Minnesota Opera's Anna Bolena Program

welcome elcome to the opera.

Producing Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy of operas – Anna Bolena, Mary Stuart and Roberto Devereux – was a long-time goal of Minnesota Opera. In fact, the idea of staging Anna Bolena was part of what inspired Artistic Director Dale Johnson to develop and articulate his artistic philosophy, which borrows values of the Bel Canto (“beautiful singing”) era to define the unifying principle behind all the operas you enjoy on the Minnesota Opera stage. The production you are about to see is the culmination of Minnesota Opera’s exploration of the principles and works of this era.

This trilogy is typically only performed by the largest companies, and it’s a sign of Minnesota Opera’s growth that not only are we completing our own production trilogy, but that it has been so well received that each of the three operas has been rented by other major companies and has been or will be seen by audiences in major cities in the United States and Canada. It’s also a sign of the company’s artistic growth that Dale’s “beautiful singing” artistic philosophy is now so engrained when we think about producing opera that it is second nature.

We hope you agree that Anna Bolena is a fitting inclusion in our 50th Anniversary Season.

Thank you for being here.

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Kevin Ramach President and General Director

elcome to this exciting new production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena. The journey to the opera has been a long and winding one. Back in 2000, Minnesota Opera undertook the task of defining an artistic philosophy for the company. We were inspired not only by the repertoire of early 19th century Italy, but also by the unique ability of the human voice, soaring and beautiful, to express the emotions and arouse the imaginations of the audience. That philosophy has guided us not only with repertoire choices but also set and costume design, casting, and training for our Resident Artists. As we settled on this aesthetic, we made the Tudor trilogy a central part of the repertoire going forward.

These three pieces show the growth of Donizetti through the years. Roberto Devereux, which we staged first, was one of his last works, and it was the most mature and forward looking work in the trilogy. Mary Stuart was a middle opera for the composer, and in it we saw the tug between the old and new. With Anna Bolena, we see one of Donizetti’s earliest successes, and the musical language is squarely in the mid Bel Canto era. There are glorious arias and cabalettas, splendid duets between the principals and vibrant choruses to bookend the action. We made the choice to go backwards in time, with the end of Elizabeth I’s reign to the beginning of it, when she was the young daughter of Anne Boleyn. The glorious music of Donizetti has been a great inspiration for us here at Minnesota Opera. I hope you have enjoyed it as well.

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Dale Johnson Artistic Director

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Synopsis Anna Bolena Background Notes Gaetano Donizetti The Artists The Minnesota Opera Resident Artists Program

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contents

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synopsis Set models by Neil Patel

Act I Scene one – A hall in Windsor Castle As they await the king’s arrival, courtiers gossip over Henry’s cold treatment of Queen Anne and the possibility of a rival. Her favorite lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour, privately expresses her guilty conscience over receiving Henry’s unprovoked affections. At the same time, she tries to console the queen. Anne asks her court musician, Smeton, to sing a song, but it only disturbs her more. She advises Jane never to allow the throne to seduce her, while Jane can barely look her in the eye.

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Anne and the courtiers retire. Jane encounters Henry and insists they discontinue their secret indiscretions – like Anne before her marriage to the king, she fears for her own reputation.

Henry counters that the path to the altar is now entirely clear, as the day of Anne’s reckoning has come.

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Scene two – The park of Windsor Castle Anne’s brother Rochefort is surprised to find Percy back in England at Henry’s request. Percy had once been betrothed to Anne and was exiled after she wed Henry to assuage his grief. Henry arrives with the royal hunt, and Anne soon afterwards with her ladies. Unaware the king has set a trap, Percy thanks him for allowing his return, and Henry reveals that it was intended to please Anne. When Percy kisses her hand, the court is taken aback, but Henry remains strangely unaffected.

Scene three – Anne’s private apartments Secretly enamored with Anne, Smeton tries to replace a small portrait of the queen which he stole. Hearing Anne and Rochefort approach, he is forced into hiding. Anne is concerned over Percy’s return, and departing, Rochefort promises to do what he can to ease the awkward situation. Percy enters and Anne realizes the irony of it all – she left him for the throne and now all she has is a crown of thorns.

Percy renews his earlier suit, claiming that if Henry hates his wife, he still holds her dear. Alarmed, Anne tells him to leave, but Percy refuses, ready to throw himself on his sword.

Scene two – A room outside the council chamber The courtiers anxiously wait as the Peers confer inside. Hervey comes into the anteroom announcing that Anne and Percy have been called before the council – Smeton has been pressed into divulging her lurid affairs. In front of the king, both Anne and Percy deny his hateful accusations.

Left alone with Jane, Henry expresses his love, but her guilt cannot be reconciled. Hervey announces the Peers’ verdict – the royal marriage is to be dissolved, and Anne, with her suspected lover Percy, is condemned. Jane begs her king to be clement.

Rochefort returns in a panic, and then the king bursts with the rest of the court to witness the compromising scene. Henry suspects something is afoot, and as Smeton vehemently denies any impropriety, Anne’s portrait falls from his pocket. Henry uses this blunder as proof of her infidelity and orders all three to be imprisoned.

Scene three – The Tower of London Percy learns Rochefort also faces execution, merely for his familial association. Hervey arrives with a reprieve from Henry for the two men, but as Anne is sentenced to die, they bravely agree to follow her to the chopping block.

• intermission • Act II Scene one – A small vestibule leading to the rooms where Anne is imprisoned Anne is comforted by her ladies-inwaiting, but soon Hervey announces that all her women have been called before the Council of Peers. Jane tries to soothe the queen’s anguish. A plot has been hatched, and the only way Anne can avoid death is to confess her guilt. Jane begrudging reveals that she has inadvertently won Henry’s heart, and Anne flies into a jealous rage. When Jane begs for mercy, Anne’s anger subsides as she comes to realize Henry alone is to blame.

Anne’s ladies enter, lamenting their queen’s fate. She soon enters, uneasily remembering happier days. Anne is brought to her senses with the arrival of Percy, Rochefort and Smeton under guard. Smeton admits his complicity in the trial – by lying he thought he was actually saving her life. Anne’s mind begins to wander again, but a cannon shot brings her back to lucidity – Jane has been proclaimed queen. Anne forgives the new royal couple and steels herself for the ascent to the scaffold. T

Music by Gaetano Donizetti Libretto by Felice Romani after Ippolito Pindemonte’s Enrico viii ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli’s Anna Bolena World premiere at the Teatro Carcano, Milan December 26, 1830 November 10, 13, 15, 17 and 18, 2012 Ordway Center, Saint Paul Sung in Italian with English captions

cast (in order of vocal appearance)

Giovanna Seymour, Anna’s lady-in-waiting Anna Bolena, wife of Henry viii Smeton, the queen’s page and minstrel Enrico viii, King of England Lord Rochefort, Anna’s brother Lord Riccardo Percy Sir Hervey, an official of the king Princess Elizabetta, Anna and Enrico’s daughter

Lauren McNeese Keri Alkema Victoria Vargas Kyle Ketelsen Richard Ollarsaba David Portillo John Robert Lindsey Edie Ruth Stenglein

creative team Michael Christie Kevin Newbury Neil Patel Jessica Jahn D. M. Wood Jason Allen and Ronell Oliveri Daniel Ellis Aaron Breid Eric McEnaney, Sheldon Miller Alexander Farino Christopher Bergen

The Minnesota Opera season is sponsored by

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Conductor Stage Director Set Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Wig and Makeup Designers Assistant Director Assistant Conductor Répétiteurs Stage Manager English Captions

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Background Notes

by David Sander

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the attention of Lord Henry Percy, the future Earl of Northumberland, one of the wealthiest provinces in the nation.

Love blossomed, but due to Percy’s future peerage, any contract for marriage had to be approved by the king and his High Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

To Anne’s disappointment, Percy was affianced to a better match, the daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury, as part of an effort to maintain a stronghold in the north against potential French invasion via its Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza/Scala/ Art Resource, NY

nne Boleyn was perhaps the most tragic of King Henry’s six wives, seconded only by her rival, Catherine of Aragon, who quite literally died of a diseased and broken heart. Faced with trumped up charges of adultery, incest and treason, Anne was a victim of her own hubris – the brief reign of the “Thousand Day Queen” witnessed a meteoric rise to power only to be followed by a colossal fall from grace.

Her origins were humble by aristocratic standards. Though she could claim descent from Edward i (as did most of the nobility’s inner circle), Anne’s family achieved distinction through the efforts of her father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, a skilled diplomat. In 1512, he was one of three envoys sent to the Netherlands to meet with its ruler, Margaret, daughter of Austrian Emperor Maximilian i. Through the negotiations, Sir Thomas maintained a friendly relationship with Margaret, who extended an invitation for his daughter Anne to join her court, which was distinguished by the presence of her deceased brother Philip’s offspring. Among these noteable wards of state was Charles of Ghent, destined to inherit a mighty empire.

In 1514, another opportunity arose.

English King Henry viii’s sister was betrothed to the aging French King Louis xii, and Anne joined her sister Mary in France as part of the bridal household.

Though the marriage would end with Louis’ death after only 82 days, the Boleyn sisters remained in the care of the new Queen Claude and her sister Renée. Thus, Anne spent her formative years absorbing Austrian and French culture. She also was surrounded by formidable female role models in her youth, first with Margaret of Austria and later with the new King François’ mother, former regent Louise of Savoy, and sister Marguerite d’Angoulême.

It was an upbringing that may have inflated her sense of self-worth.

