Don Giovanni 2024

D O N G I OVA N N I Wol fg a ng A made u s Moz a r t

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PLAYBILL

D O N G I OVA N N I Wol fg a ng A made u s Moz a r t

Artistic Staff.................................................................... 32 Cast................................................................................. 23 Donors............................................................................ 38 Educational Outreach....................................................... 9 Emergency Exit Information............................................. 5 Greensboro Opera Board of Trustees............................... 11 Greensboro Opera Charter Members.............................. 13 Greensboro Opera Chorus.............................................. 36 Greensboro Opera Orchestra........................................... 36 Greensboro Opera Past Presidents................................... 37 History of the Greensboro Opera.................................... 40 Honor and Memory Gifts............................................... 39 Index of Advertisers......................................................... 41 Jane Harris Armfield Award............................................. 15 Jewelry Authority Appreciation....................................... 21 Letter from the President................................................... 5 Meet the Artists............................................................... 24 Message from the General and Artistic Director................ 7 Program Note ................................................................. 16 Special Thanks................................................................... 7 Synopsis.......................................................................... 18 3

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Letter From the President Welcome to Autumn!

Greensboro Opera proudly presents Mozart’s powerful dramma giocoso Don Giovanni in a semi-staged, costumed production with full orchestra, chorus and surtitles. The opera premiered 237 years ago on October 29th in Prague; our production features eight dramatically and musically etched characters portrayed and sung by locally and nationally acclaimed artists.

Greensboro Opera is delighted to tell the iconic story of well-born, libertine Don Giovanni whose zesty appetites for wine and women, and whose blasphemous disregard for the dead ultimately hurl him to his just reward.

Greensboro Opera is pleased to collaborate with Greensboro College, whose beautiful Odell Auditorium within the Huggins Performance Center is our home for all three performances.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and our Advisory Board, we welcome you to Don Giovanni’s world, Mozart’s brilliant score, and Da Ponte’s engaging libretto. Greensboro Opera looks forward to new projects and collaborations as we work together to foster the growth of opera and to present professional productions of the highest caliber for the enjoyment, education, and enrichment of the Triad Region of North Carolina. Thank you for joining us – we look forward to seeing you again at Greensboro Opera’s next performances in April. Stay tuned!

Barbara Ann Peters President, Greensboro Opera

EMERGENCY EXIT INFORMATION Patrons are encouraged to take note of exits located on all levels of the auditorium. In an emergency, please use the nearest exit, which may be behind you or different from the one through which you entered.

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Message From the General and Artistic Director Welcome to the first mainstage production of our 2024-2025 season. We hope that you enjoy tonight’s unique format, which I am calling semi-staged concert format.

You will have the luxury of seeing the orchestra on stage, which I think will add to your enjoyment of Mozart’s amazing score. The singers will be between the orchestra and you, our valued patrons.

Don Giovanni is familiar and a favorite to many.

The legend of Don Juan is found in numerous cultures and many point to Tirso de Molina’s 1630 play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest) as the inspiration for his many incarnations. In most operatic treatments, the statue of Donna‘s father, the Commendatore, returns and drags Don Giovanni to hell. Many would think this is appropriate consequence for his callous, selfish, unrepentant, and libertine lifestyle. After all, as Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado says, “the punishment fits the crime.”

The question then becomes how Donna’s father, the Commendatore figures in all this. Where does he come from, what is he seeking, and where does he go? He died protecting his daughter and you could argue in self-defense - this elderly man was no match for the young and accomplished Giovanni.

He came offering a second chance to Don Giovanni and to share a meal with him, if only Giovanni would repent. He challenges Don Giovanni to make an about face and save his soul. When Giovanni refuses, the Statue watches him suffer the consequences.

Thank you for joining us tonight, we hope you enjoy Mozart’s timeless masterpiece.

All my best, David A special thanks to Jane and Richard Levy, Barbara Ann Peters, Janet Hendley, and Katherine Davey for providing accommodations for our artists.

Special thanks to Cox Toyota for providing transportation for our visiting artists.

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Educational Outreach Greensboro Opera has a vibrant, constantly evolving educational program, designed to reach potential opera lovers of all ages within our diverse community. In keeping with Greensboro Opera’s vision, our educational outreach aims to redefine operatic experiences through innovation and interaction.

For over twenty years, our signature program for young people has been Opera at the Carolina, which brings every 5th-grade student in the Guilford County Schools to the historic Carolina Theatre in downtown Greensboro. Teachers receive material in advance to incorporate into lesson plans. Staged and introduced by our General and Artistic Director David Holley, the 45-minute condensed version of an opera from the standard repertoire never fails to delight, as well as educate, thousands of students every year. This program is funded by generous contributions from the school system, The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro, The Cemala Foundation, and The Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation.

An integral part of Opera at the Carolina is a ten-minute opera based on a story submitted by one of the students in the audience. Underwritten by Truist, the Barbara Ann Peters Write Your Own Opera contest was initiated by Barbara Peters in 2010 and renamed for her in 2017. Each spring, 4th-grade students are invited to submit stories and the winning entry is turned into a libretto by David Holley.

For twelve years Elvira Green, Metropolitan Opera veteran and Greensboro Opera’s diva in residence, led an Opera Camp for local pre-teens and teenagers. In June 2022, we reconstituted Opera Camp, partnering with Mt. Zion Baptist Church under the direction of Ms. Green.

The Adult Education Initiative is held at Well-Spring Life Plan Community and features lectures, demonstrations, and musical events related to the Greensboro Opera’s opera productions.

We invite you to keep up with future educational programming by accessing the Greensboro Opera website.

Greensboro Opera is a non-profit resident organization of the Greensboro Cultural Center, made possible by a significant in-kind contribution from Creative Greensboro, the City of Greensboro’s office for arts & culture.

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Staff

David Holley, General and Artistic Director Andrea Allen, Office Manager Stephanie Langford, Marketing Associate

2024-2025 Board of Trustees Executive Committee

Barbara Ann Peters, President Pam Cash, Past President Tom Wright, Treasurer Jennifer Bryant Pederson, Secretary Garrett Saake, VP Artistic Advisory Nancy Sanquist, VP Development Hallie Hogan, VP Education Tom Wright, VP Finance / VP Legal Cliff Bridges, VP Marketing & Communications Sam Magill, VP Nominating Pam Cash, VP Personnel Channelle James, VP Social Justice

Shayla Sharpe, VP Special Events

Board of Trustees Travis Alexander Bill Allred Steven Bingham Deborah Bowers Odell Cleveland Keith Cushman

Lenny Sue French David Karpook Gene Klann Gerald Knight Roberta Laws Nicholas Lindsay

Ben McIndoe Clyde Nolan John L. Palmer James Rushe Jaclyn Surso Matthew Troy

Advisory Board Janet Hendley, Chair Anna Clare Allen David Bray Vanessa Carroll Diane Conrad Jane Curtis Bert Davis, Jr. Jim Exum, Jr.

Jacquelyn Farlow Laura Deane Gresham Carolyn Hall Judy Jolly Priscilla Knox Bill Latture Fred Lopp Charlene Marchant

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Corrie Middleton Mary Miller Barbara Moran Kathryn Troxler Nancy Walker Lollie White

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER GREENSBORO The ACGG is a proud supporter of Greensboro Opera and the difference they make in our community.

Bookmark The ACGG’s events calendar to plan your next night out!

VISIT THEACGG.ORG TO LEARN MORE.

