Cues Season Preview 17
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OPERAVOLUME 58 NUMBER 01 | SUMMER 2017 CUES SEASON PREVIEW 17 |18 SEASON PREVIEW 2017|18 PATRICK SUMMERS PERRYN LEECH ARTISTIC & MUSIC DIRECTOR MANAGING DIRECTOR Margaret Alkek Williams Chair Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair A scene from Norma Opera Cues is published by Houston Grand Opera Association; all rights reserved. Opera Cues is produced by Houston Grand Opera’s Communications Department, Judith Kurnick, director. Editor Laura Chandler Designer Rachel Block Contributors Carleen Graham Paul Hopper Perryn Leech Patrick Summers Jim Townsend Advertising Houston: Matt Ross 713-417-6857 National: Truby Chiaviello 202-363-3741 For information on all Houston Grand Opera productions and events, or for a complimentary season brochure, please call the Customer Care Center at 713-228-OPERA (6737). Houston Grand Opera is a member of OPERA America, Inc., and the Theater District Association, Inc. FIND HGO ONLINE: HGO.org facebook.com / houstongrandopera twitter.com / hougrandopera instagram.com/hougrandopera Style MatterS Beautiful Colors, Fabrics & Fit Day, Casual & Evening Nina McLemore Boutique 1965 West Gray · Houston · 713.993.6662 New York, Aspen, Vail, Chevy Chase, MD, Atlanta, Palm Desert, Seattle, Scottsdale, San Francisco, Birmingham, MI, Cleveland, Chestertown, MD www.ninamclemore.com Official Airline of Houston Grand Opera Diversify your Assets: Invest in the Arts. We applaud the artists and patrons who invest in our community. SAN ANTONIO | AUSTIN | HOUSTON | DALLAS | CORPUS CHRISTI 1.866.805.1385 | STMMLTD.COM painting: “Opera” by Alex Kenevsky, c. 2005 HoustonOpera2016.indd 1 7/25/16 12:19 PM CONTENTS FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 20 THE BIG QUESTIONS 6 A message from HGO’s initiative Seeking Patrick Summers and the Human Spirit focuses Perryn Leech on life’s big questions and the answers that 12 Production Funders can be found in music. 14 News and Notes 23 JOIN US HGO maximizes the impact and reach of 52 HGO Studio Seeking the Human Spirit through partnerships 54 HGOco and community programs. 56 Spotlight 27 READY TO HGOco? 57 Special Events HGOco reveals its plans for the season ahead. 60 Impresarios Circle 31 YOUR GUIDE TO THE 64 HGO Donors 2017–18 SEASON Background, casting, and more on the entire 75 Opera Lingo season’s repertoire! 76 Calendar 46 UNSUNG HEROES Dawn Gillespie is all 78 Your HGO about law (bylaws, that is) and order. 50 NEW IN THE STUDIO Meet six new members of HGO’s acclaimed young artist program. A scene from Elektra Photo by Robert Kusel A MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC & MUSIC DIRECTOR AND THE MANAGING DIRECTOR Our first-ever Ring cycle—a gargantuan and extremely satisfying undertaking in every way—concluded with the triumph of Götterdämmerung this past spring. So, what’s next for HGO? This season we begin an exciting six-year initiative on the big questions of life as they intertwine with music: Seeking the Human Spirit. No other opera company has attempted a long-term emphasis on a subject so intangible and yet so fundamental, and we are proud to be the first. We also think the timing is exactly right and that many people are ready to focus on that which is deep and true and unifying. It will be an exciting six years, and we look forward to sharing it with you. To learn more about our plans for Seeking the Human Spirit, please see “It Is Everything” (pp. 20–22) and “Join Us for the Journey” Patrick Summers (pp. 23–26). In this preview issue of Opera Cues, you can find out more about everything the 2017–18 season has to offer. As always, we have a wonderful season lined up for you. We open with a new production of the most popular opera in the repertoire—Verdi’s La traviata—along with Handel’s Julius Caesar, in James Robinson’s delightful production that places the action on a 1930s “Golden Age of Hollywood” movie set. Our Holiday Opera Series continues with the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek’s The House without a Christmas Tree, a story that many people came to know during the 1970s through a popular made-for-TV movie. This opera is tailor- made for family audiences, and we hope to see you all there. Two masterpieces return to our stage after an absence of more than 20 years, as Perryn Leech we patiently waited for just the right casting. We are thrilled to offer Richard Strauss’s Elektra this winter with Christine Goerke in the title role and Bellini’s Norma in the spring with Liudmyla Monastyrska as the Druid priestess. Elektra will be paired in the winter rep with Rossini’s ever-popular Barber of Seville in the brilliant production by the Spanish theater collective Els Comediants, and Norma’s spring rep partner will be a major new production of Bernstein’s brilliant West Side Story in what will be the work’s first performances by a major American opera company. If that’s not enough to get your heart racing, we don’t know what will! We look forward to seeing you at the Wortham Center in just a few short weeks. Patrick Summers Perryn Leech Artistic and Music Director Managing Director Margaret Alkek Williams Chair Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair P.S. The HGO Studio Showcase on September 10 and 12 is a great opportunity to see all the 2017–18 artists of our renowned training program and to sample excerpts from a variety of works, including HGO’s mainstage operas Julius Caesar and The Barber of Seville. Studio Showcase is free to season subscribers, but non-subscribers may purchase mezzanine tickets. See page 53 for details. 