Fall Opera Scenes, November 2024

José García-León, Dean

yale opera Gerald Martin Moore, Director

Fall Opera Scenes

Saturday, November 2, 2024 | 7:30 p.m.

Le nozze di Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, Lucia di Lammermoor Sunday, November 3, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.

Florencia en el Amazonas, La bohème, Iolanta

artistic staff

gerald martin moore alejandro roca music preparation & direction john de los santos stage direction samuel j. biondolillo lighting design seth tyler black properties design rebecca l. welles costume design wendall k. harrington projection design supervision Projections designed by students of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale Projection Design program

saturday, november 2

Le nozze di Figaro Act II Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Performed in Italian with projected English translation Music direction and piano by Gerald Martin Moore Harpsichord by Lucas Nogara Projection design by Larry Ortiz

cast (in order of vocal appearance) Countess Susanna Figaro Cherubino Count Antonio Marcellina Don Basilio Don Bartolo

julia ernst laura miah justice yates christina grohowski john arlievsky olivier zerouali rosario armas scott la marca shyheim hinnant

The Count has designs on Susanna, who is his valet Figaro’s bride-to-be, and keeps delaying their wedding. The act opens with the Countess lamenting her husband’s unfaithfulness. The page Cherubino arrives to sing a love song to the Countess, but is forced to hide in the closet when the jealous Count arrives. The Countess refuses to open the closet, so the Count goes to get tools to break down the door. Susanna sneaks back into the room and swaps places with Cherubino, who jumps out the window.

On returning, the Count and Countess are amazed that Susanna is there instead. Figaro arrives to announce his wedding is ready to begin.

However, their plans are upended when the gardener Antonio enters, furious over the damage caused to his flowers by a man jumping out the Countess’ window. Figaro tries to claim responsibility, but the scene devolves into mayhem when Marcellina, Basilio, and Bartolo enter with further complaints delaying the wedding, closing the act.

intermission

saturday, november 2

Der Rosenkavalier Excerpt from Act II Music by Richard Strauss Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Performed in German with projected English translation Musical direction and piano by Gerald Martin Moore Projection design by Celia Chen

cast (in order of vocal appearance) Faninal Marianne Haushofmeister Sophie Octavian Offstage Chorus

olivier zerouali julia ernst ethan burck jillian tate charity cooper scott la marca, john arlievsky, paul jang, shyheim hinnant, justice yates

Sophie Faninal has recently become engaged to Baron Ochs. As per the custom of the day, she awaits to receive a silver rose from her fiancé presented ceremonially by a young nobleman serving as the “Knight of the Rose.” The handsome Octavian presents the silver rose with due formality, but when the two start a conversation, they feel an instant attraction.

saturday, november 2

Lucia di Lammermoor Act I Music by Gaetono Donizetti Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano Based on The Bride of Lammermoor

by Walter Scott

Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction and piano by Gerald Martin Moore Harp by Sebastian Gobbels Projection design by Wiktor Freifeld

cast (in order of vocal appearance) Normanno Enrico Raimondo Lucia Alisa Edgardo Ensemble

scott la marca paul jang justice yates eva martinez christina grohowski giorgi guliashvili john arlievsky, olivier zerouali, shyheim hinnant

Enrico Ashton is furious that his sister Lucia refuses to marry the wealthy Arturo and reverse their bad fortune. Normanno reveals that Lucia has been holding secret trysts with a stranger, who is none other than his mortal enemy Edgardo. Enrico swears vengeance.

Near a fountain by her mother’s tomb, while Lucia awaits Edgardo, she tells her maid Alisa the story of a maiden ghost that haunts the place and calls to her. Alisa sees this as an omen of disaster. Edgardo enters and says he must leave immediately for France. Before he goes, the two swear their undying love and exchange rings.

sunday, november 3

Florencia en el Amazonas Act II Excerpt Music by Daniel Catán Libretto by Macela Fuentes-Berain

Performed in Spanish with projected English translation Musical direction by Alejandro Roca Piano by Lucas Nogara Projection design by Ein Kim

cast (in order of vocal appearance) Rosalba Arcadio Paula Riolobo Capitán Florencia Alvaro

maia aramburu scott la marca rosario armas justice yates shyheim hinnant eva martinez john arlievsky