Anne returned to England in 1521 expecting to marry James Butler, the presumptive heir to Ormond, a county her father had long coveted. While negotiations lingered, she joined the court as a demoiselle d’honneur, returning first to Mary Tudor until a highly sought-after spot opened up in Queen Catherine’s domicile. At this point, she attracted

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Portrait of Henry VIII of England (circa 1537) Hans Holbein the Younger Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (Spain)

ally, Scotland. Essentially, Anne’s modest pedigree had not sufficed.

Still, Anne had a presence at court and most likely was first noticed by King Henry in 1522 while performing in a masque. By Christmas 1526, a passionate romance had commenced.

This was not Henry’s first extramarital affair – though always discreet, he had mistresses in the past, most notably Mary Boleyn and Elizabeth Blount, the latter liaison producing an officially recognized royal bastard, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond. Unlike these women who were used and tossed aside, Anne strategized to keep the king interested by withholding certain favors. For Henry’s part, he could not risk another illegitimate child and had already begun considering a separation from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

The divorce would not come easily, even though the religion-conscious Defender of the Faith King Henry thought he had a rational argument. Catherine had first come to England as the bride of his older brother Arthur, who died shortly after the wedding. The Bible’s Leviticus states that “If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing … he shall be without children” (it didn’t matter that a later passage in the Deuteronomy encourages a dead husband’s brother to “go in unto her and take her to him to wife,” superseding tthe earlier pronouncement). In Henry’s way oof thinking, his marriage to Catherine had bbeen a sin against God. In issuing an earlier ddispensation granting the subsequent m marriage between Henry and Catherine, P Pope Julius ii had made a mistake.

They had been a reasonably happy ccouple in the beginning, but Henry had ggreater issues to consider. Out of several ppregnancies, only one child, Princess Mary, h had survived. Catherine was nearly six years oolder and at the end of her childbearing yyears. A daughter could be a valuable bbargaining chip, whose marriage could be eengineered for dynastic and diplomatic ppurposes, but in the 16th century, a son was ttruly needed to rule, particularly after some rrather turbulent times. Henry’s father had rresolved the infamous War of the Roses bby killing Richard iii on the battlefield, sseizing the crown and marrying Elizabeth of York, the daughter of the predeceased Edward iv. Henry vii’s Lancastrian claim to the throne was shaky at best, and though he would eliminate several of his Yorkist contenders with obsessive paranoia, there were still several male Plantagenet relatives ready to take the crown. Even as he was the corporeal union of the two houses, Henry viii had serious concerns about his first cousins, the Courtenays (grandchildren of Edward) and the Poles (offspring of his brother George). The lack of a male heir could throw the country back into civil war.

Unfortunately, the end of a royal marriage would require the approval of the pope, and it was now up to Clement vii to reverse the earlier papal decision. This type of clearance would take a certain amount of travel time, complicated by the fact that the new Austrian Emperor (and Catherine’s nephew) Charles v had invaded Rome, and

background notes Costume sketches by Jessica Jahn

accordingly. By the end of 1532, Anne found herself with child, and the couple secretly married, later altering their exact wedding date to allow for a nine-month gestation period in order to confirm the child’s legitimacy. Parliament passed the Act of Restraint of Appeals, a preliminary step toward an autonomous Church of England, and in May, the new Archbishop Thomas Cranmer declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid.

Anne reached the pinnacle of her ascent when, visibly pregnant, she was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in June 1533. Born in September, the child did not turn out to be the much-anticipated boy as all had hoped, but a girl, named Elizabeth after her grandmother. Disappointment ensued, but there was a good chance Anne would be expectant again soon, which turned out to be the case. By 1534, however, there were signs the relationship between the king and his new queen had begun to sour.

In the Renaissance era, it was considered dangerous to have sexual relations with one’s pregnant wife, so Henry went elsewhere for satisfaction. Ever tempestuous and independent of spirit, Anne objected only to receive an angry rebuke from the king to “endure it as well as those better than her” with the reminder that he who had made her could also break her.

In March, Clement issued his long awaited ruling – there would be no divorce and Henry must to return to Catherine under threat of excommunication. In retaliation, Henry passed the Act of Supremacy declaring himself Head of the Church and God’s deputy on earth. This action legalized both his marriage to Anne

and his divorce of Catherine. For a short period of time there were two queens of England, but this new status demoted Henry’s first wife to Dowager Princess of Wales, a title which she had held following Arthur’s death.

On January 7, 1536, Catherine died and the royal couple rejoiced. There was no longer any uncomfortable impediment to their union. But with tragic irony, Anne miscarried her third child three weeks later (the second had been stillborn the previous summer), after hearing news of Henry’s fall from a horse in the tiltyard.

Meanwhile, the ambitious Seymours posed their family pawn Jane as an attractive alternative. Anne had earlier caught her in an affectionate moment with Henry, and accused him shrilly: “I saw that harlot Jane sitting on your knees while my belly was doing its duty!”

In early spring of her last year, Anne made a fatal error – she quarreled with Thomas Cromwell, Wolsey’s eventual successor. They had been allies during the divorce fiasco, but the chancellor realized she had since lost her usefulness.

Diplomacy was still a chief objective, and an Austrian concord was still highly desirable. Emperor Charles warmed to the notion of his cousin Mary Tudor, no longer a bastard after Catherine’s death, as heir presumptive of the English throne, thereby displacing Elizabeth.

Henry would not be easily fooled, so Cromwell planned Anne’s demise long in advance. A golden opportunity presented itself when she quarreled with Henry Norris, Groom of the Stool and one of Henry’s closest friends, over his ®

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the pope was virtually his prisoner, having sought refuge in the Castel Sant’Angelo.

Granting Henry a favor at this particular juncture was a thorny issue given the ever-changing alliances among Austria, France, England and Italy. Also, Catherine wasn’t going quietly and had enlisted the help of Charles to put her case before Rome. Rather than retire to a nunnery, as all expected, she desperately clung to her lawful place as queen and to her daughter’s right to inherit the crown. She emphatically insisted that she and Arthur had not consummated their marriage (he had died too soon) and therefore had not violated any Biblical canons.

Clement ordered an investigation into the king’s “Great Matter” and sent Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio off to England. Meanwhile, an uneasy ménage à trois was maintained among Anne, the queen and the king – as for all outward appearances, the royal couple continued to perform their public duties including dining and sleeping together. Nonetheless, there is little doubt Henry doted on Anne, as evidenced by the 17 heated letters to her still in existence, but the couple was clearly frustrated by the risks of impregnation, the opportunities for love-making and the lengthy approval process.

The tribunal was held in summer 1529 and proved inconclusive. Eventually, Catherine was rusticated to the English Moors, never to see her husband or daughter again. Anne’s future thrived with a series of successes, including an elevation to a title in her own right as Marquess of Pembroke, and while in France visiting King François, she rewarded Henry

Giovanna G Gio vanna van a Seymour Seymou Sey mourr mo mou

Enrico En ico Enr E c

Anna An a Bolena Ann A Bole ol na

Per P Percy e cy er cy

Roc R Rochefort ochef hefort hef ort

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lack of interest in her cousin, Madge Shelton (reportedly showering more attention on Anne instead), and then openly argued with the king, a serious gaffe. On April 30, Mark Smeaton, one of Anne’s chamber musicians, was arrested and racked. Under great duress and with hopes of being spared a death sentence, he confessed to adultery with the queen. Several of her ladies, including Jane Parker, George Boleyn’s wife, gave evidence, indicating that they had seen the typically flirtatious and witty Anne express affection beyond what was considered to be within the constraints of “courtly love” with her male-dominated company. Her own brother had been seen kissing her on the lips, and more than once, emerging from her private apartments in a state of dishabille.

In all, five men were arrested with Anne – George Boleyn Viscount Rochford, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, Sir William Brereton and Mark Smeaton – and charged with making love with the queen at various times. The choice of these men, three of whom had close access to the king as gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, would have provided the most shock value, not to mention the incest with Anne’s brother and the inclusion of a lowly, untitled musician. Norris and Anne were additionally charged with treason for socially intimating they wished the king eliminated. During their trials, even Henry’s virility became a topic of derision, as Anne’s pregnancies could be explained away by relations with any of these five men.

Fortunately, the now publicly cuckolded Henry was nowhere near the courtroom.

Having seen his wife for the last time on May Day, when he suddenly and mysteriously rode away in the middle of a jousting match, the king focused on Jane, to whom he was betrothed the day after Anne was put to death. He was good enough to commute his second wife’s burning at the stake to simple decapitation, sending for the finest swordsman in Calais and paying a hefty surcharge. She was also given a “kinder,” more private beheading on Tower Green. The men also received a gentler sentence. Rather than being hung, drawn, castrated and quartered at Tyburn, the standard sentence for crimes of state, they met the axe on Tower Hill. Time

Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

background notes

Anne Boleyn in the Tower, shortly after her arrest (1835) François Edouard Cibot Musée Rolin, Autun (France)

has shown the testimony against them to be entirely fictitious for the actual dates of their supposed assignations proved impossibly inaccurate.

After a period of virtual nonentity (future Queen Mary Tudor had nothing good to say about her former tormentor, and Elizabeth was strangely silent about her mother during her long reign), Anne and her saga became a popular topic for art and literature that still sparks interest today. In the 18th century, the Duke’s Theatre in London premiered Virtue Betray’d or Anna Bullen (1753) by John Banks, and in Venice, the blank verse tragedy Anna Bolena (1788) by Count Alessandro Pepoli was first presented.

