PRESS RELEASE

Union Avenue 733 N. Union Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63108 . 314-361-2881

FOR RELEASE UPON RECEIPT Contact: Emily DePauw August 10, 2015 [email protected]

The Saga Concludes with Götterdämmerung at Union Avenue Opera

St. Louis, MO, August 10, 2015 – Critics cannot get enough of Union Avenue Opera’s recent production of , calling it “first rate,” and deeming it “admirable,” “impressive,” “splendid,” “poignant,” and “memorable.”

For its final offering of the Twenty-first Festival Season, Union Avenue Opera concludes its four-year journey through Wagner’s Ring cycle, with the final opera Götterdämmerung. The director of the epic project, Karen Coe Miller, said, “It has been an exciting artistic challenge to create imagery that tells the stories while providing visual themes that complement the musical themes. I am grateful to Union Avenue Opera for offering me the opportunity to immerse myself in Wagner's musical and dramatic world over the last four years.”

A suspenseful tale of courage and sacrifice, Wagner’s tale of gods, mortals and giants draws to a close in Götterdämmerung – Twilight of the Gods. The heroic Siegfried gifts Brünnhilde with the ring as a token of their love, but they are soon caught up in events beyond their control. Brünnhilde steps forward to return the universe to its natural order in the ultimate act of self-sacrifice. Watch as the Rhine overflows, Valhalla burns, and the kingdom of the gods is destroyed.

Alexandra LoBianco will continue her portrayal of Brünnhilde in this epic conclusion. She said, “Having an opportunity to learn these roles in a place I call a second home has been amazing. UAO really gave me my start in the business and to work Brünnhilde with Scott [Schoonover] has been a treat and an honor. I'm thankful to the operatic community as well as the community at large here in St Louis for embracing a project like this. We, as artists, couldn't grow without the support and willingness to take a risk every once in a while.”

Audiences will experience Wagner at his pinnacle including Brünnhilde’s immolation scene, “Starke Scheite schichten mir dort,” and Siegfried’s powerful funeral march in this reduction and adaptation by English composer Jonathan Dove. His masterful cuts condense Götterdämmerung in length to under three hours. Götterdämmerung will be enhanced by video projections and expanding technical elements never before seen on the UAO stage.

Conductor Scott Schoonover Director Karen Coe Miller Set Designer Patrick Huber Lighting Designer Patrick Huber Projection Designer Michael Perkins Costume Designer Teressa Doggett Brünnhilde Alexandra LoBianco Siegfried Clay Hilley Hagen Neil Nelson Gunther David Dillard Waltraute Melissa Kornacki* Alberich Timothy Lafontaine* Woglinde Lindsey Anderson Gutrune Rebecca Wilson* Flosshilde Lauren Wright* Welgunde Johanna Nordhorn Vassal Marc Schapman Vassal Clark Sturdevant Vassal Winston Sullivan

*UAO Stage Debut

Götterdämmerung will be presented in German with projected English supertitles and will be accompanied by a full union orchestra, all instrumentalists are members of the American Federation of Musicians.

Single tickets are on sale for as low as $32 ($30 for seniors). Tickets may be purchased online at www.unionavenueopera.org, by phone at (314) 361-2881, and in person at Union Avenue Opera, 733 N. Union Blvd, St. Louis, Mo, 63108. Student rush tickets are available for $15 at the door with a valid student ID.

Don’t miss Union Avenue Opera’s Friday Night Lecture Series at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall presented by Glenn Bauer, Ph.D., Associate Chair of the Department of Music at Webster University, prior to the Friday night performances (August 21, 28). Lectures are FREE and open to the public.

About Union Avenue Opera - UAO was founded in 1994 as a means to bring affordable, professional, original-language opera to St. Louis, a mission the company continues to pursue to this day. UAO is committed to hiring the most talented artists, directors, designers and technicians both locally and from across the . Union Avenue Opera hires its artists based on their ability not their résumé. Therefore, UAO provides promising singers the first stepping stone of their professional career. UAO is a publicly supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in .

UAO offers vibrant and affordable opera experiences in original languages to audiences that reflect the breadth and diversity of the St. Louis region from the acoustically superb sanctuary of an historic church located in the urban Visitation Park neighborhood of St. Louis' Central West End.

Financial Assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency and is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, with support from the Regional Arts Commission and funded in part by the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation.

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