enraged. Peppe, sensing danger, asks Tonio to stop the action, but Tonio refuses, still smarting from Nedda’s rejection. As the crowd watches, Canio brings the drama to its inevitable conclusion.
Al vero ispiravasi: “Truth is his inspiration”
By Kelley Rourke
“Once the clown has been discovered, it will stay with you always, because it lives in your personal sense of play. Your relationship to all other forms of drama will be enriched by the honesty, openness, and reckless abandon the clown requires. The actor’s investment in the beauty of the clown, the simpleton, the village idiot, the great big stupid, allows for the comedy of the tragic and poetic, rather than the comedy of the clever. Without the possibility of tragedy, there is no clown; and without the clown, there can be no true expression of joy. The clown is the rediscovery of self: the playful self, the ferocious self, the vulnerable self, the artist.”
– Christopher Bayes, Discovering the Clown
“Son qua!” “They’re here!” The action of Pagliacci opens with an expression of pure joy. A community gathers to welcome a group of traveling clowns, eagerly anticipating a break in routine of their daily lives. This is not the first time the troupe has visited the village, and the memory of their routines, or lazzi, drives the community’s excitement. The players’ visit coincides with the Feast of the Assumption, which marks the bodily ascent of Mary, mother of Jesus, from earth to heaven. For Holly Adams, clown consultant for our production of Pagliacci, the juxtaposition of the holy and the hilarious makes perfect sense: “Whether it’s Easter or a wedding or the Fourth of July, there is always something funny and delightful. What wedding reception does not have the Chicken Dance?”
Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), who studied music at the Naples Conservatory and literature at the University of Bologna, was not initially inclined toward the funny and delightful. His first opera centered on English poet Thomas Chatterton, who committed suicide at the age of 18. Next, the young composer planned a trilogy of operas set in the Renaissance: I Medici, Gerolamo Savonarola, and Cesare Borgia — an Italian answer to Wagner’s Ring.
When the powerful publisher Giulio Ricordi heard Leoncavallo read his libretto for I Medici, he did not immediately proffer a contract, and when he did, the terms were less than ideal; the composer was required to relinquish all rights to I Medici and the operas that followed, but the publisher was under no obligation to produce them. Despite misgivings, Leoncavallo, desperate to move forward, signed. When he completed I Medici in 1891, Ricordi declined to produce it.
Leoncavallo decided to try a new tactic. The previous year, the composer Pietro Mascagni had enjoyed a runaway success with the one-act Cavalleria Rusticana, which tells the story of infidelity and murderous revenge on an Easter Sunday. Within five years of its premiere, Cavalleria had played not only the major theaters across Europe, from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg, it had traveled throughout North and South America and even to Cape Town.
Hoping to create a sensation of his own, Leoncavallo planned a piece in a similar vein, setting his story of murderous jealousy among a group of commedia dell’arte players. When Leoncavallo presented the libretto to Ricordi, the publisher was not impressed: “How will this man dressed in white be taken seriously by the public? There is too much confusion between tragedy and comedy.”
The greasepaint grin as a mask for something less-than-delightful is a familiar trope now, whether it’s Poltergeist’s clown doll, Batman’s Joker, or even The Simpsons’ Krusty the Clown. This is no accident, says Adams: “In any society, there are four groups of people you’re supposed to trust: doctors, those who uphold the law, religious leaders, and clowns. We’ve seen people in those first three categories betray the trust that has been placed in them. I believe clown fear is a way of processing a deeper fear.”
There is little in the behavior of Canio, the troupe’s “Pagliaccio,” that invites trust. He is quick-tempered and jealous, with a penchant for day-drinking. Arriving in a new town, he heads to the local bar before the performance, publicly threatening his wife as he leaves. When he returns, he finds that his jealous suspicions
were not unwarranted. He lunges at his wife with a knife, fully intending to kill her, but is stopped by one of his colleagues.
Somehow, Leoncavallo seizes our sympathy for Canio, who sings as though his heart would break as he dons the costume of a clown. “Ridi, Pagliaccio,” he sobs, devastated that his wife has found comfort in the arms of another man. “Laugh, Pagliaccio, at your shattered love, at the sorrow that has destroyed your heart.” As the strings swell behind him, we feel the pain of his situation viscerally, momentarily forgetting the plight of the woman who is bound to him — the woman who will soon die at his hands.
For Brenna Corner, who directs Pagliacci, the production offers an opportunity to call attention to the complex choices faced by victims of domestic violence. “When I first approached the score, I struggled to understand why Nedda is so unwilling to leave her husband for Silvio, who seems divine in comparison,” says Corner. “I came to realize that it was Nedda’s connection to the troupe, and her connection to her role within the troupe, that held her in this relationship.” To heighten this connection, Corner has added a child supernumerary — Nedda and Canio’s child — to the traveling company. “The struggle then becomes not just that of a woman and man no longer in love, but that of a mother struggling to ensure the safety and happiness of her child. Giving them a child seemed like the best theatrical manifestation of her connection. It also created another lens through which we can come to understand the ending, not just a world of domestic abuse but a double homicide which ultimately orphans their child.”
The story of a clown with a dark side can play an important social role, according to Adams. “People come to see difficult stories on stage to learn to process life’s difficulties,” she says. “I once read an interview with children’s writer R.L. Stine [of Goosebumps fame], who talked about the function of horror stories for kids. It’s a way of walking through trauma — which is, to some degree, an inevitable part of life — and learning how to process it. It’s like a rehearsal.”
After being rejected by Ricordi, Pagliacci was taken up by rival publisher Edoardo Sonzogno. The opera had an important champion in the baritone Victor Maurel, whom Leoncavallo had met while working as an accompanist in Paris. Fresh from a success as Iago in Verdi’s Otello, Maurel made his appearance in Hamlet at Teatro del Verme contingent on the theater’s production of Leoncavallo’s new work.
The influential singer — who was to create the Iago-like role of Tonio — had conditions for Leoncavallo, as well. He asked the composer to change the title from Pagliaccio (“The Clown,” referring to Canio) to Pagliacci (“The Clowns”), and he requested an aria for himself.
Faced with the challenge of inserting an aria for a secondary character, Leoncavallo added a prologue, putting yet another frame on what was already a play within a play that frames an unexpected, tragic twist (whew!). Tonio’s prologue asks us to consider the “reality” of what takes place when we gather in a theater. He does not deny that it is a ritual re-enactment, making use of antiche maschere (“ancient masks”) and vecchie usanze (“old customs”); nonetheless, he says, the author is inspired by truth alone and aims to present uno squarcia di vita (“a slice of life”).
As Leoncavallo prepared for Pagliacci’s premiere, he was optimistic: “The work has turned out well, and all who hear it make the most joyous predictions. God willing that it will indeed be so! It would be time that I also have some artistic satisfaction and a bit of peace in order to dedicate myself completely to my sole ideal!”
Leoncavallo’s “sole ideal,” the Crepesculum trilogy, was never to be realized, but the response to Pagliacci exceeded all expectations. The Milan premiere was quickly followed by performances in theaters around the world. Thanks to Pagliacci, Leoncavallo was finally able to obtain premieres for I Medici (1893, Milan), the only opera of the trilogy he completed, and Chatterton (1896, Rome). In all he was to complete 17 operas, but none ever approached the success of Pagliacci.
“I can treat operatically only such themes as are vital, natural, and true,” said Leoncavallo in an interview, more than two decades after Pagliacci’s premiere. “It would not be possible, for instance, for me to write music for fishes that sing and Valkyries that fly through the air… But give me men who can laugh, men who can weep, and I can laugh and weep with them. Such has always been my aim. Art should concern itself primarily with the truth.”
For a young composer/librettist with his sights set on histories of great men, Pagliacci was a momentary diversion, or so it seemed at the time. But its prologue — a late addition to satisfy a star singer — might be read, in retrospect, as an artist’s manifesto. Leoncavallo’s truth-telling may not have taken the form of his aspirations, but the “slice of life” presented in this powerful short work still resonates.
ELIZABETH CREE (2017)
New production, sung in English with English projected text.
Six performances: July 28m; August 3, 10m, 12m, 16, 20m
Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes, with no intermission
Generously sponsored by Jacqueline B. Mars, with additional support from The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.
By arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., o/b/o G. Ricordi & Co. New York
Music by KEVIN PUTS
Libretto by MARK CAMPBELL
Based on The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by PETER ACKROYD
Elizabeth Cree
Dan Leno
John Cree
Aveline Mortimer/Witness #1
Doris/Witness #3
Little Victor Farrell/Witness #4
Inspector Kildare/Witness #7
Tara Erraught
Christian Mark Gibbs
John Chest
Elizabeth Sutphen
Emily Harmon*
Seiyoung Kim*
Schyler Vargas
Mr. Greatorex/George Gissing/ Geoffrey Schmelzer*
Etcher/Witness #6
Mr. Lister/Karl Marx/Voiceover/ Evan Lazdowski*
Soloman Weil/Witness #8
Uncle/Witness #9
Jason Zacher*
Jane Quig/Annie the Serving Girl/ Ruby Dibble*
Witness #2
Priest/Librarian/Mr. Gerrard/Witness #5
Young Lizzie
The Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra
Conductor
Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Choreographer
Hair & Makeup
Projected Titles
Assistant Director
Assistant Conductor
Principal Coach
Diction Coach
Fight & Intimacy Director
Assistant Coach
Stage Manager
*member of the Young Artists Program
**member of Youth Ensemble
Tristan Tournaud*
Carly Rae Carillo**
Kelly Kuo
Alison Moritz
Edward T. Morris
Amanda Seymour
Kate Ashton
Emma Sucato*
Tom Watson
Mark Campbell
Amanda Testini*
Christian Olson*
Christopher Devlin
Lynn Baker
Casey Kaleba
Laura Bleakley*
Dustin Z West
Four distinct narrative elements form the story of Elizabeth Cree:
1) Elizabeth’s narration of her own life, from childhood to marriage; 2) Testimonies in the trial of Elizabeth for the murder of her husband; 3) Entries in a diary; and 4) Inspector Kildare’s pursuit of a serial killer.
In the prologue, last rites are ministered to Elizabeth Cree before she is hanged for the fatal poisoning of her husband John Cree.
Some months before, when Elizabeth stands trial for the poisoning, a lawyer’s question prompts her to look back at her childhood. She retraces her life from abject poverty and the loss of her mother to finding a new home in the British Music Hall where she is taken in by a company of theatricals, led by Dan Leno.
Meanwhile, a serial killer stalks the streets of London. Dubbed “The Limehouse Golem,” the killer’s grisly murders of a prostitute, a scholar, and an entire family are celebrated in a diary written in the hand of John Cree, a critic and playwright.
As the murders continue, Inspector Kildare of Scotland Yard works tirelessly to identify the killer, with no success — interviewing such historical luminaries as the novelist George Gissing, philosopher Karl Marx, and Dan Leno.
Elizabeth ascends to stardom in the British music hall but eventually marries the upper-class John Cree and lives in luxury. Their marriage is unhappy, and Elizabeth arranges for Aveline Mortimer, a former member of Leno’s company, to relieve her of her conjugal duties.
All plotlines converge in the reading room of the British Library before Elizabeth is convicted in the murder of her husband and makes a startling confession.
The Air Itself…
Bringing Peter Ackroyd’s novel to the operatic stage
by Mark Campbell
“Through art and artifice, the savage heart is finally redeemed.”1 — Oscar Wilde, On Art and Artifice “Dans le coeur de chaque femme bat le cœur d’un homme.”1 — Honoré de Balzac, Désirs d’une Femme “Inside every riff lives another riff.”1 — Louis Armstrong
Ventriloquism. Juggling. Low comedy. Crooning. High-wire walking. Knife-throwing. Travesty. Burlesque. Necromancy. Celebrated author Peter Ackroyd performed all these acts — and more — in his 1994 star turn of a novel, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, an exhilarating and subversive hopscotch of genres propelled by a narrative of courtroom transcripts, police blotter reports, diary entries, and first- and thirdperson accounts.
The book is many things. It’s a courtroom drama in which the title character Elizabeth is on trial for the poisoning murder of her husband, John, a failed playwright and inconsequential critic. It’s a backstage story in which Elizabeth narrates her ascendance from childhood poverty to triumph in the British Music Hall. It’s a gothic thriller in which the gruesome murders of a serial killer are scribbled feverishly in a diary. It’s a detective story, featuring the
bumbling Inspector Kildare from Scotland Yard in his pursuit of the murderer (and celebrityhood). And it’s a historical fiction featuring cameos by novelist George Gissing, philosopher Karl Marx, and comedian Dan Leno, and more than a passing reference to Thomas De Quincey’s 1827 essay, “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.”
Many thanks to Mr. Ackroyd for not making up his mind. And for providing the
Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell in conversation at Glimmerglass, 2018. Photo: Karli Cadel
material that was a joy — and a challenge — to transform into Kevin Puts’ and my opera, the nearly eponymic Elizabeth Cree.
The first order of business in this adaptation was clarity; helping the audience keep track of the four narrative strands in the story. To accomplish this, each one of these strands is always placed directly after another in sequence: hence, the trial is followed by Elizabeth’s narration, which is followed by the diary entries, which is followed by Inspector Kildare’s pursuit of the murderer. This order repeats three times in the opera and then ends when Elizabeth marries John and loses control of her own narrative. After that, the opera alternates between three scenes of a domestic drama as their marriage falls apart and three scenes unfolding in the reading room of the British Museum.
Clarity is also gained by the use of reprises. Inspector Kildare’s scenes are basically reprises of each other that intensify as the opera continues, and many key phrases repeat to give the text ballast (for example, “lovingly, so lovingly” in the diary entries and in Elizabeth’s confession scene). Finally, because each narrative angle has its own time sequence, many temporal references are added to the text.
Kevin’s musical choices
completed this aspect of the storytelling. “I begin every piece at measure one and see where things go. I wanted Elizabeth Cree to open with an emphatic falling fourth played by the orchestra and sustained to create a sonic backdrop for Elizabeth’s sentencing. This motive is extended slightly to become Elizabeth’s leitmotif, trilled by the flute at the opening of her first aria (‘We had one room…’). Her music and that of the courtroom scenes are supported by syncopated arpeggios made of chords which seldom agree with one another. By contrast, Inspector Kildare’s scenes stem from a single repeated note (ostinato) played energetically by the vibraphone as the Inspector probes for answers. The ‘Witnesses’ interject with brisk, staccato phrases as these scenes (among the most fun to compose in the opera!) escalate.”
As in Ackroyd’s novel, two executions bookend Elizabeth Cree; the opera opens with the hanging of Elizabeth for the murder of her husband and concludes with the calamitous reenactment of that hanging onstage in a melodrama entitled The Crees of Misery Junction. It’s a fitting start and end for an opera that toggles between the definitions of fact and fiction, reality and theatricality, and truth and lies (and is especially
resonant as we approach another election).
The line between theater and real life is blurred at nearly every turn in the libretto. In the trial scenes, the lawyers engage in a dialogue that is more performative than legal, right up to their final summations a dueto. The diary entries ooze with theatrical language: “Her head lay on the steps/ Like that of a prompter’s/ Mouthing a cue”; “Attended the theatre/The lobby was abuzz with/My latest triumph;” “Annie couldn’t sing/So I removed her voice.” When John proposes to Elizabeth, he rehearses his lines before doing so, while Elizabeth later cautions him not to force the denouement. Inspector Kildare, who frets about “bad notices,” is frozen into a position as he interviews Dan Leno — before the audience realizes that the men are posing for a newspaper illustration. Aveline Mortimer bemoans her “understudy” role in the Cree marriage.
Conversely, the scenes involving Leno and his troupe of performers, Little Victor Farrell (“Maître di Magie”), Uncle (“Ventriloquist Suprême”), Doris (“The Goddess of Wire-Walking”), and Aveline Mortimer (“The Wide-Eyed Warbler”), are among the most genuine in the opera. While four songs are clearly music hall numbers — “Variety” (excerpted), “What’s Going
on Down Below?,” “All For the Sake of Dear Father,” and “Here We Are Again” — other songs, like “O Woeful World,” “I’ve Known Love,” and “What Choice Have I?” could be performed with a thick coat of greasepaint or without.
This aspect of the story crystallizes in the scenes set in the reading room of the British Museum where John Cree is working on his new play, Misery Junction, and Marx, Leno, and Gissing study the writings of Charles Dickens, Joseph Grimaldi, and Charles Babbage — the latter providing the oftrepeated quote: “The air itself is one vast library.”
Kevin elucidates: “For the scenes in the reading room of the British Museum, I wanted to create an atmosphere of immense space, grandeur, and perhaps a sense of reverence for books and the written word. I did this by allowing the harmonies — centered around D-flat major and sustained by the strings — to slowly evolve as Schubertian arpeggios are played by the pianist with bowed crotales and vibraphone ringing above. That texture is eventually joined by several men of the cast who create a chorus on the line ‘the air itself is one vast library.’”
Kevin and I had a brilliant
ally to help us realize the many-faceted story of Elizabeth Cree at the premiere production with Opera Philadelphia: renowned stage director (and Cherry Valley resident) David Schweizer. David, who created the memorable Glimmerglass productions of The Mines of Sulphur and The Greater Good, not only knew Ackroyd personally from his college days but also kept us in line with the author’s vision. “I was welcomed early into the process of creating this opera,” says David, “and helped ensure that Kevin’s and Mark’s ideas could be effectively realized onstage. I didn’t discourage them from reaching high and wide (scenic transitions could be lightning swift if need be) and my role only supported their aspirations. I feel, happily, that the promise was kept on my part. And on theirs came the wonder of this utterly unique work.”
Alison Moritz will add her own stamp in her direction of this production in her Glimmerglass mainstage debut. She notes, “Elizabeth Cree teems with characters who ignore the deeper mysteries of modern life in favor of headlines. The opera drives its characters (and audiences!) to wonder, ‘How did we come to this?’ — and strikes the perfect balance between
entertainment and social commentary.” Kelly Kuo, making his Glimmerglass debut as conductor, adds: “Kevin’s cinematic score masterfully captures the place, mood, and identity of each scene and character with specificity. And the rapid shifts of musical styles provide a unique challenge of concentration for the conductor as the story unfolds without a break for 100 minutes.” That challenge is also felt by Tara Erraught in the title role: “Elizabeth has to be the strongest and possibly grittiest operatic role I’ve played yet. A woman who had nothing easy in life, living in what can only be described as London’s ugliest era, and managing what most didn’t, to survive!”
Elizabeth Cree has had a healthy life as an opera since its premiere, most notably with successful productions in San Francisco and Chicago. Kevin and I are very grateful to Rob Ainsley and his team for bringing the work to Glimmerglass audiences and cannot think of an opera that fits more aptly into a season entitled “Identity & Illusion.”
1. As a nod to Mr. Ackroyd (and with apologies to Mr. Wilde, Monsieur de Balzac. and Mr. Armstrong), every one of these quotations is made up.
PHOTO:
P I P E L I N E TALK
THE ARTISTRY OF CREATION
Join Kevin Puts, Mark Campbell, Alison Moritz, and Kelly Kuo for a captivating discussion about the creative process. These award-winning artists will guide you through the labyrinth of inspiration, discussing the sparks that ignite creativity, the methods to sustain it, and the paths that lead to groundbreaking ideas. From exploring the fusion of imagination and technical skill to examining the role of failure and iteration, this engaging conversation, punctuated with musical excerpts, promises to unveil the secrets behind Elizabeth Cree.
Friday, July 26 | 3:00 p.m. | $20
The Otesaga Resort Hotel Ballroom
Elizabeth Cree Creative Team:
Kevin Puts, Composer
Mark Campbell, Librettist
Alison Moritz, Director
Kelly Kuo, Conductor
PROJECT P I P E L I N E
Project Pipeline: Making History Together
By Rob Ainsley
I’ll admit it — I’m a card-carrying member of the FOMO Club. No matter how hard I try, I have a colossal “Fear of Missing Out.” I am the club’s proudest flag-bearer, recruiting anyone willing to listen to my elevator speeches.
Everything sets off my FOMO — TV shows, good books, restaurants I haven’t tried, people’s favorite cupcakes, hikes, national parks, homes, clothes, and even people I’d like to get to know. But the worst instances are always about theater: “Did you see so-and-so do it in Philadelphia — oh, she was AMAZING!” “The production we saw in London was life-changing,” or even more intriguing, “It got some rough reviews, but I really kinda liked it.” I used to have FOMO about all the great operas I hadn’t seen or heard: “You’ve never seen Bohème? It’s the best! The problem with FOMO is that once you start feeling it, it gets harder and harder to ignore. Every discovery leads me down a new rabbit hole. “Of course Don Giovanni is incredible, but Idomeneo is some of Mozart’s best music.”
So imagine my excitement when I encounter a brand new opera — a new story, new characters, new singers, new production, new music, even a composer and librettist whose work I’ve never encountered before. I don’t often quote Disney, but “a whole new world!” This is when I start passing on my FOMO by telling them, “There’s a cool scene that sounds like drunk Verdi,” “We’ve only seen the score for Act I so far, but it just jumps off the page – I can see the production in my head already,” and “For me, it’s the best thing they’ve written yet.”
It is my goal to bring Glimmerglass audiences something to rave about with everything we produce — a fascinating new concept, a title you haven’t seen before, the next big stars, a live experience we haven’t tried before. But there is nothing that quite compares with the experience of watching a new opera take shape. It’s by far one of the most collaborative and transformative processes an artist can be part of, requiring superhuman investments of skill, vision, humility, tenacity, and an almost absurd
Left to right: Librettist Sandra Cisneros, composer Derek Bermel, and dramaturg Kelley Rourke at the first workshop of The House on Mango Street. Photo by Sofia Negron
level of commitment from everyone involved. Having been lucky enough to work on many new operas throughout my career, I believe it is an experience our audiences should have the privilege of witnessing; you should all join the FOMO club!
Through the unique confluence of nationalities, styles, and influences that make up our great country, America has made a vital contribution to the evolution of music drama over the last century. Modern musical theater is largely an American innovation, with Broadway the creative epicenter of this genre. Just as vital has been the outpouring of superb American contemporary opera over the last century, with Glimmerglass playing its own important part in this movement. The distinction between musical theater and opera is now largely nonexistent — great drama is great drama, no matter what we label it. You are just as likely to encounter jazz, rap, or hip-hop in modern opera as you are on Broadway. Glimmerglass, with a sure foothold in both these worlds and its resident troupe of dedicated artists of all disciplines
and backgrounds, is ideally placed as a crucible for new stories.
Beginning with the 2024 season, we are formalizing our commitment to new work with the inauguration of Project Pipeline Our goal is to bring a new work to life every season, either through our youth opera or a commission for our mainstage. En route, we invite you into the room as these stories take shape, offering contact and discussions with the writers, opportunities to hear early versions of the work, and ways to connect with the artists as they bring these roles and characters to life for the first time.
With Project Pipeline this season, we bring a sparkling new youth opera to the stage with Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children (from a brilliant creative team who both cite heavy metal as one of their influences!), we dive into a significant work-in-progress as the beloved, poetic novel The House on Mango Street takes shape as an important new piece of music drama, and we mount a brand new production of the 2017 mini-masterpiece
Elizabeth Cree. With Cecelia Raker, Jens Ibsen, Sandra Cisneros, Derek Bermel, Mark Campbell, and Kevin Puts making appearances at the Festival this season, our campus will host six of America’s most brilliant creative voices at various stages of their careers — presenting a world premiere, workshopping a new opera, and bringing a new production of a recent work to the stage. These are the pipelines at the core of this initiative: pipelines for art and for artists, with all of you as vital participants, and with our stories as the end result. A visit to the Festival is so much more than just a great day out — you get to be part of making art history. You won’t want to miss out on that!
RUMPELSTILTSKIN AND THE UNLOVABLE CHILDREN (2024)
Music by JENS IBSEN
by CECELIA RAKER
World premiere production commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival, sung in English with English projected text.
Three performances: August 6, 8m, 11
Running time: 1 hour, with no intermission
sponsored
Production generously
by Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson. Youth tickets sponsored by Zambello Gay Tribute Fund.
Libretto
Rumpelstiltskin
Evan Lazdowski*
Queen Catherine Thornsley*
Goldie
Young Rumpel
Young Miller’s Daughter
Teen Rumpel
Teen Miller’s Daughter
Storybug
Pants Gal
Dress Guy
Ensemble
Conductor
Director
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Choreographer
Projected Titles
Sound Designer
Hair & Makeup Designer
Hair & Makeup Associate Designer
Assistant Director
Principal Coach/Pianist
Assistant Pianist
Stage Manager
*member of the Young Artists Program
**member of Youth Ensemble
Callum Torruella
Johnny Ford**
Malena Buttermann**
Aster McGiver**
Daniella Rivera-Litz**
Nadia Buttermann**
Avery Croft**
Kilian Redden**
Layla Buttermann**
Elizabeth Eckel**
Seton Davis Fralick**
Anmo Geng**
Anqi Geng**
Maya LaCoppola**
Jierui Lin**
Madeleine Lukovsky**
Giovanni Priola**
Zoe Schermerhorn**
Olivia Sheldon**
Lorelei Stanley**
Kimberley-Ann Bartczak
Joshua R. Horowitz
James Rotondo
Erik Teague
Amith Chandrashaker
Amanda Testini*
Nick Richardson
Joel T. Morain
Lauren Wright
Molly Howard
Nadja Simmonds*
Laura Bleakley*
Artyom Pak*
Dustin Z West
We invite our young audiences to take a deep dive into the world of Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children. On our website, you’ll find a kid-friendly digital book about the making of this brand-new opera — and about opera in general.