The City of Paris witnessed a mounting of Henri viii (1791) by Marie-Joseph Blaise de Chénier (younger brother to the revolutionary poet André de Chénier) at the Palais Royal, followed by Anne de Boulen (1821) by M. Frédéric, written for the Théâtre l’Ambigu-Comique. Adapted and translated into Italian, Blaise de Chénier’s play served as a general basis for the opera Anna Bolena by Gaetano Donizetti, his first major success and one of his earliest works to reach Paris and London. What started as an off-hand commission from a group of Milanese dilettantes (they also championed Vincenzo Bellini’s La sonnambula in the same 1830–1831 season at the competitive Teatro Carcano) turned out to be the composer’s most ambitious project to date.

Of course, by that time the subject had become quite malleable – even librettist Felice Romani felt compelled to write an apologia to explain away the historical deviations. In reality, the romance between Percy and Anne had long since been extinguished, yet their secret “pre-contract” did become an issue at her trial, and he outlived his former paramour by a few months, finally succumbing to a long illness. In her confrontations with Enrico, the operatic Anna is portrayed with a more sympathetic eye, rather than as her reputation in history would indicate, a calculating shrew referred to alternately by her detractors as the Great Enemy and the Concubine. These alterations of the actual events are common in the Romantic era of bel canto – indeed, the later operas of Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy are just as loose interpretations of the facts for dramatic purposes.

Also compassionately depicted in Donizetti’s opera, Jane Seymour may have been less so in real life. She played the same game as Anne, supplanting a sitting monarch by using her feminine charms. There is no record of any regret for climbing over Anne’s dead body to get to the bridal altar. Opposite in temperament from her predecessor, Jane played the submissive spouse to an increasingly foul-tempered Henry, and most significantly, she gave him the much-desired male heir, Edward.

Unfortunately, as childbirth was a risky endeavor in the 1500s, she died just two weeks after his birth.

Henry’s progeny had a difficult path ahead. The youthful Edward vi died after only six years on the throne. His grandniece Jane Grey lasted just nine days as a result of an ill-planned coup intended to save the new Anglican faith, and Mary Tudor’s cataclysmic rule earned her the notorious status as “Bloody Mary” for her reactionary return to Catholicism. It was only with the long sovereignty of Anne’s daughter that the country achieved political unity and international prestige. Choosing independence over procreation, Queen Elizabeth i would be the last and most stable Tudor monarch, ending a colorful, if not ruthlessly violent, often impetuous and politically volatile, royal bloodline. T

Gaetano Donizetti b Bergamo, November 29, 1797; d Bergamo, April 8, 1848

Alfredo Dagli Orti/The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY Gaetano Donizetti Francesco Coghetti Private Collection

and Virginia Vasselli, his wife of seven years.

His melancholia may have been induced by early symptoms of syphilis, which he contracted as a young man.

Donizetti made his Paris debut in 1835 with Marino Faliero at the Théâtre Italien and later premiered Les martyrs (1840) at the Paris Opéra. A French translation of Lucia made his name a household word, and in 1840 the composer captivated audiences with La favorite. One of his very last works for the stage, Dom Sébastien (1843), was cast in the mold of French grand opéra and was extremely well-received.

The composer had hoped to assume Niccolò Zingarelli’s post as director of the Naples Conservatory, but when the 85-yearold composer died in 1837, Donizetti’s considerable musical contribution was overlooked. He turned toward the Austrian state, where he became music director of the imperial theaters.

By 1845, symptoms of his illness had become incapacitating, and his erratic behavior could no longer be excused by overwork. With his family’s intervention Donizetti was placed in a French sanitarium at Ivry for 17 months, then transferred to a Paris apartment. There he was regularly visited by musicians and colleagues, but by this point he was paralyzed, disoriented and rarely spoke.

In September 1847, friends arranged Donizetti’s return to Bergamo, where he passed his final days at the home of a wealthy patroness. T

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ith nearly 70 operas to his credit, Gaetano Donizetti was the leading Italian composer in the decade between Vincenzo Bellini’s death and the ascent of Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in the northern Italian city of Bergamo to an impoverished family. After showing some musical talent, he was enrolled in the town’s Lezioni Caritatevoli, where he had the good fortune to study with Giovanni Simone Mayr, maestro di cappella at Santa Maria Maggiore. Originally from Bavaria, Mayr was a successful composer in Italy during the era preceding Gioachino Rossini’s rise to fame, with dozens of operas to his credit. Throughout his life, Donizetti regarded him as a second father, though he would outlive his master by only three years.

When it came time, Donizetti furthered his education at the Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna. He had already penned several short operas before receiving his first commission in 1818 from the Teatro San Luca in Venice – this was Enrico di Borgogna. A letter of introduction from Mayr to poet Jacopo Ferretti led Donizetti to Rome, where in 1822 he would have his first unequivocal success, Zoraide di Grenata.

Later that year Donizetti settled in Naples and used it as a base for the next 16 years. He arrived just as Rossini was finishing his seven-year contract with the royal theaters. Like Rossini he had the ability to work at the increasingly rapid pace demanded by the Italian theater industry and was able to produce three to four operas a year for most of his life.

Many remain timeless gems. L’elisir d’amore (1832), La fille du régiment (1840) and Don Pasquale (1843) demonstrate his expert handling of lighter subjects.

Lucrezia Borgia (1833), Gemma di Vergy (1834), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), Maria de Rudenz (1838) and Maria Padilla (1841) display the composer’s mastery of the Italian melodrama fueled by impassioned and unrestrained literature of the Romantic period. His influence on Verdi cannot be underestimated.

Donizetti’s success in dealing with both comic and tragic settings was due in part to his own manic depressive personality. Well acquainted with personal misfortune, he lost in the span of eight years his mother, father, two infant sons, an infant daughter

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the artists Keri Alkema anna bolena A voice with an “appealing brew of dark and creamy colors” (The New York Times), soprano Keri Alkema has been praised for her “tonal opulence” (Washington Post) and “incisive musicality” (The New York Times).

For the 2012–2013 season, Ms. Alkema returns to the Canadian Opera Co. in a role debut as Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito and to New York City Opera singing Amaltea in Mosè in Egitto.

Future seasons will see her as Mozart, Verdi and bel canto heroines at the Canadian Opera Co., Théâtre du Capitole (Toulouse), Opéra National de Bordeaux, Austin Lyric Opera, Teatro Municipal de Santiago and Washington National Opera.

Recent engagements include the roles of Mimì in La bohème at Glyndebourne, Adalgisa in Norma at Opera North (Leeds), Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann at Canadian Opera Co., Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the New York Philharmonic, Freia in Das Rheingold at Teatro de la Maestranza (Seville), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at Atlanta Opera and Amelia in Simon Boccanegra in Santiago.

Michael Christie conductor Michael Christie became Music Director of the Minnesota Opera in September 2012 after eight years as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony. Michael opens his 13 th season as music director of the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado this year and has been music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and chief conductor of the Queensland Orchestra (Brisbane, Australia).

Recent opera engagements have included acclaimed productions with Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Alice in Wonderland, The Ghosts of Versailles and The Death of Klinghoffer), Wexford Festival Opera, Minnesota Opera (La traviata, Wuthering Heights, Silent Night, Madame Butterfly and Nabucco) and Aspen Opera Theatre (The Ghosts of Versailles and West Side Story).

Upcoming engagements include Turandot with Minnesota Opera and his San Francisco Opera debut conducting the world premiere of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

Ms. Alkema's appearance is generously sponsored by Bonnie and Bill Frels.

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Kyle Ketelsen

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enrico viii Bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is in regular demand by the world’s leading opera companies for his vibrant and handsome stage presence and his distinctive vocalism. He returns to the Metropolitan Opera in the 2012–2013 season in Carmen as Escamillo and appears as Leporello in Don Giovanni at Houston Grand Opera, Teatro Real (Madrid) and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Highlights of Ketelsen’s previous season include Mr. Flint in Billy Budd and Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera; Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Don Fernando in Fidelio in Houston; and the title role of Le nozze di Figaro in Aix-en-Provence.

Mr. Ketelsen has previously appeared at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Figaro and Méphistophélès in Faust, a role he has also sung for Minnesota Opera, as Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress and as Alidoro in La Cenerentola for Canadian Opera Company. His trademark role of Escamillo has been seen at the Chicago Lyric, the Bayrische Staatsoper and the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Mr. Ketelsen's appearance is generously sponsored by Sue and Jim Nelson.

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at mnopera.org/season or go to get.neoreader.com on your smartphone and then snap this tag.

John Robert Lindsey hervey Colorado native tenor John Robert Lindsey is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he earned his Master of Music in vocal performance under the tutelage of Julie Simson.

Past engagements include the Tenor Soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Sam Polk in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, the Stage Manager in Ned Rorem’s Our Town and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni.

Mr. Lindsey was met with numerous successes in competitions recently. He was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the past two years, as well as taking third place in 2010 and first place in 2011 at the prestigious Denver Lyric Opera Guild competition.

For Minnesota Opera’s 2011–2012 season, Mr. Lindsey appeared as Jonathan Dale in Silent Night, Schmidt in Werther, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor and Goro in Madame Butterfly.

He also sang a concert of Carmen highlights with the Mankato Symphony. This season he returns as Ismaele in Nabucco, Hervey in Anna Bolena and Pang in Turandot.

