SEASON PREVIEW ISSUE 15 16 Roots That Trace Back to the Origins of Texas
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
OPERAVolume 56 Number 01 | Summer 2015 CUES SEASON PREVIEW ISSUE 15 16 Roots That Trace Back to the Origins of Texas. With our history of multi-generational investment in Texas, we look at the big picture and make clear-eyed, mature decisions. We’re not influenced by trends, but by our responsibility to sustain future generations. Preserve and protect your family’s future with Houston’s own—Houston Trust Company. For more information, call 713-651-9400 or visit www.houstontrust.com. 15 SEASON PREVIEW ISSUE 16 > PATRICK SUMMERS PERRYN LEECH Artistic & Music Director Managing Director MARGARET ALKEK WILLIAMS CHAIR 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. Director of Publications Laura Chandler Art Direction / Production Pattima Singhalaka Contributors Brittany Duncan Paul Hopper Perryn Leech Elizabeth Lyons Patrick Summers 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/houstongrandopera MOBILE: HGO.org KEEPING ELITE PERFORMERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT. THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRACTICING MEDICINE AND LEADING IT. At Houston Methodist, we’re proud partners in helping artists achieve peak performance, week in and week out. We have decades of experience supporting the total health needs of performers from around the world — which is why the best artists rely on us not just to get them healthy, but to keep them that way. That’s the difference between practicing medicine and leading it. houstonmethodist.org CONTENTS FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 16 CHAIRS! 40 FRESH PRINCE 6 A message from 54 Spotlight We toast our intrepid Introducing Carlisle Patrick Summers and special event chairs. Floyd’s Prince of Perryn Leech 56 Special Events Players. AN HGOCO SEASON 18 Production Funders 62 Impresarios Circle World premieres, 44 UNSUNG HEROES 12 tours, and programs, HGO’s Richard Wong: News and Notes HGO Donors oh my! a long way from 14 69 China. 23 YOUR GUIDE TO THE 50 HGO Studio 78 Calendar 2015–16 SEASON 47 MEET AND GREET Find out what the Introducing the new 52 HGOco 80 Your HGO season has in store. HGO Studio director and seven new artists. FALL 2015 Join us for a Course This Fall A FEW COURSE HIGHLIGHTS: • America’s Music From 1935 to 1950: A Definitive American Sound • Arts on the Rise: The Design and Development of Six Houston Arts Organizations • Astrobiology and the Quest for Life in the Universe • Buffalo Bayou: Houston’s Past, Present and Future • Divas of Broadway Rice University’s Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies offers opportunities for personal and professional development to the Houston community and beyond. Visit glasscock.rice.edu or call 713-348-4803 for course information. Register today. The Amazon rainforest; image of spears from the “Out of the Amazon” exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science; a 1908 postcard depicting Long Reach, Buffalo Bayou in Houston. From left standing: Judy Bozeman, Donnie Roberts, Allen Lewis and Michael Ringger From left seated: Bill Cunningham, Maureen Phillips, Rick Morales and Tom Williams Generating Success for Generations of Texas Families • Investment Management • Financial Planning • Trust and Estate Services More Than 30 Years of Building Successful Financial Futures Learn more at www.woodwayfinancial.com or call 713-683-7070. 10000 Memorial Drive, Suite 650 • Houston, Texas 77024 • [email protected] A Message from the Artistic & Music Director and the Managing Director he 2015–16 season is just around the corner! You have in your hands right now a guide to all Tthat lies in store, and we hope it will help you get the most out of your opera experience. In true HGO style, we’ve programmed operatic favorites (Puccini’s Tosca, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro) along with some rarely seen gems that need just the right casting (Dvořák’s Rusalka, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin). We continue our Holiday Opera series with Rachel Portman and Nicholas Wright’s The Little Prince, an HGO commission that has delighted families all over the United States and internationally, and we present Prince of Players, a world premiere from legendary composer Carlisle Floyd, with whom HGO has enjoyed a decades-long company relationship that, to our knowledge, is unparalleled. We end the season with Siegfried, the third installment of Wagner’s Ring cycle in the riveting La Fura dels Baus production, paired with the Patrick Summers great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel, which