HOW TO FEEL SAFE IN THE DARK
OUR WORLD IS ON FIRE, and I’m trying to face that fact with only stories in my hands. I do my best to keep this from my toddler, who thinks the world and I are 100% hilarious and oh, wowie zowie, bee-oo-full.
Parenting, writing, living while everything is on fire requires us to be able to change our minds. To survive, we must be able to admit when we have been operating based on outdated ideas. The wind is blowing, and fire is unpredictable.
When I feel safe, I can get vulnerable. When we get vulnerable, we can connect. When we connect, we can change gracefully, with support.
So when I set out to help the world, me with my storytelling addiction and very few other useful skills, me with my heart beating outside my body in the form of a tiny human who still thinks the biggest crisis possible is when there aren’t enough frozen blueberries — I start by asking: how might I help a room full of people feel safe in the dark?
Familiarity and laughter make me feel safe.
When I pitched the idea of an exploded version of Rumpelstiltskin to our incredible team, I was looking for just enough familiarity to help us feel safe, and enough anger to make me want to change the story’s mind.
As a child, I remember feeling condescended to by “children’s theater.” I wanted to give our cast and audience the gift of grappling with deep questions about identity and narrative, power and expectation. Jens captured that impulse stunningly in his score. Together, we intentionally steered
BY CECELIA RAKER
toward sophisticated music and a nuanced story, accessible to children while also ready to meet their deep passions and deep minds with respect.
I’d always experienced Rumpelstiltskin as a pretty transparently antisemitic dog whistle — in many versions, he’s a greedy moneylender with a long hooked nose who nefariously grooms innocent children, etc., etc. I hadn’t seen any storyteller imagine that Rumpelstiltskin might be searching for family.
As the daughter of an incredibly devoted solo Jewish dad, and the partner of another incredibly nurturing Jewish dad, I wanted to give Rumpelstiltskin permission to adore his children. I wanted to write a love story to families who queer the storybook norms. And I wanted the miller’s daughter in the story to be perfectly capable of spinning financial independence for herself, thank you very much.
So we turned the fairytale you might know inside out. In this world, magic is all about story, a riff on some of my favorite elements of Michael White’s narrative therapy modality. Our Rumpelstiltskin is the ultimate respectful, gentle, trauma-informed parent. Not that his kids realize it. And he’s drowning, shouldering the load of his unconventional family alone, parenting with no support.
Our burning world has decided that it’s normal for mothers to carry the entire emotional and mental load, whether single or partnered. That it’s normal for real masculinity to never mean tenderness or dreams of parenthood. That it’s normal to call savvy, ambitious women witches or intimidating, or even just to give men credit for their hard work. That it’s normal to expect
a straight, nuclear family to meet all of a child’s needs, even though this has never been normal at any other point in history. That it’s normal to carry on as usual while prejudice and wars and famines play out.
This is what I mean when I say the world is on fire.
I get angry when power structures try to pigeonhole me, or my characters. So I set out to create a place that would feel familiar: one where many of these harmful norms are present, softened by the trappings of fairytale. There, I let our characters loose to prioritize their queer, feral, adoring chosen family over the happy ending you might expect.
And then I worked in as many jokes and puns as I could, because parenting is hilarious and growing up is (as Jens puts it) metal as hell. Often I need to give my body permission to physically grieve the sweetness and possibilities that fall victim to the world’s fire. Laughter feels physically similar to sobbing. Theatrical, communal laughter is my favorite pathway through to something like hope.
On the surface, our opera is about children learning to believe they are indeed lovable. But this is also a story about parents learning to love themselves, to believe themselves lovable.
Only by holding our own vulnerability safely, letting ourselves laugh and sob and feel loved, can we ever hope to hold our children safely as they discover the cruelty and beauty in our world.
Thank you for letting us offer you safety and change in this particular dark room.
Deep in the forest lives a gaggle of feral, unlovable children. They work their hands to the bone every day in service to the evil wizard Rumpelstiltskin…he makes them do chores! And brush their teeth regularly! And talk about their feelings! It’s the WORST. But then one day, Rumpel tells them the story of how his childhood friend, a talented businesswoman, got forced to marry the King. Suddenly all the Unlovable Children’s narratives about who they are begin to unravel. When Goldie, the eldest of them, learns that she’s actually the long-lost daughter of that Queen, she’s faced with a tough choice: go live the life she’d imagined as a princess, or stay with the unconventional family that has nurtured her true self?
I love this story, and it was a pleasure to set to music.
Every child struggles with feeling unlovable at some point or another, and writing this story where children learn to love themselves and to choose the family they desire really felt like writing the story I needed when I was a kid, like I was empowering my child self. It was important to me to write a piece for kids that honored their feelings. I wanted the music to reflect how it actually feels to think you’re unlovable at that
age. Simply put, it is adult music for children. The harmonic language is quite dissonant at times throughout to both reflect that inner childhood turmoil but also poke fun at it as well. I found myself listening to everything from Bartók to Slipknot and finding a way to integrate that into the drama. Because, at the end of the day, isn’t surviving being a kid the most metal thing of all? Over time, the piece moves from its harsh origins into a brighter, more optimistic tone as Goldie and the children realize their inherent worth and rightful place in the world.
As a lifelong lover and performer of opera, it is an honor for me that this piece will be many children’s introduction to the genre which has had such a profound impact on my artistic and emotional life. I have fond childhood memories of listening to The Magic Flute in the car with my family on a trip to the Sierra Nevadas. The enchanting charm of that music awakened a love of opera that I would carry with me through my time in the Vienna Boys Choir, singing Mozart and Bizet, through my time taking my first lessons in opera and art song at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and beyond. I hope that this piece inspires children to feel like they can be exactly who they want to be, like they are loved. And I hope it gives them the opera bug like The Magic Flute did for me.
— Jens Ibsen
COSTUME RENDERING BY ERIK TEAGUE
PROJECT P I P E L I N E
PIPELINE PREVIEW: THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Music by DEREK BERMEL
Libretto by SANDRA CISNEROS and DEREK BERMEL
Based on the book by SANDRA CISNEROS
Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.
Sung in English with projected English text.
Esperanza Mikaela Bennett
Ensemble Members of the Young Artists Program
Conductor Jayce Ogren
Pianist Andrea Grant
The House on Mango Street, a coming-of-age classic, has been acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world. Novelist Sandra Cisneros, winner of the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, has teamed up with Grammy-nominated composer Derek Bermel for an opera inspired by her beloved book. Their opera is currently under development at Glimmerglass in preparation for a 2025 mainstage world premiere; this year’s concert reading, with piano, will offer a sneak preview of the work-in-progress.
The House on Mango Street unfolds in a series of episodes seen through the eyes of Esperanza, a girl who is less than excited about her new neighborhood. No longer a child, but not yet a woman, she struggles to figure out where she fits in. “Can I see the menu?” Esperanza asks. “Can I order something that’s not on the menu?” Through a series of interactions, which range from fascinating to funny to frightening, she comes to understand that storytelling is the medicine she can offer her community — and herself.
Above: Mikaela Bennett at the first workshop of The House on Mango Street.
Photo by Sofia Negron
SERVING HER PUBLIC: Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught
by Nick Richardson
Mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught doesn’t need the luck of the Irish — she has the vocal pedigree, a résumé that inspires awe and envy, and a spirit of service. Acutely aware of her ongoing legacy, Erraught is taking what she learns in her international career back to her home nation of Ireland. She performs with and sits on the board of the Irish National Opera, and next year she will lead the third edition of her professional development program for singers called Celebrating the Voice in Dublin. Her own voice has been celebrated the world over at the most renowned companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, Opéra de Paris, the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Bavarian State Opera, where she got her start.
Erraught brings her talents and benevolence to The Glimmerglass Festival as this season’s Artist-in-Residence. She’ll sing the title role in Elizabeth Cree, work closely with our Young Artists Program, and join our Young Artists in a special concert, “Horizons.” Between engagements of her packed spring schedule — role debuts in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito in Hamburg and Bellini’s Norma in Munich — Associate Dramaturg Nick Richardson caught up with Erraught for a wide-ranging conversation about her training, her approaches to performing, and her summer at Glimmerglass.
When you got the invitation to come to Glimmerglass, what were your first thoughts?
I have heard so much about Glimmerglass over the years! Its Young Artist legacy within the industry is huge. Many of my American colleagues have come through the program, including my best friend, mezzo-soprano Angela Brower, and Sean Plumb, who was my Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bavarian State Opera this season. I have heard such incredible reports about the hospitality in Cooperstown, the Glimmerglass public, and the wonderful artistic team. It wasn’t even a question. I was simply delighted to be invited!
You’ve built an international career. What are some differences between making opera in Europe versus in the United States?
The main difference for me, having come up through the German system, is the rate at which operas are produced in Europe is at times at lightning speed. We may rehearse for seven days, using one morning for a sitzprobe [a music rehearsal with the
orchestra], no stage rehearsal, never seeing the set or most costumes before the first performance, and on the eighth day we open the show. An American contract usually involves four to six weeks of rehearsals, stage time, dress rehearsals, and a different pace of working. I enjoy both systems very much!
I’m interested to learn about your time at the Bavarian State Opera. From what I understand, Germany has a very organized system of “growing into opera,” a sort of trajectory for young singers. Can you explain that German system and how it works?
The German young artist programs, or Opern Studios, are really an “opera apprenticeship.” You hit the ground running, singing small roles on the main stage alongside industry superstars, pushing your abilities at all times to find the highest niveau. Meanwhile, you’re in vocal coaching every day to improve your audition portfolio, preparing for studio concerts and one fully staged production per season, and attending other rehearsals and sponsor events. I was one of the lucky ones who was offered a full-time principal soloist
contract once I finished the studio program, a “Fest” position. During my eight years in Fest, I made 47 role debuts, everything from the smallest roles to title characters.
Your repertoire spans such a wide variety of not only roles and composers, but also styles of opera, from Mozart to Verdi, Baroque to bel canto. How do you vocally approach these vastly different styles?
From my undergraduate training in Dublin and my training in the German system, one of the things I learned very quickly was the importance of flexibility — in drama, style, and vocal approach. Working in a theater that produced 46 different operas per season, I was exposed to an incredible amount of repertoire right at the beginning of my career, and often asked to sing completely different repertoire in the same week: Annina in Verdi’s La traviata, a Blumenmädchen (Flower Maiden) in Wagner’s Parsifal, and Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, for example. All of these experiences allowed me, firstly, to build incredible stamina. It gave me time to explore the length and breadth of my voice, and also
to see that the technical approach is rarely different. All young singers must build a firm technical foundation in order to give the voice an opportunity to soar in any repertoire, on any schedule. Especially in today’s industry, it is so important to be versatile, yet stable.
This season at Glimmerglass you’ll make your role debut as Elizabeth Cree. You’ve had experience both stepping into familiar roles and originating characters. How might building a character be different between a canonical work and a newer work like Cree?
I am a “go with your gut” actress. I learn the music, I spend time listening to the full score, taking on the character colors of the orchestra, and then I allow myself to build. However, as a singer, it is terribly important not to marry yourself to your own
I N T H E PAV I L I O N
HORIZONS: TARA ERRAUGHT IN CONCERT WITH THE 2024 YOUNG ARTISTS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 | 4:30 PM
RUN TIME: 90 MINUTES, NO INTERMISSION CURATOR/PRODUCER - TARA ERRAUGHT
Experience an extraordinary evening of music with one of the world’s most celebrated singers and the next generation of operatic talent. Together with Young Artists, Tara Erraught will guide this intimate concert that promises an immersive journey through diverse musical landscapes.
opinion of a character because you will have to mold your character around the vision of the director and the musical interpretation of the conductor. For Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, which I have sung more than 45 times in eight different productions, I have had to bend and flex the character each time to suit the production, to allow her to live fresh with new colleagues and react to their intuitions. I have to find new musical ideas and impulses with each conductor and orchestra, for of course, each orchestra is different.
The terribly exciting thing about Elizabeth Cree is that it is practically brand new, so we will develop and delve as the atmosphere in the room desires. This is how creative teams and casts tend to grow very close during rehearsal periods — we have to be vulnerable and work as a team at all times.
You’ll also mentor our Festival’s Young Artists this season. What advice would you give to your younger self? What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
I am still learning, every day on every contract, at every meeting and every singing lesson. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times — every moment is a learning opportunity. Always stay humble, and serve the public.
Besides the Festival, what do you look forward to doing in and around Cooperstown this summer? (When you have a spare moment, of course!)
I have been given so many recommendations! Both of my parents are chefs, and I am a big foodie, too. I look forward to sampling all the cultural delights Cooperstown has to offer. I also must admit, having heard so much about the very special Glimmerglass public, I simply can’t wait to sing for them.
PHOTO: BRENT DELANOY
PHOTO:
G U E ST A RT I ST S
HOLLY ADAMS Brooktondale, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Clown Performer & Consultant for Pagliacci and Lyrics on the Lawn.
Past: Audiobook Narrator, Audible (ongoing); Clown, various stage and circus performances (ongoing); Josie, Cock Robin, Frances Barth Studios; Director, RUR, live audiodrama, Michigan Tech University.
Future: Director and Voice Actor, The Mysterious CHIRP, Podcast.
ROB AINSLEY Cooperstown, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Conductor/Keyboard for La Calisto.
Past: Director, Cafritz Young Artists Program & American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera; Pianist, Met Stars Live in Concert with Renée Fleming; Head of Music & Chorus Master, Minnesota Opera; Head of Music & Chorus
Master, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Associate Music Director, Portland Opera; Co-Founder & Music Director, Greenwich Music Festival.
KATE ASHTON West Orange, New Jersey
Glimmerglass 2024: Lighting Designer for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Lighting Designer, Later the Same Evening, The Juilliard School; Lighting Designer, A Thousand Acres, Des Moines Metro Opera; Lighting Designer, Wozzeck, Des Moines Metro Opera; Lighting Designer, Hometown to the World, Santa Fe Opera; Lighting Designer, The Turn of the Screw, The Juilliard School; Lighting Designer, Sleeping Beauty, The Washington Ballet; Lighting Designer, Swan Lake, Ballet West.
KIMBERLEY-ANN BARTCZAK
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Glimmerglass 2024: Conductor for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children
Past: Principal Coach and Accompanist, Pacific Opera Victoria (ongoing); Recital Choir Director, Victoria Children’s Choir (ongoing); Resident Conductor, Calgary Opera; Associate Artistic Director, Manitoba Underground Opera.
MIKAELA BENNETT Brooklyn, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Esperanza in The House on Mango Street Pipeline Preview Concert
Past: Maria, The Sound of Music, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Sarah Brown, Guys and Dolls, Opera Saratoga; Rosasharn, The Grapes of Wrath, MasterVoices at Carnegie Hall; Concert Soloist, Broadway Blockbusters, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra; Maria, West Side Story, Lyric Opera of Chicago.
DEREK BERMEL Brooklyn, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Composer of The House on Mango Street.
Future: Recording, “Spring Cadenzas” (violin concerto), A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra (violinist, Midori); “Profile Concert” featuring the Ying Quartet and pianist Aaron Diehl, Merkin Hall, New York City; Fall 2025 premiere of a work commissioned by South Dakota Symphony Orchestra for its Lakota Music Project, for large chamber ensemble, Lakota musicians, and conductor David Delta Gier; full orchestra version to follow in 2026.
MARK CAMPBELL New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Librettist for Elizabeth Cree. Past: Pulitzer Prize; GRAMMY award; 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, National Opera Association; Librettist, Silent Night, The Glimmerglass Festival; Librettist, Later the Same Evening, The Glimmerglass Festival.
Future: Librettist, The Shining, Portland Opera; Librettist, All Shall Rise, Carnegie Hall.
AMITH CHANDRASHAKER
Brooklyn, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Lighting Designer for La Calisto and Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Lighting Designer, Rinaldo, The Glimmerglass Festival; Lighting Designer, Carmen, The Glimmerglass Festival; Lighting Designer, The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson, The Glimmerglass Festival; Lighting Designer, Merrily We Roll Along, Broadway; Lighting Designer, Prayer for the French Republic, Broadway; Lighting Designer, Bring Me to Light with Sutton Foster, Encores!; Lighting Designer, Dear World, Encores!; Lighting Designer, Once Upon a Mattress, Encores!
JOHN CHEST Hamburg, Germany
Glimmerglass 2024: John Cree in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Demetrius, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Teatro Carlo Felice; Marcello, La bohème, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra; Count Almaviva, Le nozze di Figaro, Opera de Lyon; Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Teatro Regio; Rodrigue, Don Carlos, Theater Basel.
Future: Eisenstein, Die Fledermaus, Vancouver Opera.
SANDRA CISNEROS
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Glimmerglass 2024: Librettist for The House on Mango Street.
Past: Founder, The Macondo Foundation; Founder, Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation; NEA fellowships in poetry and fiction; Texas Medal of the Arts; MacArthur Fellowship; PEN/Nabokov Award for International Literature; National Medal of Arts; Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Poetry Foundation; Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation.
Future: Librettist, The House on Mango Street, The Glimmerglass Festival.
JOSEPH COLANERI Milburn, New Jersey
Glimmerglass 2024: Conductor for The Pirates of Penzance; Conductor for Pagliacci.
Past: Conductor, Romeo and Juliet, The Glimmerglass Festival; Conductor, Norma, Metropolitan Opera; Conductor, Mefistofele, Metropolitan Opera; Conductor, La bohème, Teatro Colón; Conductor, The Ghosts of Versailles, L’Opéra Royale de Versailles; Conductor, Later the Same Evening, Juilliard Opera.
Future: Conductor, Pagliacci, Utah Opera.
TROY COOK Quakertown, Pennsylvania
Glimmerglass 2024: Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance; Tonio in Pagliacci.
Past: Athanaël, Thaïs, Utah Opera; MajorGeneral Stanley, The Pirates of Penzance, Kentucky Opera; Germont, La traviata, Florida
Grand Opera; Sharpless, Madame Butterfly; Marcello, La bohème, Opera Philadelphia; Sharpless, Madame Butterfly, Palm Beach Opera.
Future: Paul Devonk, The Listeners, Opera Philadelphia.
CHARLIE CORCORAN
Greenwood Lake, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Set Designer for La Calisto.
Past: Henry Hewes Design Award; Scenic Designer, Fidelio, Santa Fe Opera; Scenic Designer, Opera Seria, Wolf Trap Opera; Scenic Designer, La clemenza di Tito, The Juilliard School; Scenic Designer, La bohème, Music Academy of the West; Scenic Designer, The Flood (world premiere), Opera Columbus.
Future: Scenic Designer, Il trovatore, Houston Grand Opera.
BRENNA CORNER Kennesaw, Georgia
Glimmerglass 2024: Director of Pagliacci and Lyrics on the Lawn.
Past: Artistic Director, Pacific Opera Victoria (ongoing); Director, Il trovatore, Washington National Opera; Director, Tenor Overboard, The Glimmerglass Festival; Director, H.M.S. Pinafore, Vancouver Opera; Director, Carmen, Des Moines Metro Opera; Director, Don Giovanni, Seattle Opera.
Future: Director, Macbeth, Washington National Opera; Director, The Little Prince, Pacific Opera Victoria.
SEÁN CURRAN New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Director and Choreographer of The Pirates of Penzance.
Past: Director/Choreographer, Radamisto, Opera Lafayette; Director/Choreographer, Ariadne of Naxos, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Director/Choreographer, Daughter of the Regiment, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Director/ Choreographer, Salome, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Choreographer, Fire Shut Up in My Bones (world premiere); Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Choreographer, Champion (world premiere), Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Choreographer, Nixon in China, Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
TARA ERRAUGHT
Ravensdale, Dundalk, Ireland
Glimmerglass 2024: Artist-in-Residence; Elizabeth Cree in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Vitellia, La clemenza di Tito, Staatsoper Hamburg; Adalgisa, Norma, Bavarian State Opera; Elvira, Don Giovanni, Opera de Paris; Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Bavarian State Opera.
Future: Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Staatsoper Berlin; Artist-in-Residence, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland 24/25; Wigmore Hall Recital, London; Elvira, Don Giovanni, Vienna State Opera.
ERIC SEAN FOGEL
Charleston, South Carolina
Glimmerglass 2024: Choreographer for Pagliacci and La Calisto.
Past: Director, The Barber of Seville, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Director, Songbird, Washington National Opera.
Future: Revival Director, The Magic Flute, Metropolitan Opera; Choreographer, Tannhäuser, Houston Grand Opera; Choreographer, Porgy and Bess, Washington National Opera.
CHRISTIAN MARK GIBBS
Queens, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance; Dan Leno in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: 2nd Place Winner at the 2024 Lotte Lenya Competition; Roscoe, Follies, Transport Group, Carnegie Hall; Robbins & Crab Man, Porgy and Bess, Metropolitan Opera; Tony, West Side Story, Savoy-teatteri; Actor, Camelot on Broadway, Vivian Beaumont Theater/Lincoln Center Theater; Bklyn & Grady Mitchell, Written in Stone, Washington National Opera.
Future: Uncle Percy, This House, Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
EVE GIGLIOTTI Brooklyn, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Juno in La Calisto; Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance.
Past: Nelly, The Hours, Metropolitan Opera; Gertrude, Roméo et Juliette, Metropolitan Opera; Producer and Performer, No One Is Forgotten: An Immersive Opera, The Dallas Opera, Lexicon Classics Worldwide Release.
Future: Voice of Antonia’s Mother, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Metropolitan Opera; Santuzza (role debut), Cavalleria Rusticana, Pittsburgh Opera; Iras, Antony and Cleopatra, Metropolitan Opera.
JOSHUA R. HOROWITZ
Old Bethpage, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Director of Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children; Assistant Director of La Calisto.
Past: Assistant Director, Romeo and Juliet, The Glimmerglass Festival; Assistant Director, Romeo and Juliet, Washington National Opera; Director, Journey to Valhalla, Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Future: Associate Director, La traviata, Detroit Opera; Assistant Director, The Barber of Seville, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Assistant Director, The Magic Flute, Seattle Opera; Assistant Director, Porgy and Bess, Washington National Opera.
JENS IBSEN Pacifica, California
Glimmerglass 2024: Composer of Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Prize and Commission (Drowned in Light), 2022 Emerging Black Composers Project Winner, San Francisco Conservatory/San Francisco Symphony; Composer, Bubbie and the Demon, American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera; Beth Morrison Next Gen Competition Finalist; Composer, Pretty Girl, The Cartography Project, Washington National Opera; Mentee/Commission (Concrete Sea), NATS Mentoring Program for Composers, National Association of Teachers of Singing.
CRAIG IRVIN Waukee, Iowa
Glimmerglass 2024: The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance; Jove in La Calisto.
Past: Cinderella’s Prince/The Wolf, Into the Woods, Tulsa Opera; Jack Torrance, The Shining, Atlanta Opera; Scarpia, Tosca, Madison Opera.
Future: Kenny, The Cookoff, Nashville Opera; Soloist, Carmina Burana, Des Moines Symphony; Featured Artist with Madison Symphony; Thalasso, The Pigeon Keeper, Opera Parallèle.
CASEY KALEBA Washington, D.C.
Glimmerglass 2024: Fight & Intimacy Director for Pagliacci and Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Intimacy Director, Così fan tutte, Wolf Trap Opera; Fight Director, Turandot, Washington National Opera.
Future: Fight Director, Macbeth, Washington National Opera; Fight Director, Fidelio, Washington National Opera; Fight Director, Soft Power, Signature Theatre.
AMBER R. MONROE Youngstown, Ohio
Glimmerglass 2024: Nedda in Pagliacci.
Past: Winner, George and Nora London Foundation Competition; Mimì, La bohème, Washington National Opera; Esther, Intimate Apparel, Arizona Opera; Soloist, Ein deutches Requiem (Brahms), Lehigh University.
Future: Serena, Porgy and Bess, Washington National Opera; Soloist, Requiem (Verdi), National Philharmonic; Nedda, Pagliacci, Pensacola Opera.
JOEL T. MORAIN Cherry Valley, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Sound Designer for Pagliacci and Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Freelance Stagehand, Minneapolis; Lighting and Sound Technician, Molly Sweeney, Touring Production, Guthrie Theatre; Freehand Stagehand and Designer, Long Wharf, Yale University, Hartford Stage; Technical Director, Hartwick College, Colgate University; Audio Coordinator, The Glimmerglass Festival, Attica Prison, Royal Opera House Muscat, Palace of Versailles; Technical Theater Advisor, Cooperstown High School, Central Valley Academy, Orpheus Theatre.