Florencia en el Amazonas details the journey of the legendary diva Florencia Grimaldi and her fellow passengers on a boat ride down the Amazon. Their journey is disrupted when a storm causes Paula’s husband Alvaro to go overboard and the boat to run aground. Arcadio and Rosalba are drawn together but remain wary of love. Paula mourns Alvaro’s loss and realizes pride was dividing them. When Riolobo calls up the mystical power of the Amazon, Alvaro reappears having heard Paula’s voice. The passengers thank him for his heroism and their journey resumes. Rosalba finds her ruined notebook containing notes for her biography of Grimaldi. Florencia tells her it is replaceable and reveals she is the great diva.

Performed by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.

sunday, november 3

La bohème Act IV Music by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Alejandro Roca Piano by Lucas Nogara Projection design by Gib Gibney

cast (in order of vocal appearance) Marcello Rodolfo Schaunard Colline Musetta Mimì

paul jang giorgi guliashvili john arlievsky shyheim hinnant jillian tate maia aramburu

Poet Rodolfo and painter Marcello reminisce about their former lovers Mimì and Musetta. The young artists are joined by their friends Schaunard and Colline bringing food. Their horseplay is cut short when Musetta arrives with a fragile and weak Mimì. The friends give the lovers some privacy as they recollect the night they fell in love. Rodolfo comforts Mimì as she closes her eyes to sleep. Musetta returns with medicine, but Schaunard notices Mimì has already died and alerts Marcello. Rodolfo first notices his friends pacing awkwardly, realizes Mimì has died, and cries out in anguish.

intermission

saturday, october 28

Iolanta Scenes 1-3 and 6-7 Music by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky

Performed in Russian with projected English translation Musical preparation and piano by Anna Smigelskaya Conducting by Alejandro Roca Projection design by Ke Xu

cast (in order of vocal appearance) Marta Iolanta Brigitta Laura Robert Vaudemont Ensemble

rosario armas julia ernst laura miah charity cooper olivier zerouali charles styles maia aramburu, jillian tate, christina grohowski

King René’s daughter Iolanta was born blind, but this has been kept secret from her. She is sequestered in a garden and is tended to by her nurse Marta and maids. Now as a young woman, she expresses her concern that there is more to life than she has been led to believe. Their responses remain ambiguous, and they sing a lullaby.

Meanwhile, Duke Robert travels to King René’s court to fulfill his marital duties, having been betrothed to Iolanta as a child. He confides to his friend Count Vaudemont, that he is madly in love with another woman and would give anything to end his engagement. They find Iolanta asleep in the garden. Vaudemont, struck by her beauty, praises her as an angelic vision. Iolanta welcomes him to the garden, but is confused by his words.

He asks her to pick him a red rose, but when she gives him a white rose, he realizes she is blind. He worries that she is missing God’s light in the universe, but she assures him that she experiences it from within.

artist profiles

Gerald Martin Moore Director of Yale Opera, music direction & piano

John de los Santos stage direction

Gerald Martin Moore is an internationally renowned singing teacher and a vocal consultant. He has worked in such houses as Covent Garden, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco and Opera de Bastille in Paris as well as the Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh and Glyndebourne Festivals.

Director/choreographer John de los Santos’ productions include Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun (world premiere, Santa Fe Opera), Ghosts (world premiere, San Diego Opera), Kinky Boots (Uptown Players), Don Giovanni (Wolf Trap Opera), Before Night Falls (Opera Southwest), L’heure Espagnol (New Camerata Opera), Frida (Opera Orlando), and Maria de Buenos Aires (Arizona Opera). He has also directed at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. As a librettist, John’s first collaboration with composer Clint Borzoni, When Adonis Calls, premiered under his direction at Asheville Lyric Opera. His next collaboration with Borzoni, The Copper Queen, premiered as a feature film in 2021. Their third work, The Christmas Spider, premiered under his direction at Opera Louisiane. His commission

by Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, with composer Christopher Weiss, Service Provider, premiered at the Kennedy Center and has since had numerous productions across the country. In 2020, John wrote and directed the film, The Roost, with Marc Migó for the Decameron Opera Project.