Jessica Jahn costume designer Jessica Jahn danced professionally in New York City before beginning a career in design. She has had the opportunity to work on various projects with directors such as Tommy Kail, Tina Landau, Kevin Newbury and Carl Andress, artist Michael Counts, as well as writers Eisa Davis, Norah Ephron and Charles Busch.

New York (selected work): Monodramas at New York City Opera; Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Westside Theatre; Die Mommie Die! at New World Stages (winner of the Lucille Lortel Award); and Judith of Bethulia at Theatre for the New City.

Regional (selected work): In the Red and Brown Water at the Alliance Theatre, Mary Stuart at Houston Grand Opera; Il trovatore, Roberto Devereux, Mary Stuart and Werther at Minnesota Opera; Life Is A Dream (world premiere) at Santa Fe Opera; Once on This Island at Papermill Playhouse; and Die Leibe der Danae at Bard Summerscape.

Upcoming : Mosè in Egitto at New York City Opera and Anna Bolena at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Lauren McNeese giovanna seymour Mezzo-soprano Lauren McNeese’s colorful, resonant voice and beautiful stage presence are quickly establishing her as a soughtout artist. In 2012, she made her debut with Dallas Opera and returned to San Francisco Opera and the Ravinia Festival as the Zweite Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. In the 2012–2013 season, she returns to Intermountain Opera as Dorabella in Così fan tutte and makes her house debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Parsifal.

Recently, Ms. McNeese debuted as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Intermountain Opera; appeared as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette for Michigan Opera Theatre; Wellgunde in Der Ring des Nibelungen for San Francisco Opera and l.a.

Opera; La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi at l.a.

Opera; Dorabella at Arizona Opera; L’enfant in L’enfant et les sortilèges and La Ciesa for Opera Company of Philadelphia; and Cherubino, Bellino/Teresa in Casanova’s Homecoming and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Minnesota Opera.

Ms. McNeese’s appearance is generously sponsored by Sara and Jock Donaldson.

The appearances of Kyle Ketelsen, winner; and John Robert Lindsey and Richard Ollarsaba, regional finalists of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, are made possible through a Minnesota Opera Endowment Fund established for Artist Enhancement by Barbara White Bemis.

the artists stage director Kevin Newbury’s productions have been presented by many of the top American and international opera companies and symphonies including Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, L’Opéra de Montréal, Bard Summerscape, Portland Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Virginia Arts Festival and the Wexford Festival in Ireland. He has also directed many new plays in New York, including the award-winning Candy and Dorothy.

Mr. Newbury’s Virginia for Wexford recently won the 2010 Irish Times Theatre Award, and his work has been nominated for a Grammy Award, a Drama Desk Award and the glaad Media Award.

Mr. Newbury just finished shooting his first film, Mothra is Waiting, to be released in early 2013. Upcoming engagements include new productions with San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera (Doubt) and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

David Portillo percy Texas tenor David Portillo has established a reputation as an accomplished vocalist with uncommon technical facility. The 2012–2013 season finds David as Tonio in La fille du régiment at Fort Worth Opera, David in Die Meistersinger with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Saint-Preux/ Colin in the premiere of Jean-Jacques Rousseau with Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 2011, he appeared as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with the Castleton Festival in Virginia. David joined the roster of Teatro alla Scala last fall, where he covered the role of Don Ottavio. Other engagements for the 2011–2012 season included Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Tulsa Opera, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Pittsburgh Opera, Renaud in Gluck’s Armide presented by the Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School, and his return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. Future seasons include roles with Washington National Opera, Opéra AngersNantes, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Company of Philadelphia.

For more biographical information about these artists, visit our website at mnopera.org/season or go to get.neoreader.com on your smartphone and then snap this tag.

Richard Ollarsaba rochefort Bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba recently completed his studies for a Master of Music degree and a Post Graduate Certificate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His credits include Cecil in Maria Stuarda, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and Sir John Falstaff in Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. He made his Piedmont Opera debut in its 2010 production of Il trovatore as Ferrando and returned for productions of Don Giovanni as Masetto and The Crucible as Reverend Hale.

He then reprised Ferrando for North Carolina Opera in 2012. This season he sings the High Priest in Nabucco, Rochefort in Anna Bolena, Horatio in Hamlet and Timur in Turandot for Minnesota Opera Mr. Ollarsaba was a two-time fellow at the Music Academy of the West and a young artist with Chautauqua Opera. He is a first place winner of the Charles A. Lynam Competition, which earned him featured performances of select arias with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, where he was praised for his “wonderful artistry and beautiful and moving voice” – cvnc.

Victoria Vargas smeton Mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas returns to the Minnesota Opera, having appeared as Tisbe in Cinderella, Anna in Mary Stuart, Flora in La traviata, Nelly in Wuthering Heights and Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor. This season, she sings Fenena in Nabucco and Smeton in Anna Bolena.

Regionally, Ms. Vargas recently sang with the Duluth Festival Opera and a concert of Carmen excerpts with the Mankato Symphony. She has been at both Sarasota and Chautauqua Operas, where she covered the role of Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana. At Chautauqua, she won the company’s Guild Studio Artist and Apprentice Artist Awards, singing Laura in Luisa Miller and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte. She also won an encouragement award at the Met districts.

Other opera credits include Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro for Ash Lawn Opera and Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance; the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the title role in Carmen and Dorabella in Così fan tutte for Hillman Opera; Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music for Lyric Arts International; and Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief for Fredonia Opera Theater.

Neil Patel set designer Neil Patel works in theater, opera, dance and film. He has designed Oleanna, Sideman, [title of show], ‘Night Mother, Wonderland and Ring of Fire for Broadway. Off-Broadway, his credits include productions at Second Stage, Manhattan Theater Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, bam, New York Theater Workshop, Vineyard Theater and Playwrights Horizon, having designed productions of By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, This Beautiful City, The Beard of Avon, Living Out, Here Lies Jenny, Dinner with Friends, The Long Christmas Ride Home, Quills and The Grey Zone. His regional work has been seen at the Guthrie Theater, The Kennedy Center, Center Theater Group, McCarter Theater, Arena Stage, Center Stage, Steppenwolf and Chicago Shakespeare, among many others.

Opera credits include New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Montreal Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theater, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Minnesota Opera (Madame Butterfly, Orazi e Curiazi and Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy).

D. M. Wood lighting designer D. M. Wood’s recent design credits include the world premiere of Wild Swans (Young Vic and a.r.t.); Il trittico (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Roméo et Juliette (Palm Beach Opera), Hänsel und Gretel (Virginia Opera); Die Liebe der Danae (Bard Summerscape); co-design of the world premiere of Anna Nicole (Royal Opera House – Covent Garden); Moskva, Cheremushki (Long Beach Opera); Werther, Mary Stuart, Roberto Devereux, Barbiere and Il trovatore (Minnesota Opera); Roberto Devereux (L’Opéra de Montréal); Annie Get Your Gun (co-design: Young Vic); La Cenerentola (Glimmerglass Opera); Die Zauberflöte (Houston Grand Opera); The Sound of a Voice/Hotel of Dreams (Long Beach Opera); Les Miserables (Copenhagen); Tosca (Canadian Opera Co.); Cleopatra/Oepidus Rex (Operahaus Graz, Austria); and Tristan und Isolde (Savonlinna Opera).

Ms. Wood’s design for Suor Angelica (Royal Opera House) won the u.k.’s 2012 Knight of Illumination Award.

Upcoming: L’enfant et les sortilèges (Bolshoi Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Opéra National de Lorraine); and Anna Nicole (bam).

The appearances of the Resident Artists are made possible, in part, by the Virginia L. Stringer Endowment Fund for the Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program.

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Kevin Newbury

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the artists Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program: Class of 2012–2013

MINNESOTA OPERA ORCHESTRA VIOLIN I Allison Ostrander Concertmaster Julia Persitz David Mickens Judy Thon-Jones Angela Waterman Hanson Andrea Een Conor O’Brien Natalia Moiseeva Giselle Hillyer Troy Gardner

VIOLIN II Laurie Petruconis Elizabeth Decker Stephan Orsak Melinda Marshall Margaret Humphrey Elise Parker

Maisie Block Huldah Niles

VIOLA Emily Hagen Laurel Browne Jenny Lind Nilsson Susan Janda James Bartsch Valerie Little

CELLO Sally Dorer Rebecca Arons Thomas Austin Teresa Richardson Kirsten Whitson

FLUTE

TRUMPET

Michele Frisch Amy Morris, double piccolo

John G. Koopmann Christopher Volpe

OBOE

Phillip Ostrander John Tranter David Stevens

Michael Dayton Mark Seerup, double English Horn

CLARINET Karrin Meffert-Nelson Nina Olsen

BASSOON Coreen Nordling Laurie Hatcher Merz

TROMBONE

TIMPANI Kory Andry

PERCUSSION Matthew Barber Steve Kimball

HARP Min Kim

HORN

BASS John Michael Smith Constance Martin Jason C. Hagelie

Matt Wilson Charles Hodgson Timothy Bradley Lawrence Barnhart

Helen Hassinger Sandy Henderson Benjamin Hills Joe Holmers Cresta Hubert Brian Jorgensen Peggy Joyce Hye Won Kim Elizabeth Kohl Rick Latterell

Maggie Lofboom Elizabeth Longhurst Riley McNutt Eric Mellum Monica Murray Rodolfo Nieto Matthew Opitz Rick Penning Alex Ritchie Mary-Lacey Rogers

CHORUS

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Minnesota Opera is pleased to welcome the 2012–2013 roster of Resident Artists. Mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas and tenor John Robert Lindsey return, as well as assistant conductor/ chorus master Aaron Breid, coach/ accompanist Eric McEnaney and administrator Mary-Lacey Rogers. New in the 2012–2013 season are soprano Christie Hageman, baritone Matthew Opitz, bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba, coach/accompanist Sheldon Miller and assistant director Daniel Ellis.