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Greensboro Opera Charter Members BENEFACTORS (Contributors of $1000 or more) Mr. & Mrs. Thaddeus A. Adams III Mrs. Britt M. Armfield Mr. & Mrs. Sion A. Boney Mr. & Mrs. Joseph McKinley Bryan Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Cassell Mr. & Mrs. William O. Cordes Dr. & Mrs. Richard B. Davis Mrs. Bryan Edwards Mr. & Mrs. C. Allen Foster Mrs. E. Pierpoint Gill Mr. & Mrs. Lawton D. Gresham Mr. & Mrs. John Cannon Harmon Mr. & Mrs. L. R. Hodges, Jr. Dr. W. Barlow Inabnet Drs. Marylin & Louis Karmel Mrs. Marion Yates Keith Dr. & Mrs. A. Kelly Maness Mr. & Mrs. Ralph C. Price Mr. & Mrs. James S. Schenck III Mr. & Mrs. Fred A. Sirkel Mr. Henry O. Timnick PATRONS (Contributors of $500 to $999) Mr. & Mrs. Thornton Brooks Mr. Joseph McKinley Bryan, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Alan W. Cone Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Cone Dr. & Mrs. Donald F. Cone Mr. & Mrs. E. Wray Farlow Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Frank Dr. & Mrs. Ronald A. Gioffre Greensboro Hospital Mr. & Mrs. David L. Grimes Dr. & Mrs. Charles M. Hassell Mr. & Mrs. Walter Hornig Mr. & Mrs. Worth B. Hull Dr. & Mrs. Harry W. Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Philip L. Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Paul H. Livingston, Jr. Mrs. Edward Loewenstein Mr. John Caroll May Mrs. Charlotte Thurston Modlin Dr. Jean McAlister Miss Sarah L. McAlister Dr. Louie & Sandy Patseavouras Dr. & Mrs. C.W. Poindexter Mr. & Mrs. William D. Snyder, Jr. Mrs. Marjorie D. Sogg Dr. & Mrs. Carl H. Weatherly Mrs. N. J. R. Wells SPONSORS (Contributors of $150 to $499) Mr. & Mrs. Harry B. Adams Mr. & Mrs. Jack D. Adams Dr. & Mrs. Richard Ames Mrs. William J. Armfield III Mr. & Mrs. William J. Armfield IV Mr. & Mrs. George Asnip Florence & Nathan Ayers Mr. Walter E. Bahno Mr. & Mrs. John E. Barney Mr. Robert H. Barringer, Jr. Mr. David Loren Bass Mr. & Mrs. Thomas R. Beard Dr. & Mrs. R. H. Beaumont Mr. & Mrs. John R. Belfi Mrs. C. Clayton Bell Mr. & Mrs. Martin M. Bernstein Mr. & Mrs. John V. Berry Mr. & Mrs. Joseph L. Berry Drs. Scott & Margaret Bertrand Audrey Teal Betts

Mr. & Mrs. Michael F. Bianco Dr. & Mrs. Robert L Garrard Mr. Olie Bieniemy, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Alfred H. Garvey Dr. & Mrs. William Bodner Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. Gassen Mr. & Mrs. Edwin E. Boone, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Robert Gay Mr. & Mrs. Roy M. Booth Mrs. Carlyle Gee Mr. & Mrs. Robert H. Borden Mr. & Mrs. William Glover Mr. & Mrs. Donald J. Brady Mr. & Mrs. Robert Gnuse Mr. & Mrs. Charles R. Braley, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Gray Dr. & Mrs. Coleman Brantley Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Green Mr. & Mrs. Jay Brame Mrs. Johnney Greer Mr. & Mrs. David E. Bray Mr & Mrs.Harold M. Gutterman Dr. & Mrs. J. Taylor Brooks Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Hagan, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Alex S. Brown, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. John Harden Mr. & Mrs. Paul David Brown Dr. & Mrs. Paul D. Harkins Dr. & Mrs. David Burns Mrs. Albert S. Harley Dr. & Mrs. William C. Burris Mr. & Mrs. George Harris Mr. & Mrs. Thomas J. Byrum Mr. & Mrs. Brooks Haworth Mr. & Mrs. Joseph N. Callicott Mr. & Mrs. Nathaniel P. Hayes, Jr. Dr. David P. Campbell Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Hazelman Mr. & Mrs. Emmett E. Carey Mr. & Mrs. William Hemphill Mr. & Mrs. Carl I. Carlson, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Arthur E. Hendrix Mr. & Mrs. Ronald T. Carswell Dr. & Mrs. William Herring Dr. & Mrs. Philips J. Carter, Jr. Mrs. A. J. Hewitt Mr. & Mrs. David H. Cashwell Mr. & Mrs. Karl N. Hill, Jr. Mr. T. Stephen Chappell Mr. & Mrs. Fred C. Hitchcock, Jr. Mrs. Pam W. Charlton Mr. & Mrs. Theodore E. Hoffler, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Blakeney Clark Mr. & Mrs. Howard Holderness Mrs. Louann Arnold Clarke Dr. & Mrs. Frank M. Houston Mr. & Mrs. Haywood D.Cochrane, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Hunt, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. S. J. Cofield Dr. & Mrs. Louis D. Hunt Mr. & Mrs. Albert C. Cohen Mrs. Helen A. Irvin Community Bank of Carolina Mr. & Mrs. Henry Isaacson Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Cone, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Sidney B. Jeffreys Mr. & Mrs. Herman Cone, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Frank Johns Mr. & Mrs. Sydney M. Cone, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Milnor P. Jones Mr. & Mrs. R. Cameron Cooke Dr. & Mrs. Samuel B. Joyner Dr. John Philip Couch Miss Claire Kelleher Mr. & Mrs. Howard W. Covington Mr. Thomas S. Kenan III Dr. & Mrs. James J. Crossley Mr. & Mrs. Louis Kimes Mr. & Mrs. Charles Decatur Dr. & Mrs. Philip M. Kirk Cunningham Mr. & Mrs. James F. Kirkpatrick Mr. Sabatar D. D’Adamo III Mr. & Mrs. William A. Klopman Mrs. Burke Davis Mr. & Mrs. Robert A. Kraay Mrs. Carol Deaton Dr. & Mrs. Arthur F. Kriner Mr. & Mrs. John R. Detgen Mr. & Mrs. Rafael J. Labrador Dr. & Mrs. John H. Dilworth Mrs. Lynn L. Laughlin Mr. & Mrs. George P. Dingeldein Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lavietes Dr. & Mrs. Sewell Hinton Dixon Mrs. Gordon Latham Mr. & Mrs. David G. Dodd, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Maurice LeBauer Mr. & Mrs. Luke Drury, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Clayton Lee Mr. & Mrs. Webb Durham Mr. & Mrs. C. T. Leonard, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Samuel W. Earle III Mr. Richard Levy Mr. & Mrs. Robert H. Edmunds Mrs. McDaniel Lewis Mrs. Doris I. Egerton Mr. & Mrs. Al S. Lineberry Mr. & Mrs. George C. Eichhorn Dr. & Mrs. Paul D. Long Mr. & Mrs. John R. Eisenman Dr. James Love Mr. J. Howard Ellington Dr. Edward Lowe Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Hall Epple Mr. & Mrs. Jack Lucas Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Ericourt Mr. & Mrs. Hal V. McCoy, Sr. Mr. & Mrs. Daniel M. Ertner Mr. & Mrs Rollin McCrory Mr. & Mrs. Michael A. Falk Mr. & Mrs. William McKenzie Dr. & Mrs. Robert H. Farley Mr. & Mrs. Charles McLendon Mr. Michael B. Fleming Mr. & Mrs. Donald C. McMillion Mr. & Mrs. Charles H. Flynt, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Maddox Mr. & Mrs. John W. Forbis Mr. & Mrs. John R. Maness Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Forman Mr. & Mrs. Reginald M. Mapp Mrs. A. L. Foster Mr. & Mrs. Hal R. Marsh Mr. & Mrs. Jared C. Fox, Jr. Mr. & Mrs John S. May, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Robert B. Fox Dr. & Mrs. David R. Maynard Dr. & Mrs. Arthur Freedman Mr & Mrs. James A. Middleton, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Wallace G. Freemon Mr. & Mrs. Stephen P. Millikin Mr. & Mrs. Hans Petger Froehlich Mr. & Mrs. Elwood Mitchell, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Grover C. Furr Mr. & Mrs. Beverly C. Moore Mr. & Mrs. Michael Gaines Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Moore Dr. & Mrs. Ronald Garber Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Morris Mr. Kenneth L. Garner Mr. & Mrs. Joseph R. Morton