John and composer Jorge Sosa’s Ofrenda: A ‘Día de Muertos’ Story was selected for the first Opera ATX Residency for Latinx Creatives Initiative. He is currently a librettist with Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative where he will collaborate with Kamala Sankaram on an opera based on Stephen King’s Misery.

Since moving to NYC in 2008 he has been on the teaching faculty of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann program and Curtis Institute of Music. He regularly gives masterclasses at Glyndebourne, Merola, Washington National Opera, and is on the regular teaching faculty at Music Academy of the West, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and Ravinia Steanes.

A frequent recitalist, most notably with Renée Fleming, he has performed before such dignitaries as President Obama, President Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, HRH King Charles, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Gerald was featured accompanying Renée Fleming in the soundtrack for the movie Bel Canto and also coached Julianne Moore who plays the role of Roxanne. In May 2024, Gerald performed in recital with soprano Erin Morley at the Kennedy Center to mark the launch of their album “Rose in Bloom” by Orchid Classics.

Mr. Moore may currently be heard as a regular host of the Metropolitan Opera Quiz, and is a frequent judge for prestigious vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.

johndelossantos.com

artist profiles

Alejandro Roca music direction

Samuel J. Biondolillo lighting design

Opera coach and conductor Alejandro Roca’s recent engagements include performances of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona, new productions of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, and Falla’s Master Peter’s Puppet Show, and debuts with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Cláudio Santoro National Theater in Brasilia, Brazil.

Roca has collaborated with such renowned conductors as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Gustavo Dudamel, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Josep Caballé Domenech, Patrick Fournillier, Hilary Griffiths, Gérard Korsten, and Miguel Roa. Roca has appeared in recital with numerous vocalists around the world and has recorded music by several Latin American composers. Since 2006, Roca has served as a conductor and pianist at the Opera of Colombia, in Bogotá, and his repertoire includes more than 70 fullyprepared operas and zarzuelas.

Samuel J. Biondolillo is a New York City– based lighting & projection designer originally from Vermont. Recent credits include off-Broadway productions of Brilliance, Brecht on Brecht, Geek! The Musical, and the New York Dance & Musical Festival.

Regional credits include Cabaret, Rocky Horror Show, For the Fish (Moonbox Productions); Blood at the Root, Shakespeare in Love, Henry IV Parts 1+2 (Connecticut Repertory Theatre); Les Filles du Quoi, The Hundred Acre Woods, The Complete History of Comedy, Abridged (Lost Nation Theater); Annapurna, The Pitman Painters, Private Lives (Vermont Stage). Dance credits include The Nutcracker 2019–2022, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty (Ballet Theatre Company); Charles River Ballet Workshop 2019–2022 (CRBA).

Roca serves as Lecturer in Music/Opera Coach at the Yale School of Music. He previously served as Opera Coach and Director of the Opera Workshop at Central University, in Bogotá, and at Scuola Italia’s summer program for young opera singers in Sant’Angelo in Vado, Italy. He has been a member of the faculty at the University of Antioquia, in Medellín, and at Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá, and has served as Director of the Cartagena International Music Festival’s academic program. Roca has presented master classes at Indiana University and the University of Michigan in the United States, Nayang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, Capela di Santa Maria in Curitiba, Brazil, and the University of Valle and the University of the North in Colombia.

Biondolillo is a faculty member at Central Connecticut State University and a proud member of IATSE USA 829. He holds an M.F.A. in Design from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Boston College.