KELLY KUO Hermiston, Oregon
Glimmerglass 2024: Conductor for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Conductor, Carmen, Des Moines Metro Opera; Conductor, Merola Grand Finale, Merola Opera Program; Conductor, Hansel and Gretel, Kentucky Opera; Conductor, Cendrillon, Knoxville Opera; Conductor, La Fille du régiment, Parnassus Society.
Future: Conductor, The Snowy Day, Minnesota Opera; Conductor, Rusalka, Manhattan School of Music.
ALISON MORITZ Baltimore, Maryland
Glimmerglass 2024: Director of Elizabeth Cree. Past: Artistic Director, Central City Opera (ongoing); Director, The Knock (opera on film), The Glimmerglass Festival.
Future: Director; Don Giovanni, Opera Philadelphia; Director, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Opera Omaha; Director, The Manchurian Candidate, Austin Opera; Director, Aida, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Director, Santa Fe Apprentice Scenes, Santa Fe Opera.
EDWARD T. MORRIS Washington, D.C.
Glimmerglass 2024: Set Designer for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Set and Projection Design, Vietgone, Oklahoma City Repertory Theater; Set and Projection Design, A Christmas Carol, Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Set Designer, Flood, Kansas City Repertory Theater; Set Designer, All of Me, The New Group; Projection Designer, Darling Grenadine, Roundabout Theater. Future: Set Designer, The Comedy of Errors, Interlochen Shakespeare Festival; Set Designer, Thanksgiving Play, Oklahoma City Repertory Theater.
JAYCE OGREN Ann Arbor, Michigan
Glimmerglass 2024: Conductor of The House on Mango Street Pipeline Preview Concert.
Past: Music Director (ongoing), Monterey Symphony; Assistant Professor of Music, University of Michigan (ongoing); Conductor (ongoing), Philharmonia Orchestra; Conductor (ongoing), Contemporary Directions Ensemble; Conductor (ongoing), Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra; Principal Guest Conductor (ongoing), Philadelphia’s New Music Ensemble.
KEVIN PUTS Yonkers, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Composer of Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Pulitzer Prize; GRAMMY award; Commissions for Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Opera Philadelphia, Minnesota Opera; Composer, Silent Night, The Glimmerglass Festival.
CECELIA RAKER Denver, Colorado
Glimmerglass 2024: Librettist for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: 1st Place (2019) and 2nd Place (2018), The Kennedy Center’s Darrell Ayers Theater for Young Audiences Playwriting Award; Artist Fellow, The Massachusetts Cultural Council; MFA, Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas; Librettist, Bubbie and the Demon, One Ounce Opera; Librettist, Bubbie and the Demon, American Opera Initiative, Washington National Opera; Librettist, Good Country, LOLA Opera; Playwright, Bog Butter, University of Texas New Theater.
TAYLOR RAVEN Fayetteville, North Carolina
Glimmerglass 2024: Diana/Jove-as-Diana in La Calisto.
Past: Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Seattle Opera; Fatima, Omar, San Francisco Opera.
Future: Sesto, La clemenza di Tito, Pacific Opera Victoria; Charmian, Antony and Cleopatra, Metropolitan Opera; Stabat Mater (Perry), Duisburger Philharmoniker; Five Freedom Songs (Montgomery), Northwest Sinfonietta; Requiem (Mozart), Minnesota Orchestra.
NICK RICHARDSON
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Glimmerglass 2024: Titles for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Titles/Dramaturgy Team, The Glimmerglass Festival (ongoing); Supertitles Designer/Operator, Candide, Rutgers University; Supertitles Designer/Translator, Il Postino, Virginia Opera; Supertitles Designer, The Rip Van Winkles, The Glimmerglass Festival. Future: Dramaturg, Threads: A New Musical, Wanderlust Arts (ongoing).
JAMES ROTONDO Boston, Massachusetts
Glimmerglass 2024: Set Designer for Pagliacci and Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Scenic Designer, Songbird, Washington National Opera; Scenic Designer, The Rip Van Winkles, The Glimmerglass Festival; Scenic Designer, Jungle Book, The Glimmerglass Festival; Scenic Designer, La Calisto, New England Conservatory; Scenic Designer, The Knock, Cincinnati Opera; Scenic Designer, Rigoletto, Intermountain Opera Bozeman. Future: Scenic Designer, The Little Prince, Pacific Opera Victoria.
KELLEY ROURKE
Brooklyn and Roseboom, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Titles for The Pirates of Penzance, Pagliacci, and La Calisto.
Past: Librettist, Cinderella, Metropolitan Opera; Librettist, The Beekeeper, Chicago Opera Theater; Librettist, Right Now, American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Librettist, Songbird, Washington National Opera; 2024 OPERA America Campbell Librettist Prize.
Future: Librettist, Jungle Book, Washington National Opera; Librettist, Hansel and Gretel, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
JAMES SCHUETTE
Manitowoc, Wisconsin and New York, New York Glimmerglass 2024: Set Designer and Costume Designer for The Pirates of Penzance.
Past: Costume Design, Harvey Milk, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Costume Design, Awakenings, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Costume Design, Madame Butterfly, Santa Fe Opera; Costume Design, Helen, La Mama Theater; Costume Design, The Oresteia, The Juilliard School; Costume Design, A Christmas Carol, SITI Company at Bard College.
AMANDA SEYMOUR
Glimmerglass 2024: Costume Designer for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Costume Design, The Barber of Seville, Opera Columbus; Costume Design, The Turn of the Screw, On Site Opera; Costume Design, Empty the House, Curtis Institute of Music; Costume Design, Riders to the Sea, Curtis Institute of Music; Costume Design, Candide, Tanglewood Music Festival; Costume Design, Roméo et Juliette, Wolf Trap Opera; Costume Design, Idomeneo; Wolf Trap Opera.
CARLOS SOTO New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Costume Designer for La Calisto.
Past: Scenic and Costume Designer, Tosca, Wermland Opera; Costume Designer, Orfeo, Santa Fe Opera; Costume Designer, Proximity, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Costume Designer, Intelligence, Houston Grand Opera; Costume Designer, Tristan und Isolde, Santa Fe Opera; Costume Designer, The Valkyries, Detroit Opera; Costume Designer, Perle Noire, Dutch National Opera.
ROBERT STAHLEY
Groveland, Massachusetts
Glimmerglass 2024: Canio in Pagliacci.
Past: Dick Johnson, La fanciulla del West, North Carolina Opera; Siegmund, Journey to Valhalla, Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Soloist, 9th Symphony (Beethoven), Colorado Symphony; Erik (cover) Der fliegende Holländer, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Cavaradossi, Tosca, Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Future: Canio, Pagliacci, Opera Santa Barbara; First Armored Guard, The Magic Flute, Metropolitan Opera.
G U E ST A RT I ST S
ELIZABETH SUTPHEN Syracuse, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance; Aveline Mortimer in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Zerbinetta, Ariadne auf Naxos, Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre du Capitôle de Toulouse, Kentucky Opera; Rosina, The Barber of Seville, Arizona Opera; Sophie, Der Rosenkavalier, Glyndebourne Festival, Salzburg Landestheater; Atalanta, Xerxes, Oper Frankfurt, Detroit Opera; La Folie, Platée, Des Moines Metro Opera; Valencienne, The Merry Widow, Palm Beach Opera; Oriana, Amadigi di Gaula, Oper Frankfurt.
ERIK TEAGUE Alexandria, Virginia
Glimmerglass 2024: Costume Designer for Pagliacci and Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Costume Designer, Ragtime, Signature Theatre (Helen Hayes Award Winner); Costume Designer, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Costume Designer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Atlanta Opera; Costume Designer, The Cunning Little Vixen, The Glimmerglass Festival; Costume Designer, The Nose, Chicago Opera Theater; Costume Designer, Hansel and Gretel, New Orleans Opera; Costume Designer, The Telltale Heart, Synetic Theater.
SCHYLER VARGAS Denver, Colorado
Glimmerglass 2024: Mercury in La Calisto; Inspector Kildare/Witness #7 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Connie/Ragged Man, The Grapes of Wrath, MasterVoices at Carnegie Hall; Eisenstein, Die Fledermaus, Pacific Opera Project; Strephon, Iolanthe, MasterVoices at Carnegie Hall. Future: El Payador, Maria de Buenos Aires, Opera Montana.
TOM WATSON New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Hair & Makeup for The Pirates of Penzance, La Calisto, Pagliacci, and Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Hair & Makeup, Galileo, Berkeley Rep; An American Soldier, PAC NYC; Bye Bye Birdie and Nine, The Kennedy Center.
Future: Ragtime, NYC City Center; Parade and The Sound of Music, National Tours.
ROBERT WIERZEL Branford, Connecticut
Glimmerglass 2024: Lighting Designer for The Pirates of Penzance and Pagliacci.
Past: Lighting Designer, Songbird, Washington National Opera; Lighting Designer, Die Walküre, The Atlanta Opera.
Future: Lighting Designer, Jubilee, Seattle Opera; Lighting Designer, The Marriage of Figaro, Lyric Opera Of Chicago; Lighting Designer, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Washington National Opera; Lighting Designer, Rigoletto, LA Opera; Lighting Designer, Leopoldstadt, Huntington Theatre & Shakespeare Theatre Company.
MO ZHOU Nanjing, China
Glimmerglass 2024: Director for La Calisto.
Past: Recipient, 2023 OPERA America Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors; Director, The Big Swim, Houston Grand Opera; Director, Iphigénie en Tauride, Boston Baroque; Director, Rinaldo, Minnesota Opera; Director, The Diary of John Rabe, National Centre for the Arts (China), Staatsoper Berlin, Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg).
Future: Director, Madama Butterfly, Vancouver Opera; Director, Così fan tutte, Virginia Opera.
MUSIC STAFF
J. BRADLEY BAKER Waco, Texas
Glimmerglass 2024: Principal Coach/ Continuo for La Calisto.
Past: Music Director/Continuo, Così fan tutte, Landlocked Opera; Music Director, Music On Site’s 2023 Winter Opera Festival, Music On Site; Conductor, Falstaff, Lyric Opera of Orange County. Future: Music Director, The Medium & The Old Maid and the Thief (double bill), Lyric Opera of Orange County; Conductor, Don Giovanni, Opera Arlington.
LYNN BAKER New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Diction Coach for The Pirates of Penzance and Elizabeth Cree.
Past: English Diction Coach/Assistant Conductor, The Metropolitan Opera (ongoing); Adjunct Faculty Member, Mannes Opera/The New School (ongoing); English Diction Coach, productions at Opera Philadelphia and the Curtis Curtis Insititute of Music (ongoing); Artistic Director, Crested Butte Opera Studio Assistant Conductor/English Diction Coach, New York City Opera.
ANNA BETKA Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Glimmerglass 2024: Principal Coach for Pagliacci.
Past: Czech Diction Coach, The Cunning Little Vixen, Canadian Opera Company; Principal Coach, The Tales of Hoffman, Palm Beach Opera; Principal Coach, Romeo and Juliet, The Glimmerglass Festival; Principal Coach, Così fan tutti, Palm Beach Opera; Assistant Coach, Norma, Palm Beach Opera; Assistant Coach, Falstaff, Palm Beach Opera; Assistant Coach, Carmen, Canadian Opera Company.
CHRISTOPHER DEVLIN
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Glimmerglass 2024: Principal Coach for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Principal Coach, Elektra, The Dallas Opera; Principal Coach, Roméo et Juliette, The Dallas Opera; Principal Coach, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Dallas Opera.
Future: Principal Coach, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Dallas Opera; Principal Coach, La bohème, The Dallas Opera.
ANDREA GRANT Toronto, Ontario
Glimmerglass 2024: Director of the Young Artists Program; Pianist, The House on Mango Street
Past: Principal Coach and Chorus Director, Così fan tutte, University of British Columbia; Répétiteur, Don Pasquale, Vancouver Opera; Principal Coach and Chorus Director, Cendrillon, University of British Columbia; Principal Coach and Chorus Director, Cavalleria Rusticana, Opera West Society.
Future: Recital with Javier Camarena, Vancouver; Principal Coach and Chorus Director, Street Scene, University of British Columbia; Principal Coach and Chorus Director, Manon, Opera West Society.
KATHERINE KOZAK Phoenix, Arizona
Glimmerglass 2024: Chorus Director for Pagliacci and The Pirates of Penzance.
Past: Head of Music/Chorus Master/Principal Coach, Pullin Opera Studio (ongoing); Chorus Master/Head Coach, Florida Grand Opera; Music Staff: Palm Beach Opera, The Dallas Opera, Opera Colorado; Faculty, The University of Miami; Assistant Coach, The Juilliard School.
GRANT WENAUS New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Principal Coach for The Pirates of Penzance.
Past: Opera Coach/Lecturer, Montclair State University; Adjunct Faculty, Foreign Diction/ Opera Scenes, Mannes School of Music; Founder of Collaborative Piano Program/Vocal Coach, New York University; Music Director/ Pianist, The Mirror Visions Ensemble.
YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
HENRY BENSON Cincinnati, Ohio
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble and Peppe (cover) in Pagliacci.
Past: Timothy Laughlin, Fellow Travelers, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Male Chorus, The Rape of Lucretia, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Dr. Baglioni, La Hija de Rappaccini, Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music; Prune Man, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival.
LAURA BLEAKLEY Honolulu, Hawaii
Glimmerglass 2024: Assistant Youth Chorus Director; Second Pianist/Coach for Pagliacci; Second Pianist/Coach for Elizabeth Cree; Principal Pianist for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Assistant Coach, The Little Prince, Utah Opera; Assistant Coach, La bohème, Utah Opera; Assistant Coach, Rigoletto, Utah Opera.
Future: Assistant Coach, La Cenerentola, Houston Grand Opera; Assistant Coach, Tannhäuser, Houston Grand Opera.
KAILEE REGAN BRANDT Honolulu, Hawaii
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Dancer in La Calisto; Dancer/ Commedia Trio in Pagliacci.
Past: Mersister/Gull/Ensemble, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Syracuse Stage; Ensemble, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Dancer, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Dancer, Love and War, The Glimmerglass Festival; Amina, Dance Nation, Syracuse University Department of Drama; Swing/Dance
Captain, Head Over Heels, Syracuse University Department of Drama.
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Soloist, Messiah, First Presbyterian Church Chorus, Georgetown, Texas; Hermann, Queen of Spades, Butler Opera Center; Soloist, A “Rhapsody” of American Music, Austin Civic Orchestra; Rodolfo, La bohème, Butler Opera Center; Spoletta/Cavaradossi (cover), Tosca, Charlottesville Opera; Hoffmann, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Butler Opera Center
LAURYN DAVIS Atlanta, Georgia
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Edith (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Fury/Young Satyr/Eternity (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Fourth Prize, Annapolis Opera Competition; Encouragement Award
Recipient, Metropolitan Opera Southeast Region; Female Chorus, The Rape of Lucretia, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Micaëla, La Tragédie du Carmen, Chautauqua Opera Company.
Future: Resident Artist, Pittsburgh Opera; Armida, Armida, Pittsburgh Opera; Mona, Woman With Eyes Closed, Pittsburgh Opera
RUBY DIBBLE Kansas City, Missouri
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Elizabeth Cree (cover) and Jane Quig/Annie the Serving Girl/Witness 2 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Sesto, La clemenza di Tito, The Juilliard School; SongStudio, Carnegie Hall; Flora, La traviata, Wolf Trap Opera; Cherubino (cover), Le nozze di Figaro, Santa Fe Opera; Elle, La Voix humaine, Curtis Institute of Music; Dorabella, Così fan tutte, Curtis Institute of Music.
BENJAMIN DICKERSON
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Silvio (cover) in Pagliacci; Inspector Kildare/Witness 7 and Mr. Greatorex/George Gissing/Etcher/ Witness 6 (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Academy of Vocal Arts; Tarquinius, The Rape of Lucretia, Academy of Vocal Arts; Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni, Academy of Vocal Arts; Germont, La traviata, Academy of Vocal Arts; Marcello/ Schaunard, La bohème, Academy of Vocal Arts; Eugene Onegin, Eugene Onegin, Academy of Vocal Arts; Man, The Extinctionist, Heartbeat Opera.
SARAHANN DUFFY
Cortlandt Manor, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Kate (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Endymion (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci. Past: Mercédès, Carmen, Sarasota Opera; Laura, Luisa Miller, Sarasota Opera; Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Opera Neo; Helen Jepsen Dellera Outstanding Studio Artist Award, Sarasota Opera.
CLANCY ELLIS Boston, Massachusetts
Glimmerglass 2024: Assistant Conductor for The Pirates of Penzance; Assistant Conductor for La Calisto. Past: Conducting Fellow, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Conductor, Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy; Assistant Conductor, Prague Summer Nights.
MARINETTE GOMEZ Orlando, Florida
Glimmerglass 2024: Assistant Director for La Calisto.
Future: Ryan Opera Center Stage Director, Lyric Opera of Chicago.
SAANE AZIZA HALAHOLO
San Francisco, California
Glimmerglass 2024: Edith and Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Juno (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: 4th place winner, 2024 Competition for Colorado Singers, Denver Lyric Opera Guild; Maya, The Companion, Opera Colorado; Donna Anna (cover), Don Giovanni, Opera Colorado; Cio-Cio San (cover), Madame Butterfly, Cincinnati Opera; New Prioress, Dialogues des Carmélites, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Susannah (cover), Susannah, Wolf Trap Opera.
EMILY HARMON
Barrington, New Hampshire
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Ruth (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Doris/ Witness 3 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Berta, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Virginia Opera; Suzuki (cover), Madama Butterfly, Virginia Opera; Baroness/Vanderdendur (cover), Candide, Glimmerglass Festival; Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd, Lowell House Opera; Suzuki (cover), Madama Butterfly, Central City Opera; Amastre, Xerxes, Pittsburgh Festival Opera.
YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
SEIYOUNG KIM New Haven, Connecticut
Glimmerglass 2024: Pan/Nature (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Little Victor Farrell/Witness 4 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Prize, Yale University; Monkey and Rat, The Big Swim, Houston Grand Opera; Comte Ory, Le Comte Ory, Yale University; Brighella, Ariadne auf Naxos, Wolf Trap Opera; Junker Spärlich, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Vienna Volksoper; Future: Harlekin, Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Co-production of Vienna Volksoper and Vienna State Ballet; Der König des Ostens and Der Mond, Das Verzauberte Schwein, Vienna Volksoper.
FRAN DANIEL LAUCERICA Miami, Florida
Glimmerglass 2024: Peppe in Pagliacci; Little Victor Farrell/Witness 4 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Arcadio (cover), Florencia en el Amazonas, Opera San José; Miles Zegner, Proving Up, Pittsburgh Opera; Pylade, Iphigénie en Tauride, Pittsburgh Opera.
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Mabel (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Beatriz, La hija de Rappaccini by Daniel Catan, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Vixen, The Cunning Little Vixen, Stetson Opera Theater; First Witch, Dido and Aeneas, Stetson Opera Theater; Nella, Gianni Schicchi, Stetson Opera Theater; The Witch, Into the Woods, Stetson Opera Theater.
EMILIE KEALANI San Francisco, California
Glimmerglass 2024: Calisto in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Musetta, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Jano, Jenufa, Staatsoper Stuttgart; Adina, L’elisir d’amore, Curtis Opera Theatre; PBS profile feature, PBS WHYY: Onstage at Curtis; Opera News Soundbites, Opera News; Encouragement Award, Gerda Lissner Vocal Competition.
EVAN LAZDOWSKI
Moultonborough, New Hampshire
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci; Mr. Lister/Karl Marx/Voiceover/Solomon Weil/ Witness 8 in Elizabeth Cree; Rumpelstiltskin in Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Finalist, Concert of Arias, Houston Grand Opera; Finalist, National Vocal Competition, Dallas Opera; Colline, La bohème; Berkshire Opera Festival; Sweeney Todd (cover), Sweeney Todd, Chautauqua Opera Company; Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro, Pittsburgh Opera; Papageno (cover) and Speaker, The Magic Flute, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Nick Shadow, The Rake’s Progress, Juilliard Opera.
WINONA MARTIN Washington, D. C. Glimmerglass 2024: Linfea in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: 1st Place Winner, Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, Annapolis Opera; Stéphano, Roméo et Juliette, Washington National Opera; Mrs. McLean, Susannah, Wolf Trap Opera; Mary, The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, Washington National Opera; Helena, American Opera Initiative: A Way Forward, Washington National Opera; Soloist, A Night at the Opera, Wolf Trap Opera and The National Orchestral Institute. Future: Laurene Powell Jobs, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Washington National Opera.
YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
PETER MURPHY
Lowell, Massachusetts
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Dancer in La Calisto; Ensemble/ Commedia Trio in Pagliacci.
Past: Dancer, Rinaldo, The Glimmerglass Festival; Ensemble, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Tommy Boy/Henry, Newsies, Ithaca College; Ensemble, Rent, Ithaca College; Dancer, “Guests Only,” Ithaca College.
TSHILIDZI NDOU
Johannesburg, South Africa
Glimmerglass 2024: Samuel and Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Mercury (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Antonio, Le nozze di Figaro, Utah Opera; Businessman, The Little Prince, Utah Opera; Schaunard, La bohème, Utah Opera; Marullo, Rigoletto, Utah Opera; Belcore, The Elixir of Love, Dallas Opera.
CHRISTIAN OLSON Chicago, Illinois
Glimmerglass 2024: Assistant Conductor for Pagliacci; Assistant Conductor for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Ferenc Fricsay International Conducting Competition Finalist; Indianapolis Symphony Conducting Fellow; Greenwich Village Orchestra Assistant Conductor; Indiana University Opera and Ballet Theater Assistant Conductor; Cabrillo Festival Conducting Fellow.
ARTYOM PAK
Tashkent, Uzbekistan/New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Second Pianist/Coach for The Pirates of Penzance; Second Pianist/ Coach for La Calisto.
Past: Rehearsal Pianist, Continuo Harpsichord, La clemenza di Tito, The Juilliard School; Rehearsal Pianist, Later the Same Evening, The Juilliard School; Rehearsal Pianist, Elektra, New York Dramatic Voices; Rehearsal Pianist, Nabucco, Opera Ithaca; Rehearsal Pianist/ Assistant Conductor, Manon Lescaut, North Carolina Opera; Rehearsal Pianist/Coach, Die Zauberflöte, Merola Opera Program.
Future: Rehearsal Pianist/Performance Pianist, Iolanta, Russian Chamber Art Society.
JONATHAN PATTON Durango, Colorado
Glimmerglass 2024: Silvio in Pagliacci; John Cree (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Martin/James, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Montano, Otello, National Symphony Orchestra; Don Pedro, Songbird, Washington National Opera; Paris, Roméo et Juliette, Washington National Opera; Security Observer, Grounded, Washington National Opera.
Future: Steve Jobs, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Washington National Opera.
AJIT PERSAUD Georgetown, Guyana
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Little Victor Fall (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: District Winner, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Portland, Oregon; Northwest Regional Encouragement Winner, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Seattle, Washington; Spoletta (cover), Tosca, Palm Beach Opera; Pitichinaccio/Franz/ Andres/Cochenille (cover), The Tales of Hoffmann, Palm Beach Opera.
Future: Parpignol, La bohème, Opera on the James; Rodolfo (cover), La bohème, Opera on the James.
NAMAREA RANDOLPH-YOSEA
Tacoma, Washington
Glimmerglass 2024: Pan/Nature in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Priest/Librarian/Mr. Gerrard/Witness 5 (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Ernesto, Don Pasquale, Union Avenue Opera; Cephus, Treemonisha, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; X, Madison Lodge, Opera Theatre of St. Louis New Works Collective; Camille de Rosillon, The Merry Widow, Vashon Opera; Albert Herring, Albert Herring, Moores School of Music; Tamino, Die Zauberflöte, Pacific Lutheran University Summer Opera Workshop.
Future: Don Ramiro, La Cenerentola, Kitsap Opera.
CAMERON ROLLING Waycross, Georgia
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Sylvan in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Merola Young Artist.
Future: Soloist, Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven), Savannah Philharmonic; Marquese, La traviata, Detroit Opera; Don Alfonso (cover), Così fan tutte, Detroit Opera; Raymond’s Father (cover), Central Park Five, Detroit Opera.
BLAISE ROSSMAN Dumont, New Jersey
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Dancer in La Calisto.
Past: Ensemble, Pretty Woman, The Musical National Tour; Swing, CATS, Music Theatre Wichita; Ensemble/Lumière (cover), Beauty and the Beast, Music Theatre Wichita; Swing, Kinky Boots, Theatre By The Sea; Ensemble/ Jean-Michel Understudy, Cinderella, Theatre By The Sea.
Future: Swing, The Cher Show National Tour.
ALEXANDRA SANCHEZ San Antonio, Texas
Glimmerglass 2024: Kate and Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Doris/Witness 3 (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Prince Orlofsky (cover), Die Fledermaus, Pensacola Opera; Alisa, Lucia di Lammermoor, Pensacola Opera; Amneris (cover), Aida, Finger Lakes Opera; Sister Claire, Dialogues of the Carmelites, San Francisco Opera; Dorabella, Così fan tutte, Pensacola Opera; Komponist, Ariadne auf Naxos, San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Future: Mercédès (cover), Carmen, San Francisco Opera.
YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
SCOUT SANTORO Albany, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Samuel (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble/ Commedia Trio in Pagliacci.
Past: Robin/Ensemble, Something Rotten, Playhouse Stage Company; Offstage Swing, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Auburn, NY; Jack Kelly (Understudy), Disney’s Newsies, Ithaca College; Saint Aphrodisius/Ensemble, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ithaca College.
GEOFFREY SCHMELZER
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and MajorGeneral Stanley (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Mr. Greatorex/George Gissing/Etcher/Witness 6 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Friends of Opera Award, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Nebraska District; Encouragement Award, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Iowa District; Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Soloist, Histoires naturelles, Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra; Junius, The Rape of Lucretia, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Grégorio, Roméo et Juliette, Central City Opera; Guglielmo, Così fan tutte, Finger Lakes Opera.
AMANDA SHERIFF Houston, Texas
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Young Satyr/Eternity in La Calisto; Aveline Mortimer/Witness 1 (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Musetta, La bohème, Opera Montana; Callista, The Rip Van Winkles, The Glimmerglass Festival; Ensemble, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Ensemble, Romeo and Juliet, The Glimmerglass Festival.
Future: Papagena, Die Zauberflöte, Atlanta Opera; Zerlina, Don Giovanni, Opera Philadelphia; Jess, The Listeners, Opera Philadelphia; Papagena, Die Zauberflöte, Atlanta Opera.
NADJA SIMMONDS Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Glimmerglass 2024: Assistant Director for The Pirates of Penzance; Assistant Director for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Director, La bohème, Florentine Opera Company; Director, Sanctuary City, Marquette University; Assistant Director, The Elixir of Love, Florentine Opera Company; Director, Detroit ‘67, Marquette University; Letitia, Clyde’s, Forward Theater; Sally, The Lightning Thief, First Stage Children’s Theater, Milwaukee; Future: Assistant Director, Jungle Book, Washington National Opera.
TZYTLE STEINMAN Oceanside, California
Glimmerglass 2024: Diana/Jove-as-Diana (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Jane Quig/Annie the Serving Girl/Witness 2 (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Mastrilla, Songbird, Florentine Opera; Buttercup, H.M.S. Pinafore, Ohio Light Opera; Dorabella, Così fan tutte: Remix, Florentine Opera; Gertrude, Roméo et Juliette, Florentine Opera; Dinah, Trouble in Tahiti, Fargo Moorhead Opera. Future: Flora, La traviata, San Diego Opera; Anna 1/Jessie, Seven Deadly Sins/MahagonnySongspiel, Bodhi Tree Concerts.
EMMA SUCATO Dallas, Texas
Glimmerglass 2024: Isabel and Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Dancer in La Calisto; Choreographer for Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Ensemble, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Dancer, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Dancer, Rinaldo, The Glimmerglass Festival; Associate Choreographer, Head Over Heels, Syracuse University; Assistant Choreographer, Sweet Charity, Syracuse University.
Future: Swing and Stepmother/Queen (cover), Cinderella, Syracuse Stage.
AMANDA TESTINI
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Glimmerglass 2024: Assistant Director for Elizabeth Cree; Choreographer for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: Dramaturg/Stage Director, A Handmaid’s Tale, The Banff Centre of the Arts; Stage Director, The Hafu Project, City Opera Vancouver; Director, Where Have All The Buffalo Gone?, Axis Theatre; Dancer, Unclearing: Agrimony, Chimera Dance; Stage Director, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Edmonton Opera; Assistant Director, La Clemenza di Tito, Pacific Opera Victoria.
Future: Choreographer, Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project, Electric Company Theatre.
JOSHUA THOMAS Houston, Texas
Glimmerglass 2024: Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance; Sylvan (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition District Winner, Utah; Count Monterone, Rigoletto, Druid City Opera; Sergeant of Police, The Pirates of Penzance, Kentucky Opera.
Future: Bonze, Madame Butterfly, Kentucky Opera.
YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
CATHERINE THORNSLEY
Flagstaff, Arizona
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Nedda (cover) in Pagliacci; Queen in Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children.
Past: National Semifinalist, Metropolitan Laffont Competition (2022, 2024); Mimì, La bohème, Burnaby Lyric Opera; Woman, Beethoven’s Slippers, Northern Arizona University; Mimì (cover), La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte, Brott Opera.
KYLE SANCHEZ TINGZON
Manila, Philippines
Glimmerglass 2024: Endymion in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: First Prize, Handel Aria Competition; Third Prize, Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition; Career Development Grant Awardee, The Sullivan Foundation; Goffredo, Rinaldo, The Glimmerglass Festival.
Future: Goffredo, Rinaldo, Detroit Opera; Featured Soloist, American Bach Soloists; Featured Soloist, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale.
TRUMAN TINIUS Bowling Green, Kentucky
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Dancer in La Calisto; Assistant Choreographer for Pagliacci.
Past: Ensemble, Head Over Heels, Syracuse University; Ensemble, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Dancer/Dance Captain, Love & War, The Glimmerglass Festival; Ensemble, Sweet Charity, Syracuse University; Ensemble, The Sound of Music, The Glimmerglass Festival; Dancer, Carmen, The Glimmerglass Festival.
TRISTAN TOURNAUD Chicago, Illinois
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Frederic (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Priest/ Librarian/Mr. Gerrard/Witness 5 in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Finalist, Lotte Lenya Competition; Second Place, Student Category, Orpheus National Voice Competition; Bevins, Lincoln in the Bardo workshop, Cincinnati Opera Fusion: New Works; Giovanni, Rappacini’s Daughter, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; Soloist, Music Under the Stars, Iroquois Amphitheater; Tamino, The Magic Flute, Trentino Music Festival; Soloist, Bach’s Magnificat, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
ETHEL TRUJILLO
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Fury and Calisto (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Norina, Don Pasquale, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Zerlina, Don Giovanni, The Academy of Vocal Arts; Juliet (cover), Romeo and Juliet, The Glimmerglass Festival; Micaëla, Carmen, Festival de Musique de Saint Barthélemy; Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Academy of Vocal Arts.
Future: Violetta, La traviata, EF|ARTES, Mexico
ZIZHAO WANG Qingdao, China
Glimmerglass 2024: Jove (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci; Uncle/Witness 9 (cover) in Elizabeth Cree.
Past: Yang Yaozu, Country & Home, Chinese National Opera Festival; Imperial Commissioner, Madame Butterfly, Virginia Opera; Colline, La bohème, New England Conservatory Opera; Martino, L’occasione fa il ladro, Opera Southwest; Bartolo, Le nozze di Figaro, Knoxville Opera.
XIAO XIAO Changsha, Hunan, China
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in The Pirates of Penzance; Fury and Linfea (cover) in La Calisto; Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Henrietta Wong, Harvey Milk, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Dorabella (cover), Così fan tutte, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Shepherd Boy, Tosca, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Mercédès (cover), Carmen, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Countess Rosina, I due Figaro, Manhattan School of Music; L’Enfant, L’Enfant et les sortilèges, New England Conservatory; Hiroko, An American Dream, New England Conservatory.
JASON ZACHER New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble and Pirate King/Sergeant (cover) in The Pirates of Penzance; Uncle/Witness 9 in Elizabeth Cree. Past: Second Prize, The Lotte Lenya Competition, Kurt Weill Foundation; Soloist, Lord Nelson Mass (Haydn), MidAmerica Productions, Carnegie Hall; Snug, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Atlanta Opera; Soloist, Messiah (Handel), The Masterwork Chorus, Carnegie Hall; Count Ceprano, Rigoletto, The Atlanta Opera; Argante (cover), Rinaldo, The Glimmerglass Festival.
Future: Glynn Studio Artist, The Atlanta Opera.
VIOLIN
Ruotao Mao, Concertmaster
Sasha Margolis, Acting Associate
Concertmaster - CAL
Esther McMahon, Acting Associate
Concertmaster - CRE, PIR
Benjamin Hart, Acting Associate
Concertmaster - PAG
Raymond Zoeckler, Assistant Concertmaster
Jeremiah Blacklow, Principal Second
Michael Cleveland
Elizabeth Silver
Ubaldo Valli
Ann-Marie B. Schwartz
Jennifer Reuning Myers*
Mialtin Zhezha
Victoria Stewart*
Fritz V. Krakowski
Leona Nadj*
Robyn Quinnett
Valerie Kim
VIOLA
Katrina Smith, Principal
Megan Newman Dyer
Christine Ims
Dee Dee Fancher
Sandra VandeGeijn
Christine Orio*
CELLO
Janet Nepkie, Principal
Susan Ruzow Debronsky, Acting Principal
Ruth Berry
Benjamin Whittenburg
BASS
David Irvin, Principal
Jon Pascolini
LUTE/GUITAR
Michael Leopold, Principal
Adam Cockerham
VIOLA DA GAMBA
André Laurent O’Neil
FLUTE
Yevgeny Faniuk, Principal
Linda Greene,
Acting Principal - CRE, PIR
Xue Su,
Acting Principal - PAG
Jessica Taskov
PICCOLO
Linda Greene
Xue Su
Jessica Taskov
OBOE
Eileen Whalen, Principal
Nancy Dimock
ENGLISH HORN
Nancy Dimock
CLARINET
Pascal Archer, Principal
Phillip Solomon
KeriAnn DiBari-Oberle
E-FLAT CLARINET
Pascal Archer
BASS CLARINET
KeriAnn DiBari-Oberle
BASSOON
Spencer F. Phillips, Principal
Mark Timmerman
Christian Schillinger
CONTRABASSOON
Spencer F. Phillips
RECORDER
Mark Timmerman, Acting Principal
Linda Greene
FRENCH HORN
Michael Bellofatto, Principal
Joshua Michal
Martin Burki
Aaron Brask
TRUMPET
Jerry Bryant, Principal
Ben Aldridge
Donald Batchelder
PICCOLO TRUMPET
Jerry Bryant
TROMBONE
Greg Spiridopoulos, Principal
Guangwei Fan, Acting Principal - PIR
BASS TROMBONE
Frank Meredith
TUBA
David Saltzman, Principal
TIMPANI
Matthew Kibort, Principal
PERCUSSION
Matthew McClung, Principal
Jeff Grubbs
HARP
André Tarantiles, Principal
Margery Fitts
KEYBOARD
Christopher Devlin - CRE
J. Bradley Baker - CAL
ORCHESTRA
LA CALISTO CONTINUO
HARPSICHORD
Rob Ainsley
J. Bradley Baker
BAROQUE CELLO
Ruth Berry
LUTE
Michael Leopold
GUITAR/LUTE 2
Adam Cockerham
VIOLA DA GAMBA
André Laurent O’Neil
* indicates musician on leave PIR - The Pirates of Penzance PAG - Pagliacci
CAL - La Calisto
CRE - Elizabeth Cree
ARIANNE AJAKH Cooperstown, New York
CELIA BEGIN Cooperstown, New York
LAYLA BUTTERMANN Oneonta, New York
MALENA BUTTERMANN Oneonta, New York
NADIA BUTTERMANN Oneonta, New York
CARLY RAE CARILLO Milford, New York
ETHAN CHEN New Hartford, New York
RUBY COTTON Cooperstown, New York
AVERY CROFT Fly Creek, New York
GENEVIEVE DELANOY Oneonta, New York
CORDELIA DZIUBAN Bridgewater, New York
ELIZABETH ECKEL Cobleskill, New York
JOHNNY FORD Utica, New York
SETON DAVIS FRALICK Cherry Valley, New York
TOBIAS FREDERICKSON Jefferson, New York
ANMO GENG Manlius, New York
ANQI GENG Manlius, New York
KIAN GRADY Cooperstown, New York
MAYA LACOPPOLA Johnstown, New York
CATE SPEED LEINHART Fly Creek, New York
LIN Utica, New York
JIERUI
MADELEINE LUKOVSKY
Cooperstown, New York
ASTER MCGIVER
Middleburgh, New York
ZOE SCHERMERHORN
New Hartford, New York
GIALINA PLOUTZ Oneonta, New York
GIOVANNI PRIOLA Ilion, New York
KILIAN REDDEN Cherry Valley, New York
DANIELLA RIVIERA-LITZ Sauquoit, New York
ANAIS SUMMERS ROBBINS Austin, Texas
OLIVIA SHELDON
Cooperstown, New York
LORELEI STANLEY
Mohawk, New York
CALLUM TORRUELLA Sauquoit, New York
ELEANOR WALKER Cooperstown, New York
ANNA ZHANG New Hartford, New York
2024 CO M M U N I T Y C H O R U S
REECE BERNARD Utica, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Bobby Jeremy/Roy/Pete, Brick2, Utica, New York.
Future: Crane School of Music.
TED BRACKETT Hamilton, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Artistic Director, The Paper Bag Players; Board Member, Catskill Choral Society.
TARA SCHOCH FREDERICKSON
Jefferson, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Clo Clo, The Merry Widow, Metropolitan Opera; Gilberte, Proust Project, Classic Stage Company; Daughter, Jacques and His Master; Classic Stage Company; Ensemble, Children of Eden, North Shore Music Theater; Ensemble, Hello Dolly, The Muny Opera; Ensemble, Burt Dow Deep Water Man, Opera House Arts.
KARA GRADY Cooperstown, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Ensemble, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Ensemble, The Sound of Music, The Glimmerglass Festival.
LILLY GRADY Cooperstown, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Fabi, The Rip Van Winkles, The Glimmerglass Festival; Mowgli, Jungle Book, The Glimmerglass Festival.
MORGAN HILL-EDGAR New York, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci and The Pirates of Penzance
Past: Voice Match and ADR, Mayor of Kingstown, Paramount; Allan Slate, You Are Not New, Saffron Vigilante Pictures; Ensemble, Candide, The Glimmerglass Festival; Ensemble, The Sound of Music, The Glimmerglass Festival; Shere Khan, Jungle Book, The Glimmerglass Festival; Drum Major, Woyzeck, British American Drama Academy; Bobby Mahler, Spring Awakening, The University of Southern California.
XIAOJIE JI Guangdong, China
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci and The Pirates of Penzance
Past: Rodolfo (cover), La bohème, Music Academy of the West; Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni, Michigan State University; Fenton, Falstaff, Michigan State University; Basilio, Le nozze di Figaro, Manhattan School of Music; Mercury, Orpheus in the Underworld, Manhattan School of Music; Monsieur Vogelsang, Der Schauspieldirektor, Hunan Symphony Orchestra.
WYATT MCDANIEL Manlius, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci.
Past: Miles, The Turn of the Screw, Opera Ithaca; Prince Lelio, Le dernier sorcier, Ithaca College; Les, Newsies, Ithaca College; Chorus, Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children Workshop, The Glimmerglass Festival, Ithaca College; Children’s Chorus, La bohème, Syracuse Opera.
HOLLY MCCORMACK
South Glens Falls, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci. Past: Chorus, La bohème, The Glimmerglass Festival; Suor Osmina, Suor Angelica, Mission Opera; Soloist, Considering Matthew Shepard; Oratorio, Metropolitan Master Chorale; Chorus, H.M.S. Pinafore, Opera Saratoga; Governess (cover), The Turn of the Screw, Chicago Opera Theater.
MARY-JO MERK Fly Creek, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Queen Victoria in The Pirates of Penzance.
Past: Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch, It Can’t Happen Here, Bigger Dreams Productions; Director, Gin Game, Bigger Dreams Productions; Assistant Director, Il re pastore, The Glimmerglass Festival, Founding Board Member, The Glimmerglass Festival.
WILLIAM STROM Jamesville, New York
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci. Past: Monsieur Grivet, Thérèse Raquin, Microscopic Opera; Dr. Grimes & Mons. Rice, Night of the Living Dead (world premiere), Microscopic Opera; El Remendado, Carmen, Undercroft Opera; Elder Hayes, Susannah, Undercroft Opera; Flavio, Norma, Undercroft Opera; Officer, Ariadne auf Naxos, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh; Bob the Saw, The Threepenny Opera, Syracuse Opera.
YING WU Zhejiang, China
Glimmerglass 2024: Ensemble in Pagliacci. Past: Soloist, Mozart’s Requiem, Mohawk Valley Choral Society; Soloist, Handel’s Messiah, Mohawk Valley Choral Society; La Cercatrice, Suor Angelica, Chelsea Opera; Dead Chorus, Our Town, Boston Opera Collective; Chorus, Sweeney Todd, MIT Gilbert & Sullivan Players; Chorus, The Gondoliers, MIT Gilbert & Sullivan Players; Chorus, The Saint of Bleecker Street, Longy Opera Studio.
A
Artistic & General Director
Rob Ainsley
Executive Director
Andrea Lyons
Music Director
Joseph Colaneri
Artistic Advisor
Eric Owens
Director of Artistic Administration
Lauren Bailey
Director of Communications
Kira DeLanoy
Director of Company Management
Rebecca Gill
Director of Development
Caryn Reeves
Director of Finance
Karen Flanagan
Director of Production
Abby Rodd
Director of the Young Artists Program
Andrea Grant
Head of Music
Christopher Devlin
Head of Stage Movement & Choreography
Eric Sean Fogel
Dramaturg
Kelley Rourke
ADMINISTRATION/OPERATIONS
Administrative Advisor/Assistant to the Artistic & General Director
More than 350 members of the Guild of Glimmerglass Festival provide essential volunteer support to The Glimmerglass Festival throughout the year, filling a variety of company needs through hospitality, fundraising and education programs. This commitment of time, expertise, and energy allows the company to devote more of its resources to Festival performances and events.
In addition to averaging more than 3,500 hours of volunteer service every year, the Guild makes a significant annual financial contribution to help meet both general and specific needs, including the sponsorship of the Doris. P. Shields Artistic Administration Apprenticeship.
Through its many programs and initiatives, the Guild inspires conversations about opera and musical theater among its membership and works to encourage an appreciation of the art form within the community.
www.glimmerglassguild.org
“Armies and opera companies march on their bellies. The rank and file at Glimmerglass are well fed and happy thanks to the heroic efforts of our fantastic guild.”
SAVE THE DATE Wine Tasting Event
The Glimmerglass Festival Pavilion with performances by Taylor Raven and John Chest Sunday, August 4, 2024
– Joel Morain, A/V Engineer and Resident Sound Designer
PHOTOS: BRENT DELANOY
TUESDAY AUGUST 13
2024 FESTIVAL GUILD
2024 FESTIVAL
GUILD OFFICERS
Laura Tansey Wetzel, President
Abby Krey Gibson, Vice President
Barbara Lacorte, Secretary
John Anagnost, Treasurer
GUILD MEMBERS
Mr. Ernest E. Adams, Jr.
Carl Adkins and Dianne Balfour
Rob Ainsley and Micah Waldstein
Kathryn C. Allen
John Anagnost and Rita Emanuel
John T. Andrews, Jr. and Elizabeth K. Lambert
Garry Aney
Marco Anichini
Debra K. Araniti
Walter and Patti Ashley
Sarah E. Baden
James E. Ballowe Jr.
Dr. Dennis Banks
Jim and Nancy Barton
Susan Beames
Ruth Beardsley and Tom Sansone
Bernadette Winters Bell
Nancy Bender
Ruth Bennett
Marianne Bez and Michael
Jerome
Richard Biviano
Jennifer A. Brickley
Mary P. Brodzinsky
Harold Bruce
Ms. Mary Duncan Brust
Mark Bunce
Mary Ellen Calta
Maria Camargo
Andrew and Denise Carnell
Caralee Carney and Maureen Kuhn
Patricia Carrier
Thomas R. Chase
Cindy Chermak
Lauren Clark
Pamela E. S. Clarke
Susan Stetson Clarke
Karyl Clemens
J. Patrick Cooney and Karl Buchberg
James Covey and James Zabawa
David Craine
Barbara Crandall
James and Joanne Crum
Judith Curry
Ellen C. Curtis
Deb and Jim Dalton
Deborah and James Dalton
Drs. James C. and
Caroline W. Dawson
Karin and Hans de Waal
Barbara Decker
Fiona Dejardin
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Michael Devillis
Vincent and Mary Kay Devita
Nicole and Gaylord Dillingham
Paula DiPerna
Susan Drake
Martha Duke
Fynnette Eaton and James E. Miller
Nancy and Robert Einreinhofer
Kathleen and Dale Eisele
Priscilla Elliott
Gwendolyn Ermlich
Gerald Evans
Elizabeth Eveillard
Caspar Ewig
Frank Farmer and Frank Kolbert
Donna Farquhar
Bradford and Joanne Fenner
Rita Fenstemacher
Barbara Fischer
Doris Fischer
David M. Frankford
Allen and Judith Brick Freedman
Martha Frey
Jane E. Grastorf
Abby Kreh Gibson
Anda Stelian and Douglas
Glucroft
William and Cynthia Goertemoeller
Matthew Gregory
Riane Gruss
Ursula and Chuck Hage
Charlotte Hall
Gemma Hall
Carla Hall
Melissa Hancock
Patricia and Robert Hanft
Mona Harris
Elizabeth B. Harvey
Christine Heller
Allison and Keyes Hill-Edgar
Elizabeth Humes
Susan J. Huxtable
Linda Irenegreene
Ms. Prudence Jackson
Thomas A. and Gail Jacobson
Kathleen and Rick Jagels
Connie and Mike Jastremski
Rev. Betsy Jay
Helen Jessup
Drs. Celeste Johns and Chris Kjolhede
Kathleen and Bruce Johnson
Emily Johnson and Vijay Ramachandran
Sally Jones
Susan and C.R. Jones
Peter Jordan
Marjorie Turrell Julian
Barbara Kajdi
Robert Kent
Rhonda King
Marion S. King
Margaret Kiss Santos and Lionel Santos
Lisa Kressbach
Mary Margaret Kuhn
Barbara Lacorte
Renee LaFond
Joyce Larson
Pamela Lea
Sandra Ledda
Elizabeth Lemieux
Joan Leventhal
Kathleen Lloyd
Joan Locke
Linda Lofrumento and Karen McGinnis
Jean Lyon
Andrea Lyons
Amanda and George Mahoney
Marilyn Marshall
Daphne Mason
William McColl
Millie and David McCoy
Florence McDermott
Dr. Bertine and Patrick McKenna
Christine McNaughton
Jeanne McNaughton
Sage Mehta and Michael Robinson
Ann Mei
Ms. Linda J. Melchionne and Ms. Mary Y. Bonnell
Linda Metzger
Esther Milsted and
Mark Luis Villmar
Richard Monroe
Carolyn Mook
Kate Morgan
Tom Morgan and Erna Morgan McReynolds
Jane and Ken Moriarty
Marion Mossman
Vesna Moynihan
Carol Mulcrone
Barbara Mulhern
Robert Nelson and Van Broughton Ramsey
Charles and Susan Newman
Dinah Nissen
Elizabeth Novak
M. Anne O’Connell and Robert A. White, Jr.
Bill Oliver
Winifred Olsen
Marc Osterweil
Edmond Overbey
Mitch Owens and Matthew Zwissler
Laura Palada
Charles E. Pannaci
Ms. Vanessa Parisi
Sarah and Paul Patterson
Barbara and Timothy Pedley
Dorothy and Henry Phillips
Corinne Plummer
Barbara Pope
Janet Potter
Trevor Potter and Dana Westring
Leonard and Rise Press
Donald and Catherine Raddatz
Angelika Manhert Rashkow
Jerry and Marisabel Raymond
Richard Redmond
Caryn and Jamie Reeves
Wallis and Cornelia Reid
Nancy Reynolds
Rev. Elsie Rhodes and
Tom Rhodes
Angela Richards
Denise Richardson
Michele and William Richtsmeier
Christine Rossi
Dolores Rothwell
Sharon Roy
Paul and Patricia Saunders
Ann Marie Schwartz
Richard and Pamela Scurry
Michael Sekus and Bianca Russo
Florence and Lauri Selin
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Senzel
Jean Seroka
Senator James and Cindy Seward
Ruthanne Shanks
Museyb Shareef
Rosemary Sibbern
Mary Maia Silber
Thomas Simpson
Bishop Mark Sisk and Karen Sisk
Patricia M. Smith
Lona Smith
Ms. Katherine Snyder
David and Cynthia Staley
Cynthia Staley
Judy Steiner
Barbara Stephenson
Lee Stockwell
Dr. and Mrs. William Streck
Sharon Stuart
Anthony Sullivan
Suzanne Summers
Tara Sumner
Elizabeth Susman
Nancy Tarr and Patrick Wager
Richard Tarrant
Joanne Tobey and Steven Zerby
Ellen and Robert Uffen
Paul and Lizabeth Uhrig
Gina Ulrich Pope
Debra Valentine
David and Martha Vaules
Donna C. Veeder
Mary Velez and Glen Noto
Susan Vilagos
Janet Vinyard
Jeri Wachter
Beth Wade
Sydney Waller
Cynthia L. Walton-Leavitt
John Webb and Nelson Mondaca
Lynn Weddington Tucker
Christine and Albert Weiss
Laura and Todd Wetzel
Mary Anne Whalen
Patricia Wiley and Wendy Miller
Michael Young
Francesca Zambello and Faith Gay
Doug and Cheryl Zamelis
Dr. Jerel M. Zoltick
Festival Guild List as of June 6, 2024
VOLUNTEER USHERS
Kay Additon
Walter Ashley
Sue Beames
Steve Berman
Donna Bordinger
Mark Bostick
MaryEllen Calta
Enid Cardinal
Andrew Carnell
Denise Carnell
Laura Cooper
Michael Cooper
Debra Creedon
Margaret Croft
Sharon Davie
Patricia Davis
Edith Dayton
Joyce Dixon
Peter Dunham
Kathleen Eisele
David Farquhar
Donna Farquhar
Jane Grastorf
Matt Gregory
Marie Guerra
Vincent Guerra
Kim Gustafson
Schatzi Hall
Patti Herrmann
Lori Higgins
Glenda Hoffmann
Adam Jackson
Betsy Jay
Rhonda King
Doris Kirk
Stephen Klingaman
Barbara LaCorte
Nancy Lee
Adrienne Lentini
Jean Lilja
Linda Lofrumento
Janet McCarty
Ann Mei
Linda Mayou
Kathy Meeker
Jamey Minich
Robert Mix
Richard Monroe
Maureen Murray
Flavia Musto
Marianne Romano
Christine Rudecoff
Jean Schifano
Julia A Scranton
Florence Selin
Lauri Selin
Colleen Scissors
Kathy Shimberg
James Shults
Ann Skinner
Maggie Solomczak
Judy Stein
Anita Sterns
Junius Stone
Charles Strange
Bruce Testa
Peggy Twasutyn
Janet Vinyard
Geri Wagner
Don Wagner
Kathy Walsh
Connie Walters
Cynthia Walton-Leavitt
Linda Watkins
Marguerite Webster
Pam Wightman
Cheryl Zamelis
Volunteer Usher list as of May 31, 2024
PHOTO: EVAN ZIMMERMAN
IN REMEMBRANCE
We extend our thanks to longtime supporter and friend, Joan Desens, for composing tributes in memory of Don Fenner, Stewart Robertson, Martin Senzel, and Michael Willis — our dearly missed Glimmerglass family.
