Opera Piccola of Israel and Opera in Williamsburg, Virginia present Anne Frank's Diary By Grigory Frid (1915-2012) February 6, 2019 at 7:30 PM, Williamsburg Regional Library 515 Scotland Street, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185; one hour, no intermission Live fully-staged opera in Hebrew with English supertitles

Anne Frank ...... Ayelet Cohen Piano ...... Johanna Kvam Director and multimedia ...... Alex Kagan Narrator ...... Alex Anski Translation from Russian to Hebrew...... David Sebba Translation from Hebrew to English supertitles ...... Naama Zahavi-Ely Music director ...... Bart Berman Producer of the Hebrew version ...... Ayelet Cohen Technical support and producer in Williamsburg, Virginia ...... Naama Zahavi-Ely With generous support by the Williamsburg Community Foundation. Our thanks to the Israeli Opera for the loan of costume. The translation from Russian to Hebrew was supported by a donation from Ms. Ruth Schiller, in memory of Margot Heilbronn, 24.8.1929 - 25.11.1941 תרגום מרוסית לעברית בתרומת רות שילר לזכר מרגוט היילברון, 24.8.1929 - 25.11.1941 Anne Frank’s Diary («Дневник Анны Франк») is a monodrama for soprano, composed in 1968 and first performed in 1972. The selected text from the diary of 13-year-old Anne Frank, who was in hiding with her family in a house in Amsterdam from July 1942 until their arrest in August 1944. In 21 brief scenes, she describes the people she sees, her different moods, and her emotions. In summer 2012, Operabase listed Grigory Frid's Anne Frank’s Diary as the most frequently staged lyric work by a living composer over the previous five years. Grigory Frid (Григо́рий Самуи́лович Фри́д, 22 September N.S. 1915 – 22 September 2012) was a Russian composer of music written in many different genres, including chamber opera. Frid studied in the Moscow Conservatory with Heinrich Litinsky and Vissarion Shebalin. He was a soldier in the Second World War. His most notable works are his two chamber operas, both to his own libretti. Anne Frank’s Diary is a monodrama for soprano and chamber orchestra, with a 2nd version for soprano and chamber ensemble (1999). It was composed in 1968 and given a first performance with piano accompaniment at the All-Union House of in Moscow in May 1972. The Letters of Van Gogh is a mono-opera in two parts for baritone and chamber ensemble, based on the letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo. The opera was composed in 1975 and given its premiere in concert form at the same venue, on 29 November 1976. He also wrote three symphonies (1939, 1955, 1964), a series of instrumental concertos, music for theatre and cinema, vocal and including a cycle Poetry (1973) for voice and chamber ensemble to poems by Federico García Lorca, and Five Songs to poems by Luís de Camões (1985). Frid's early music was in the tradition of Socialist Realism. At the age of 55 he changed his style radically, turning to the twelve-tone and other more contemporary techniques of music composition. We are honored to have Grigory Frid’s daughter Miriam Frid with us in the audience today. Ayelet Cohen, Soprano, was born in . She studied on a scholarship at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms Cohen has been performing in opera roles, concerts and events with great success throughout the San Francisco Bay area, Israel and Italy. She has performed with Berkeley Opera, Pocket Opera, Oakland Opera, Capitol Opera in Sacramento, Verismo Opera and the New Opera Festival di Roma. Ayelet returned to Israel in 2009 and has performed with the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, The Symphony Orchestra, The Israel Camerata orchestra and The Rishon Lzion Orchestra and Tel Aviv Soloists Ensamble. In 2014 Ayelet founded "Opera Piccola" which produces operas and concerts, and which created several successful opera productions including Grigory Frid’s monodrama Anne Frank’s Diary in a Hebrew translation which we are seeing today. Ayelet lives in Lod, Israel, with her husband and three young children. Johanna Kvam, Piano, has been an apprentice coach at the Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists Program of the Virginia Opera for the last two years. She is a graduate of Peabody’s Vocal Accompanying MM program and a recipient of the 2015 Clara Ascherfeld Award in Accompanying.