Seth Tyler Black props design Seth Tyler Black is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist & designer, with roots in Buffalo & Philadelphia. Designing & prop mastering for theatre and film since 2011, Black always puts art at the forefront. A few of Black’s credits include Nightmare Alley, A Quiet Place 2, and Gabriel’s Inferno in film, along with productions of Faust, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, Buffalo Gal, Angels in America, and newly devised pieces with Amy Taravella, David Butler, & Gerry Trentham in theatre.

artist profiles

Seth Tyler Black’s 2023–2024 season included projection design for The Words Will Come [premiere, NYC], AI in Delphi [premiere, Buffalo], and a 3-show residency in the Glass Box Theatre at Rochester Institute of Technology: Ada & the Engine [Rochester], a newly devised immersive show, & a cabaret. Black has also scenic designed runs of Drowzy Chaperone [NYC] and You Can’t Take It With You [NYC], as well as prop supervised Gin Game [Bristol], Cats: the Musical [Lincoln], and Venus in Fur [Bristol].

Anna Smigelskaya music preparation & piano Following her second season as a member of the music staff with the Santa Fe Opera, Anna Smigelskaya joins the faculty as Lecturer at the Yale School of Music. During her recent season in Santa Fe, Smigelskaya was selected as the organist for Tosca, while also preparing performances of scenes from La bohème and Boris Godunov as part of the Apprentice Scenes program. Additionally, Smigelskaya served as the company’s primary Russian diction coach. Prior to her two-year fellowship with Yale Opera, other engagements included the Merola Opera Program, Music Academy of the West, and Renée Fleming’s Song Studio. Smigelskaya formerly held positions at both the Manhattan School of Music and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. She began her collegiate education in her native city of St. Petersburg at the Rimsky–Korsakov Music College, subsequently earning solo piano degrees from Sam Houston State University (B.M.) and University of Houston (M.M.).

As a student at the Manhattan School of Music, Smigelskaya completed a second M.M. degree under the tutelage of Warren Jones.

Rebecca L. Welles costume design Rebecca L. Welles (Yale M.F.A. ’12) has been designing for Yale Opera since 2013, where her credits include The Seven Deadly Sins, The Rape of Lucretia, L’elisir d’amore, Florencia en el Amazonas, Eugene Onegin, The Magic Flute, Hanseland Gretel, Le pauvre matelot, The Bear, Don Quichotte, La Cenerentola, Le nozze di Figaro, Gianni Schicchi, Riders to the Sea, Bon Appitit, Iolanta, and Fall Opera Scenes 2017—2020. Welles is an adjunct professor of performing arts at Eastern Connecticut State University and the costume shop manager at the Mystic Seaport Museum. Other design credits include Richard III, The Tempest and Comedy of Errors (Elm Shakespeare), Million Dollar Quartet and Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Story (Ivoryton Playhouse), Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, The Trial, Magic Flute, and La bohème (Salt Marsh Opera), Il barbiere di Siviglia (Aspen Opera Center), and Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, and La bohème (Opera New Jersey).

singer profiles

Maia Aramburu soprano Hometown: Lima, Peru; B.M. the University of Michigan; M.M. USC Thornton School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Janiec Opera Company, Vienna Summer Music Festival John Arlievsky baritone Hometown: New York, NY; B.M. Peabody Conservatory; Young Artist Programs: Tanglewood Music Center, Castleton Vocal Immersion Program, Berlin Opera Academy Rosario Armas mezzo-soprano Hometown: Tlaxcala, Mexico; B.M. & M.M. Manhattan School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Wolf Trap Opera, Sarasota Opera Charity Cooper mezzo-soprano Hometown: Layton, UT B.M. Snow College; M.M. Baylor University; Young Artist Programs: Utah Valley Operafest, Utah Vocal Arts Academy, Music on Site

Giorgi Guliashvili tenor Hometown: Tbilisi, Georgia; M.M. Tbilisi State Conservatory; Young Artist Programs: Music Academy of the West, Teatro San Carlo, Merola Opera Shyheim Hinnant bass-baritone Hometown: Woodbridge, VA; B.M. Virginia Commonwealth University; M.M. UCLA; Young Artist Programs: Des Moines Metro Opera, Lyric Opera of Orange County Paul Jang baritone Hometown: Seoul, South Korea; B.M. Hanyang University College of Music; Young Artist Program: Music Academy of the West Scott La Marca tenor Hometown: New York, NY; B.M. Queens College; M.M. Manhattan School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Chautauqua Opera Conservatory, Aspen Music Festival