Stewart Robertson
MUSIC DIRECTOR EMERITUS
Music Director Emeritus, Stewart Robertson, 75, whose professional contributions to the Glimmerglass Festival helped propel the opera company forward during an era of significant growth, sadly passed away in February at his home in Carmel Valley, CA, surrounded by his family.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stewart studied piano in London and conducting at the Mozarteum Academy and Vienna Academy. He became the youngest conductor at the time to lead a performance at the Cologne Opera. He went on to become Music Director of the Zurich Ballet and Scottish Opera Touring Company, until, in the 1980s he was appointed conductor of the San Jose Symphony Youth Orchestra, which brought him, his wife, Meryl, and their family to America.
In 1987, the year the Alice Busch Opera Theater opened, Stewart and Meryl spent their first of many summers in Cooperstown, when General and Artistic Director Paul Kellogg invited Stewart to conduct that season’s stunningly memorable production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The opening of the theater was a grand occasion and turning point for the company, which was then known as the Glimmerglass Opera. A year later Stewart was appointed Glimmerglass Opera Music Director, a position he retained until 2006.
Stewart and Meryl became beloved members of the local community and more broadly among audiences throughout Stewart’s tenure. They often visited Cooperstown in the winter and spring to see friends and for Stewart to give previews of the coming season for the Guild, which he expanded for enthralled crowds in the theater courtyard before summer performances.
Although it was the music directorship that brought the couple to Glimmerglass, Meryl cheerfully noted that she “was part of the package,” and indeed the couple became warm and welcoming ambassadors for and promoters of the festival. They enjoyed sharing the story of how they met at the Bearsden Burgh Choir, near Glasgow, in 1969, both “immediately
smitten.” She was a mezzo-soprano in the choir, and he was a student in his last year at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. They were married for 52 years.
In 1989, his first year as Music Director, Stewart established the company’s Young American Artists Program, which became renowned as one of the finest professional training programs in the country for emerging American opera singers. In the 2000s, the program evolved to include directors, conductors, and pianists alongside American and international singers, and “American” was dropped from the program’s title.
During the ‘90s, Paul Kellogg formed what was referred to as a “triumvirate,” with Stewart and then-Director of Production, John Conklin, collaborating with Paul on shaping each season at a time when the music world began paying extra attention to what was happening in Cooperstown — in part attributable to the opening of the architecturally noteworthy theater and its beautiful setting, and in larger part attributable to the level of artistry brought to bear by these three creative leaders and the staffs and artists they assembled.
In 1996, Paul gave up the general directorship of the company, remaining as Artistic Director until his retirement in 2006, and Stewart planned his own retirement from Glimmerglass to coincide with Paul’s. Until his struggle with Parkinson’s became overwhelming, Stewart continued his conducting and music director career for several more years. He is greatly missed by everyone at Glimmerglass and in the music world who had the honor and pleasure of knowing and working with him.
Don Fenner
In December, the Glimmerglass Festival lost one of its most cherished friends, Donald M. Fenner. Don was pre-deceased in 2020 by his beloved wife of 65 years, Mary Ellen. Their volunteerism and devotion to Glimmerglass were unparalleled. Together, they donated decades of personal time to the festival — from mowing the lawn to producing opera education kits; shoveling snow in winter to housing artists in summer; collecting
recycling from the office, stuffing envelopes or cooking and serving hundreds of meals for artists and production crews.
For over 30 years, Don and Mary Ellen owned and operated Fenner Funeral Home in Herkimer, NY, while raising three children. After they retired in 1986, Don and Mary Ellen moved to Springfield Center, diagonally across from the site where the new Alice Busch Opera Theater was to open a year later. This location was specifically chosen so they could spend their retirement years helping the opera. Don renovated a large home where he and Mary Ellen welcomed and housed opera singers and artists who were performing at the festival. In the winter they held LAF days (Lunch at Fenners) for the Festival’s year-round staff, and during the opera season their volunteer work for the Guild shifted into overdrive. Don led the early Building and Grounds Committee and served on the Guild Board as Treasurer until 2017.
The Fenners made and sustained countless friendships through their passion for opera and
Martin Senzel
The Board and staff of the Glimmerglass Festival lost a dear friend, generous supporter, and insightful board member in January with the passing of Martin Senzel, 79, known to his fellow-trustees, colleagues, friends and the staff as Marty.
Marty and his wife, Dagni, were avid opera-goers when they were introduced to
Glimmerglass by Life Trustee Joyce Hupper, now deceased, who subsequently recruited Marty for the board.
Joyce’s husband, John, and Marty were partners in the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, from which Marty retired in 2000. After joining the Glimmerglass Festival board in 2010, Marty made possible the donation of conference rooms at the firm for Glimmerglass board meetings, a significant contribution since most trustees were based in and around the city.
Among Marty’s many other contributions to the festival was his extensive volunteerism as an active, working trustee. In addition to serving as Treasurer and on the Executive, Finance, Governance and Music Policy Committees, Marty devoted endless hours to overseeing the drafting of a Glimmerglass Festival Gift Acceptance Policy, with fellow trustee Ed Turner, and the complex updating of the company’s bylaws, both projects involving
music. The pair was awarded the Glimmerglass Opera Volunteer of the Year award in 1987, and again in 2005. They were also honored in 1994 by Opera Volunteers International with their “Partners in Excellence” award.
Executive Director Andrea Lyons, who has known the family for many years, beautifully expresses the company’s feelings: “Don and Mary Ellen Fenner are legendary for bestowing love, humor, and generosity on the Glimmerglass community. Their presence is felt everywhere at Glimmerglass — in Don’s wood carvings around the office, or the memos we still uncover from him or Mary Ellen about the facilities or the gift shop or education programs. We will miss the giant gift tins of popcorn they sent the staff at holidays, Mary Ellen’s molasses cookies that appeared at every gathering, Don’s ‘complaints’ each summer when we installed the speed bumps in the driveway because it slowed him down from getting to his volunteer chores. But mostly, we miss their tireless dedication, generosity and love.”
detailed research and inclusion of the most up-to-date state laws. Marty was also a generous donor, and with Dagni, gave well over a half-million-dollars in personal support, in addition to the valuable in-kind contribution of board meeting space.
These gifts were as meaningful to Marty as they were to the Festival and artists. His passion for opera was seen through his thoughtful sponsorship each year of principal guest artists and young artists, whom he greatly enjoyed getting to know and whose careers he continued to follow with interest and pride. When possible, he and Dagni attended performances in New York City and abroad by their former sponsorees, who included Ginger Costa-Jackson, Andrea Carroll, Deborah Nansteel, Andrew Stenson, Raquel Gonz lez, Kelley Rourke, John Holiday, Emily D’Angelo, and Amanda Woodbury.
Marty’s involvement as a trustee and infectious joy as a fan is greatly missed.
IN REMEMBRANCE
Michael Willis
The Glimmerglass Festival fondly remembers its former Director of Press and Public Relations, Michael Willis, 81, who peacefully passed away in February at his home in Cooperstown. His husband, Bill Oliver, former Director of Development for the Festival, was at his side.
Michael and Bill were life-long opera fans when, in the mid-1980s, they discovered the then-named Glimmerglass Opera — which was performing in the Cooperstown High School — through friends who summered in the area. As residents of NYC, they were drawn to the rural beauty of the area and the ability to see opera in the summer, resulting in their purchase of a second home in Cooperstown in 1985. Along the way, they were introduced to and became friends with the company’s director, Paul Kellogg.
The opening of the Alice Busch Opera Theater in 1987 launched an era of growth for the company. This growth also brought with it the need to enlarge the small, full-time staff. In 1994, Paul Kellogg hired Bill, who had been Director of Development for Columbia College and at the time was Director of Alumni and University Relations for Columbia University, as the opera’s first full-time Development Director. A year later, in 1995, Paul brought on board Michael as the opera’s first Director of Press and Public
Relations; Michael’s work in publishing, notably as Associate Publisher and Director of Subsidiary Rights at E.P. Dutton and Company, made him the ideal person to liaise with the media, which had begun taking a keen interest in the festival.
Among Michael’s many achievements was the cultivation of the national and international press, which resulted in extensive coverage for the festival throughout the U.S. and abroad. This exposure attracted visitors from nearly every state and across the globe each summer, an important factor in Glimmerglass’s explosive growth in attendance and as a world-renowned cultural attraction.
Bill and Michael retired from Glimmerglass in 2004, after which they sustained their involvement as fans and supporters, a tradition Bill continues. Michael’s work remains a cornerstone of the company’s history and legacy.
The Glimmerglass Festival community is saddened by the loss of Bonnie Koestner, who had spent 15 summers as the company’s muchloved Chorus Master and coach/accompanist.
Bonnie’s tenure started in 1997, shortly after my arrival as the new General Director of Glimmerglass. Both, then Music Director Stewart Robertson and I had previously worked with Bonnie. In fact, Bonnie’s first “gig” in the professional opera world was with Stewart at the Hidden Valley Opera in Carmel Valley, CA, following her Masters in music education and piano from University of Wisconsin. Her professional career as a respected accompanist, coach, chorus master, and conductor subsequently encompassed a wide range of companies and musical institutions from San Francisco Opera and Conservatory of Music, to the opera companies of Miami, Atlanta, Reno, and Salt Lake City, to mention just a few.
A Tribute to Bonnie Koestner FORMER
GLIMMERGLASS CHORUS MASTER
by Esther Nelson, Former Glimmerglass General Director
Stewart was thrilled to now bring Bonnie’s talents to Glimmerglass.
She quickly became an integral part of the artistic team. It took a determined mind and persona with meticulous attention to detail to get the best out of a chorus of enthusiastic local singers and young artists. Her passion for young singers was particularly evident in her nurturing but also demanding work to prepare each singer for their summer solo recitals, always a highlight for artists and audiences alike. Her sense of humor could be refreshingly wicked and eventually earned her the nickname of “Chuckles.”
Bonnie was a sensitive collaborator and rarely one to seek the spotlight but her dedication to excellence could on occasion drive her to confront either Stewart, or Artistic Administrator Nicholas Russell or, finally, me, when she disagreed with a certain performance approach. I remember a few phone calls from Stewart alerting me that “Bonnie is on the warpath!”
In her free time, she eagerly explored the Cooperstown surroundings on her bicycle with her trusted camera. She had a keen eye for
capturing the beauty of the area. There also wasn’t a rare book within a 50-mile radius that Bonnie didn’t spot. While she was shy by nature she regularly managed to make random new acquaintances with local farmers, gardeners, beekeepers, Amish carpenters, and collectors.
She ended her professional career as a dedicated teacher and vocal coach at her alma mater at Lawrence University where she could now fully focus on training new talents, while also perfecting her Italian for several summers teaching at the Oberlin in Italy program.
During her time at Glimmerglass she forged many new lasting friendships with singers and musical staff. She also continued to be a close friend to me and my family. We all miss her but her legacy at Glimmerglass, and especially for the many young artists she influenced, will continue.
Become a Member of the GOODYEAR SOCIETY
The Goodyear Society honors individuals and families who have made a gift to Glimmerglass through their will or estate plans to perpetuate the Festival and its programs. If you have already included Glimmerglass in your plans, please let us know so that we may thank you and invite you to become a member of this special group of supporters, which receives Camerata-level donor benefits.
The Society is named after Tom Goodyear, one of our founders, and his mother, Jeannette Bissell Goodyear, both passionate opera fans whose gift of farmland was transformed into the theater and campus we enjoy today.
There are many ways you can help Glimmerglass, now and into the future. In addition to providing invaluable support for productions, special programs and artists through our annual fund, you can help continue our work and maintain and improve the beautiful Glimmerglass theater and facilities
Enjoy the Satisfaction of Creating a Legacy at Glimmerglass through an Estate Gift
through a designated capital contribution or legacy gift.
Capital and planned gifts can be established in ways that benefit Glimmerglass as well as you, your family or another charity. Bequests of cash or securities, gifts of real estate, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and making Glimmerglass a beneficiary of your IRA in your will are among the most popular ways to create a legacy at Glimmerglass. Please consult with a financial, tax or legal advisor about the method of contributing that is best for you.
For more information about how you can support The Glimmerglass Festival through a planned gift, please contact Caryn Reeves, Director of Development, at (607) 547-0700 ext. 238. Bequests can be made to Glimmerglass Opera Theatre, Inc.,
Taxpayer Identification No. 16-1053970.
We thank and recognize the members of the Goodyear Society.
Anonymous (4)
Margaret Laird Anderson*
Nancy Ayers*
Dennis N. Banks
Jim and Nancy Barton
William Battin*
John Beurket and Georgia Kustas
John B. Black*
Barbara Blaszak
Mr.* and Mrs. Andrew M. Blum
James and Deborah Breznay
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Georg O. Budenbender and Dr. Katherine Elwyn
Larry*, Mary*, and Heidi Budro
Beekman C. Cannon*
Fern Caplan*
Samuel Carabetta and Richard Molinaroli
Mrs. William L. Cary*
Stephen Case and Margaret Ayres
Estate of Doris R. Christiana*
Susan Stetson Clarke
Charles Coffin and Lance Wickens
Charles E. Cole
Jeannine and Donald Cook
Henry S. F. Cooper Jr.*
Mary Cullen*
Dr.* and Mrs. John Curtis
Vittoria S. Demarest*
Martha J. Dodge
Peter Duchin
Estate of Marie J. Eger*
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
Gwendolyn Ermlich
Andrea K. Fallek*
Drs. Jane A. Feisthamel and
Mary Margaret Snyder
Estate of Jessie Flax*
Donald Frazier*
Gretchen Frazier*
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello
William* and Jean B. Gerhartz
Karen A. Gibbs
Mrs. G. McMurtrie Godley
Sherwin M. Goldman
Dr. M. E. Grenander*
Dr. Brett B. Gutsche*
Lewis R.M* and Gemma Hall
The Raymond G.J. Han* and Paul E. Kellogg* Revocable Trust
Mary E. Harrigan and Andrew P. Tothy
Lisa Heilman-Cozzalio
Jean Herzog, PhD and Norbert Herzog, PhD
Barbara and Harry Howell
Clinton R. Howell
Estate of Alfred F. Hubay*
Clayton C. Kirking and Edward J. Sullivan
Ron and Melissa Komora
Joanne Kornoelje
Elizabeth R. Lemieux, Ph.D.
Dr. Katharine Lloyd and Dr. William B. Guiney Jr.*
The Estate of Matthew Looram*
Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller
Donald L. and Jeanette B. Martin Trust
Ann D. McChord
Mr. William McColl
David and Millie McCoy
Barbara McCullough
Drs. Duncan McDowall and
Sandra Campbell
Christine McNaughton
Glenda Michailidis*
John and Annabel* Muenter
Barbara H. Mulhern
Merlin* and Janet Nelson
M. Anne O’Connell
William Oliver and Michael Willis*
Susan M. O’Neil
Charles “Jud” Pannaci
Mary Buckley Parriott*
Alan and Pamela Patunoff
Dr.* and Mrs. Albert V. Payne
Polly S. Pierson*
Jeanne and Richard Porter
Paul Raeder*
Thomas C. Ragan
Marsha and Neil Remland
Rona C.* and Arthur E. Rosenbaum
Stephen Rosow and Ellen Goldner
Kelley Rourke
Robert* and Karen Schlather
Dr. Raymond* and Hannah H. Schneider*
Michael Sekus and Bianca Russo
Mary E. Sherman*
Patricia M. and H. William* Smith
Estate of Gerard F. Songster*
The Esther W. Spaulding Charitable Trust*
Mr.* and Mrs. Edward W. Stack
Estate of Scott L. Steele*
Estate of Joanna T. Steichen*
Hannah Lee Stokes*
David* and Karin Svahn
Richard Sylvester*
Eugene V.* and Clare E.* Thaw
Lloyd L. Thoms, Jr.
Elizabeth Thorpe
Dov and Tom Treiman
Robert F. Van Wormer*
Mark Luis Villamar and Esther Milsted
Margo and Anthony Viscusi
Karen Watkins
Andrew Weiss and Marc Osterweil
Drs. Hannelore Wilfert and Karl Moschner
Michael Young and Debra Raskin
*deceased
GOO DY E A R S OC I E T Y T E ST I M O N I A L S
Barbara Mulhern
“In 1987, the first year in the new opera house, I created a Charitable Gift Annuity to benefit Glimmerglass at my death. The investment was not large, but, due to my longevity, has paid off handsomely. Planned Giving was new to the company at that time, but, as a trustee, I realized that investing in the future needs of the company was vital to its success. It is even more so today.”
Robert Nelson
“Moving to Cooperstown nine years ago with my partner, Van, was a dream come true. It had been over 60 years since I first stayed on Otsego Lake with my family, and I’d always wanted to return to this beautiful spot in Upstate New York. Our friends all immediately said, ‘Home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.’ Well, that is ‘sorta kinda’ true, but it is also the home of The Glimmerglass Festival. From the first moment that we toured the campus, went to our first, then second, then third and fourth productions, we were enamored with the Festival. We all have favorites, but the Youth Opera has become my passion, while Van’s is the Young Artists and Apprentice Programs. Seven years ago, I was delighted to be asked to join the Glimmerglass Board of Trustees and was honored to serve as Chair from 2019-2023. Most recently, Van and I were appointed as Honorary Life Trustees. It did not take long for us to decide that we needed to join the Goodyear Society to help secure the Festival’s future — particularly relevant as our excitement builds toward the Festival’s 50th anniversary in 2025! We thoroughly enjoy the operas, musicals, and the youth program, which provide incredible opportunities for local youth and draw visitors from near and far while serving the local community. The Festival is also a leader in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion — something that I’m personally proud of — while providing the very best training for the next generation of performers, craftspeople, and administrators.”
Michael Young
“My wife, Debra Raskin, and I first came up to Glimmerglass in 2013, saw two productions, and have come back every year since then, upping the number of productions we see each year to all four of the Mainstage and some of those in the Pavilion, and upping the number of days we stay from two to three to four to six, and now even longer. And, we now bring many friends on our annual visits. When asked to list our favorite productions, Debby and I each name six or seven, some of them the same, and some of them different. Clearly, Glimmerglass has become an important part of our lives and, accordingly, we have both increased our yearly giving and have also decided to put Glimmerglass in our wills and to join the Goodyear Society. We both hope to live a lot longer but we are also glad that Glimmerglass will someday share in our estates.”
GIFTS TO THE GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL
The Glimmerglass experience is made possible through the generosity of donors who share our commitment to the development of emerging talent, imaginative productions, and stimulating cultural and educational programs. We take this opportunity to thank and recognize those individuals who have made gifts of $100 or more to The Glimmerglass Festival during our 2023 fiscal year (October 1, 2022-September 30, 2023) or thus far this year (October 1, 2023-May 15, 2024). Space limitations do not permit us to list contributions under $100, but to these good friends and all of our supporters we extend our most sincere gratitude.
To learn more about privileges and benefits associated with giving to Glimmerglass — as well as designated opportunities, such as sponsoring a production, a principal singer, a second stage program, an education project, an Apprentice or a Young Artist — please call The Glimmerglass Festival Development Department at (607) 547-0700, ext. 238 or ext. 212.
CAMERATA
Like those patrons in 16th-century Florence who helped give birth to opera and whose name we have borrowed, the Glimmerglass Camerata is a circle of generous benefactors whose enthusiasm for our creative vision and dedication to furthering the careers of young talent is expressed through exceptional levels of support. Camerata patrons receive all National Council benefits, are offered special sponsorship opportunities and are invited to exclusive salon-style musical evenings in thanks for their generosity.
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
($200,000 AND ABOVE)
Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
Nellie and Robert Gipson
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar
John R. and Joyce McC. Hupper Charitable Fund
Jacqueline B. Mars
Denise Littlefield Sobel
Eugene and Jean Stark
CHAIR’S CIRCLE
($100,000 - $199,999)
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Wendy Curtis
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello
Estate of Dr. Brett B. Gutsche
Andrew J. Martin-Weber and Beejan Land
Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante
Michael Young and Debra Raskin
PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE
($50,000 - $99,999)
Patricia and John Chadwick
Thomas C. Ragan
Thomas Simpson
Robert L. Turner
Mark Luis Villamar and Esther Milsted
TRUSTEES’ CIRCLE
($25,000 - $49,999)
Rob Ainsley and Micah Waldstein
Dianne Balfour and Carl Adkins
Ms. Emilie
Roy Corey
Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe
Dr. Anne McBride Curtis-Fischer
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman
Beth and Gary Glynn
Sherwin M. Goldman
The Guild of the Glimmerglass Festival
Richard Kane and Gretchen McBeath
Patricia Kavanagh and James Grant
Anne R. Kline and Geoffrey P. Pohanka
Elizabeth R. Lemieux, Ph.D.
Lindemann Charitable Foundation II Inc.
Tom Morgan and Erna Morgan McReynolds
Melanie and David Niemiec
John Ryland and Karen Craig Ryland
The Savada-Stevenson Family
Michael Sekus and Bianca Russo
Martin and Dagni Senzel
Grant and Jacqui Smith
The Stack Family Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Turner III
Debra A. Valentine and Jill V. Gardiner
Ann Ziff
ARTISTS’ CIRCLE
($15,000 - $24,999)
Anonymous
Jim and Nancy Barton
Georg O. Budenbender and Dr. Katherine Elwyn
Jane Lipton Cafritz
Barbara Glauber
Erika Hall
The Raymond Han and Paul Kellogg Foundation
Marilynn and John Hill
Martin Kagan and Deborah Dixon
Belinda and Stephen Kaye
Joanne Kornoelje
Thomas and Alison Lord
Constance and H. Roemer McPhee
Kara Unterberg
Bill and Theda White
Drs. Hannelore Wilfert and Karl Moschner
APPRENTICES’ CIRCLE
($10,000 - $14,999)
Anonymous (2)
Elizabeth Borden
Jeffrey P. Cunard and Mariko Ikehara
Clover M. Drinkwater
Mr. and Mrs. David E. Farquhar
Gemma Hall
Laurel McKee
Kathleen Mulhern Johnson and Bruce Ray Johnson
Rona C. and Arthur E. Rosenbaum
Patsy Smith
The Esther W. Spaulding Charitable Trust
Susan Taylor Morris
Sukey Wagner
NATIONAL
COUNCIL
The National Council is a group of dedicated donors and Glimmerglass advocates throughout the country who contribute generous financial and ambassadorial support, and in exchange come together between seasons with artists and artistic personnel for behind-the-scenes programs and social gatherings. As ambassadors, they have the opportunity to invite friends and colleagues to off-season events to interest them in the Festival.
PLATINUM
($7,500 - $9,999)
Anonymous (3)
Abby Kreh Gibson
Barbara H. Mulhern
Janet Nelson
GOLD
($5,000 - $7,499)
Anonymous
Lou Allstadt and Melinda Hardin
Eugenia and David Ames
Cecilia Andersen
Elizabeth August and Thomas Mafrici
James E. Ballowe Jr.