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Among the most prestigious of its kind in the country, Minnesota Opera’s Resident Artist Program offers a full season of employment for talented artists beginning their professional careers. From late August through the end of the season, Resident Artists gain valuable experience in assignments ranging from ensemble, understudy and comprimario to leading roles in mainstage performances.

Nathan Bird Kelsey Bruso Margaret Burton Lisa Butcher Cecile Crozat-Zawisza Steven Dahlberg John deCausmeaker Andy Elfenbein Carole Finneran Peter Frenz

PRODUCTION MULTIMEDIA

Photography © Corinne Standish for Minnesota Opera.

MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO®

A & C Publishing, Inc. – Michael Gutierres, Program Designer

Classical MPR – Broadcast Recording

Aleutian Calabay – Publicity Photographer

QuarterTon Productions – Publicity Video

Michal Daniel – Production Photographer

Mike Reed – Production Sketch Artist

CELEBRATING THE 60TH YEAR OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL

MINNESOTA DISTRICT AUDITIONS Pictured above left to right: John Robert Lindsey, Aaron Breid, Christie Hageman, Eric McEnaney, Daniel Ellis, Mary-Lacey Rogers, Sheldon Miller, Victoria Vargas, Richard Ollarsaba, Matthew Opitz.

Steve Sandberg Grant Scherzer Cathryn Schmidt Staci Stringer Mary Kent Vandrovec Adan Varela Rachel Vickers Lola Watson Daniel Weinstein Tracey Zavadil

November 17, 2012, 10am Ordway Mainstage

UPPER MIDWEST REGION AUDITIONS February 2, 2013, 12 noon Ordway Mainstage

For more information visit moncuppermidwest.com

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1973–1974

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1976–1977

El Capitan Transformations Don Giovanni The Newest Opera in the World charles fullmer is appointed general manager.

The Bartered Bride The Passion According to St. Matthew Candide Mahagonny saint paul opera merges with minnesota opera.

1974–1975

1977–1978

Gallimaufry Gulliver Eight Songs for a Mad King Music from the Court of George iii The Magic Flute Albert Herring the opera presents the magic flute at o’shaughnessy auditorium, a larger venue than its previous location, the cedar village theater, by about 1,000 seats. the guthrie is still used as a minneapolis alternative.

1975–1976

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Black River El Capitan Così fan tutte The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe minnesota opera presents two world premieres by two american composers based on american subjects.

Christopher Columbus The Mother of Us All The Marriage of Figaro Claudia Legare the opera occupies office and shop space on grand avenue in saint paul; transformations is broadcast on public television.

1978–1979 The Love for Three Oranges The Jealous Cellist The Passion According to St. Matthew La traviata The Consul minnesota opera presents its first verdi opera, la traviata.

1979–1980 The Abduction from the Seraglio The Pirates of Penzance La bohème Rosina

the opera investigates the possibility of renovating storefront space on main street in minneapolis for a potential 1,000-seat theater.

1980–1981 The Merry Widow Black River Carmen A Water Bird Talk Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night plans for a new theater are postponed.

1981–1982 Hansel and Gretel The Village Singer Gianni Schicchi The Barber of Seville Feathertop The Mask of Evil kevin smith joins the minnesota opera as stage manager for hansel and gretel, the first production performed at the orpheum in minneapolis.

1982–1983 Hansel and Gretel Lucia di Lammermoor A Death in the Family Kiss Me, Kate edward corn is appointed executive director.

The Second Decade

1973-1983

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Interview with Philip Brunelle Honorary director y first season as music director was 1969–1970, and I was with the company up through Animalen, which opened the Ordway in 1984. At the beginning, Martin Friedman was interested in having an opera program started as part of the Walker Art Center. It was, of course, what put Minnesota Opera on the map.

Everyone was shocked when The New York Times came out for Punch and Judy, but there was something obviously unique to bring a critic that far to see this fledgling company.

Transformations was a memorable piece.

Wesley Balk found a book by Anne Sexton that he thought would make a good opera. I had heard of a composer named Conrad Susa, with whom we arranged a meeting in New York and gave him the book. We then approached Anne Sexton, and she said, “I will give you permission to do an opera with my words for one performance, and I will come opening night, and if I like it, you can do it more – otherwise, no.” So there was this huge pressure, with Anne Sexton sitting in the front row of the Cedar Village Theater. At the end of it, she was just sobbing, saying: “This is the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen. You can do it thousands of times.”

I loved that we had to be creative. For a period, we were in the Cedar Village Theater, which was a humbling experience with pipes clanging and the cold in the winter. For Transformations, Conrad Susa asked, “Where am I going to put an orchestra?” The orchestra became part of the set, part of the action.

Wonderful, creative things went hand-in-hand with design. It was a great coup for the company to have such creativity in simply making the space work for us rather than be hampered by it.

The Opera came out of the Walker, an established cultural institution, so when it

M

went off on its own, Center Opera already had legacy. Because of that, people accepted it as an art form. There was the Saint Paul Opera, but it was doing very traditional work while this fledgling opera company was doing all of these things thought to be avant-garde. One of the things I pushed for was that we couldn’t just do contemporary music. The only way we could continue was if we did the right operas of the past so we understood where the tradition was coming from. This is why we included Così fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro, and later, Hansel and Gretel, so everyone would understand that contemporary opera wasn’t in isolation.

Looking at the past repertoire, the most unique piece was The Newest Opera in the World.

Wesley’s idea was to create a piece where the audiences could vote on what style they wanted to hear – who would be the heroine, who would be the hero – which from an educational point of view is fascinating. And my role, starting with the ensemble in the fall, was to have them learn all styles, from Monteverdi all the way up to the present. They could then go into improvising on the set. Everything was voted on. There was a great big roulette wheel and people all chose.

Audiences went crazy for this!

Moving into the Ordway, the mission had to change, given that you suddenly had this huge, grand stage to fill. Performing the intimate pieces we did at the beginning wouldn’t work.

So the company made a big shift. I see the [current] company looking back on its mission, and saying, “Okay, we can’t go back to that, but what are some of the strengths from the early days that we can replicate in a different way?

We’re no longer in an interesting, homey place; instead we’re in this very big space. What can we do to keep alive that spirit – the Can Do of the original company?” T

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(8) The Abduction from the Seraglio (1979) (9) Rosina (1980)

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(10) The Village Singer (1982) (11) Feathertop (1982)

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PHOTOS: (1) Transformations (1974) (2) Gulliver (1975) (3) The Magic Flute (1975) (4) El Capitan (1975) (5) The Bartered Bride (1976) (6) Christopher Columbus (1977) (7) The Love For Three Oranges (1978)

© 2012 ClarePix Photography

Tempo is a membership program for both new and seasoned opera-goers ages 21–39. Your $50 Tempo membership includes exciting benefits to help you get the most out of your experience.

Silver & Gold Soirée

UPCOMING EVENTS Official home of Tempo Night Out + After Party for the 2012–2013 season

January 7: Doubt Happy Hour + Behind the Curtain January 26: Doubt Tempo Night Out + After Party February 2: Tempo goes to the Met...Auditions

TEMPO’S TENTH YEAR!

mnopera.org/tempo | 612-333-6669 tempo@mnopera.org

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Check out Tempo on Minnesota Opera's blog every Tuesday: blog.mnopera.org

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spencer stuart is proud to support minnesota opera We are pleased to present conductor Maestro Michael Christie in Minnesota Opera’s production of Anna Bolena.

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| MINNESOTA OPERA mnopera.org

education at the opera Day at the Opera

Project Opera

Nail your next audition!

Project Opera is off to another exciting year. Over 80 students from around the metro started in September learning music for a year that will include master classes, Ordway lobby concerts and the spring opera production in February.

The operas this year will be Shoes for the Santo Niño by Stephen Paulus, Down in the Valley by Kurt Weill and Noye’s Fludde by Benjamin Britten.

Performances will take place at the Lab Theater in Minneapolis, February 22–23, 2013. Tickets will go on sale in January.

Two Day at the Opera audition master classes will be held on January 21 and April 3 for high school aged singers and pianists.

The day-long program gives participants an opportunity to perform in a master class led

by Minnesota Opera staff, learn about the “inner game” of audition preparation and get a behind-thescenes look at the world of opera.

This program is ideal for teens in grades 9-12 who are preparing solos for spring contest, All-State and college auditions.

To register, email Jamie Andrews at andrews@mnopera.org. Space is limited.

Marlissa Hudson works with Nathalie Young

On September 30, soprano Marlissa Hudson coached two Project Opera students and talked about world of professional singing.

Marlissa Hudson offers comments to Maddie Petersen

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Behind the Curtain Get the inside scoop!

Look Behind the Curtain at Doubt with composer Douglas J. Cuomo and members of the cast. Learn about the process involved in creating an opera and join members of the cast to hear about performing this incredible work.

Join us for our class on Doubt, Monday, January 7, 2013, from 7–8:30pm at the Minnesota Opera Center.

Visit mnopera.org/BehindTheCurtain for more information.

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Purchase tickets at mnopera.org or call the Minnesota Opera Ticket OďŹƒce at 612-333-6669. ($35/adult, $28/subscriber, $10/students)

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get noticed.