Naama Zahavi-Ely is the Founder and Artistic and General Director of Opera in Williamsburg, Virginia. Naama is a music-lover who founded Opera in Williamsburg in 2012 as one more place where excellent opera productions could be performed and enjoyed. Her policy is to put people first, and to search for and engage outstanding performers and creative team without compromise. She taught Biblical Hebrew at the College of William and Mary for over a decade before retiring to her birth country, Israel. Naama loves sharing opera with her many Williamsburg friends, and sharing the beautiful city of Williamsburg with her many friends in the opera world. She believes that the city is uniquely positioned for creating intimate opera experiences of the kind that Opera in Williamsburg specializes in. Anne Frank’s Diary is her first attempt to bring to Williamsburg an opera outside the classical repertoire, and she is grateful for the support of the Williamsburg Community Foundation which enables us to offer it to the audience for free. Opera Piccola of Israel was founded by Ayelet Cohen to create and perform opera productions and experiences that are modern, accessible, and affordable. Opera in Williamsburg, Virginia is an innovative opera company, founded in 2012, that creates productions of fully-staged opera classics, as well as other operas and opera music performances, with world-class professional casts in an intimate setting in Williamsburg, Virginia. Funded by ticket sales, individual contributions, and grants, Opera in Williamsburg is committed to the highest artistic standards. We are very grateful indeed for the support of members of the community, which has allowed us to reach this point. Volunteers are welcome to join the group of loyal friends whose contributions of advice, assistance, hospitality and funding are essential to our work. If you are interested, please contact our advisory board chair Oliver Portmann at 757-903-1140 or by email at [email protected]. Opera in Williamsburg, Inc is a nonprofit tax-exempt organization with 501(c)3 letter of recognition from the IRS (EIN 47-5511655). Donations may be made by checks made out to “Opera in Williamsburg, Inc” and mailed to PO Box 2041, Williamsburg, VA 23187, or by credit card via our web site, www.operainwilliamsburg.org Upcoming events of Opera in Williamsburg On February 28 Bonefish Grill at 5212 Monticello Avenue will donate to Opera in Williamsburg 15% of intake from diners who mention Opera in Williamsburg. David Gussman will entertain between 6 and 7 PM. For reservations call 757-229-2474. The Buffos, international baritones Stefanos Koroneos and Adelmo Guidarelli, with soprano Kinneret Ely, will present an entertaining evening of comic selections from classical operas at the Williamsburg Regional Library on April 8. Tickets are available on our website. Opera in Williamsburg’s spring production, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, will take place at the Kimball Theatre on May 5, 7, and 9. The performance will be in the original German, with English dialogue and supertitles. With a superb world-class cast, conducted by Maestro Jorge Parodi, directed by Eve Summers, and accompanied by an orchestra. This child-friendly masterpiece is a perfect opportunity to bring younger family members to experience opera at its best. Tickets are available on our website or by phone at 1-800-249-0179. Meet and hear the Artists of The Magic Flute at the Stryker Center at 412 North Boundary St., Williamsburg, on April 26 from 7-8 PM, free and open to the public. The Magic Flute Dinner Concert will take place on April 30 at the Colonial Heritage Clubhouse at 6500 Arthur Hills Drive, Williamsburg – please reserve your dinner tickets by April 25 on our website or by phone at (757) 871-3653. The Magic Flute Dress Rehearsal on May 3 is open for free by reservation to K-12 students with chaperones. Please see our web site for details and contact. We look forward to sharing with you our 2019-20 season. Opera in Williamsburg is supported in part by generous grants of the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission, the York County Arts Commission, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. It works in partnership with the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and owes a debt of gratitude and inspiration to the International Vocal Arts Institute headed by Joan Dornemann and Paul Nadler. Tonight’s performance is provided to the public for free thanks to a grant of the Williamsburg Community Foundation. Donations to Opera in Williamsburg are very welcome and are tax-exempt to the extent permitted by law. Opera in Williamsburg, Inc, PO Box 2041, Williamsburg, VA 23187 www.operainwilliamsburg.org