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Mrs. John W. Murphy Mr. & Mrs. Charles F. Myers Jinny Evan Newell Mr. Robert Newell Dr. & Mrs. Clyde Nolan, Jr. Mrs. R. E. Nolan Mr. & Mrs. George E. Norman, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. C. Mitchell Oakley, Jr. Mr & Mrs. Richard E. Osmer Mr. & Mrs. William Osteen Mr. & Mrs. Woody Pearce Mr. & Mrs. John E. Peterson Mr. & Mrs. Irving H. Pinsker Dr. & Mrs. G. Joseph Poole Mr. James W. Poole Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Prather Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Preyer Mr. & Mrs. L. Richardson Preyer Mr. & Mrs. Newell Price Mrs. William G. Ragsdale Mr. & Mrs. Robert Rapp, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Walter C. Ray Mr. & Mrs. John L. Rendleman Mr. & Mrs. George D. Robison III Dr. & Mrs. W. Thomas Rowe Mr. & Mrs. Walker F. Rucker Dr. & Mrs. Jerome Ruskin Anne W. Russell Mr. & Mrs. John G. Scott Mr. & Mrs. Warren Search, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. Neal Sheffield, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. James H. Shelley Dr. & Mrs. Allen Sherrow Mr. & Mrs. G. Winston Smith Mr. & Mrs. Lanty L. Smith Dr. & Mrs. O. Norris Smith Mr. & Mrs. William D. Snider Dr. & Mrs. Jeffrey S. Soles Mr. & Mrs. Charles R. Somers Mrs. J. R. Spillers, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. R. David Sprinkle Mrs. LeRoy Stadler Mr. & Mrs. Frederick H. Steck, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Sidney J. Stern, Jr. Mr. Bruce Stewart Dr. Helen Stinson Mr. & Mrs. C. Spencer Sullivan Mrs. Marshall B. Sutton Miss Aleta R. Sweet Dr. & Mrs. A. J. Tannenbaum Mr. Samuel C. Tatum Dr. & Mrs. Shahane R. Taylor, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Edwin K. Thrower Mr. & Mrs. F. R. Tollison, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. W. J. Trent, Jr. Mrs. Walter Vassar Mr. & Mrs. B. Thomas Ward Mr. & Mrs. John T. Warmath Mr. Michael Weaver Dr. & Mrs. Robert Wein Mr. & Mrs. Charles R. Wentz Mrs. Charlie West Dr. & Mrs. William White Mr. William Branch Whitehurst Mrs. C. Kenneth Whittington Mr. & Mrs. Raymond L. Wildman Mr. & Mrs. John R. Williams Mr. & Mrs. Ben E. Wilson Mr. & Mrs. Miles H. Wolff Mrs. Lucy W. Wrenn Dr. L. C. Wright Mr. & Mrs. William D. Wright Dr. & Mrs. Peter Young Mr. & Mrs. Henry C. Zenke Mr. Otto Zenke

When you start with care,

you get a different kind of bank.

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The Jane Harris Armfield Award - Andrea Allen The Jane Harris Armfield Award was established in 1996 to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to Greensboro Opera.

The award is named in honor of the first President of Greensboro Opera, Jane Armfield.

Andrea Allen is the 2023 recipient of the Jane Harris Armfield Award. As Greensboro Opera’s Office Manager for the past five years (2019 – present), she dedicates her time to helping keep operations running smoothly and serves as a communication hub for donors, patrons, and board trustees alike. She has mentored five Arts Administration interns and continues to look for ways to share her love of music with others. Andrea is grateful for the overwhelming support Greensboro Opera receives from its community and fellow arts organizations.

Andrea grew up in Asheboro, NC and later moved to Charlotte to attend Queens University where she studied corporate communications. She came to Greensboro Opera from the field of Professional Healthcare Management Marketing at Crown Laboratories, in Johnson City, TN where she worked as Marketing Manager for a national sunscreen brand. Andrea spends her time playing in the dirt and wandering the great outdoors.

PAST RECIPIENTS OF THE JANE HARRIS ARMFIELD AWARD For Distinguished Service to Greensboro Opera 2023 - Andrea Allen 2022 - Charlene Marchant 2021 - Porter Aichele 2020 - Elvira Green 2019 - Keith Cushman 2018 - Mary Miller 2017 - Michiko Stavert 2016 - Lollie Lake White 2015 - Judy Wright Jolly 2014 - Marnie Ruskin 2013 - Bert Davis, Jr. 2012 - Janet Hendley

2011 - David Holley 2010 - Anna Clare Allen 2009 - Mike Bianco 2009 - J. Glen Grayson 2009 - Claire Kelleher 2008 - David and Nancy Bray 2007 - Emma and Clay Poindexter 2006 - Jane Curtis 2005 - Jacquelyn Farlow 2004 - Jerome Ruskin, MD 2003 - Jeanne Hassell

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2002 - Sallie Nolan 2001 - Peggy Johnson 2000 - A. Kelly Maness, Jr., MD 2000 - Lynn Karmel 1999 - Alice Pearce 1998 - Laura Deane Gresham 1997 - Jane Armfield

Program Note - Don Giovanni Don Giovanni – technically, The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni – is a twoact opera with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The score and libretto of the opera refer to it as a dramma giocoso (“humorous drama”). Filled with disguises and unmasking, the opera is the stuff of comedy. But Don Giovanni’s treatment of women, as well as the opera’s melodrama, supernatural elements, and stark conclusion make Don Giovanni a very dark comedy.

Don Giovanni premiered in Prague on October 19, 1787. The great popularity of Mozart and Da Ponte’s The Marriage of Figaro, which had premiered in Prague the previous year, led to the commission for Don Giovanni.

The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni are the oldest operas that have continuously been performed.

Don Giovanni derives from a Spanish folk legend about a libertine, Don Juan, who refuses to repent. The legend first found literary form in a play by the Spaniard, Tirso de Malino, in 1630. The story was rewritten many times before and after Mozart’s opera. The protagonist of Molière’s Don Juan play (1665) is an atheist and free thinker. French royal authorities charged Molière with irreligiosity and political subversion. Between 1819 and 1824 Lord Byron transformed the Don Juan legend into a satirical epic poem. Over the centuries the story of this unrepentant libertine who ultimately pays the price for his behavior has occupied a notable place in the Western cultural imagination.

The Venetian Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote the libretti for three of Mozart’s greatest operas: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte (1790). Da Ponte was Jewish by birth, but he was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest before becoming an opera librettist.

When Mozart received the commission to compose Don Giovanni, Da Ponte was already busy working on two other libretti. Consequently, he adapted and expanded the libretto of a now-forgotten one-act opera on the Don Giovanni subject that had already premiered in 1787. Da Ponte’s erratic behavior and considerable debts regularly caught up with him. He wound up in the United States, briefly as a grocer and ultimately as the first professor of Italian at Columbia College (now Columbia University).

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Program Note Continued Don Giovanni requires a large cast of talented singers. Don Giovanni (baritone) is guided by his pursuit of pleasure and his belief that his misdeeds will never catch up to him. His servant Leporello (bass-baritone) is trapped between his duty to serve Don Giovanni and his sense of morality. He provides both comic relief and common-sense commentary. Donna Anna (soprano) is hell-bent on revenge after what happens to her father, the Commendatore (bass), at the beginning of the opera. Spoiler alert: The Commendatore will reappear at the intensely dramatic conclusion of the opera. The good-hearted but rather ineffectual Don Ottavio (tenor), Donna Anna’s fiancé, realizes that revenge is Donna Anna’s priority. Donna Elvira (soprano), a former lover of Don Giovanni, is torn between wanting to be reunited with him and wanting him to be brought to justice. Zerlina (soprano) is a peasant woman who falls prey to Don Giovanni’s advances. Masetto (bass-baritone) wants only to marry Zerlina, but his low social status makes him an easy target for Don Giovanni.

Mozart’s ceaselessly melodic music is filled with dynamic contrasts: sometimes light-hearted, sometimes profoundly moving, sometimes even terrifying.

Mozart composed the opera’s brilliant overture – which introduces the conflicting moods of the opera – two days before the opera’s first night.