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info@artsandcustom.com www.artsandcustom.com 952.843.4603

get you noticed.

program magazines will

Advertising in Minnesota Opera

President and General Director | Kevin Ramach Artistic Director | Dale Johnson Music Director | Michael Christie

ARTISTIC

PRODUCTION

Artistic Administrator | Roxanne Stouffer Artist Relations and Planning Director Floyd Anderson Dramaturg | David Sander Artistic Associate | Bill Murray Resident Artists Aaron Breid, Daniel Ellis, Christie Hageman, John Robert Lindsey, Eric McEnaney, Sheldon Miller, Richard Ollarsaba, Matthew Opitz, Mary-Lacey Rogers, Victoria Vargas Master Coach | Mary Jo Gothmann Resident Artist Program Instructors Cecile Crozat-Zawisza, Barbara Kierig, Brian McCullough, George Smith, Jenya Trubnikava

Production Stage Manager | Alexander Farino Assistant Stage Managers Shayna j. Houp, Andrew Landis Stage Management Intern | Mallroy Lammers Production Administrative Assistant Katherine Cattrysse

COSTUMES

DEVELOPMENT

Costume Shop Manager | Erica M. Burds Assistant Costume Shop Manager | Beth Sanders Wardrobe Supervisor | Emily Rosenmeier Draper | Chris Bur Dyer/Painter | Marliss Jensen First Hands Helen Ammann, Kelsey Glasener, Allison Guglielmi Stitchers Rebecca Ballas, Ann Habermann, Rachel Skudlarek Tailor | Yancey Thrift Wig/Makeup Supervisors Jason Allen, Sarah Bourne, Priscilla Bruce, Ashley Joyce

Director of the Annual Fund | Dawn Loven Institutional Gifts Manager | Beth Comeaux Advancement Manager | Kelly Kuczkowski Donor Events and Gala Manager | Emily Skoblik Individual Gifts Officer | Jenna Wolf

SCENERY Technical Director | Mike McQuiston Properties Master | Jenn Maatman Properties Assistant | Michael C. Long Assistant Costume Designer | Haley Lieberman Lighting Coordinator | Ray Steveson Assistant Lighting Coordinator | Tom Rost Assistant Lighting Designer | Keri Thibodeau Production Carpenter | JC Amel Scene Shop Foreman | Rod Aird Master Carpenters | Steven Rovie, Eric Veldey Carpenters | Steve Dalglish, Nate Kulenkamp Charge Painter | Jeffery Murphey

ADMINISTRATION Finance Director | Jeff Couture Operations/Systems Manager | Steve Mittelholtz HR/Accounting Manager | Jennifer Thill Director of Board Relations | Theresa Murray Finance Assistant | Michelle Gould Data Specialist | Rosalee McCready

EDUCATION Community Education Director | Jamie Andrews Teaching Artist | Bergen Baker Project Opera Music Director | Dale Kruse Project Opera Accompanist | Kathy Kraulik Project Opera Program Assistant | Anna Schmidt

MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS Marketing & Communications Director | Lani Willis Marketing Manager | Katherine Castille Communications Manager | Daniel R. Zillmann Marketing Associate | Kristin Matejcek Online Content Specialist | Adam Holisky Ticket Office Manager | Julie Behr Assistant Ticket Office Manager | Kevin Beckey Ticket Office Associate | Sarah Fowler Ticket Office Assistants Carol Corich, Kärsten Jensen, Jane Samsal, Carrie Walker Communications Interns Sabrina Crews, Theodore Schaller, Corinne Standish, Luke Thompson

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Rachelle D. Chase, Chair Kevin Ramach, President and General Director James Johnson, Vice Chair Robert Lee, Secretary Patricia Johnson, Treasurer

DIRECTORS Patricia Beithon Wendy Bennett Shari Boehnen Rachelle D. Chase Jane M. Confer Jodi Dehli Sara Donaldson Chip Emery Bianca Fine Sharon Hawkins Ruth S. Huss Heinz F. Hutter James Johnson Patricia Johnson James Langdon Christine Larsen Robert Lee Lynne E. Looney

Steven Mahon David Meline Leni Moore Albin “Jim” Nelson Luis Pagan-Carlo Jose Peris Elizabeth Redleaf Connie Remele Sergio Rial Don Romanaggi Christopher Romans Mark Schwarzmann Nadege Souvenir Simon Stevens Virginia Stringer H. Bernt von Ohlen Margaret Wurtele

EMERITI Karen Bachman John A. Blanchard, III Burton Cohen

Julia W. Dayton Mary W. Vaughan

HONORARY DIRECTORS Dominick Argento Philip Brunelle Dolly Fiterman

Norton M. Hintz Liz Kochiras Patricia H. Sheppard

LEGAL COUNSEL James A. Rubenstein, Moss & Barnett

minnesota opera volunteers

TEMPO BOARD AND VOLUNTEERS

The following volunteers contribute their time and talent to support the key activities of Minnesota Opera. If you would like to learn more about volunteering please visit mnopera.org/volunteer, email volunteering@mnopera.org or call Jenna Wolf at 612-342-9569.

Gerald Benson Kärsten Jensen Mary McDiarmid Eric Peterson Debra Brooks Jeanie Johnston Verne Melberg Sydney Phillips Jerry Cassidy Robin Keck Barbara Moore Wendi Sott Judith Duncan David Lightstone Douglas Myhra Barbara Willis Jane Fuller Jenny Lightstone Candyce Osterkamp Joan Gacki Jerry Lillquist Dan Panshin Merle Hanson Joyce Lillquist Pat Panshin

Ryan Alberg Thomas Bakken Leslie Carey Melissa Daul Colin Dickau Jennifer Engel Laura Green Benjamin Jones (Board Chair)

Minnesota Opera is a proud member of The Arts Partnership with Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and The Schubert Club.

Carolina Lamas Susan N Leppke Kristin Matejcek (Staff Liaison) Megan Mehl Jamie Nieman Polina Saprygina Rhonda Skoby Lauren Viner

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minnesota opera staff

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annual fund | individual giving It is with deep appreciation that Minnesota Opera recognizes and thanks all of the individual donors whose annual support helps bring great opera to life. It is our pleasure to give special recognition to the following individuals whose leadership support provides the financial foundation which makes the Opera’s artistic excellence possible.

For information on making a contribution to Minnesota Opera, please call Dawn Loven, Director of the Annual Fund at 612-342-9567, or email her at dloven@mnopera.org.

bel canto circle Platinum $25,000 and above Anonymous (1) Tracy and Eric Aanenson Mary and Gus Blanchard Jane M. and Ogden W. Confer Julia W. Dayton Vicki and Chip Emery Ruth and John Huss Heinz Hutter James E. Johnson Lucy Rosenberry Jones

The Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of HRK Foundation Elizabeth Redleaf Mrs. Mary W. Vaughan C. Angus and Margaret Wurtele

Gold $15,000–$24,999 Ellie and Tom Crosby, Jr. Cy and Paula Decosse Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Mr. and Mrs. William Frels N. Bud and Beverly Grossman Foundation

William I. and Bianca M. Fine Charitable Trust Mr. and Mrs. Philip Isaacson Moore Family Fund for the Arts Albin and Susan Nelson Mary Ingebrand Pohlad Ronning Family Foundation Carolyn, Sharon and Clark Winslow

Silver $10,000–$14,999

Susan Boren Sara and Jock Donaldson Harvey T. McLain Kay Ness and Chris Wolohan Connie and Lew Remele Mary Ingebrand Pohlad Joseph Sammartino Maggie Thurer and Simon Stevens Bernt von Ohlen and Thomas Nichol

Anonymous (2) Karen Bachman

camerata circle Platinum $7,500–$9,999 Allegro Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation Patricia and John Beithon Shari and David Boehnen Rachelle Dockman Chase Sharon and Bill Hawkins Erwin and Miriam Kelen Robert L. Lee and Mary E. Schaffner Judy Mortrude and Steven Mahon Jose Peris and Diana Gulden Lois and John Rogers Chris and Mark Schwarzmann

Gold $5,000–$7,499 Anonymous (2) Martha Goldberg Aronson and Daniel Aronson Martha and Bruce Atwater Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation William Biermaier and David Hanson Kathleen Callahan Nicky B. Carpenter Mary Lee Dayton Jodi Dehli Dolly J. Fiterman

Anonymous (4)

Nina and John Archabal Annette Atkins and Tom Joyce Alexandra O. Bjorklund Ken and Peggy Bonneville Dr. Lee Borah, Jr. Margee and Will Bracken Conley Brooks Family Juliet Bryan and Jack Timm Christopher J. Burns Ann and Glen Butterman Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Carlson Darlene J. and Richard P. Carroll Susan and Richard Crockett Gisela Corbett Page and Jay Cowles Thomas and Mary Lou Detwiler Mona and Patrick Dewane Ralph D. Ebbott Nancy and Rolf Engh Ester and John Fesler Patricia R. Freeburg Meg and Wayne Gisslen Mrs. Myrtle Grette Michele Harris and Peter Tanghe Dorothy Horns and James Richardson Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Horowitz Bill and Hella Mears Hueg Dale A. Johnson Robert and Susan Josselson