Thomas and Christine D. Berk
Katrina F.C. Cary and Linn Cary Mehta
Donald Clinton and Karen Wilkin
Martin D’Arce - TMD Concepts, LTD
Debórah Dwork and Ken Marek
Drs. Jane A. Feisthamel and Mary Margaret Snyder
Noushin and Greg Framke
Ms. Jane Wylie Genth
Ellen and Scott Hand
Robert and Patricia Hanft
Mr. and Mrs. Gates Helms Hawn
Frank Holozubiec
Maisie Houghton
Gail J. Hupper and William H. Wood
Mark Kachigian and Anne Powrie-Smith
Evelyn Kalenscher-Kirschenfeld
Larry and Jackie Kamin
Hon. and Mrs. M. Langhorne Keith
The Raymond G.J. Han and Paul E. Kellogg Revocable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lerwick
Nena Donovan Levine
Gregory Long and Scott Newman
The Family of Amanda May
David and Millie McCoy
Sage Mehta and Michael Robinson
Jeffrey G. Mora
Mary Moran and Jordan Kerber
Alan and Pamela Patunoff
Hon. Susan Phillips Read
Willson Powell
Mike and Marie Rourke
Karen Royce
Thomas A. and Georgina T. Russo
Mrs. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff
Richard and Pam Siegel
James E. Smaltz and Gordon F. Ruckdeschel
Thurmond Smithgall
Peter and Judith Stanton
Gerald and Grace Sun
Elizabeth Thorpe
Deborah and Michael Troner MD
Alan and Linda Vincent
Rose Wadsworth
Caleb Wertenbaker
Dr. F. Todd and Laura Wetzel
Judith Whalen and Paul Goldsmith
Elinor A. Zawaki
SILVER
($2,500 - $4,999)
Anonymous (4)
Susanne and Chris Adamski
Jeffrey and Mary Dale Allen
Kathryn Allen
Edward J. and Laura G. Asher
Dennis N. Banks
Ann-Marie Schwartz
Dr. Charles F. and Ann-Marie Schwartz
Ellen Berelson and Larry Franks
Truman and Ludmila Bidwell
Barbara Blaszak
Felicia H. Blum
Michael Bretholz
Kayellen Button and Bruce Loveys
Jaye Chen and Peter Brown
Stephanie Cooper Clarke
Michael Cleveland and Kathy Leach
Thomas and Loren Colbert
Duke Dang and Charles Rosen
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Carol and Rick Detweiler
Robert Ellis
Doris Fischer Malesardi
Mary Flower
Laurie Frenzel
Mary Lou, Suzan and Rebecca Friedlander
Suzan D. Friedlander
Drs. Deborah and Michael Goldberg
Nicole Alfandre Halbreiner
Carla Hall
Mary E. Harrigan and Andrew P. Tothy
Mona Harris
Christopher R. Hatt
Marcy Horath Maguire
Dr. Martin Ihrig
Regina Janes and Charles Woolley
Laurence Keiser and Susan Accetta
Clayton C. Kirking and Edward J. Sullivan
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and Randi Weingarten
Arthur Kuckes and Martha Wright, The Community Foundation of Tompkins County, the Vector Magnetics Fund
Richard and Georgia Lee
Harry and Ellen Levine
Dr. Katharine Lloyd
Sandy and Suzanne Mayer
Debra and Charles McCambridge
John and Catherine McEnroe
Natasha Mehta and Nathan Heller
David and Anne Menotti
James E. Miller and Fynnette Eaton
Bob and Ami Montstream
Ann and Don Morrison
Chris and M.E. O’Connor
Janet and David Offensend
The Offensend Family Foundation
Tod Ottman and Kathleen Pakenham
Peggy Parsons
Stephanie and Jim Patrick
Mr. Nicholas Preston and Mr. Gary Cassinelli
Jerry and Marisabel Raymond
Paul R. Reid and Thomas Hartnett
Betty N. Robinson
Harriet Rogers
Mrs. Marjorie Russel, The Leo Model Foundation
Beth Sapery and Rosita Sarnoff
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Sculco
Margarita Sears
Rudina Seseri and Adrian Ketri
Robert M. Steiner and Faith Pleasanton
Richard Tarrant
Dov and Tom Treiman
James and Caroline Tripp
Tad and Kara Van Norden
Emma Vaughn and Ravi Agrawal
Earl D. Weiner
Molly Wilkinson
Ellen Wood and Michael Durkee
Ken and Dorothy Woodcock
Martha Yager
Mary N. Young
BRONZE
($1,000 - $2,499)
Anonymous (10)
Stewart and Barbara Agor
Eleanor B. Alter and Dr. Allan M. Lans
Carolyn Anderson and Barbara C. Brenner
Rosalie and Thomas W Anderson
John T. Andrews Jr. and Elizabeth K. Lambert
Norma J. Arnold
Helen-Jean Arthur
Jack and Marion Auspitz
Martin and Krista Babinec
Richard A Backer
Cynthia Bagby
Richard J. Balfour
Jennie Rose Barlow
Jane Bartrum
Kent and June Barwick
Neil and Carolyn Baum
Pam M. Baxter
Rick and Helaine Beckerman
David and Ann Beightol
Wanda Warren Berry, PhD
Bob and Marcy Birch
William Bissell
Drs. Ellen Blum and Kenneth Novak
Molly and Tom Boast
Boss Landscape LLC
Amy Branch and Ken Mason
Max and Ellen Brantley
John Brewer
Douglas and Beatrice Broadwater
George and Nancy Brodie Fund
Matt Brown
Sandra L. Brown
Sarah M. Brown
Charlotte Buchanan and Richard Pfau
Jim and Terry Byrnes
Paula Campos and Rodrigo Bitar
Michael P. Cannon
John and Nancy Carver
Katrina F.C. Cary
Mary Chruscicki and Patricia Baskinger
Susan Stetson Clarke
Susan Clearwater
Linda and Sarah Cohen Fund
J. Patrick Cooney and Karl Buchberg
Chloe and Rod Correll
James S. Covey and James P. Zabawa
David Craine
The Crawford Foundation
Mrs. Denise B. Dailey
Samantha Davenport
Drs. James C. and Caroline W. Dawson
Prof. Christian C. and Mrs. Ann M. Day
David Decima and Evangeline Shih
Paula DiPerna
Marci Douglas and Lawrence Pollack
Noreen Doyle
Joanne and Jerry Dreher
Arnold Drogen
Donald Eckert and Terry Foster
Cecily Eidelhoch
Charles Eil and Adele Geffen Eil
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
Thomas R. Engel
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Equinda
David and Kathleen Ernst
Thérèse Esperdy and Robert Neborak
Frank Farmer and Frank Kolbert
Tracy and Scott Fauver
James A. Feldman and Natalie Wexler
Jim and Kenna Fenton
Firestone Family Foundation, Inc.
P. Jay Fleisher and Judith A. Pachter
Chris and Patty Fox
Dr. and Mrs. Walter Franck
Ellen Freeman
Elizabeth Garry and Elizabeth Cahill
James M. Gaughan and Keith C. Lee
Mr. and Mrs. Steven D. Glazer
Steven and Susan Gold
Nancy and Frederic Golden
Maria JR Goncalves
Roe Goodman and Enriqueta Carrington
Karen Greenfield
Gretchen Frazier Fund of the Arizona Community Foundation
Jane M. Gullong
Mr. and Mrs. J.K. Hage III
Ursula and Charles Hage
Angela Harris and Dick Friedrich
Dr. Anne Harrison
Elizabeth Harvey
Kimberly Hastie and Timothy Welch
Michael Heaston
Lisa Heilman-Cozzalio and Victor Cozzalio
Christina Hembree
Jean and Norbert Herzog
Carl Hill
Ian Hinchliffe and Marjorie Shapiro
Dr. Marilyn and Bernard Horowitz
Fred B. Howard
Fred Hughson and Liz Gavis
Beth Humes
Craig and Susan Hupper
Susan Huxtable and Joseph Novitski
Donald Ingram and Eugene Tobey
Linda Irenegreene
Caroline J. Jackson
Jean Jagendorf
Mike and Connie Jastremski
Barbara Jenkins
Helen I. Jessup
Celeste Johns and Chris Kjolhede
Emily Johnson and Vijay Ramachandran
James M. Jordan
Peter Jordan
Kim and Kathleen Juhase
Padma Kaimal and Andrew Rotter
Jenny Kallick and Robert Bezucha
Shoshana Keller and Deborah Reichler
Patricia A. Kelly
Daniel Kempton
Robert Kent
Don and Irene Kerr
Gail and Ed Kitch
Stephen and Mary Sue Kitchen
Lauralyn and G. Roberts Kolb
Lisa Kressbach
Maureen Kuhn and Caralee Carney
Gloria Kulhawy
Gary and Edna Lachmund
Sydney Lancaster Waller
Grace E. Larkin
Eric and Susi Larsen
Richard Lawrence and Laura A. Leach
Arthur S. Leonard
Rosanne Leshner
Rona Lucas
Peter Manson and Peter Durfee
David Marcus and Brenda Bousfield
Serena Black Martin and Alexander Byers Martin Jr.
F. X. Matt II Memorial Fund
James McCarthy and Joan Pirics
Drs. Duncan McDowall and Sandra Campbell
Camilla and Hugh McFadden
Margaret E. McGown
Ned McGuire
Karen McLaughlin and Mark Schubin
Christine McNaughton
Wayne Mellor and Amy Cannon
John and Susanna Membrino
Linda Metzger
Daniel M. Meyers
Gary Mezzatesta
Alden and Jane Millard
Irene R. Miller
William Miller and Talbot Logan
Deborah Mintz
Mary Mochary
Rachel Moore and Harry Dodson
Paula Mosher
John Muenter
Katharine Muir and Kenneth Witty
Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Muravchick
Alan and Linda Nelson
Stephen Nissenbaum and Dona Brown
Carl R. Nold and Vicky L. Kruckeberg
M. Anne O’Connell
Timothy and Kara O’Leary
William Oliver and Michael Willis
Opera Guild of Rochester
James and Dianne Orcutt
Bill Packard and Charles Ihlenfeld
Charles “Jud” Pannaci
Bill and Norah Pattison
Timothy and Barbara Pedley
Susan and Daniel Petrivelli
Stephen Phillips
Corinne M. Plummer
Matthew Price and Veerle Daenen
Alexander Purves
A. Putnam
Susan and Kanti Rai
Sarah and John Ralph
Cleota Reed
Dr. Helen H. Reed
Caryn and Jamie Reeves
Marsha and Neil Remland
Elsie and Thom Rhodes
Dr. and Mrs. William Richtsmeier
Carl and Anne Rosenberg
Georgeanne and Jean Rousseau
David M. Rubin and Christina Press
Paul Samuels and Nurit Margulies
Lisa Sarajian
Patricia and Paul Saunders
Carol S. Scheele
Shira Scheindlin
Karen Schlather
The Seniel Ostrow Foundation
Cecilia Sercan
Jean Seroka
Albert H. Shaheen Memorial Fund at The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties
Robert L. Siebel
Mark Silverschotz and Anne Segal
Peter Skaperdas
Susan Smith and Robert Christman
Susie Snowdon
Ruth A. Solie
Stephen and Monica Spaulding
Adam and Ann Spence
Peter and Tori Staunton
Valerie Steele and John S. Major
Anda Stelian and Douglas Glucroft
Richard Sternberg
Campbell Steward
James Stewart and Benjamin Weil
Jane Stewart
Debra Stone and David Glaser
Beth and John Storyk
Dr. and Mrs. William Streck
Thomas Talbot
Tom Tompkins and Jill Rowley Tompkins
Jack Triplett
E. Brantley Turner Bradley
Gary and Marie Van Graafeiland
Patrick and Candice Van Roey
David Verdi and Bernadette Rubino-Verdi
Debbie Vivien
John von Briesen Jr. and Sallye Perrin
Suzanne J. Ward
Marian M. Warden
Ben and Eleanor Ware
Jayne Warman and Ernest Harris
Arthur and Madelaine Warren
John B. Webb and Nelson Mondaca
Morton and Corinne Weber
Mr. and Mrs. William Weldon III
Dustin Z West
Dorothy Wexler
Robert White and Anne O’Connell
Lois Widdemer
Helen Wiley and Marian Payson
Amy Wilson and David Flannery
Thomas Wilson and Kristin Koehler
Bill and Ellen Yeckley
Joanne Jablow Yunich and Robert H. Yunich
Deborah and Michael Zahn
Howard Zar and Ray Kurdziel
Lisa and Ben Zeskind
PATRONS
Patrons are at the heart of our family of contributors, and we would not have grown to achieve international stature without their loyalty and invaluable support.
GUARANTOR
($500 - $999)
Anonymous (3)
David A. Ackerman
Benjamin Addie
Randy Apgar and Allen Black
Lindesay and Sixto Aquino
Grace and Jim Arbury
Nancy and Scott Bailey
Kile Baker
James and Hollis Barickman
Larry Bell
Erik Serrano Berntsen
Nina Brodsky and Alan Kleinman
Charlotte Buchanan
Mark A. Bunce
Tim and Patty Burch
Thomas F. Cannon and Joseph Harding
Charles Cesaretti
Linda Chesis and John Guiton
Joanne and Roger Clapp
Dr. Janna C. Collins
Ann and Tom Connolly
Lauri Corrigan
Linda Cowan
William and Judy Cox
Michael and Kathleen Crowe
Ms. Beatrice Crumbine
Judith Curry
John and Julia Curtis
Mike and Shari Dailey
Kristin Kovner de Guzmán
Vincent T. DeVita MD
Gaylord and Nicole Dillingham
Beatrice Disman
John Dobkin
Gail Dougherty
Dr. Laure Duval
Bob and Sally Edgar
Swift Edgar
Elizabeth Etoll
James F. Evans III and Mary Selden Evans
Kathy Faber
John A. Faust
Gordon and Sarah Faux
First Presbyterian Church Cooperstown
Martha and Robert Fisher
Joseph Flear
Fred Flores and Catherine Lindgren
Charles Friedlander
Charles and Linda Garnett
Charles and Adelia Geiger
Lawrence Gibbons
Joseph F. Godfrey and Keith Halstead
William and Cynthia Goertemoeller
Margot Golding
Suzanne Gouvernet
Gouvernet Arts Fund at Rochester Area
Community Foundation
Amy J. Greer and Mark J. Murphy
Mary Ellen and Michael Guerra
Michael Halloran
Ron and Rebecca Harris-Warrick
Jim and Betta Hedlund
Dick and Mary Ellen Hibey
Christina M. Hickey
Walter B.D. Hickey Jr.
Shannon Hill
Day Hills
Frieda Holober
Joyce Homan
Barbara and Harry Howell
Michael Hunt and Laura Lockhart
Marc Isserles
Ellen Jabbur
Kathleen Johnson and Paul Browning
John A. Kane
Luise-Charlotte Kappe
Kate Kemker and Kaaren Fox
Rose-Marie Klipstein
Ron and Melissa Komora
Ken and Susan Kramer
Alison Lankenau
Olivia Lerwick
David Levinson and Kathy Kirn
Ann and William Lieff
Andrew and Anya Littauer
Drs. Michael and Joan Lotze
Frank and Sidney Maas
Dennis Mancl and Susan Aurin
Todd Martin
Abigail Mason
Patrick and Bertine McKenna
Adam Meister
H. William Michaels
Kathleen Moore and Judith Henningson
Christina Murphy
Dinah Nissen and Elizabeth Apelles
Thomas C. Nye
Sue O’Neil
Hugh and Norma Phelps
Janet L. Potter
Michael Presser
Paulette and Julian Rackow
Elizabeth and Dennis Regan
Rene Reixach
Ken and Susi Ritzenberg
Kathleen Roberts
Stephen Rosow and Ellen Goldner
Sharon Roy
Nicholas G. Russell
David and Melanie Samuels
Patricia Sanborn
James Schamus
Senator and Mrs. James L. Seward
June Sheehan
Michael and Vivien Shelanski
Nancy Sills and Franklin Moss
Hal and Carol Sox
Susan Sporer and Mary Cameli
Dr. Bruce and Judy Stewart
Thomas Stickney and David Westfall
Edward A. and Claire G. Stiepleman
Judith Stoikov and Richard Miller
Harvey and Mary Struthers
Alexandra Subbarao
Anthony Sullivan
Mary Susman and Thomas Herm
Carl Swanson
Philip and Barbara Taurisano
Ann B. Teixeira
John Tomlinson and Richard Chen See
Peter and Christina Townsend
Steve Ucko
Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert T. Vincent
Alan Wanzenberg
Stephanie Weiss
Lois and Harold Weitzner
David and Kerstin Wellbery
Nathan and Elizabeth Wentworth
Margaret Wineman and James Mullen
Victoria Wion
Wittels Family
Amy and Jerel Zoltick
CONTRIBUTOR
($100 - $499)
Anonymous (12)
John F. Abel
J. Ackerman and J. McCarthy
Terry D. Adkins
Sara Akel
James Aldrich-Moodie
Ed and Mary Ambrose
Michael Amorese
Joseph Anderer and Virginia Benz
Robert C. Anderson
Thomas I. Anderson
Mary Arlin
Abigail Armstrong
Peter Aronson and Marie Landry
Ellen B. Avril
Debby Bachand
Roger and Whitney Bagnall
Ruth E. Baines
Vera S. Baker
Sheryl Balcomb
Joyce Ball Paxton
Ron and Alex Banay
Hank and Anne Bankhead
Dr. David Barnert and Julie Raskin
Vige Barrie and Jim Frederick
Lynn and Jonathan Bass
Thomas and Muriel Beattie
Nan Beer
Donald Behr
Bob and Martha Berardino
Ruth Berry
Betsy Bishop
Richard and Anne Blabey
David and Cathy Blankenship
Gerry and Linda Blume
John Booth
Bob and Sue Bowker
James and Dukene Brady
Nicholas Brill
Kevin and Cynthia Brocks
Sarah Brodie
Dr. Joan E. Brooks and Dr. James I. Garrels
Kent Brown and Nat Thomas
Paul Brown and Susan Loevenguth
Laurie Bruns
Greg Buch
Sharon Burke and Alfred Kelly
Keith A. Bundy
John Burt
Karina Calabro
Keitha Capouya
Julie and Scott Cappel
Patricia Carrier
Charles Casale
Susan and David Cathers
Kathleen Chant
Fiona Chew
Joan Chrisler and Chris Bishop
George and Laurel Christie
Robert Christman
Dianne Kay and Lawrence J. Ciano
Christopher L. Cimijotti
Nancy S. Clayton
Sam and Carolyn Clemence
Karyl Clemens
Linda and Bill Cohen
Rosemary Cook
Katie Koch Code
Joanne Corey
Jane and Siobhan Cornell
Clarissa Crabtree
Rebecca Craft
Pamela T. Crane
John J. Creedon Foundation
James and Suzanne Cusack
Bonnie Daggett
Connie and Pat Dalton
Deb and Jim Dalton
Anna and Paul D’Ambrosio
Judith and Joseph Darweesh
Susan Davidson
Dean Davis
Janine DeFilippo-Wallace
Brett Delfino
Barbara D. Deller
Sue Dennis
Millie DesBiens
Fiona Dewar
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Albin Deysenroth
Dr. Arthur DiNapoli and Allyne Frankel
Carole W. Di Nonno
J. Gerard Dollar and Susan Poisson-Dollar
Eric Donaldson
Mary Ann Donnelly
Karen D’Orazio
Christian Dorbandt
Elaine Downing
Dr. and Mrs. Jeff Doyle
Martha Monteleone Duke
Kenneth East and Timothy Thurlow
Daniel Egan and Kate Glasner
David H. and Linda J. Ehlers
Kathleen and Dale Eisele
Philip Eisenman
Ann Eldridge and Robert Neer
Susan and Ron Elinoff
Elizabeth and Clinton Elliott
Priscilla Elliott
David Emanatian
David and Cindy Engel
Eric Engel
Janet England
Sylvia Epstein
June Fait and Herbert Coles
Diana and Emory Fanning
Mary and Gregory Farmer
Richard and Ellen Farren
George and Cathy Fasanelli
Ann Feder and Paul Pomerantz
Jim and Shizuka Feeney
Hannah Fettinger
Randy Feuerstein
Michele L. Finin
James Fleming and Dr. Lawrence T. Waite
Iris Fodo
Stephanie Fontaine
Lane Franz
Henry and Helen Freedman
M. E. Freeman
Ruth Freeman
Laura Frey
The Honorable Leslie Friedman
Will and Barbara Fry
Alice and Gil Fuld
Jean Fuller Farrington
Keith and Terry Fulmer
Camilla Galluzzo
Silvina Garcia Rubio
David and Linda Gardels
Geri Gay
Ronald C. Geuther
Barbara P. Gigliotti
James Ginsburg and Patrice Michaels
Eric and Christine Gladbach
Ellen Glass, MD
The Glimmerglass Festival
Orchestra Players Association
Glimmerglass Move Managers, LLC
Cyndy Goldberg
David Goldston
Rose and Jean-Pierre Gombay
James Goode
William Goodenough
Drs. David and Felice Gordis
Laura Graceffa and Mark Schlessman
Dr. Jane E. Grastorf
Jane Graves
Henry and Hope Greenberg
Darrell and Gerald Greene
Barbara and George Greenstein
Christine and Bernard Grossman
Jeannine Grossman
Paul Grzella and Edward Edwards
Albert Guditis and Corine Gibson
Jim Guidera and Ed Parran
Susannah Halston
Joan Ham
William Hammond and Meg Gallien
Gretchen M. Handwerger
Roy and Barbara Hansen
Lee Haring
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Haritatos
Jay Harrison and Jeanne Conroy
Stephen Harrison
Katie and David Haviland
Nancy and Jim Hays
Jean and Lewis Hecht
Robert Heidenry
Allison Held
Marc and Christine Heller
Rabbi Henry and Sheila Bamberger
Helga Hershey and Suzanne Gould
David R. Hinman
Virginia V. Hlavsa
Lisa Hochman
Kathryn Hodges
Tim Hoekman and Carla Connors
Mary Hohenhaus
Neesa and Evan Holland
Paul Horowitz and Ruth Jaffe
David and Yayoi Howell
Gary and Ackli Howell
Kendall Hubert
Dr. John B. Hudson
John Ianacone and Cynthia D’Ambrosio
Christine Ims, Jeanne and Cynthia Levin
Michael Jakubowski
P. Jewell and C. Nickolaus Wand
Jennifer Johnson Cano
Shari Johnson-Ploutz
Carol Johnston
Bonnie Jones
Dr. and Mrs. Charles Jordan
Dr. and Mrs. George Kafka
Dr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Kalish
Stephen and Pamela Kalista
Herman and Carole Kane
David E. Kaplan
L. Frederick Kaplan
Jeff and Karen Katz
Michael and Linda Kehoe
Marilyn J. Keiser
Teresa Kennedy
Anne Killian
Laura Kilty and Bruce Kramer
Urling and Hugh Kingery
Robin Kinnel
Margaret Kinosian
Deborah and Thomas Klenck
M. Suzette Kopecek
Marc Korpus
Nancy and Robert Kossowsky
Dr. Beatrice Kovasznay
Robert D. Kraus and Kathleen M. Morris
Steve and Teri Kruk
Robert W. Kruszyna
Lars and Marit Kulleseid
Diane LaBelle and Dr. Norman Girardot
The Lachance Family
Peter and Melissa Lacijan
Fred and Nanett Laffan
David Lakari
Ronald Languedoc
Kathryn Larsen
Maria A. Lasagna
John Lawson
Joanne and Carl Leaman
Rheanolte and Annie Marie LeBarbour
The LeCours Family
Soule Leiter
John Leon
Mr. and Mrs. E. Deane Leonard
Bruce and Diane Lercher
Anne Marie Leschin
Bonnie and Joel Lester
Ellen Leventhal
Hon. Howard A. Levine
David Levy and Ellen Levy
Darryl L’Heureux
Alice Jo and Marshall Lichtman
Jean Lilja
R. Bruce Lindsay III
Janet Little
Richard and Elizabeth Livingston
LJ’s Sassy Boutique
Linda Loomis
Sharon and Chuck Loving
Robert Lowe and Sigrid Hackenberg
Dr. Leonard and Susan Lyon
Andrea Lyons
Sandra Maceyka
James MacKillop
Robin Mahon
Amanda Savage Mahoney
The Maia Fund
Laurence S Markowitz
William D. Mattern
Anne and Walter Mayo
Herbert Mayo
Rebecca Mazin
Sara McCain
Douglas McClemont
Kenneth and Donyce McCluskey
Eugene and Pamela McGuire
Douglas McGuirk and Maryann Green
Carol Ann McKeen and John Dunton
Jonathan Mead and Naomi Guttman
Kathy Meadows
Sue Ellen Merry
Karen Metcalf
Jackie Metzger
Frank and Ellen Michelman
Hugh W. Miller
Judith G. Miller
Patrick Miller
Sanford and Jill Miller
Anne Parker Mills
Debra Milstein
Chanda Misevis
Robert Mitchell
Louis Monetti
Krista Montesano-Peterson
Geoffrey Moore
Quinn Moss
Marion Mossman
Heidi J. Muir and Marc Laymon
Dr. Rajat and Kathryn Mukherji
Thomas W. Myers
Sindhu Nair
Emily Neece and Alan Ziegler
Pamela J. Nelson
Martha Nesbitt
Kate Newman
Bruce and Mary Ellen Nielsen
Mr. Richard Norton
Stephen E. Novak
Mr. Thomas O’Connor
Michael and Deborah O’Hara
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Older
Elizabeth O’Neil
Stephen Orvis and Carol Drogus
David Osborne
Carol Ann Pacco-Long
Jo Page
Tom Parrish
Philip Pearle
John Cedric Pedersen
Dale and Lorna Peterson
Chris and Carol Pfister
Grant and Charlotte Phillips
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pinto
Lina Pliodzinskas
Ellen Poleshuck
Judith and Arnold Poltenson
Professor Sarah Pomeroy
Douglas and Lynda Porter
Drs. Jeanne and Richard Porter
Trevor Potter and Dana Westring
Frederick Pratt
Dr. Marion Preston
Erin Quirk
Gary Quirk and Charlotte Haas
Helen Rack and Erwin Guetig
William and Divon Rathgeber
Maggie Raywood and Travis Peace
Michael and Sharon Rebell
Joan Redmond
Ashley Remmers
Peter and Susan Restler
Martin Ricciardi and Heidi Nicholson
Nancy K. Rice
Angie Richards
Karen Richards
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Richter
Drs. George and Ingrid Robinson
Lesley and Mark Robinson
Marion Swett Robinson
Maurice Rocca
Joan B. Rogers
Richard and Deborah Rogler
Ron and Marianne Romano
Alice Root
Penna Rose
Susan Rosengrant and Nancy Ryan
Karen and Jeff Ross
Dolores J. Rothwell
Mary Royer and Nelson Burdick
Carl A. Rubino and Barbara Gold
Dr. G. Jeremiah and Gail C. Ryan
Dr. Victor and Gail Sacchi
Susan E. Saltus
Margaret Savoie
Sasha Savransky
Anne Schaper
Joyce Schindelheim
Barbara Schloss
Theodor Schnaufer
Mr. and Mrs. Jon L. Schumacher
Robert and Gail Schwartz
Kathleen M. Scott
Dr. Mariellen Scott
Susan Clare Scott
Linda Segreto
Paul J. Seidman
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel T. Seifried
Stephen and Peg Senturia
Kenneth and Barbara Seplow
Judy and Ken Seslowe
Sew Advisory Services LLC
Peter W. Shea and Dr. Suzan Smith
Conrad L. Sheck
Bruce Shenkar
Richard and Terry Shenton
Jonathan Sherman
Joan Sherry
David B. Shmoys
James W. Shults
Mary Simonson and Jeff Bary
Jane Singer
Carla H. Skodinski and
Michael M. Fieldman
Andrea Small
Angela Smith
Beverly Smith
Joseph and Carolyn Smith
Ms. Patricia L. Smith
Joe Sobota
Rosalie and Roger Sokol
Clara Somoza
Mi Ryung Song
Warren Sorensen
Martin and Gretchen Sorin
Caroline Southworth
Amy and Walter Srebnick
Cynthia and David Staley
Nell Stanton
Judy Staubo
Nancy Stauffer and Jeffrey Hughes
Michael and Laura Stein
Margery and Lewis Steinberg
Prue Stelling
Emily Stewart and Mike Morrill
Susan Y. Stewart
Barbara Ann Stolz
Eleanor Stromberg
Mira Stulman
Diane Stuto
Roger Sullivan
Eileen Sutter
Woody and Gregg Swain
Michael and Bryna Sweedler
Vera Talevi
Richard and Myrna Talman
J.S. Edward Tatnall and Daniel N. Colburn II
Joan and James Taylor
John Tewhey
Karen Thompson
Sally Thompson
Mike Thorne
Dr. David C. Tinling
Jonathan and Moriah Tobin
Vladislav Tolmachyov
Ken Topolsky
Richard Tourangeau and Marilyn Miller
Kimberly Tucker
Thomas Turnbull
Sally Turner
Rod Vanderbilt
David and Martha Vaules
Lorraine Vekens
Mary E. Velez and Glen A. Noto
Margaret Verno
Jane and David Villa
Clinton Walker
Gail P. and Stephen V. Walker
Honorine Wallack
Sean Walmsley and Sherry Bishko
John and Kathy Walsh
Ronnie Walsh-Snow
Karen Watkins
Susan F. Watkins
Drs. Hueldine Webb and Lester W. Blair
Don Weimer
Seymour Weingarten
Dawn Stuart Weinraub
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Weiss
Andrew Weiss and Marc Osterweil
Vera Weiss
Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home
Margery and Michael Whiteman
Irene White
Mark Whymeyer
Michael Wiley
Patricia Wiley and Wendy Miller
Bill Williams
Mitch and Mary Ellen Williams
Susan Williams
Sheila Winett
Daniel Marshall Wood
Elizabeth Woodard
Matthew and Elizabeth Worth
Yankee Trails
Wesley York and Robert Scrofani
Douglas and Cheryl Zamelis
Steven Zerby and Joanne Tobey
Leslie Zezulin
Kathryn and Howard Zukof
GOVERNMENT, FOUNDATIONS AND CORPORATE
The Glimmerglass Festival is grateful to our institutional partners — foundations, businesses and government agencies — which have provided essential support for our 2024 productions, Young Artists Program, theater-arts and administrative apprenticeships, community activities, and operations.