Leporello’s catalogue aria (in which he lists his master’s sexual conquests) is a comic highlight. The beautifully simple La ci darem la mano (“There we will hold hands”), the “love duet” between Don Giovanni and Zerlina, is one of the most famous of Mozart’s operatic duets. The finales of both acts are complex musical webs of solo and ensemble singing in multiple combinations.

In Either/Or (1843), Søren Kierkegaard’s philosophical theory of human existence, he argues that “among all classic works Don Giovanni stands highest.” Remarkably, the 19th-century French novelist Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni, along with Hamlet and the sea, the “three finest things God ever made.” Peter Shaffer uses Don Giovanni as a pivotal point in Amadeus, his play about Mozart and Mozart’s rival Salieri. With good reason Don Giovanni is the most iconic, enduring version of the Don Juan legend, as well as one of the world’s greatest operas.

Keith Cushman

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Synopsis Act I Scene 1, outside Donna Anna’s house Leporello waits outside a house in Seville while his master, Don Giovanni, attempts to seduce Donna Anna. Having heard their voices, Anna’s father, the Commendatore, emerges and challenges Don Giovanni to a duel. The old man is killed by the agile Don, who escapes with Leporello. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio, her fiancé, swear revenge on the unknown assailant.

Scene 2, a street Giovanni and Leporello meet Donna Elvira, a former conquest of the Don, who is returning home after a long journey. She berates him for abandoning her, yet (while Leporello holds her attention) Giovanni slips away. At the festivities for the peasant wedding of Zerlina and Masetto, Don Giovanni tries to seduce the bride. Zerlina is flattered, yet when Elvira interrupts them, she begins to see the noble’s true character and hurries back to her betrothed.

The Don invites all the peasants to a party at his palace. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio come on the scene, yet do not realize Giovanni is the offender.

Donna Elvira’s accusations, however, begin to raise their suspicions and in Giovanni’s parting words, Donna Anna recognizes the voice of her father’s murderer. Ottavio renews his vows of vengeance. Giovanni appears and joyously anticipates the party and more conquests.

Scene 3, the garden of Don Giovanni’s palace The guests arrive and Zerlina consoles Masetto. Anna, Ottavio, and Elvira arriving masked, are invited to join the party; they pray for God to protect and avenge them.

Scene 4, Giovanni’s palace During the minuet, the Don draws Zerlina into an adjoining room. The dance is interrupted by her screams and soon Giovanni appears dragging Leporello. This trick fails to convince anyone of Giovanni’s innocence. Anna, Ottavio, and Elvira accuse the Don of misdeeds, but he ignores their charges and escapes.

INTERMISSION

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Synopsis Continued Act II Scene 1, a street outside Donna Elvira’s house Giovanni, hoping to seduce Elvira’s maid, switches coats with Leporello.

The servant succeeds in luring away Elvira, who rejoices that her lover has returned to her. Alone, Giovanni sings a serenade to the maid. Masetto and armed peasants approach so Don Giovanni assumes the manner of Leporello, sending them off in different directions. He then beats Masetto and leaves him lying in the street. Zerlina finds Masetto and comforts him.

Scene 2, a dark courtyard Leporello’s disguise is uncovered by Anna, Ottavio, Elvira, Masetto and Zerlina. Don Ottavio again affirms his intentions of bringing justice upon Don Giovanni.

Scene 3, a graveyard Fleeing from his master’s accusers, Leporello finds Don Giovanni in a graveyard. They come upon a statue of the Commendatore and the Don orders Leporello to invite it to dinner. The statue nods its acceptance, Leporello trembles at the sight of the statue, but Giovanni remains undaunted.

Scene 4, a room Don Ottavio urges his suit for marriage on Donna Anna, but she begs for delay.

Scene 5, Giovanni’s palace As Giovanni enjoys dinner and musical entertainment, Elvira rushes in and entreats him to change his ways. On her way out, she meets the statue which has accepted Giovanni’s invitation. The statue of the Commendatore comes into the banquet room, and Don Giovanni seals his own fate.

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7804 NATIONAL SERVICE ROAD GREENSBORO, NC 27409 336.886.4653 JEWELRYAUTHORITY.COM

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Thank You!

to the Jewelry Authority for providing the onstage bling for Donna Anna and Donna Elvira!

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Eastern Music Festival

Gerard Schwarz, Music Director Christopher L. Williams, Executive Director

- easternmusicfestival.org -

Thank you to Greensboro Opera for supporting our 63rd Season.

Together, we continue to inspire and shape the future of music through music education and artistic excellence.

Planning for 2025 is already underway.

Mark your calendars!

June 28 - August 2, 2025

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Mozart’s

DON GIOVANNI Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte Sung in Italian with English supertitles World premiere: October 29, 1787 at The Estates Theatre, Prague

Cast

(in order of vocal appearance) Leporello.................................................................................................................Branch Fields Donna Anna..............................................................................................Melinda Whittington Don Giovanni...................................................................................................... Sidney Outlaw Commendatore..............................................................................................Donald Hartmann Don Ottavio..................................................................................................... Roderick George Donna Elvira................................................................................................. Samantha Anselmo Zerlina.......................................................................................................................Amber Rose Masetto........................................................................................................Christian Blackburn

Artistic and Production Staff Producer/Stage Director/Conductor....................................................................... David Holley Assistant Director/Production Stage Manager...................................................Crystal Kachevas Lighting Designer/Technical Director................................................................... Jeff Neubauer Chorus Master............................................................................................... James Bumgardner Fight Choreographer..................................................................................................... Jim Wren Rehearsal Pianist/Chorus Rehearsal Pianist............................................................. Susan Young Costume Designer....................................................................................................Ashley Ward Wigs and Make-up............................................................................................... Trent Pcenicni Wigs, Make-up and Costume Assistant.................................................................. Emily Kohn Deck Crew..................................................................................................... Makala Whitehead Costumes designed and created by Green Apple Costumes This production of Don Giovanni was made possible with funding from The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro and the NC Arts Council, a division of the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

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Meet the Artists Lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre,” Sidney Outlaw (Don Giovanni) is an “opera powerhouse” who has delighted audiences in the U.S. and abroad with his “weighty and forthright” sound (San Francisco Chronicle) since 2010, when he exploded onto the international scene as the winner of the Grand Prize at the Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballé.

A sought-after concert singer and recitalist, Mr. Outlaw appears in the 2024-2025 season in recital several times with close collaborator, renowned pianist Warren Jones, at Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn Art Song Society, Holy City Arts & Lyric Opera, and University of North Florida. Additionally, he debuts with the California Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with Bozeman Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Requiem, and returns to Jacksonville Symphony for their Messiah, following a triumphant debut with the company in 2023. His newest recording, an EP of Brahms’ Zwei Gesange Op. 91, was released by Lexicon Classics in 2024. On the opera stage, he returns to Pensacola Opera for one of his signature roles, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, and reprises his Don Giovanni with Greensboro Opera.

In the 2023-2024 season, Mr. Outlaw returned to Boston Baroque as the title role in Don Giovanni, in a performance that A.Z. Madonna of The Boston Globe called, “an extraordinary role début,” Marcello in La bohème with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Toledo Opera, and Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Charlottesville Opera. He was seen in concert at Colorado Symphony, Opera Memphis, American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Jacksonville Symphony, the Oratorio Society of New York, and Nashville Symphony. He also sang the East Coast premiere of B.E. Boykin’s 26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man, a song cycle written for him, in recital at Manhattan School of Music and at Merola Opera Program.

In recent seasons, Mr. Outlaw sang Schaunard in La bohème with Greensboro Opera, Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with New Orleans Opera, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Omaha, Salieri in Mozart and Salieri with Opera San Jose, Jake in Porgy and Bess with Greensboro Opera, and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Pensacola Opera and Opera Saratoga. He made his San Francisco Opera debut as the First Mate in Billy Budd, he sang Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony, and Tommy McIntyre in Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera. On the concert platform, he made his début with Boston Baroque as soloist in Handel’s Messiah, returned to Oratorio Society New York as soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass, and joined Youngstown Symphony Orchestra for Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen. Lament, his début solo album recorded live with Warren Jones, was released by Lexicon Classics in 2021.