Warren and Patricia Kelly Lyndel and Blaine King Robert Kriel and Linda Krach David MacMillan and Judy Krow Roy and Dorothy Mayeske Mary Bigelow McMillan Karla Miller Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Moore Nancy and Richard Nicholson Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Peters Marge and Dwight Peterson Mr. and Mrs. William Phillips Sara and Kevin Ramach Rhoda and Paul Redleaf Mary and Paul Reyelts Kim and Peter Rue Nina and Ken Rothchild James A. Rubenstein, Moss & Barnett Kay Savik and Joe Tashjian Mary H. and Christian G. Schrock Gloria and Fred Sewell Drs. Joseph and Kristina Shaffer Lynda and Frank Sharbrough Stephanie Simon and Craig Bentdahl William Voedisch and Laurie Carlson Dr. Craig and Stephanie Walvatne Nancy and Ted Weyerhaeuser Woessner Freeman Family Foundation

The Denny Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Rebecca and Jay Debertin Margaret DiBlasio Elise Donohue Joe Dowling and Siobhan Cleary Joan Duddingston Joyce and Hugh Edmondson Rondi Erickson and Sandy Lewis Ann Fankhanel Joyce and Hal Field Gail Fiskewold Salvatore Silvestri Franco Emil and Robert Fredericksen Kris and Kristina Fredrick Bradley Fuller and Elizabeth Lincoln Christine and Jon Galloway Christine and Michael Garner Katy Gaynor Mr. and Mrs. R. James Gesell Heidi and Howard Gilbert Stanley and Luella Goldberg Sima and Clark Griffith Bruce and Jean Grussing Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hale Elizabeth and Jule Hannaford Hackensack Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation Don Helgeson and Sue Shepard Karen and John Himle

Andrew Holly and Svea Forsberg-Holly Jean McGough Holten Thomas Hunt and John Wheelihan Ekdahl Hutchinson Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Teresa and Chuck Jakway Barbara Jenkins Margaret and Philip Johnson Wadad Kadi Stan and Jeanne Kagin Nancy and Donald Kapps Thomas A. Keller, iii E. Robert and Margaret V. Kinney Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Gerard Knight Mrs. James S. Kochiras Kyle Kossol and Tom Becker Helen L. Kuehn Constance and Daniel Kunin Mark and Elaine Landergan Christl and Andrew Larson Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Levy Joyce and Jerry Lillquist Diane and David Lilly, Jr. Bill Long Helen and Ben Liu Dawn M. Loven Dr. Caliann Lum Mr. and Mrs. Reid MacDonald Margery Martin and Dan Feidt

Barbara McBurney Laura McCarten Helen and Charles McCrossan Deb and Jon McTaggart Kendrick B. Melrose Family Foundation Velia R. Melrose David and LaVonne Middleton Barbara and Edward Mills Sandy and Bob Morris Judy and David Myers Elizabeth B. Myers Kaye and Terry Myhre Joan and Richard Newmark Pat and Dan Panshin Derrill M. Pankow Paula Patineau Sally and Tom Patterson Suzanne and William Payne Suzanne and Rick Pepin Susan and David Plimpton Mary and Robert Price Tom Rassieur and Chichi Steiner Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop Rockwell John and Sandra Roe Foundation Thomas D. and Nancy J. Rohde Chris and Jeff Rotsch Kristine and Roger Ruckert Terry Saario and Lee Lynch Sampson Family Charitable Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Richard J. Schindler

Connie Fladeland and Steve Fox Alfred and Ingrid Lenz Harrison Margaret and Andrew Houlton Cynthia and Jay Ihlenfeld Patricia Johnson and Kai Bjerkness Kathleen and John Junek Debra and James Lakin Chris Larsen and Scott Peterson Mary and Barry Lazarus Ilo and Peggy Leppik Lynne Looney Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lucker Barbara and David Meline Diana and Joe Murphy Bill and Barbara Pearce Shawn and Brad Pleimann Stephanie Prem and Tom Owens Sergio Rial Patricia and Don Romanaggi Jennifer and Chris Romans Susan and Barry Snyder Nadege Souvenir Virginia L. and Edward C. Stringer Carolyn and Andrew Thomas Lori and Herbert Ward

Silver $2,500–$4,999

artist circle | MINNESOTA OPERA facebook.com/minnesotaopera

$1,000–$2,499

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Anonymous (4) Kim A. Anderson Lowell Anderson and Kathy Welte Jamie Andrews and Jane Kolp-Andrews Ruth and Dale Bachman Ann and Thomas Bagnoli Mr. and Mrs. Judson Bemis, Jr. Donald Benson Patricia and Martin Blumenreich Mrs. Paul G. Boening Allan Bradley Ellen and Jan Breyer Rita and Kenneth Britton Juliet Bryan and Jack Timm Elwood and Florence Caldwell Joan and George Carlson Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Carlson Wanda and David Cline Rusty and Burt Cohen In Memory of Kathy Coleman Barb and Jeff Couture Mrs. Thomas M. Crosby, Sr. Helen and John Crosson Jeff and Wendy Dankey Mary and Kevin Date Fran Davis Judson Dayton Ruth and Bruce Dayton

annual fund | individual giving artist circle (continued) Peter and Bonnie Sipkins Kevin and Lynn Smith Ardath and Glenn Solsrud Matthew Spanjers Julie and Bruce Steiner Donna Stephenson

Kendall and Mitchell Stover Dana and Stephen Strand Michael Symeonides and Mary Pierce Tempo Board Members Dr. Norrie Thomas Schelly and Bryn Vaaler

Stephanie C. Van D’Elden Cindy and Steven Vilks Mr. and Mrs. Philip Von Blon Bryan Walker and Christine Kunewa-Walker James and Sharon Weinel

Sonja and Jerry Wenger Frances and Frank Wilkinson Lani Willis and Joel Spoonheim Julie and Charlie Zelle

Dr. Hannelore Brucker Thomas and Joyce Bruckner Colton M. Carothers Michael and Alexis Christie Joann Cierniak J.P. Collins Bronwen Cound and William Brody Norma Danielson Eileen Dauer Amos and Sue Deinard Mary Elise Dennis Mary Jean and John deRosier Joshua A. Dorothy Holli Egerstrom C.D.F. Foundation Kingston Fletcher Terence Fruth and Mary McEvoy Family Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Jane Fuller Joan and William Gacki David and Terry Gilberstadt Dr. Richard Gregory Jennifer Gross and Jery LeFevre Roger L. Hale and Nor Hall Albert and Janice Hammond Chris and David Hansen Ernest Harper Betty Hawk Blanche and Thane Hawkins Frederick J. Hey, Jr. Sharon and Cliff Hill Norton and Mary Hintz Marna and John Holman

Diane and Paul Jacobson Barbara Jenkins Janet N. Jones Drs. Charles and Sally Jorgensen Markle Karlen Jane and Jim Kaufman Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Carole and Joseph Killpatrick Amy and Chris Koch Scott and Karla Lalim Chris and Marion Levy Ruth W. Lyons Mahley Family Foundation Dusty Mairs Tom and Marsha Mann Donald Masler Carolyn and Charles Mayo Katherine Merrill Ellen Michelson Anne W. Miller Steven J. Mittelholtz Mary and Robert Monson Jack and Jane Moran Jill Mortensen and S. Kay Phillips Ann and John O’Leary Dennis R. Olson Ruth and Ahmad Orandi Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Jim Pagliarini and Elizabeth Raymond James A. Payne Lana K. Pemberton Eric Peterson and Jenna Wolf Dwight and Christina Porter

Carroll and Barbara Rasch Dan Rasmus and Kari Fedje Rasmus Dennis M. Ready Debra Rectenwald Lawrence M. Redmond Bryan Roberts and Marcy Jefferson Richard T. and Liane A. Rosel Enrique and Clara Rotstein Kathleen and Mike Ruhland John and Jan Sargent Doris Jean Seely Cherie and Robert Shreck Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Dr. Leslie W. Smith Clifford C. and Virginia G. Sorensen Charitable Trust of The Saint Paul Foundation Kristi and Mark Specker Jon Spoerri and Debra Christgau Judith Stone Roxanne Stouffer Dr. Anthony Thein Jill and John Thompson Jean Thomson and John Sandbo Emily Anne and Gedney Tuttle David L. Ward Mary Weinberger Howard and Jo Weiner Barbara and Carl White Barbara and James Willis

Maureen Kucera-Walsh Kelly and Adam Kuczkowski Robert and Venetia Kudrle Alexandra Kulijewicz Beatrice H. Langford Kenyon S. Latham Keith and Margaret Lindquist William Lough and Barbara Pinaire Dr. Joan E. Madden Donald and Rhoda Mains Kristin and Jim Matejcek David Mayo Rosalee McCready Orpha McDiarmid Family Fund Barbara McGraw Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation Malcolm and Wendy McLean Dr. L. David Mech Robert Messner Jane and Joseph Micallef Virginia Miller Michael J. and Judith Mollerus Anne Mollerus Brad Momsen and Rick Buchholz Theresa and Jim Murray William Murray Virginia Dudley and William Myers Sarah Nagle Merritt C. Nequette Lucia Newell Lowell and Sonja Noteboom Dr. Dorothy Novak Kathleen Nye-Reiling Ben and Lynn Oehler Patricia A. O’Gorman Donna and Marvin Ortquist Scott J. Pakudaitis Mark Palmer Mary Helen Pennington M.D.