continues our exploration of classic American music theater. Find out about each of these operas in our guide to the 2015–16 season, beginning on p. 23. But even before the season opens on October 23, we have some great “pre-season” events we hope you won’t want to miss. First, we’d love to see you at Studio Showcase on September 10 or 12. It’s a great opportunity to hear all of the artists of our acclaimed training program, the HGO Studio, as they present fully staged scenes from various operas—including the main-stage opera The Marriage of Figaro. Tickets are free to season subscribers and available for purchase to non-subscribers. On September 23 and 24, we present the world premiere of Gregory Spears and Royce Vavrek’s Perryn Leech O Columbia at the Revention (formerly Bayou) Music Center just across Texas Avenue from the Wortham Theater Center. This opera about exploration—the innate human desire to go where no one has gone before—is part of HGOco’s award-winning Song of Houston series, inspired by the real-life stories of Houstonians. NASA astronauts, scientists, and engineers collaborated with the creators to bring O Columbia to fruition, and it truly is a must-see. As we embark upon the new season, we feel a little bit like explorers ourselves. We look forward to a year of discovery and delight, and we are glad you’re joining us for the journey. Patrick Summers Perryn Leech Artistic and Music Director Managing Director Margaret Alkek Williams Chair For subscription or single ticket information, please contact Customer Care at 713-228-OPERA (6737) or visit HGO.org. SUMMER 2015 6 HGO.org We sell all kinds of jewels. We celebrate the rare, the beautiful and the exceptional in all things. Including the most desirable homes in the world. We curate them. We showcase them. We present them as no one else can — to attract the most qualified buyers. Whether they are just down the street or a world away. Chances are we already know them. And they know us. Let us show you. BRIAR HOLLOW BROKERAGE, 713.520.1981 | MEMORIAL BROKERAGE, 713.520.1981 THE WOODLANDS BROKERAGE, 281.367.7637 | FORT BEND BROKERAGE, 832.500.8300 marthaturner.com KINGWOOD BROKERAGE, 281.359.6800 | BAY AREA BROKERAGE, 281.333.3034 Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity. Board of Directors 2015–16 John Mendelsohn, M.D., Martha Carnes Alfred W. Lasher III Mark R. Spradling, General Counsel and Secretary; Chairman of the Board Janet Langford Carrig, Perryn Leech Audit Committee Vice Chair Lynn Wyatt, Houston Grand Opera Endowment, Richard A. Lydecker Jr., Harlan C. Stai Vice Chairman of the Board Inc., Chairman Finance Committee Vice Chair Patrick Summers Beth Madison, Zane Carruth Frances Marzio, Senior Chairman of the Board Anna Catalano Studio and Training Committee Ignacio Torras Chair Glen A. Rosenbaum, Albert Chao John G. Turner, Chairman Emeritus Brucie Moore Studio and Training Committee Donna P. Josey Chapman Vice Chair Members at Large Sara Morgan N. A. (Neil) Chapman, Margaret Alkek Williams Richard E. Agee Finance Committee Chair Terrylin G. Neale, Houston Grand Opera Endowment, Frederica von Stade, Robin Angly, Mrs. Bobbie-Vee Cooney Development Committee Vice Chair Inc., Senior Chairman Honorary Director Albert O. Cornelison Jr. * John S. Arnoldy, Franci Neely Samuel Ramey, James W. Crownover Honorary Director Governance Committee Chair Ward Pennebaker, Marcia Backus Dan Domeracki Marketing and Communications * Senior Board Committee Chair Philip A. Bahr David B. Duthu Cynthia Petrello, Michelle Beale Larry Faulkner, Development Committee Chair HGOco Committee Chair Astley Blair, Gloria M. Portela Audit Committee Chair Dr. Ellen R. Gritz, Studio and Training Committee David Powell, Pat Breen Vice Chair Finance Committee Vice Chair Mrs. Robert J. Bruni, Robert C. Hunter * Jack A. Roth, M.D. Special Events Committee Chair Houston Grand Opera Association Chairs 1955 – 58 1973 – 74 1987 – 89 2004 – 07 Elva Lobit Gray C. Wakefield John M. Seidl John S. Arnoldy 1958 – 60 1974 – 75 1989 – 91 2007 – 09 Stanley W. Shipnes Charles T. Bauer James L. Ketelsen Robert L. Cavnar 1960 – 62 1975 – 77 1991 – 93 2009 William W. Bland Maurice J. Aresty Constantine S. Nicandros Gloria M. Portela 1962 – 64 1977 – 79 1993 – 95 2009 – 2011 Thomas D. Anderson Searcy Bracewell J. Landis Martin Glen A. Rosenbaum 1964 – 66 1979 – 81 1995 – 97 2011 – 2013 Marshall F. Wells Robert Cizik Robert C. McNair Beth Madison 1966 – 68 1981 – 83 1997 – 99 2013 – present John H. Heinzerling Terrylin G. Neale Dennis R. Carlyle, M.D. John Mendelsohn Susan H. Carlyle, M.D. 1968 – 70 1983 – 84 Lloyd P. Fadrique Barry Munitz 1999 – 2001 Archie W.