6 SUMMER 2017 In 2017 alone, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ has provided more than $3.6 million to more than 65 organizations and programs, including: Alley Theatre • Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation • Children’s Museum of Houston • Glassell School of Art The Hobby Center Foundation • Houston Ballet Foundation • Houston Grand Opera • and many others! Visit rodeohouston.com to learn more. CHILDREN’S MUSEUM HOUSTON BALLET BARBARA BUSH OF HOUSTON FOUNDATION LITERACY FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2017|18 James W. Crownover Janet Langford Carrig Richard Husseini Thomas Rushing Chairman of the Board Houston Grand Opera Alfred W. Lasher III Houston Grand Opera Endowment, Inc., Senior Endowment, Inc., Chairman Lynn Wyatt Perryn Leech Vice Chairman of the Board Chairman Manolo Sánchez Zane Carruth Claire Liu John Mendelsohn, M.D. Finance Committee Vice Chair Mark R. Spradling Senior Chairman of the Board Anna Catalano General Counsel and Secretary; Marketing and Communications Richard A. Lydecker Jr. Audit Committee Vice Chair Beth Madison Finance Committee Chair Chairman Emeritus Committee Chair Harlan C. Stai Frances Marzio Albert Chao Patrick Summers Brucie Moore MEMBERS AT LARGE Donna P. Josey Chapman John G. Turner Sara Morgan Judy Agee N. A. (Neil) Chapman De la Rey Venter HGOco Committee Chair Mrs. Bobbie-Vee Cooney Terrylin G. Neale Houston Grand Opera Alfredo Vilas Richard E. Agee Albert O. Cornelison Jr. * Endowment, Inc., Chairman Margaret Alkek Williams Robin Angly Dan Domeracki * Emeritus Frederica von Stade Development Committee David B. Duthu * Franci Neely * Honorary Director Vice Chair Governance Committee Chair Ward Pennebaker Samuel Ramey John S. Arnoldy Frederic Dyen Cynthia Petrello Honorary Director Philip A. Bahr Larry Faulkner * Gloria M. Portela Michelle Beale Benjamin Fink * Senior Director Development Committee Chair Allyn Risley Dr. Ellen R. Gritz Development Committee Astley Blair Studio and Training Vice Chair Audit Committee Chair Committee Chair Glen A. Rosenbaum Pat Breen Robert C. Hunter * Jack A. Roth, M.D. Dorothy Brockman HOUSTON GRAND OPERA ASSOCIATION CHAIRS 1955–58 1973–74 1987–89 2003–04 Elva Lobit Gray C. Wakefield John M. Seidl James T. Hackett 1958–60 1974–75 1989–91 2004–07 Stanley W. Shipnes Charles T. Bauer James L. Ketelsen John S. Arnoldy 1960–62 1975–77 1991–93 2007–09 William W. Bland Maurice J. Aresty Constantine S. Nicandros Robert L. Cavnar 1962–64 1977–79 1993–95 2009 Thomas D. Anderson Searcy Bracewell J. Landis Martin Gloria M. Portela 1964–66 1979–81 1995–97 2009–11 Marshall F. Wells Robert Cizik Robert C. McNair Glen A. Rosenbaum 1966–68 1981–83 1997–99 2011–13 John H. Heinzerling Terrylin G. Neale Dennis R. Carlyle, M.D. Beth Madison 1968–70 1983–84 Susan H. Carlyle, M.D. 2013–16 Lloyd P. Fadrique Barry Munitz 1999–2001 John Mendelsohn, M.D. 1970–71 1984–85 Archie W. Dunham 2016–present Ben F. Love Jenard M. Gross 2001–03 James W. Crownover 1971–73 1985–87 Harry C. Pinson Joe H. Foy Dr. Thomas D. Barrow 8 SUMMER 2017 TRUSTEES Samuel Abraham Joshua Davidson Stephen M. Kaufman David Rowan Josh Adler Darrin Davis John Keville Jean B. Rowley ‡ Mrs. Anthony G. Aiuvalasit ‡ Sasha Davis Yolanda Knull Judy Sauer Thomas Ajamie June Deadrick Simon J. Kukes Nan Schissler ‡ Edward H. Andrews III Tracy Dieterich Connie Kwan-Wong Sue S. Schwartz Christos Angelides Gislar R. Donnenberg Blair Labatt John Serpe Hon. Mary E. Bacon David Dorenfeld Michele LaNoue Helen Shaffer Bryan Bagley Connie Dyer The Honorable Hinda Simon Denise Bush Bahr Brad Eastman Sheila Jackson Lee Janet Sims C. Mark Baker Barbara Eaves Marcheta Leighton-Beasley Kristina Hornberger Saúl Balagura, M.D. Warren A. Ellsworth IV, M.D. Benigna Leiss Somerville Dr. Barbara Lee Bass Scott Ensell Mike Lemanski C. Richard Stasney, M.D. Martin D. Beirne Mark Evans David LePori Ishwaria Subbiah, M.D. Judith D. Belanger Richard E. Evans Carolyn J. Levy Rhonda Sweeney Linda Bertman Sheryl A. Falk Heide Loos Katherine Thomasson Wirt Blaffer Dr. Mauro Ferrari Gabriel Loperena Betty Tutor Dr. Michael Bloome Carol Sue Finkelstein ‡ Dr. Jo Wilkinson Lyday Tom Van Arsdel Adrienne Bond Richard Flowers Andrea Maher Birgitt van Wijk Nana Booker Ron Franklin Michael Malbin Marietta Voglis Margaret Anne Boulware Patricia B.