John and Margaret Perry Carol Peterson Kathleen M. Philipp Walter Pickhardt and Sandra Resnick Joan M. Prairie Nicole and Charles Prescott Jim and Lauri Roberts Dr. Hanan J. Rosenstein Daniel Roth Trish and Steve Rowley David M. Sandoz Mary Savina Jon L. Schasker Deborah and Allan Schneider Paul L. Schroeder Mrs. Donald Sell Mr. and Mrs. Morris Sherman Debra Sit and Peter Berge Emily Skoblik Daniel J. Spiegel Family Foundation Thomas and Sharon Stoffel Lowell and Deb Stortz Vanesa and David Sutherland Katharine E. Thomas Ryan Traversari Mark Traynor and Jennifer Peterson Susan Truman Arnold Walker Elaine B. Walker Don and Holly Weinkauf David and Karin Wendt John and Sandra White Wendy Wildung David and Rachelle Willey John M. Williams S. B. Hadley Wilson Daniel Richard Zillmann

patron circle Gold $750–$999 Barbara S. Belk Gerald and Phyllis Benson Ms. Susanne Haas and Mr. Ross Formell Bryce and Paula Johnson J. Michael Pickle A.M. Rock, M.D. David E. Sander Harriet Spencer Warren Stortroen John W. Windhorst Jr.

Silver $500–$749 Anonymous (3) Arlene and Tom Alm Alvaro Alonso August J. Aquila and Emily Haliziw Dr. and Mrs. Orn Arnar Suzanne Asher Dan Archen and David Johnson Jo and Gordon Bailey Family Fund of the Catholic Community Foundation Rebecca Arons and Thomas Basting, Jr. Donald and Naren Bauer Carl and Joan Behr Susan Bienkowski Scott D. Bjelde Judith and Arnold Brier Dianne Brooke Allen Brookins-Brown Debra Brooks and James Meunier

$250–$499 Anonymous (2) Mark Abeln and Monica Little Paul and Val Ackerman Thomas O. Allen Quentin and Mary Anderson Katherine Anderson Charles and Mary Anderson Linda Z. Andrews Jerry Artz Marcia J. Aubineau Eric S. Anderson and Janalee R. Aurelia Dan Avchen Ronald and Kay Bach Thomas Bailey James and Gail Bakkom Bishu and Irina Bandyopadhyay Laird Barber Kevin Beckey Estelle T. Bennett Bill Bertram Philip and Carolyn Brunelle Stephen Bubul Mr. Ellis Bullock Keith Campbell Jerome and Linda Carlson Katherine L. Castille In Memory of Kathy Coleman Sandy and Doug Coleman Brenda Colwill Kay Constantine Jeanne E. Corwin Barb Davis Barry Divine Neal Doughty and Darya Gemmel Tracy Elftmann Herbert and Betty Fantle Charles and Anne Ferrell Brian M. Finstad

Christine Fleming Melanie and Bruce Flessner Susan E. Flint and Michael Leirdahl David and Margene Fox Judith Garcia Galiana and Alberto Galiana Greta and Paul Garmers Lois and Larry Gibson Father Joseph P. Gillespie Earl and Mary Gloeckner Katherine and Robert Goodale Jr. John and Lynn Goodwyne Richard and Marsha Gould Hunt Greene and Jane Piccard William and Aimee Guidera Margaret Gunther Russell and Priscilla Hankins Bonita Hanson Douglas and Doris Happe Peter Hawthorne Jill A. Heath Wendy Heck Andrew Holey and Gary Whitford Reverend and Mrs. Henry H. Hoover Worth L. Hudspeth Ray Jacobsen Christina and Nicholas Jermihov Sharon and Fredrik Johnson Kurt Johnston Dr. and Mrs. Eric Jolly Erika and Herb Kahler Jim and Kathleen Karges Kathryn Keefer Janice Kimes Steve Knudson Alan and Ann Koehler Kathleen Kraulik John Krenzke and Michelle Davis Dale Kruse and Tim Sneer

These lists are current as of October 18, 2012, and include donors who gave a gift of $250 or more during Minnesota Opera’s Annual Fund Campaign.

If your name is not listed appropriately, please accept our apologies and contact Jenna Wolf, Individual Gifts Officer, at 612-342-9569.

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annual fund | individual giving legacy circle Minnesota Opera thanks the following donors who, through their foresight and generosity, have included the Opera in their wills or estate plans. We invite you to join other opera-lovers by leaving a legacy gift to Minnesota Opera. If you have already made such a provision, we encourage you to notify us that so we may appropriately recognize your generosity.

Anonymous (5) Valerie and Paul Ackerman Thomas O. Allen Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Andreassen Mary A. Andres Karen Bachman Randolph G. Baier* Mark and Pat Bauer Mrs. Harvey O. Beek * Barbara and Sandy Bemis * C. T. Bundy, II Joan and George Carlson Darlene J. and Richard P. Carroll Julia and Dan Cross Judy and Kenneth * Dayton Mrs. George Doty Rudolph Driscoll * Anne P. Ducharme Sally Economon *

Ester and John Fesler Paul Froeschl Katy Gaynor Robert and Ellen Green Ieva Grundmanis * Julia Hanna* Ruth Hanold * Fredrick J. Hey, Jr. Norton M. Hintz Jean McGough Holten Charles Hudgins * Dale and Pat Johnson Drs. Sally and Charles Jorgensen Robert and Susan Josselson Charlotte * and Markle Karlen Mary Keithahn Patty and Warren Kelly Margaret Kilroe Trust * Blaine and Lyndel King

Gretchen Klein * Bill and Sally Kling Gisela Knoblauch * Mr. and Mrs. James Krezowski Robert Kriel and Linda Krach Venetia and Robert Kudrle Robert Lawser, Jr. Jean Lemberg * Gerald and Joyce Lillquist David Mayo Barbara and Thomas * McBurney Mildred McGonagle * Beth McGuire Mary Bigelow McMillan Margaret L. and Walter S. * Meyers John L. Michel and H. Berit Midelfort Susan Molder * Edith Mueller * Kay Ness

Joan and Richard Newark Philip Oxman and Harvey Zuckman Scott Pakudaitis Sydney and William* Phillips Richard G. * and Liane A. Rosel Mrs. Berneen Rudolph Mary Savina Frank and Lynda Sharbrough Drew Stewart James and Susan Sullivan Gregory C. Swinehart Stephanie Van D’Elden Mary Vaughan Dale and Sandra Wick * In Rembrance

For more information on possible gift arrangements, please contact Dawn Loven, Director of the Annual Fund at 612-342-9567.

Your attorney or financial advisor can then help determine which methods are most appropriate for you.

Celebrate 50 years of inspiring opera with your donation!

Make your gift by December 31 to receive a tax deduction.

Donor Benefits: · Tickets to Donor Tech Rehearsal · Complementary parking · Opera News magazine subscription · And much more

| MINNESOTA OPERA mnopera.org

Please contact Jenna Wolf, Individual Gifts Officer, at 612-342-9569 or jwolf@mnopera.org for more information.

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Thank you so much for your support – you make great opera possible!

Mary Stuart 2011. © Michal Daniel for Minnesota Opera

become a sustaining donor Each year Minnesota Opera depends on the generosity of many wonderful donors to bring great opera to life. Through monthly contributions, sustaining donors provide a solid foundation of financial support for the company.

Visit mnopera.org/sustaininggiving to sign up today.

Thank you for your generous support of Minnesota Opera!

annual fund | institutional giving minnesota opera sponsors Season Sponsor

Production Innovation System

Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank

General Mills

Production Sponsors

Wenger Foundation

Nabucco Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank Hamlet Target

Conductor Appearances Spencer Stuart

Resident Artist Program

Minnesota Opera gratefully acknowledges its major institutional supporters: $100,000+

Tempo After Parties Sakura

Opera Insights Comcast

Media Sponsor Minnesota Public Radio

Camerata Dinners Abbot Downing

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Gala Sponsors Target, Premier Sponsor 3M Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank Medtronic Spencer Stuart

$50,000–$99,999

corporations, foundations and government 3M Foundation The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. General Mills Foundation The McKnight Foundation The Medtronic Foundation The Michelson Family Foundation Minnesota State Arts Board Target U.S. Bancorp Foundation U.S. Bank UnitedHealth Group The Wallace Foundation

Platinum $10,000–$24,999 Abbot Downing Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation Best Buy Children’s Foundation Cargill Foundation Comcast Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Ecolab Foundation Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Anna M. Heilmaier Charitable Foundation MAHADH Fund of HRK Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Spencer Stuart Travelers Foundation Twin Cities Opera Guild Valspar Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota Wenger Foundation Xcel Energy Foundation

Mayo Clinic Pentair Foundation The Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation Rahr Foundation RBC Wealth Management Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner, p.a.

Securian Foundation Thomson Reuters

$25,000–$49,999

Silver $2,500–$4,999 Cleveland Foundation COMPAS Dellwood Foundation Hutter Family Foundation Le Jeune Family Foundation Peravid Foundation The Elizabeth C. Quinlan Foundation Margaret Rivers Fund Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Tennant Foundation

$10,000–$24,999

Bronze $250–$2,499 Athwin Foundation Bobby & Steve’s Auto World Youth Foundation The Curtis L. Carlson Family Foundation Enterprise Holdings Foundation Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. McVay Foundation Onan Family Foundation Sewell Family Foundation Sit Investment Foundation Wells Fargo Insurance Services

Gold $5,000–$9,999 Accenture Boss Foundation Edward R. Bazinet Foundation Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts R. C. Lilly Foundation

For information on making a corporate or foundation contribution to Minnesota Opera, please contact the Institutional Gifts Manager Beth Comeaux at 612-342-9566 or email her at bcomeaux@mnopera.org.

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Sponsors $25,000+

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