CAMERATA
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
($200,000 AND ABOVE)
The Clark Foundation
John R. and Joyce McC. Hupper Charitable Fund
The Tianaderrah Foundation
CHAIR’S CIRCLE
($100,000-$199,999)
Amica Insurance
The Fernleigh Foundation
PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE
($50,000-$99,999)
Robert and Esther Black Family Foundation and Fund at Richland County Foundation
The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
TRUSTEES’ CIRCLE
($25,000-$49,999)
Lindemann Charitable Foundation II Inc.
New York State Council on the Arts
Oxalis.io
UpMobility Foundation
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music
ARTISTS’ CIRCLE
($15,000-$24,999)
The Raymond Han and Paul Kellogg Foundation
APPRENTICES’ CIRCLE
($10,000-$14,999)
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.
The John J. Pohanka Family Foundation
NATIONAL COUNCIL
GOLD
($5,000-$7,499)
The Dewar Foundation, Inc.
The Eggleston Foundation
The Raymond G.J. Han and Paul E. Kellogg Revocable Trust
SILVER
($2,500-$4,999)
Fenimore Asset Management and FAM Funds
Network for Good
Arthur Kuckes and Martha Wright, The Community Foundation of Tompkins County, the Vector Magnetics Fund
The Leo Model Foundation, Mrs. Marjorie Russel
BRONZE
($1,000-$2,499)
The Amphion Foundation
Boss Landscape LLC
Linda and Sarah Cohen Fund at The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties
The Crawford Foundation
The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
Firestone Family Foundation, Inc.
Gretchen Frazier Fund of the Arizona Community Foundation
James Jordan Associates, Architects
PepsiCo Foundation / Silicon Valley
Community Foundation
Albert H. Shaheen Memorial Fund at The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties
The Seniel Ostrow Foundation
UBS Financial Services, Inc.
PATRONS
GUARANTORS
($500-$999)
The Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts, Inc.
The AmazonSmile Foundation
Suzanne Gouvernet, Gouvernet Arts Fund at Rochester Area
Community Foundation
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
CONTRIBUTORS
($100-$499)
Community Foundation of Otsego County
The D. E. Shaw Group
ING Financial Services LLC
John J. Creedon Foundation
LJ’s Sassy Boutique
Rotary Club of Cooperstown
PHOTO: EVAN ZIMMERMAN
DESIGNATED SPONSORSHIPS
Among our benefactors are those whose passion for our work is expressed through designated contributions. We recognize these generous friends for their assigned support for this year.
2024 FESTIVAL
SEASON SPONSORS
The Clark Foundation
Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
Nellie and Robert Gipson
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar
Jacqueline B. Mars
Denise Littlefield Sobel
Jean and Gene Stark
GIFTS IN SUPPORT OF MAINSTAGE AND PAVILION REPERTORY
The Amphion Foundation In support of Project Pipeline: The House on Mango Street
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Production Sponsors, Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc. In support of Elizabeth Cree In support of Project Pipeline: The House on Mango Street
Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
Production Sponsors, Pagliacci
National Endowment for the Arts In support of Elizabeth Cree
Nellie and Robert Gipson
Production Sponsors, Horizons: Tara Erraught
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar
Production Sponsors, La Calisto
Jacqueline B. Mars
Production Sponsor, Elizabeth Cree
Jean and Gene Stark
Production Sponsors, The Pirates of Penzance
PRINCIPAL ARTISTS
SPONSORS:
Dianne Balfour and Carl Adkins
Sponsors, Taylor Raven
Ms. Emilie Roy Corey
Sponsor, Christian Mark Gibbs
Maurice and Carolyn Cunniffe Sponsors, Elizabeth Sutphen
Wendy Curtis Sponsor, Craig Irvin
Nellie and Robert Gipson Sponsors, Tara Erraught
Beth and Gary Glynn Sponsors, Schyler Vargas
Richard Kane and Gretchen McBeath Sponsors, Troy Cook
Patricia Kavanagh and James Grant Sponsors, Robert Stahley
Lindemann Charitable Foundation II Inc. Sponsor, Eve Gigliotti
Grant and Jacqui Smith
Sponsor, John Chest
Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante
Sponsors, Amber Monroe
SPECIAL DESIGNATIONS
Patricia and John Chadwick
Neighbors’ Nights Ticket Initiative
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello Neighbors’ Nights Ticket Initiative
JAMS New York Arbitration
Host, Glimmerglass Festival Board of Trustees meetings
Andrew J. Martin-Weber Neighbors’ Nights Ticket Initiative
Thomas C. Ragan
Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children workshop
Denise Littlefield Sobel
In support of 2024 Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives
Tianaderrah Foundation
In support of the Young Artists Program
The Guild of The Glimmerglass Festival For providing changeover meals for staff
Zambello Gay Tribute Fund
Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children Youth Ticket Initiative
PHOTO: SOFIA NEGRON
YOUNG ARTIST AND APPRENTICESHIP PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION SPONSORSHIPS
The renowned Glimmerglass Young Artists and Apprenticeship Programs bring exceptional emerging young singers, dancers, conductors, stage directors, coach/accompanists, production talent, craftspeople, and arts administrators together for three months each season to study and gain professional experience in the creative and demanding atmosphere of the Festival. This year 45 Young Artists and 56 Apprentices were selected from approximately 2,000 applicants, a testimony to the quality and reputation of these programs.
Inspiration for these targeted donations began with endowment gifts from Allen and Judy Freedman, and through the establishment of the Rona Cader Rosenbaum Master Class Fund, which underwrites annual visits from prominent singers and directors who work with Young Artists on a range of skills.
The Glimmerglass Apprenticeship Program — previously known as the Summer Internship Program — has been expanded to include more built-in educational opportunities in addition to the experience Apprentices gain on the job. This expansion was made possible through the generosity of Denise Littlefield Sobel, who provided a multiyear match challenge in support of the program.
Benefactors who designate their annual gifts in support of an individual Young Artist or Apprentice personally get to know the artist or apprentice they are supporting, following their careers, and developing relationships that can often last a lifetime. To learn more about these programs or sponsorships, please contact the Glimmerglass Development office at (607) 547-0700 ext. 238 or 212.
GIFTS DESIGNATED IN SUPPORT OF THE YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
We thank the following individuals for their generous contributions to underwrite this season’s Young Artists Program or to sponsor an individual Young Artist.
GUARDIAN ANGELS (ENDOWMENT GIFTS)
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman
Rona Cader Rosenbaum Master Class Fund
YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM SUPPORT
The Bagby Foundation For The Musical Arts, Inc.
Jane Lipton Cafritz
The Eggleston Foundation
Robert Ellis
The Tianaderrah Foundation
INDIVIDUAL
YOUNG ARTIST SPONSORS
Anonymous
Sponsors, Marinette Gomez
Jim and Nancy Barton Sponsors, Ruby Dibble
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson Sponsors, Jason Zacher
Georg O. Budenbender and Dr. Katherine Elwyn
Sponsors, Fran Daniel Laucerica
Patricia and John Chadwick
Sponsors, Henry Benson
Dr. Anne McBride Curtis-Fischer
Sponsor, Evan K. Brown
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman
Sponsors, Benjamin Dickerson
Sponsors, Geoffrey Schmelzer
Nellie and Robert Gipson
Sponsors, Emily Harmon Sponsors, Amanda Testini
Sponsors, Ethel Trujillo Sponsors, Zizhao Wang
Sherwin M. Goldman
Sponsor, Scout Santoro
Erika Hall
Sponsor, Blaise Rossmann
Gemma Hall
Sponsor, Saane Halaholo
Marilynn and John Hill Sponsors, Peter Murphy
Belinda and Stephen Kaye
Sponsors, SarahAnn Duffy
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar Sponsors, Emilie Kealani Sponsors, Tristan Tournaud
Joanne Kornoelje
Sponsor, Tshilidzi Ndou
Elizabeth R. Lemieux, Ph.D.
Sponsor, Kaylan Hernandez
Thomas and Alison Lord
Sponsors, Lauryn Davis
Constance and H. Roemer McPhee
Sponsors, Namarea Randolph-Yosea
Tom Morgan and Erna Morgan McReynolds Sponsors, Laura Bleakley
Melanie and David Niemiec Sponsors, Evan Lazdowski
Thomas C. Ragan
Sponsor, Ajit Persaud
Rona C.* and Arthur E. Rosenbaum Sponsors, Tzytle Steinman
John Ryland and Karen Craig Ryland Sponsors, Cameron Rolling
The Savada-Stevenson Family Sponsors, Winona Martin Sponsors, Jonathan Patton
Michael Sekus and Bianca Russo Sponsors, Catherine Thornsley
Martin* and Dagni Senzel Sponsors, Seiyoung Kim
Thomas Simpson
Sponsor, Joshua Thomas
Patsy Smith
Sponsor, Christian Olson
Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante Sponsors, Emma Sucato
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Turner III Sponsors, Xiao Xiao
Kara Unterberg Sponsor, Truman Tinius
Debra A. Valentine and Jill V. Gardiner Sponsors, Nadja Simmonds
Mark Luis Villamar and Esther Milsted Sponsors, Alexandra Sanchez
Bill and Theda White, Sponsors, Kyle Sanchez Tingzon
Michael Young and Debra Raskin Sponsors, Amanda Sheriff
Jean Sincere Zambello Young Artist Kailee Regan Brandt
Ann Ziff
Sponsor, Clancy Ellis
GLIMMERGLASS APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM SPONSORS
We thank the following individuals for their generous contributions to underwrite this season’s Glimmerglass Apprenticeship Program or to sponsor an individual apprentice.
Denise Littlefield Sobel Sponsor, 2024 Glimmerglass Apprenticeship Program
The John Conklin Internship Fund Sponsor, 2024 Scenic Design Apprentice
The Guild of the Glimmerglass Festival Sponsor, Doris P. Shields Artistic Administration Apprentice
2024 APPRENTICE SPONSORS
Anonymous
James E. Ballowe Jr.
Elizabeth Borden
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Jeffrey P. Cunard and Mariko Ikehara
Clover M. Drinkwater
Mr. and Mrs. David E. Farquhar
Kathleen Mulhern Johnson and
Bruce Ray Johnson
Laurel McKee
The John J. Pohanka Family Foundation
Robert L. Turner
GENERAL PROGRAM SUPPORT
Anonymous
Eugenia and David Ames
Richard A Backer
Dennis N. Banks
Jim and Nancy Barton
David and Ann Beightol
Carol Beechy and Kathryn Boardman
Matt Brown
Greg Buch
Georg O. Budenbender and Dr. Katherine Elwyn
Thomas F. Cannon and Joseph Harding
Patricia and John Chadwick
Dianne Kay and Lawrence J. Ciano
Donald Clinton and Karen Wilkin
Pamela T. Crane
Duke Dang and Charles Rosen
Donald Eckert and Terry Foster
Daniel Egan and Kate Glasner
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Marci Douglas and Lawrence Pollack
Drs. Jane A. Feisthamel and Mary Margaret Snyder
Noushin and Greg Framke
Henry and Helen Freedman
Charles and Linda Garnett
Joseph F. Godfrey and Keith Halstead
Roe Goodman and Enriqueta Carrington
Lisa Heilman-Cozzalio
Susan Henderson
Jean and Norbert Herzog
Richard S. Hoffman
Maisie Houghton
Kendall Hubert
Susan Huxtable and Joseph Novitski
Marc Isserles
Patricia Kavanagh and James Grant
Ken and Susan Kramer
Janet Little
Thomas and Alison Lord
Serena Black Martin and Alexander Byers Martin Jr.
Todd Martin
Abigail Mason
Natasha Mehta and Nathan Heller
Sage Mehta and Michael Robinson
John and Susanna Membrino
Gary Mezzatesta
Ann and Don Morrison
Melanie and David Niemiec
Stephanie and Jim Patrick
Mr. Nicholas Preston and Mr. Gary Cassinelli
Paulette and Julian Rackow
Thomas C. Ragan
Irmeli Ratnik
Michael and Sharon Rebell
Elsie and Thom Rhodes
Kelley Rourke
John Ryland and Karen Craig Ryland
Paul Samuels and Nurit Margulies
Nancy Sills and Franklin Moss
Thomas Simpson
Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante
Anda Stelian and Douglas Glucroft
Alexandra Subbarao
Woody and Gregg Swain
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Turner III
Tad and Kara Van Norden
David Verdi and Bernadette Rubino-Verdi
Jayne Warman and Ernest Harris
Andrew Weiss and Marc Osterweil
Earl D. Weiner
Dustin Z West
Dr. F. Todd and Laura Wetzel
Michael Young and Debra Raskin
Joanne Jablow Yunich and
Robert H. Yunich
Ann Ziff
PHOTOS: MARGARITA CORPORAN
GALA
We recognize those individuals and corporations who gave in support of our Annual Spring Gala, which directly benefits our Young Artists Program, Apprenticeship Program, and our Youth Opera programs.
Anonymous
A Rose is a Rose Florist
Rob Ainsley and Micah Waldstein
Amica Insurance
Richard A Backer
Shanel Bailey
Dianne Balfour and Carl Adkins
Jim and Nancy Barton
Andrea Beasom
David and Ann Beightol
Mikaela Bennett
Ellen Berelson and Larry Franks
Truman and Ludmila Bidwell
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Dwayne Brown
Georg O. Budenbender and Dr. Katherine Elwyn
Justine Burke
Thomas F. Cannon and Joseph Harding
Katrina F.C. Cary
Patricia and John Chadwick
Donald Clinton and Karen Wilkin
Joseph and Susan Colaneri
Emilie Roy Corey
Ms. Beatrice Crumbine
Wendy Curtis
Anne McBride Curtis-Fischer
Duke Dang and Charles Rosen
Martin D’Arce, TMD Concepts, LTD
Kristin Kovner de Guzmán
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Paula DiPerna
Marci Douglas and Lawrence Pollack
Donald Eckert and Terry Foster
Swift Edgar
Kathleen and Dale Eisele
Tara Erraught
Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
Mary Flower
Noushin and Greg Framke
Henry and Helen Freedman
Charles and Linda Garnett
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello
Christian Mark Gibbs
Abby Kreh Gibson
Eve Gigliotti
Nellie and Robert Gipson
Beth and Gary Glynn
Steven and Susan Gold
Sherwin M. Goldman
Robbie Gordy
Nicole Alfandre Halbreiner
Carla Hall
Gemma Hall
The Raymond Han and Paul Kellogg Foundation
Kimberly Hastie and Timothy Welch
Marilynn and John Hill
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar
Marc Hom
Kendall Hubert
Susan Huxtable and Joseph Novitski
Dr. Martin Ihrig
The Image Press
Marc Isserles
Helen I. Jessup
Dudley D. and Carole H. Johnson
Mark Kachigian and Anne Powrie-Smith
Patricia Kavanagh and James Grant
Emilie Kealani
Hon. and Mrs. M. Langhorne Keith
Gail and Ed Kitch
Ken and Susan Kramer
Chad Lawrenz
Evan Lazdowski
The LeCours Family
Ann and William Lieff
Kylee Loera
Thomas and Alison Lord
Serena Black Martin and Alexander Byers Martin Jr.
Todd Martin
Ann McChord
Linn Cary Mehta
Natasha Mehta and Nathan Heller
Sage Mehta and Michael Robinson
Gary Mezzatesta
Irene R. Miller
Amber Monroe
Rachel Moore and Harry Dodson
Tom Morgan and Erna Morgan McReynolds
Ann and Don Morrison
Christina Murphy
Janet Nelson
Melanie and David Niemiec
Daniel O’Hearn
Stephanie and Jim Patrick
Jonathan Patton
PJ Green
Mr. Nicholas Preston and Mr. Gary Cassinelli
Matthew Price and Veerle Daenen
Paulette and Julian Rackow
Thomas C. Ragan
Hon. Susan Phillips Read
Michael and Sharon Rebell
Maurice Rocca
Kelley Rourke
Matt Rubin
John Ryland and Karen Craig Ryland
David and Melanie Samuels
Paul Samuels and Nurit Margulies
Beth Sapery and Rosita Sarnoff
Lisa Sarajian
Dr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Sculco
Margarita Sears
Michael Sekus and Bianca Russo
Dagni Senzel
Nancy Sills and Franklin Moss
Thomas Simpson
Tamara and Michael Sload
Grant and Jacqui Smith
Patsy Smith
Thurmond Smithgall
Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante
Snyder Printer Inc
Denise Littlefield Sobel
Adam and Ann Spence
Eugene and Jean Stark
Robert M. Steiner and Faith Pleasanton
Anda Stelian and Douglas Glucroft
Jane Stewart
Mira Stulman
Elizabeth Sutphen
Woody and Gregg Swain
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Turner III
Robert L. Turner
Debra A. Valentine and Jill V. Gardiner
Tad and Kara Van Norden
Emma Vaughn and Ravi Agrawal
David Verdi and Bernadette Rubino-Verdi
Mark Luis Villamar and Esther Milsted
Rose Wadsworth
Jayne Warman and Ernest Harris
Tom Watson
Earl D. Weiner
Grant Wenaus
Dustin Z West
Dr. F. Todd and Laura Wetzel
Michael Young and Debra Raskin
Lisa and Ben Zeskind
Ann Ziff
GIFTS IN-KIND
We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals, organizations and businesses, who donated goods, time, talent, or services over the past year. Contributions range from furnishings for seasonal staff residences, to books, vehicles, professional services, hosting of staff or artists during business travel, the donation of performances at gatherings, and more.
25 Main Art Gallery
Rob Ainsley
A Rose is a Rose Florist
Dr. Jeffrey Bailey and Tobin Ost
Barnyard Swing Miniature Golf
Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Joseph Colaneri
Cooperstown Farmers Market
Wendy Curtis
Martin D’Arce - TMD Concepts, LTD
Hans deWaal
Five Star Subaru
Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard
Russell Gilbert
Robbie Gordy
JK Hage III
Allison Hill-Edgar
Nancy Iversen
Kate’s Upstate
Lyoncher Bed and Breakfast
Norma Meacham of Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP
Marty Ricciardi of Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP
Amanda Rodd
SPECIAL EVENTS HOSTS AND ARTISTS
Margarita Sears
Justin Silverman
Ted Snowdon
Stagecoach Coffee
Sunflower Cafe
Tin Bin Alley
Unlimited Solutions Catering
Micah Waldstein
Tom Watson
Dustin Z West
Michael Young
Law Office of Douglas H. Zamelis
Thank you to the following artists, institutions and friends who donated services for our Gala or lectures, or performed at or hosted patron events over the past year.
Rob Ainsley
Shanel Bailey
Andrea Beasom
Mikaela Bennett
Maria Alberico Brindisi
Dwayne Brown
Justin Burgess
The Century Club of Syracuse
Christ Church Greenwich
Joseph Colaneri
Cosmopolitan Club, NYC
Martin D’Arce
Allegra De Vita
Ruby Dibble
Tara Erraught
Fort Orange Club, Albany
Christian Mark Gibbs
Eve Gigliotti
Robbie Gordy
Andrea Grant
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar
Marc Hom
Emilie Kealani
Magdalena Kuźma
Evan Lazdowski
Winona Martin
Alex McKissick
Amber Monroe
Munson Museum of Art, Utica
Tshilidzi Ndou
Daniel O’Hearn
Jonathan Patton
Mo Rocca
Kelley Rourke
John Ryland and Karen Craig Ryland
Alexandra Sanchez
Hon. Joan Shkane
The Signet Society
Elizabeth Sutphen
Catherine Thornsley
Ethel Trujillo
Tom Watson
Grant Wenaus
Olivier Zerouali
JK Hage
PHOTO: MARGARITA CORPORAN
THE ZAMBELLO GAY TRIBUTE FUND
In honor of Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello, The Zambello Gay Tribute Fund was established in 2022 and will be used to underwrite Artists-in-Residence (a position created by Francesca during her tenure), along with educational and community programming at The Glimmerglass Festival for seasons to come. To make a gift to this ongoing Fund, please contact Caryn Reeves, Director of Development, at (607) 547-0700 x238.