Originally from Brevard, North Carolina, Mr. Outlaw is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program and the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Mr. Outlaw won 2nd Prize in the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s International Competition, 2nd Prize in the 2011 Gerda Lissner Foundation Awards, National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, semifinalist in the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition, finalist in both Concours International Musical de Montreal and George London Foundation, and grand prize in the Florida Grand Opera/YPO Vocal Competition. He holds a GRAMMY nomination for the Naxos Records recording of Darius Milhaud’s 1922 opera trilogy, L’Orestie d’Eschyle, in which he sang the role of Apollo.

Currently a member of the faculties at Manhattan School of Music and Brooklyn College, Mr. Outlaw has taught voice previously at his alma mater The Juilliard School. He is working toward his Ph.D. in Music Education from Columbia Teachers’ College and is passionate about balancing his performing career with teaching and mentoring the next generation of classical musicians.

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Meet the Artists (continued) Branch Fields (Leporello), described by Opera America as “a bass of resonant richness,” is a versatile performer engaged throughout North America and beyond in opera, musical theater, and concert. He has sung with Santa Fe Opera, New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Edmonton Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Utah Opera, Opera San Jose, and many other regional companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. In concert, Branch has performed with the Munich Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, MDR Leipzig, and the American Symphony Orchestra. Branch’s versatility as a singing actor led to his Broadway debut in South Pacific, understudying the role of Emile de Becque in the 2008 Lincoln Center Theater production, which won seven Tony Awards. He has since been Emile in 7 productions of South Pacific throughout the U.S. and Canada and was nominated for “Best Actor in a Musical” by theater critic circles in Boston, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Virginia.

Recent performances include Sir Lancelot for Intermountain Opera Bozeman, Robert in Bridges of Madison County for The Ghostlight Theater in Michigan, Leporello in Don Giovanni for Indianapolis Opera, and Capt. Von Trapp for Charlottesville Opera and Montana TheaterWorks. Branch resides in Williamsburg, VA, with his wife and three children.

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Meet the Artists (continued) Soprano Melinda Whittington (Donna Anna) has performed with opera houses all over the country, including The Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric, Minnesota Opera, Utah Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Carolina, North Carolina Opera, Kentucky Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Opera Birmingham.

The Salt Lake Tribune praises Melinda for her “performances of emotional resonance along with their powerhouse vocals.” Last season, Melinda made her role debut as Mimì in Minnesota Opera’s new production of Puccini’s La bohème and sang her first Verdi Requiem with the Charlotte Symphony. In describing Melinda’s performance of Mimì, Broadway World says “Whittington’s vocals are so rich and full that she has no problem filling the theater with her glorious voice,” and the Star Tribune says she “could blow your hair back with her electrifying high notes.”

This season she will return to both Mimi and Micaëla in Carmen with her home company, Opera Carolina. She also joins the Charlotte Master Chorale and Charlotte Symphony as the soprano soloist in Elijah, and will sing duets from Madama Butterfly and Manon Lescaut with Andrea Bocelli in his October Charlotte concert. Her other recent roles include the title roles of Rusalka and Arabella, Violetta in La traviata, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Ada in Higdon’s Cold Mountain, Nedda in Pagliacci, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Marguerite in Faust, Homecoming Soldier in Redler’s The Falling and the Rising, and Marie Antoinette in Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. Melinda was a young artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, a Merola young artist at San Francisco Opera, and a Filene young artist at Wolf Trap Opera. She holds a Master of Music degree from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to performing, Melinda maintains a private voice studio in Charlotte and teaches at Davidson College. To hear or learn more, visit her website at www.melindawhittington.com.

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Meet the Artists (continued) Tenor Roderick George (Don Ottavio) has graced prestigious venues on stages across the globe. As a noted concert artist, he has sung over seventy performances of Handel’s Messiah, including his New York Lincoln Center debut and recent appearances with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and North Carolina Baroque Orchestra.

Equally at home on the operatic stage, he has performed leading roles in operas such as L’elisir d’amore, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Die Zauberflöte, Roméo et Juliette, Lakmé, and Porgy and Bess. In summer 2023, he sang the role of Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Wilmington. Other recent engagements include Mozart Requiem with Northwest Florida Symphony, Carmina Burana with Huntsville Symphony, Faust et Hélène with New York Repertory Orchestra, Dvořák Stabat Mater with Highland Park Chorale and Orchestra, The Chariot Jubilee at University of Maryland, and I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes with Nashville Symphony. Mr. George has concertized internationally, with notable highlights including appearances throughout Russia with the Orpheus Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic, and in concert at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. A multifaceted artist, his professional ensemble affiliations include recordings and multiple concert tours across North America and Europe with the American Spiritual Ensemble and with the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, including recent appearances at the Kennedy Center, the National Cathedral, Choral Canada, and on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, he is professor of music at the University of Montevallo and holds a doctorate from The Florida State University. www.roderickgeorge.com

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Meet the Artists (continued) Samantha Anselmo (Donna Elvira) has been named a finalist three times in the Madame Rose Palmai-Tenser Competition hosted by Mobile Opera and a finalist in the John Alexander Voice Competition with Opera Mississippi. Her stage credits include Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

Upcoming performances include Chloe in Offenbach’s Daphnis et Chloe with Minerva Stage Company at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she is pursuing her doctoral studies, immersed in advancing her expertise in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. Prior to her studies at UNCG, Samantha taught several courses at the University of South Alabama, including Diction for Singers, Introduction to Music, and private voice lessons. While balancing her doctoral studies, Samantha remains an active performer, dedicated to music education and community outreach, evident through her active involvement with local schools, churches, and her participation in opera outreach initiatives.

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Meet the Artists (continued) American soprano, Amber Rose (Zerlina), hailed for her “effervescent” and “iridescent” sound, was recently seen in Greensboro Opera’s production of The Gift of the Magi in the role of Della and as Kate Pinkerton in Opera Carolina’s production of Madame Butterfly last January.

Ms. Rose has performed multiple principal roles across the United States with notable companies such as Utah Festival Opera, Opera Carolina, NC Summer Opera, Greensboro Opera, Signature Inc., NH Piccola Opera, Miami Music Festival and Opera Fusion. Her 20222023 season highlights included Ms. Rose’s international debut at the Teatro Comunale in the role of Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann and the creation of two roles in new music productions. Ms. Rose sang the role of Megara in House of Orpheus with Opera Carolina and the role of Mama in An Extra Penny with Signature Inc. Other engagements included performing as the soprano soloist in both the Mozart Coronation Mass and the Bach Cantata Wachet auf ruft, uns die Stimme with the Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches and performing as the soprano soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Taylor Festival Choir. Her stage credits also include Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), First Lady (The Magic Flute), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Madame Silvertone (The Impresario), Nannetta (Falstaff), Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel), and Zerlina (Don Giovanni). Ms. Rose is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she earned her Master’s degree in Vocal Performance.

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Meet the Artists (continued) Christian Blackburn (Masetto), baritone, originally from Lakin, Kansas, holds degrees from Kansas State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is currently a student of Victoria Livengood. Most recently, Christian appeared as Jake Wallace in La Fanciulla del West with North Carolina Opera, for whom he also sang Masetto in Don Giovanni (2023), Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata (2023), and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte (2022). On the concert stage, Mr. Blackburn has been the baritone soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Greensboro Choral Society and in Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht. Since 2020, Christian has taken a step back from full time performing and runs a financial planning and advisory practice in Greensboro. While not working for his clients or performing, he spends time with his two young children, Lilla and Ruby, his dog Pablo and his wife Talia.