Julia Ernst soprano Hometown: New Orleans, LA; B.M. Loyola University of New Orleans; Saluzzo Opera Academy, Music Academy of the West

Eva Martinez soprano Hometown: Doylestown, PA; B.M. Manhattan School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Young Artist Vocal Academy Houston Grand Opera; Tanglewood Music Center, Ravinia Steans Music Institute

Christina Grohowski mezzo-soprano Hometown: Walden, NY; B.M. SUNY Purchase; Young Artist Programs: Queens Summer Vocal Institute, Young Artist Vocal Academy Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera

Laura Miah soprano Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico; B.M. Conservatory of Music, Puerto Rico; Young Artists Programs: Young Artist Vocal Academy Houston Grand Opera, Ravinia Steans Music Institute

singer profiles

Charles Styles tenor Hometown: Tamworth, UK; B.A. & MPhil University of Oxford; Young Artist Programs: Opernfest Berlin, Glyndebourne Festival Opera Jillian Tate soprano Hometown: Fairfax, VA; B.M. University of Maryland, College Park; M.M. Yale School of Music Young Artist Program: Music Academy of the West Justice Yates bass-baritone Hometown: Leesburg, FL; B.M. Stetson University; Young Artist Programs: American Institute of Musical Studies Program in Graz, Austria, SongFest, Young Artist Vocal Academy Houston Grand Opera, Merola Opera Olivier Zerouali baritone Hometown: Middletown, DE; B.M. SUNY Purchase; Young Artist Programs: Berlin Opera Academy, Young Artist Vocal Academy Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Merola Opera

Ethan Burck tenor (Guest Artist) Hometown: Aurora, IL; B.M. Baldwin Wallace University; M.M. Curtis Institute of Music; M.M.A. Yale School of Music; Young Artist Program: Santa Fe Opera

yale opera production staff

john de los santos Stage Director

erika niemi General Manager

samuel j. biondolillo Lighting Designer

regina carson Production Coordinator

ed fogarty Master Electrician

emily smith Stage Manager

roman munichiello Lighting Board Operator

ethan burck Assistant Stage Manager

rebecca l. welles Costume Designer

seth tyler black Properties Designer and Manager

lori polizzi Costume Assistant

christian killada Projection Assistant

rae mainuli Wardrobe Assistant

ke xu Projection Content Creator

curtis serafin anna smigelskaya Surtitle Operator

dwight bellisimo Projection Programmer

special thanks Shawn Boyle Mark Dionne Robert Heltzel Christopher Melillo JJ Penna Adriana Zabala David Geffen School of Drama at Yale

Yale Opera Upcoming Events feb Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta 15 & 16 Sat 7:30 p.m. & Sun 2:00 p.m. | Shubert Theatre Yale Opera presents a new production of Tchaikovsky’s romantic fairy tale Iolanta. Danilo Gambino returns as stage director and Metropolitan Opera conductor J. David Jackson leads the Yale Philharmonia and an exciting young cast in this lush opera about the transformative power of love.

Tickets available through the Shubert box office, 203-562-5666 and shubert.com

may Spring Double Bill 2 & 3 Fri & Sat 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall Yale Opera presents a fully staged double-bill production or Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio and Massenet’s La Navarraise. Performed with piano.

Tickets start at $13, Yale faculty/staff start at $10, Students start at $6

Yale Opera Degree Recitals Morse Recital Hall, Free admission

nov 19 Olivier Zerouali, baritone 7:30 p.m.

mar 31 Giorgi Guliashvili, tenor 7:30 p.m.

dec 5 Jillian Tate, soprano 4:30 p.m.

apr 2 Christina Grohowski, mezzo-soprano 7:30 p.m.

jan 24 Laura Miah, soprano 7:30 p.m.

apr 9 Eva Martinez, soprano 4:30 p.m.

mar 3 Justice Yates, bass-baritone 7:30 p.m.

apr 14 Paul Jang, baritone 7:30 p.m.

yale school of music box office Sprague Memorial Hall, 470 College Street New Haven, CT 06511 203 432–4158 | music-tickets.yale.edu Connect with us: yale.music @yalemusic

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