Anonymous (3)
Carol Affourtit
Kathryn Allen
Amica Insurance
Dennis Banks
Felicia H. Blum
Boss Landscape LLC
Elaine C. and Marc Bresee
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Patricia Carrier
Patricia and John Chadwick
Linda Chesis and John Guiton
Joseph and Susan Colaneri
Community Foundation of Otsego County
Wendy Curtis
Deb and Jim Dalton
Anna and Paul D’Ambrosio
Mr. and Mrs. Johannes de Waal
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Albin Deysenroth
Gaylord and Nicole Dillingham
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard
Frank Farmer and Frank Kolbert
Drs. Jane A. Feisthamel and Mary Margaret Snyder
The Fernleigh Foundation First Presbyterian Church Cooperstown
TRIBUTES
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello
Nellie and Robert Gipson
The Glimmerglass Festival Production Staff
Christine Goerke
Maria JR Goncalves
Pati and Kevin Grady
Robert and Patricia Hanft
Allison and W. Keyes Hill-Edgar
Jim and Cathy Howarth
Celeste Johns and Chris Kjolhede
Jeff and Karen Katz
Patricia Kavanagh and James Grant
Dianne Kay and Lawrence J. Ciano
Hon. and Mrs. M. Langhorne Keith
Marion King
Maureen Kuhn and Caralee Carney
L.M. Townsend Catering
Brent and Mary Leonard/Carefree Gardens
Gregory Long and Scott Newman
David and Millie McCoy
Sage Mehta and Michael Robinson
Michael and Cory Moffat
Tom Morgan and Erna Morgan McReynolds
Katharine Muir and Kenneth Witty
Alan and Linda Nelson and Family
Janet Nelson
M. Anne O’Connell
Michael Olding and Chris Morrison
Following are honors received from May 10, 2023 to May 15, 2024.
IN HONOR OF ROB AINSLEY
Anonymous (2)
Lou Allstadt and Melinda Hardin
Susan Antos and Edward Fallon
Sharin Apostolou and Ryan MacPherson
Vige Barrie and Jim Frederick
Ellen Berelson and Larry Franks
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Matt Brown
Kayellen Button and Bruce Loveys
Patricia Carrier
Karyl Clemens
Donald Clinton and Karen Wilkin
Jane and Siobhan Cornell
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Martha Monteleone Duke
Allen R. and Judy Brick Freedman
Glimmerglass Gals
The Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra
Players Association
William and Cynthia Goertemoeller
The Guild of Glimmerglass Festival
Gemma Hall
Michael Halloran
Trevor Potter and Dana Westring
Robert and Peggy Poulson
Thomas C. Ragan
Elsie and Thom Rhodes
Dr. and Mrs. William Richtsmeier
Rotary Club of Cooperstown
Beth Sapery and Rosita Sarnoff
Senator and Mrs. James L. Seward
Albert H. Shaheen Memorial Fund at The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties
Dr. Larry R. Shannon II and Mrs. Candice Shannon
Simple Integrity LLC
Patsy Smith
Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante
Eugene and Jean Stark
Ken and Carol Steigelman
Richard Sternberg
Ellen Tillapaugh and Gary Kuch
Debra A. Valentine and Jill V. Gardiner
We Energies Foundation
John Webb and Nelson Mondaca
Mr. and Mrs. William Weldon III
Dr. F. Todd and Laura Wetzel
Michael Young and Debra Raskin
Douglas and Cheryl Zamelis
The Raymond Han and Paul Kellogg Foundation
Robert and Patricia Hanft
Stephen Harrison
Jennifer Potter Hayes
The Hill-Edgar Family
The Horvath Family
Susan Huxtable and Joseph Novitski
Kathleen Mulhern Johnson and Bruce Ray Johnson
Anne and Lang Keith
Daniel Kempton
Clayton C. Kirking and Edward J. Sullivan
Harry and Ellen Levine
Linda Loomis
Massage Therapy by Kristin Sloth
Carol Ann McKeen and John Dunton
Jackie Metzger
Katharine Muir and Kenneth Witty
Janet Nelson
Bill Packard and Charles Ihlenfeld
Drs. Jeanne and Richard Porter
Sharon Rankins-Burd
Elsie and Thom Rhodes
Rotary Club of Cooperstown
The Savada-Stevenson Family
Margaret Savoie
Sandra Seaton
Senator James and Cindy Seward
Thomas Simpson
Eugene and Jean Stark
Dov and Tom Treiman
Debra A. Valentine and Jill V. Gardiner
Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert T. Vincent
Ronald and Bette R. Wagner
Drs. Hueldine Webb and Lester W. Blair
Dr. F. Todd and Laura Wetzel
Molly Wilkinson
Michael Young and Debra Raskin
Deborah and Michael Zahn
Howard Zar and Ray Kurdziel
IN HONOR OF ROB AINSLEY AND FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO
Timothy and Kara O’Leary
IN HONOR OF LAUREN BAILEY
Nancy and Scott Bailey
IN HONOR OF PATRICIA W. CHADWICK
Amica Insurance
IN HONOR OF MAESTRO JOSEPH COLANERI
Eugenia and David Ames
Barbara Glauber
Michael Presser
Paulette and Julian Rackow
Jerry and Marisabel Raymond
IN HONOR OF JAMIE COY AND JUSTIN STEENSMA
Sylvia Epstein
IN HONOR OF WENDY CURTIS
Anonymous
IN HONOR OF PETER DUCHIN
Laurence Keiser and Susan Accetta
IN HONOR OF MARY DUNKLE
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN HONOR OF ELIZABETH EVEILLARD
Ann and William Lieff
Rachel Moore and Harry Dodson
IN HONOR OF BETTY EVEILLARD AND SHERWIN GOLDMAN
Faith E. Gay and Francesca Zambello
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Kristin Kovner de Guzmán
IN HONOR OF FAITH GAY
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
IN HONOR OF FAITH GAY AND FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO
Elsie and Thom Rhodes
IN HONOR OF THE GLIMMERGLASS DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
IN HONOR OF THE GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL STAFF
Elsie and Thom Rhodes
IN HONOR OF THE GLIMMERGLASS PERCUSSION SECTION
Martin Ricciardi and Heidi Nicholson
IN HONOR OF THE GLIMMERGLASS VOLUNTEER CHORUS
Mr. and Mrs. David E. Farquhar
IN HONOR OF SHERWIN GOLDMAN
Beth Sapery and Rosita Sarnoff
Thurmond Smithgall
IN HONOR OF ERIKA HALL
Barbara H. Mulhern
IN HONOR OF ALLISON HILL-EDGAR
Bob and Sally Edgar
IN HONOR OF ALLISON AND KEYES HILL-EDGAR
Todd Martin
Adam and Ann Spence
IN HONOR OF AVA CLAIRE HUBERT
Kendall Hubert
IN HONOR OF MARY MARGARET KUHN
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN HONOR OF MAY AND JAMES LEINHART
Ashley Remmers
IN HONOR OF ANDREA LYONS AND REBECCA GILL
Margarita Sears
IN HONOR OF ANDREW J. MARTIN-WEBER
Beatrice Disman
IN HONOR OF BILL MCCOLL
Diane Deacon
IN HONOR OF SAGE MEHTA
Gordon and Sarah Faux
IN HONOR OF ERIKA MOORE AND RICHARD BACKER
Steven and Susan Gold
IN HONOR OF JOEL MORAIN
Albert Guditis and Corine Gibson
IN HONOR OF BARBARA MULHERN
Anonymous
IN HONOR OF ROBERT NELSON
Nellie and Robert Gipson
IN HONOR OF ROBERT NELSON AND VAN BROUGHTON RAMSEY
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
William and Cynthia Goertemoeller
Maria JR Goncalves
Maureen Kuhn and Caralee Carney
Alan and Linda Nelson and Family
Eugene and Jean Stark
Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Turner III
Debra A. Valentine and Jill V. Gardiner
IN HONOR OF ERIC OWENS
Drs. Hueldine Webb and Lester W. Blair
IN HONOR OF VICTOR POLESHUCK
Ellen Poleshuck
IN HONOR OF ABBY RODD
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
IN HONOR OF ABBY RODD AND JOEL MORAIN
Dr. and Mrs. Gilbert T. Vincent
IN HONOR OF DR. LARRY SHANNON
Willson Powell
IN HONOR OF JOAN SHKANE
Matthew and Elizabeth Worth
IN HONOR OF TED SNOWDON
Donald Eckert and Terry Foster
Joe Godfrey
Woody and Gregg Swain
IN HONOR OF TED SNOWDON AND DUFFY VIOLANTE
Irene R. Miller
IN HONOR OF ED AND MARY LEE TURNER
Anda Stelian and Douglas Glucroft
IN HONOR OF LAURA WETZEL
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN HONOR OF DR. MARY ANNE WHELAN
Anonymous
IN HONOR OF MICHAEL YOUNG
The Raymond Han and Paul Kellogg Foundation
Frank and Sidney Maas
Kathleen Roberts
Nancy Sills and Franklin Moss
IN HONOR OF MICHAEL YOUNG AND DEBRA RASKIN
Nina Brodsky and Alan Kleinman
Marci Douglas and Lawrence Pollack
David and Melanie Samuels
IN HONOR OF FRANCESCA ZAMBELLO
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
MEMORIALS
Following are memorials received from May 10, 2023 to May 15, 2024.
IN MEMORY OF HELEN ANBINDER
Paul Anbinder
IN MEMORY OF DAVID S. BAKER
Vera S. Baker
IN MEMORY OF FRANK W. BARRIE (1950-2023)
Gerald and Grace Sun
IN MEMORY OF ERNEST J. BEAUDOIN
James S. Covey and James P. Zabawa
IN MEMORY OF JOHN AND PETER BLACK
Anonymous
IN MEMORY OF FRAN BLIVEN
Dennis N. Banks
Christine McNaughton
Angie Richards
IN MEMORY OF BLUE
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
IN MEMORY OF ED BRAZINSKY
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN MEMORY OF KATHERINE F.C. CARY
Katrina F.C. Cary and Linn Cary Mehta
IN MEMORY OF CAROL SAVAGE DAVIS
Amanda Savage Mahoney
IN MEMORY OF MARY KAY DEVITA
Vincent T. DeVita MD
IN MEMORY OF DOLLY
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
IN MEMORY OF EDYTHE THURBER DONOVAN
Nena Donovan Levine
IN MEMORY OF DON DRAKE
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN MEMORY OF FAYE DUDDEN
Padma Kaimal and Andrew Rotter
IN MEMORY OF CONSTANTINE EVANS
Pamela T. Crane
IN MEMORY OF DONALD M. FENNER
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Sue Drake
Jamie A. Ferguson
Abby Kreh Gibson
William and Cynthia Goertemoeller
The Guild of the Glimmerglass Festival
Dianne Kay and Lawrence J. Ciano
Ron and Melissa Komora
Charles “Jud” Pannaci
Grant and Charlotte Phillips
Corinne M. Plummer
Nicholas G. Russell
Susan Sporer and Mary Cameli
IN MEMORY OF DON AND MARY ELLEN FENNER
Dennis N. Banks
Greg Buch
Carla Connors and Timothy Hoekman
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
Susan Huxtable and Joseph Novitski
Christine McNaughton
Barbara H. Mulhern
Dr. Charles F. and Ann-Marie Schwartz
Julia A Scranton
Thomas Simpson
Cynthia and David Staley
Monica Talarico
IN MEMORY OF ROBERT L. FRIEDLANDER, MD
Mary Lou, Suzan, and Rebecca Friedlander
IN MEMORY OF DR. SHEP FRIEDMAN
In Memory of Shep Friedman by Family
Richard J., Marisa and Jenna Sternberg
IN MEMORY OF WENDY FULLER-MORA
Jeffrey G. Mora
IN MEMORY OF LUCY “BUNNY” HAMILTON
Felicia H. Blum
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
The Fernleigh Foundation
Krista Montesano-Peterson
Barbara H. Mulhern
IN MEMORY OF KENNETH G. HANCE, JR.
Caryn and Jamie Reeves
IN MEMORY OF DR. BRUCE HARRIS
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN MEMORY OF ELI AND DOROTHY HOCHMAN
Lisa Hochman
IN MEMORY OF HOWIE
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
IN MEMORY OF CAROL J. HUDSON
Dr. John B. Hudson
IN MEMORY OF JOYCE MCCOY HUPPER
Craig and Susan Hupper
IN MEMORY OF GUNLEIF JACOBSEN
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN MEMORY OF GISELA C. JAKUBOWSKI
Michael Jakubowski
IN MEMORY OF RICHARD D. JOHNSON
Abby Kreh Gibson
Isabelle L. Niles
Nicholas G. Russell
IN MEMORY OF RICHARD AND HARRIETT JOHNSON
Dennis N. Banks
Rita Emanuel and John Anagnost
IN MEMORY OF F. H. KULHAWY
Gloria Kulhawy
IN MEMORY OF HELEN KWAN
Anonymous
IN MEMORY OF DR. DAN LARKIN
Grace E. Larkin
IN MEMORY OF LOUIS LASAGNA
Mosie Lasagna
IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL LEVIN
Christine Ims, Jeanne and Cynthia Levin
In memory of Michael Levin, beloved husband, son, and brother, and Concertmaster of The Glimmerglass Opera from 1987-2008.
IN MEMORY OF ROSLYN AND IRVING LEVINE
Rona Lucas
IN MEMORY OF ‘COUSIN PETER’ LOVELL
Susan Huxtable and Joseph Novitski
IN MEMORY OF NANCY M. MACLEOD
Joan Chrisler and Chris Bishop
IN MEMORY OF PETER MACRIS
Vera Talevi
IN MEMORY OF ANNE C. MAIER
Martha Maier
IN MEMORY OF F. X. MATT II
F. X. Matt II Memorial Fund
IN MEMORY OF AMANDA MAY
The Family of Amanda May
IN MEMORY OF REED METZGER, MD
Linda Metzger
IN MEMORY OF FRANCIS D. AND MARCELLA A. MORAN
Michael J. Moran
IN MEMORY OF HARRY R. MYERS
Thomas W. Myers
IN MEMORY OF PAUL R. OSTERMAN
Sue O’Neil
IN MEMORY OF FRANK PAXTON
Joyce Ball Paxton
IN MEMORY OF PEPPER
Van Broughton Ramsey and Robert Nelson
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
IN MEMORY OF DOUGLAS CAMERON PLUMMER
Abby Kreh Gibson
Daniel M. Meyers
IN MEMORY OF VANCE RICHARDS
Angie Richards
IN MEMORY OF MAESTRO STEWART ROBERTSON
Dennis N. Banks
Ruth Berry
Susan and Brian Debronsky
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Suzan D. Friedlander
Lisa Heilman-Cozzalio and Victor Cozzalio
Kathleen Mulhern Johnson and Bruce Ray Johnson
Barbara H. Mulhern
Nicholas G. Russell
IN MEMORY OF ROBERT B. SCHLATHER
Pete and Christina Townsend and Family
IN MEMORY OF CLARE D. SCOTT
Susan Clare Scott
IN MEMORY OF WILL SEARS
Margarita Sears
IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH SEROKA
Jean Seroka
IN MEMORY OF CONRAD C. SHECK
Conrad L. Sheck
IN MEMORY OF EDWARD W. STACK
Anonymous
The Stack Family
IN MEMORY OF CARMEL S. SULLIVAN
Charles, Anthony and Brian Sullivan
IN MEMORY OF DAVID SVAHN
Barbara H. Mulhern
IN MEMORY OF DAVID TATHAM
Cleota Reed
IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL WILLIS
Joan Desens and Simon Carr-Ellison
Suzan D. Friedlander
Ms. Jane Wylie Genth
Barbara H. Mulhern
Charles “Jud” Pannaci
Nicholas G. Russell
Carol S. Scheele
Thomas Simpson
PHOTO: BRENT DELANOY
BOB DYLAN REMASTERED: Drawings from the Road
May 25 – September 15
An exhibition celebrating yet another aspect of Bob Dylan’s creativity: his talents in visual art. Dylan started what is known as his “Never Ending Tour” in 1988. As he traveled through North America, Europe, and Asia, he sketched glimpses of his life on the road. Dylan made three different collections of his drawings by “remastering” these works, adding vivid watercolor and gouache to digital enlargements of the drawings to create a new, special edition set entitled “The Drawn Blank Series.”
Sponsored in part by The Clark Foundation and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O. Putnam.
This exhibition was provided by Pan Art Connections.
Image created by Taina Väisänen/TAKT Oy & Janne Alhonpää/Ensemble Oy
Banksy: The Haight Street Rat
May 18 – September 8
Above: Miley Cyrus, singer-songwriter, New York City, USA, 2003
Right: Haight Street Rat, 2010, Banksy. Aerosol - stencil on redwood siding
Sponsored in part by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O. Putnam, and Nellie and Robert Gipson.
Sponsored in part by The Clark Foundation and Nellie and Robert Gipson.
VICTOR DeRENZI,
RICHARD RUSSELL, General Director
Dean Burry
Nov. 9 & 10, 2024
Sarasota Youth Opera
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
Pietro Mascagni AND
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Feb. 15 – March 29, 2025
Gioachino Rossini
Feb. 22 – March 29, 2025
Nov. 15 & 17, 2024
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
March 8 – 28, 2025
Giuseppe Verdi
March 15 – 30, 2025
The ultimate opera immersion experience—see all four Sarasota Opera winter productions in as few as 3 days. Available March 19-30, 2025.
JUNE 27–JULY 21
MAY 16–JUNE 1
in association with Bay Street Theater & Geva Theatre Center book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan music and lyrics by Mel Brooks original direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
Amy Herzog directed by Lizzie Gottlieb featuring Evan Silverstein, Gabriela Torres, Maria Tucci & Allison Ye
JULY 26–AUGUST 31
music direction by Eric Svejcar choreography by Gerry McIntyre directed by Stuart Ross
JUNE 13–JULY 14
written by Robert E. Sherwood directed by David Auburn movement by Isadora Wolfe
SEPTEMBER 26–OCTOBER 27
Berkshire Opera Festival 2024 Season
Gounod’s
FAUST
Saturday, August 24, 1:00 PM
Tuesday, August 27, 7:30 PM
Friday, August 30, 7:30 PM
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Great Barrington, MA
Sung in French with projected English translations
It’s the original “Faustian bargain” — old Dr. Faust sells his soul to the devil to be young again. But his decision has devastating consequences. This story of tragedy and redemption is Gounod’s masterpiece, and it stands at the summit of French romantic opera. Surging with memorable and timeless music, it has remained one of the world’s most popular operas ever since its premiere.
The Glimmerglass Festival is committed to the safety and comfort of our guests and company members. Our policies and procedures are based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and regulations from state and local governments, as well as the best practices in the performing arts industry, the recommendations of leading epidemiologists, and our Health & Safety Task Force, which works in collaboration with medical advisors and local public health officials. All policies and procedures regarding the health and safety of our audience members are kept up-to-date at glimmerglass.org/faq.
TICKET KIOSK
AND AUDIENCE SERVICES
The Alfred F. Hubay Box Office at the theater opens 90 minutes before performances and closes after intermission. For ticket information, call (607) 547-2255.
The Audience Services Desk, located on the Paul Kellogg Terrace at the front of the theater, opens 90 minutes prior to curtain and remains open through each performance. We welcome your comments and suggestions, and we are happy to answer your questions.
The Marketplace, adjacent to the theater, is open two hours before curtain and during intermission; wine, beer, nonalcoholic beverages, specialty wraps, sandwiches, salads and desserts are available. The gift shop opens two hours before all performances and remains open through the end of all shows; it is also open between performances on Saturdays.
RESTROOMS
Restrooms are located between the Marketplace and the Pavilion. Gender diversity is welcomed here. All are encouraged to use the bathroom that best reflects their gender identity or expression.
EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBER
Doctors on call may leave their seat locations and electronic paging devices at the Audience Services Desk. Please leave any active cell phones at the Audience Services Desk.
LOST AND FOUND
Lost and found items should be reported to the Audience Services Desk. Please call the Administrative Office at (607) 547-0700 with inquiries about lost items.
CHILDREN
Everyone must have a ticket to enter the theater. Young children must be accompanied by adults. No babes-inarms or children sitting in the laps of adults.
PETS
Service dogs only, please. Unattended pets are not allowed on the grounds. Please do not leave a pet in or around your vehicle.
SMOKING
Smoking is permitted in select areas, which are at least 100 feet from all rooflines. This policy covers traditional, electronic, and alternative smoking devices.
ACCESSIBILITY
If you have special needs or require assistance, please contact our Box Office at (607) 547-2255 at least 48 hours in advance of your visit to The Glimmerglass Festival. Special parking permits are available upon request.
Assisted listening devices are complimentary and may be picked up at the Audience Services Desk at the front of the theater one hour prior to the performance. Headphones, earbuds, and neck loops are offered to connect to our receivers.
RECYCLING
The Glimmerglass Festival is committed to recycling. Please help us by bringing your program back to subsequent performances. Also, please use the appropriate receptacles located throughout the grounds for disposing of trash and/or recyclable materials.
INSIDE THE THEATER
Smoking, eating, and open beverages are not allowed in the theater; however, audience members are welcome to bring beverages in
Glimmerglass “sippy cups” (available in the Marketplace) and water in nonglass bottles inside. The taking of photographs and the use of any audio and/or video recording devices is prohibited by law. Please silence all paging devices and cell phones.
All casting is subject to change.
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Emergency exits are clearly marked at the front and rear of the theater. Please note the location of the exits when seated. Patrons are requested to use the exits located near the stage in an emergency only.
In the case of a situation demanding the theater be evacuated, you will be notified. Please follow the direction of the ushers and move in a calm and orderly way to the best exit as indicated by the corresponding shading in the diagram below.
FIRE EXITS
EMERGENCY EVACUATION PLAN
Orchestra Level
Rows A-H and Lower Boxes: exit via the doors near the stage. Rows J-N, Rows AA-FF, and Special Seating; exit via the main doors at the rear of the theater.
Balcony Level
Rows A-E (Seats 17-31), Rows F-G (Seats 1-15) and Upper Box Right: exit via the door near the stage on the right. Rows A-E (Seats 18-32), Rows F-G (Seats 2-16) and Upper Box Left: exit via the door near the stage on the aisle. Rows A-F (Seats 1-17, 2-18 and 101- 116): exit via the main staircases near the rear of the theater.
Once outside the theater, please move away from the building and await further instructions from the ushers.
Scenery and Props for The Pirates of Penzance are rented and owned by Atlanta Opera and Palm Beach Opera.
Scenery and Props for Pagliacci, La Calisto, Elizabeth Cree and Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children constructed by the Glimmerglass Festival Scene Shop.
Special thanks to Hans de Waal and Ed Bello, Jr for their help with the outdoor stage.
Special thanks to Brian Smith of Pacemaker Steel & Piping Company, and Mike George of George Lumber for scenic support.
Costumes for The Pirates of Penzance are rented and owned by Opera Theater of St. Louis and Virginia Opera with builds by Dawson Tailors.
Costumes for Pagliacci were built by the Glimmerglass Festival Costume Shop.
Costumes for La Calisto were built by the Glimmerglass Festival Costume Shop, Ellen Danforth, and Tetsuo Tamanaha.
Costumes for Elizabeth Cree were built by the Glimmerglass Festival Costume Shop, Ellen Bredehoft, Grace Cochran Keenan, and Christopher Schramm.
Costumes for Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children were built by the Glimmerglass Festival Costume Shop.
Season lighting equipment provided by 4Wall, New York, NY.
Workplace health and safety training programs provided by HealthWorks Occupational Health Services, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY; and Otsego County Emergency Services, Cooperstown, NY.
Rehearsal facilities have been made available by Cherry ValleySpringfield Central School, Cherry Valley, NY; Springfield Center Community Center, Springfield Center, NY; Grace Episcopal Church, Cherry Valley, NY; St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Springfield Center, NY.
The Glimmerglass Festival thanks Fenimore Chamber Orchestra Inc. for the use of their Hubbard Flemish single manual harpsichord during the 2024 season.
Special thanks to Glimmerglass Medical & Wellness, PLLC. for collaborating on and leading the inaugural season of the Glimmerglass Health & Wellness Program.
Auditing services are provided by Grossman St. Amour CPAs, PLLC.
Legal council provided by Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP.
Marketing consulting provided by Neverdark Consulting and NUMAD Group.
PROGRAM BOOK
Editor: Kira DeLanoy
Contributors/Proofreaders:
Rob Ainsley
Lauren Bailey
Mark Campbell
Whitney Campbell
Mark Conchie
Jay E. Condon
Joan Desens
Rebecca Gill
Andrea Grant
Jens Ibsen
Lisa Lawrence
Andrea Lyons
Esther Nelson
Wyatt Nyman
Cecelia Raker
Caryn Reeves
Nick Richardson
Abby Rodd
Kelley Rourke
Emmet Sellars
Amy Tompkins
Michael Young
Design: Emily Falco
Cover design by Emily Falco from a photo by Karli Cadel.