No stranger to Greensboro Opera audiences, bassbaritone Donald Hartmann (Commendatore), last appeared as Colline in GO’s 2022 production of La bohème. His professional career began in 1978 in Germany with the Stadttheater Regensburg and a debut with Greensboro Opera in 1979. He has been described as possessing a, “big, rich voice with an amazing timbre” and “… his flair for comedic bel canto is major-league-worthy.” Having performed in over 160 operatic productions, in over 60 operas singing over 70 different roles, he has been reviewed as “one of the best character singers on any opera stage anywhere.” Notable performances include William Jennings Bryan in the 60th-anniversary production of Ballad Baby Doe for Central City Opera in Colorado and the Sacristan in Tosca in the historic reopening of New York City Opera’s return to Lincoln Center. Some of the best-loved portraits in Mr. Hartmann’s gallery of characters are Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, which he sang for Greensboro Opera in 2018, and Dr. Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, which he sang this past spring for Opera Roanoke. A frequent presence on stages throughout the United States, he has appeared with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Toledo Opera, Opera Delaware, Arizona Opera, Madison Opera, Piedmont Opera, Opera Carolina, North Carolina Opera, Florentine Opera, Chattanooga Opera, Nashville Opera, and Virginia Opera.

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Meet the Artists (continued) On classical, steel string, electric or gypsy guitar, Kevin Dollar (Mandolin) represents a multifaceted approach to the instrument. He received his MM from UNCG and was the Director of the Music Academy of NC Guitar Competition, and an instructor there from 1995-2013, with master teacher status starting in 2003. He also served on the faculty of Elon University from 2005-2013. In 2013, he opened his own studio, Kevin Dollar Guitar Instruction and founded "Yoga for Guitarists," creating the program after completing his RYT200 certification. Mr. Dollar has performed The UNCG School of Music presents lectures, and Jazz specialFestival, events for the Piedmont Artists Guild,hundreds Easternof performances, Music Festival, Elon annually, most of which are presented free of charge!

National Public Radio’s “State of Things,” UNC-TV's "NC Weekend” and Our concert and event features largeSymphony ensemble performances choirs, regularly performs withcalendar the Greensboro Orchestra,(bands, sharing the orchestras, jazz ensembles), faculty solo recitals, student solo recitals, chamber music, folk stagemusic, withoperas, the likes of Doc Watson, Holt,series, Katherine a dynamic guest artist concertDavid and lectures and much,Whalen, much more.and ClayPlease Aiken. has also for performed with the Greensboro Company visit He music.uncg.edu the full performance calendar and followOpera us on social media!

(The Barber of Seville), the Triad Guitar Quartet, Duo Dolce, Bel Canto and COMING EVENTS = ticket purchase requiredof the Hot Club of North Carolina, a group dedicated to$ the preservation gypsyStudent jazz. Artist In addition to finding Kevin Spartan teaching in his you'll find him Competition Voices andstudio, Coro di Belle Voce Final Round February 16, 7:30 , Tew Recital Hall performing with Low Key, Mostley Crue, and the Minor Swing Band.

January 16, 2:00

, Tew Recital Hall

Music for Love: Jazz Ensemble I $

University Chorale and Chamber Singers February 20, 7:30

, First Presbyterian Church

Fundraiser for Music for Love January 19, 7:30 , UNCG Auditorium

Wind Ensemble

Wind Ensemble Chamber Concert

Stephanie Ycaza, tuba , UNCG Auditorium February 23, 7:30

Lindsay Kesselman, soprano February 1, 7:30 , Tew Recital Hall Jazz Ensembles I and II $ The UNCG School of Music presents hundreds of performances, lectures, and special events February 24, 7:30 , Tew Recital Hall annually, most of which are presented free of charge!

Faculty Composers Concert February 2, 7:30 , Tew Recital Hallfeatures large Symphonic Band Our concert and event calendar ensemble performances (bands, choirs, orchestras, jazz ensembles), faculty solo recitals, solo recitals, chamber music, folk Ericstudent Willie, percussion music, operas, a dynamic guest artist concert and lectures series, ,and much, much more.

Symphony Orchestra February 27, 7:30 UNCG Auditorium February 5, 7:30

, Dana Auditorium

Please visit music.uncg.edu for the full performance calendar and follow us on social media!

COMING EVENTS Student Artist Competition Final Round January 16, 2:00

$ = ticket purchase required

Spartan Voices and Coro di Belle Voce February 16, 7:30

, Tew Recital Hall

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, Tew Recital Hall

University Chorale and Chamber Singers

Artistic Staff David Holley (Producer/Stage Director/ Conductor) is the General and Artistic Director of Greensboro Opera and has been the Director of Opera at the University of North Carolina Greensboro since 1992. His directing/producing credits include Greensboro Opera mainstage productions of Porgy and Bess, La Fille du Régiment, Carmen, La Cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Pagliacci, as well as Il Trovatore for Opera Roanoke. He conceives and directs the annual Eastern Music Festival/Greensboro Opera collaboration, including last summer’s I Love Paris. In 2009, he produced, directed and wrote the libretto for the world premiere of Picnic, an opera by prominent American composer Libby Larsen, commissioned by the UNCG School of Music. His productions have consistently won awards in the National Opera Association’s annual Opera Production Competition, including seven first place and five second place NOA awards since his arrival at UNCG. Mr. Holley has appeared throughout the US and Canada in a diversity of leading lyric tenor roles including Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Don José in Carmen, Tamino in The Magic Flute and the title roles in The Tales of Hoffmann and Roméo and Juliette. Notable engagements have included Cavaradossi opposite Angela Brown’s Tosca, Don José with Luretta Bybee and Herbert Perry (directed by David Morelock), as well as Pinkerton with Nikki Li Hartliep. Reviewing his performance in the title role in Der Vogelhändler, The American Record Guide said he was “a singing and acting delight.” Opera News has hailed him as “...that rare find, a tall tenor who can act.”

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Artistic Staff continued Jeff Neubauer (Lighting Designer/Technical Director) has been involved with opera productions for over 20 years. His opera credits include Greensboro Opera’s productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, La fille du régiment, La Cenerentola, Menotti’s Help, Help The Globolinks! and The Will (Gianni Schicchi).

Mr. Neubauer was the lighting designer and technical director for Greensboro Light Opera and Song’s production of The Pirates of Penzance tour to Roanoke Island Festival Park in 2012. He has also worked on productions of Hansel and Gretel, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Albert Herring, and The Mighty Casey, which was the first event on the Class A minor league Grasshopper field in downtown Greensboro in 2005. Jeff enjoys “out of the box” productions and loves the opportunity to expose his beautiful daughter Emily (a budding musical theatre actress) to the wonders of opera.

Jeff comes from a varied background in technical production, equally at home in theatre and concert production. In his full-time job, he is the Production Director for Westover Church.

Crystal Kachevas (Assistant Director and Production Stage Manager), from Paragould, Arkansas, holds an MM in Voice Performance from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ and a BM in Voice Performance from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR. She is currently working towards her DMA in Voice Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she serves as a graduate teaching associate for the voice area, On the operatic stage, Crystal’s recent roles include Madame Herz in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, Lord Birkenhead in the American premiere of Elena Langer’s Rhondda Rips It Up!, La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Pietro Baglioni in Catan’s La hija de Rappiccini, Bastienne in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne, and Velena Sue Davenport in Richard Pearson Thomas’ A Wake or a Wedding.

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Artistic Staff continued James Bumgardner (Chorus Master) holds a DMA in Vocal Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and teaches on the voice faculty at Guilford College. Previous voice-teaching and coaching posts include UNCG, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Appalachian State University. Dr. Bumgardner served as chorus master for Greensboro Opera’s productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors, La bohème, I Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen, and La Cenerentola.

His long history with the UNCG Opera Theatre began during his graduate studies, when he served as opera assistant, chorus master, coach/accompanist, assistant conductor, and singer for various productions, including four first-place winners of the National Opera Association’s annual production competition. Jim was delighted to return years later to conduct the UNCG Opera Theatre’s production of Libby Larsen’s Barnum’s Bird. Dr. Bumgardner maintains a U.S. and U.K. presence in the field of Anglican choral music and serves as choirmaster/organist for St. Mary of the Hills Church in Blowing Rock, NC. Susan Young (Performance and Rehearsal Pianist) received degrees in Music Education (BM Ed) from Appalachian State University and in Music Performance (MM Accompanying) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has served as both musical director and accompanist for numerous opera and musical theatre productions over the years and has worked professionally with community theatres, colleges, Greensboro Opera and Opera Carolina. Susan has been the staff accompanist at Greensboro College for over 25 years and joined their piano faculty in 2008. Two years later, she was appointed to the piano faculty at High Point University (in 2010). Since 2001, she has served as the Director of Music and organist at College Place United Methodist Church. She currently serves as the Collaborative Liaison on the Executive Board of NATS and recently finished a 4-year term as president of the Euterpe Music Club. Susan lives in Greensboro with her husband, Kevin, and their three children, Jonathan, Lauren, and Emma.

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Artistic Staff continued Ashley Ward (Costume Designer) has been a costume designer for 17 years. She has costumed many productions of youth theatre, community theatre, commercials, college theatre, operas, and films. Ashley has been nominated for two Blumenthal Costume Awards for her work in The Producers and Ragtime and has a film a credit for Lizzie Borden. She loves the challenges of costume construction! Ms. Ward loves watching the magic of actors become their characters, when they slip on their costumes. In 2023, Ashley opened her own costume shop, Green Apple Costumes, and continues to remain busy on theatre productions. Ashley is a resident of Greensboro NC, where she lives with her husband of 28 years, Clyde, the baby of their 5 children, Penny, and their pets.

Trent Pcenicni (Make-up Designer/Wigmaster) is a Costume, Wig, and Makeup Designer whose work has been seen all over the US and the world including Avenue Q (Off-Broadway), The Phantom of the Opera (International tour), Long Warf Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, The Geffen Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Gateway Playhouse, Triad Stage, Ogunquit Playhouse, City Arts Drama Center, The Wick Theatre, Twin City Stage, and Greensboro Opera. He has an extensive Film and Video resume, including projects for the History Channel, Showtime Television Network, NYU School of Film, and Soomo Publishing. He designed the costumes and Hair for the Emmy award-winning short Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage. His other awards include Two National Opera Association Production Awards, 2015 Galileo Galilei, Costume Designer, and 2010 L’Enfant et Les Sortilèges, Associate Costume Designer. His research in non-western theatre has taken him to Dubai, China, Thailand, and Indonesia. Mr. Pcenicni is Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Western Carolina University.

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Greensboro Opera Orchestra David Holley, Conductor

Flute Violin I Jane York, concertmaster Janet Phillips * Abigail Simoneau Maddi Huff-Lane Gracie Zielinski Oboes Ronnal Ford * Violin II Brian Skinner Eve Hubbard * Sierra Sims-Smith Clarinet Viola Carmen Eby * Theresa Fox * Matthew Libera Julius Adams Cello Diane Bonds Bass Cody Rex * Andrew Beach

Bassoon Rebecca Libera * Christopher Allpress

Horn Katherine Smith * Wyatt Carlyle Trumpet Hannah Markun * Kenny Butler Trombone Brian French * Jim Lane Bass Trombone Dandrick Glenn Timpani Erik Schmidt

Harpsichord Susan Young

*principal

2024 Greensboro Opera Don Giovanni Chorus Alexia Della Valle Monique McLeod Olivya Moore Sheridan Kelly Sara Roberts Sophia Soler Yue Zhang

Governor Harris Lucas Johnston Brian Kilpatrick Winston Miller Gavin Thomas Markel Williams D’Andre Wright

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Greensboro Opera Past Presidents Jane Armfield 1981 La Traviata Kelly Maness 1982 Lucia di Lammermoor Laura Deane Gresham 1983, 1984 Rigoletto Tosca Kay Bryan Edwards 1985 The Barber of Seville Carol Cone 1986 Madama Butterfly David Bray 1987 Carmen Sallie Nolan 1988 Don Giovanni Kathleen Battle Recital Lynn Karmel 1989 La Boheme Anne Bodner 1990 Faust Thomas Allen Recital Pam Sprinkle 1992 Il Trovatore Ann Snyder 1992 Tales of Hoffmann White Agony Bobbie Mann 1993 Aida Lynn Karmel 1994 The Magic Flute Julie Olin 1995 La Traviata Jackie Farlow & Helen Irvin 1996 Falstaff Judy Jolly 1997 Madama Butterfly George House 1998 Carmen Terry Geremski 1999 Tosca Don Pasquale Jerry Ruskin 2000, 2001 Un Ballo in Maschera The Barber of Seville Otello Die Fledermaus Harvey Dondero 2002 La Boheme Jerry Ruskin 2003 Lucia di Lammermoor Richard Hicks, Jr. 2004 An Evening of Metropolitan Opera Stars

G.W. (Trey) Aycock, III 2005, 2006 The Marriage of Figaro Madama Butterfly Frederick J. Smith 2007 Face on the Barroom Floor Rigoletto Barbara Ann Peters 2008 EMF: Night and Day: An Evening of ‘Delovely’ L’elisir d’amore Philip Long 2009, 2010 The Telephone Trouble in Tahiti EMF: A Date with Oscar and Tony La Traviata EMF: Love, Life, Laughter The Magic Flute Bert Davis, Jr. 2011, 2012 EMF: Celebrating Anniversaries GALA Got Opera?

EMF: Popular Operatic Arias Anna Clare Allen 2013 EMF: Verdi to Broadway GALA: Wine, Women and Song Woodson E. Faulkner, II 2014 EMF: Phantoms of the Opera GALA: GO to the Movies Daughter of the Regiment (January 2015) Anna Clare Allen 2015, 2016 EMF: Sing to Love Cinderella EMF: Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves Carmen (January 2017) Janet Hendley 2017, 2018, 2019 EMF: A Shave and a Haircut The Barber of Seville EMF: What I did For Love Madama Butterfly Hansel and Gretel EMF: Send in the Clowns Pagliacci Amahl and the Night Visitors Porter Aichele 2020, 2021, 2022 Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy (Live streamed) EMF: Summertime and the Livin’ is Easier Porgy and Bess Pam Reeves Cash 2022, 2023 EMF: I love Paris La Bohème driving while black (dwb) EMF: Yours Is My Heart Alone The Gift of the Magi Amahl and the Night Visitors

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2023-24 Donors Gifts from November 16, 2023 through October 15, 2024 Sincere Thank You To Our Donors The Board of Trustees expresses its deep appreciation to all who have supported Greensboro Opera this year. We are sincerely grateful for each and every gift. We invite contributions to support our productions, GALAS and ongoing education programs.

Sponsors Corporate & Foundation Gifts Guilford County Schools Well-Spring, A Life Plan Community High Point University JOLO Winery & Vineyards, LLC Jewelry Authority North Carolina Arts Council Randall Thomas Johnson Guest Artist Program Endowment The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro The Cemala Foundation Truist Charitable Fund

2023-2024 Donors

Thank you to the following individuals who provided financial support to the Greensboro Opera from November 16, 2023 through October 15, 2024. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our Donor List. However, if you notice an error, please let us know so that we may correctly recognize your support.

Grand Benefactor ($5,000 and above) Anonymous Susan Petty Tom & Sarah Wright President’s Circle ($2,500 - $4,999) Barbara Cone Janet Hendley Rod & Linda Mortenson Pamela Murphy Nancy Sanquist Nancy Walker & Tim Lindeman Benefactor ($1,500 - $2,499) Porter Aichele Bill & Alicia Allred Deb & Greg Bowers Nancy & David Bray Anonymous Pam Cash Katherine Davey Bob Dixon & Sue French Excelsior Payment Solutions David Holley John & Paschelle Palmer Barbara Ann Peters Marnie & Jerry Ruskin

Patron ($500 - $1,499) Bob Beerman & Teresa Rasco Steve Bingham Craig & Kristin Carlock Susan Chappell Keith Cushman & Deb Bell Bert Davis, Jr. Despina Demetriades Dr. & Mrs. Robert Evans Hallie Hogan David Karpook Rascha & Robert Kriegsman Louise & Bill Latture Jane & Richard Levy Corrie H. Middleton Mary Miller Karen Massand & Robert Millican Barbara & Bill Moran Susan & Jerry Schwartz Michiko Stavert Kathryn & Chris Troxler Friend ($250 - $499) Jill Amidon-Strickland Nancy Beard Jennifer Bryant Pedersen Carolyn & Steven Hall Eloise & Robbie Hassell Rodna & David Hurewitz

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2024-25 Donors Continued Samuel Magill, Jr. Mary & Gus Magrinat Dorothy & Robert Peters James Rushe Ronald Saake Temple Emanuel Matthew Troy Edward Walker Supporter ($100 - $249) Sekai Adebanke Lisa Allen & Nick Piornack June & Vance Barron Diane Conrad Mike Cooke Jane & Doug Curtis Valerie Edson Jacquelyn Farlow Brian French Gloria Fuller William O. Goode Jessica Hayes Judith Hyman and Richard Rosen Gerald Knight Nicholas Lindsay Ellen Linton Charlene Marchant Carl P. Myatt Clyde Nolan & Patricia Maine Cindi & Jim Schrum Jaclyn Surso Jeanne Tannenbaum Barbara Teichman Lollie White Kerry & Kev Yacoubian Other Lenny Sue French Shelia Hofmann Channelle James Kim Jones Jo Poole Shayla Sharpe Matching Gifts Johnson & Johnson Honor and Memory Gifts In Honor of Porter Aichele Despina Demetriades Mary & Gus Magrinat

In Honor of Micheline Chalhoub-Deville Karen Massand & Robert Millican In Memory of James Exum, III Keith Cushman & Deb Bell In Honor of Janet Hendley Rod & Linda Mortenson In Honor of David Holley & Waiyi Tse Jeanne Tannenbaum In Honor of Barbara Ann Peters Shelia Hofmann In Memory of Stuart Teichman Barbara Teichman In Memory of Bill Tetreault Anonymous Legacy Society The following have included Greensboro Opera in their estate plans: Janet Hendley Marnie & Jerry Ruskin In-Kind Gifts Bill Allred Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum Odell Cleveland City of Greensboro Creative Greensboro Double Oaks Bed and Breakfast Katherine Davey Bert Davis, Jr. Elvira O. Green Greensboro College Greensboro Day School Janet Hendley Asheley & Marty Kotis Jane & Richard Levy Mount Zion Baptist Church Oh, Goodness Fine Portraits Barbara Ann Peters R.H. Barringer Red Oak Brewery Shayla Sharpe (Sharpe Pursuits, Inc.) Temple Emanuel The Kennedy Center Trade Winds Travel University of North Carolina at Greensboro

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History of Greensboro Opera Greensboro Opera knows how to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Today’s production of the Gershwins’ Porgy of Bess, the greatest American opera, is its biggest, most ambitious production ever. Porgy and Bess is also the first opera to be staged in Greensboro’s new Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.

Greensboro Opera is thrilled that today’s production marks the return of the multi-talented Rhiannon Giddens – a Grammy winner and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow – to the opera stage. Rhiannon, a native of Greensboro, is an alumna of the UNCG opera program. She first learned about opera in Greensboro Opera’s summer opera camp.

Elvira Green, who is performing Maria today, directed that camp.

The curtain went up on La traviata, the first production of Greensboro Opera, on October 16, 1981, starring June Anderson, who subsequently became a major star. A group of civic leaders and music lovers had laid the foundation of this venture the previous year. They had adopted the dual mission of presenting operatic productions of the highest professional standards while educating the community about opera.

Greensboro Opera has grown steadily in the ensuing 40 years.

The backbone of Greensboro Opera has always been fully staged productions of major operas every year. Although sets and costumes are rented from across the country, the cast, staging, and combination of set and costumes are unique to each Greensboro Opera production. From 1981 to 1998, the company presented one production in the fall. Increasingly large audiences attended these operas. The operas that followed La traviata were Lucia di Lammermoor (1982), Rigoletto (1983), Tosca (1984), The Barber of Seville (1985), Madama Butterfly (1986), Carmen (1987), Don Giovanni (1988), and La bohème (1989). The first nine productions were limited to one Friday evening performance. Beginning in 1990, audience support enabled the presentation of both evening and matinee performances of Faust (1990), Il trovatore (1991), The Tales of Hoffmann (1992), Aida (1993), The Magic Flute (1994), La traviata (1995), and Falstaff (1996). Madama Butterfly (1997) and Carmen (1998) both played to sold-out houses. That led to the decision to mount two productions every season. In the 1999-2000 season, Greensboro Opera staged Tosca and Don Pasquale. Un ballo in maschera and The Barber of Seville followed in 2000-2001, and during 2001-2003 the company staged Otello, Die Fledermaus, La bohème, and Lucia di Lammermoor. The company presented an exciting “Rising Stars from the Met” concert with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 2004.

Greensboro Opera produced The Marriage of Figaro in 2005, followed in 2006 by an adaptation of Gianni Schicchi, produced by the UNCG School of Music. The 2006-2007 season brought three productions to the stage: Madama Butterfly (2006), two sold-out performances of Hansel and Gretel (2007), and four sold-out performances of The Face on the Barroom Floor (2007) with composer

Henry Mollicone conducting. Rigoletto (2007) was succeeded by L’elisir d’amore in 2008. In spring 2009 Greensboro Opera presented two American one-acts, Menotti’s The Telephone and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, as well as La traviata. In 2010, The Magic Flute returned to the Greensboro Opera stage.

In 2012 Greensboro Opera began a formal partnership/ collaboration with UNCG Opera Theatre. The opera company contributes financially to UNCG Opera Theatre and in exchange, receives marketin, logistical, and production support. The highlights of the first years of this venture were fall Galas titled Got Opera?, Wine, Women, and Song, and GO to the Movies. The Galas featured UNCG alumni who were singing in major opera houses throughout the world.

In 2013 David Holley, director of the opera program at UNCG, was hired as Artistic Director. (Subsequently his title became General and Artistic Director to reflect all the work he does for the company). Greensboro Opera once again began producing fully staged operas. In January 2015 the company presented The Daughter of the Regiment with a stellar cast featuring René Barbera and Ashley Emerson. At the time David Holley was President of the National Opera Association and was hosting the NOA’s annual convention in Greensboro. The Daughter of the Regiment was the exciting main event of the convention.

Opera luminaries, Samuel Ramey, Stephanie Blythe, and Warren Jones attended the opening night performance.

In 2015 Greensboro Opera staged Rossini’s La Cenerentola, followed by the nearly sold-out January 2017 production of Carmen and the 2018 production of The Barber of Seville. In 2018-2019 Madama Butterfly returned to the Greensboro Opera stage, and Hansel and Gretel became the first Greensboro Opera production to be staged in the new $12-million Virginia Somerville Sutton Auditorium at Well-Spring Life Plan Community. In 2019 the company for the first time presented Pagliacci, as well as Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors at WellSpring before an audience that contained many children and grandchildren.

The pandemic forced the Greensboro Opera production of Porgy and Bess, starring Rhiannon Giddens, to be rescheduled from November 2020 to January 2022. Porgy and Bess was the capstone to Greensboro Opera’s first forty years, followed by a critically acclaimed production of La bohème in 2022. The 2023-24 season has been one of innovation and interaction, with a concert at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, and productions of Susan Kander’s driving while black (dwb) and David Conte’s The Gift of Magi. Lastly, Amahl and the Night Visitors, returnsed in December for performances at UNCG Auditorium and at High Point University, supported by the Randall Thomas Johnson guest Artist Program endowment.

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Index of Advertisers Atrium Health..................................................... 27 Botanica................................................................ 8 Burke Manor....................................................... 28 CVNC................................................................ 25 Eastern Music Festival......................................... 22 Greensboro Opera: Glory Denied......................BC Jewelry Authority...........................................20-21 JOLO and Rayson Wineries & Vineyards............. 6 Rhinoleap............................................................ 29 Star Path Images.................................................. 10 Starworks.............................................................. 8 The Artery............................................................. 8 The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro............. 12 The Choral Arts Collective.................................... 4 Truist.................................................................. 14 UNCG School of Music...................................... 31 Well-Spring, A Life Plan Community...............IFC 41

GLORY DENIED

by Tom Cipullo

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APR 11 and APR 13, 2025 Tickets go on sale December 1st GreensboroOpera.org 42