Contact: Katherine E. Johnson (212) 875-5718; [email protected] Lincoln Center Contact: Eric Gewirtz (212) 875-5049; [email protected]

JUNE 2–4, 2016, AT ROSE THEATER AT JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER: Part of the LINCOLN CENTER–NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC OPERA INITIATIVE CONTACT! at the Biennial: U.S. Stage Premiere of Gerald BARRY’s The Importance of Being Earnest

During the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, Ilan Volkov will conduct a chamber orchestra of New York Philharmonic musicians in the U.S. Stage Premiere of Gerald Barry’s (Ireland, b. 1952) The Importance of Being Earnest (2010), an operatic take on Oscar Wilde’s comedy, co-presented with Lincoln Center’s Great Performers as part of CONTACT!, the Philharmonic’s new-music series, at Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Gerald Barry’s libretto and score for chamber orchestra enhance the ridiculous situations of Oscar Wilde’s comedy, reflecting what Barry calls the play’s “ruthless ecstasy.” For instance, Gerald Barry casts Lady Bracknell as a bass and presents familiar tunes in musically unexpected, untraditional ways, such as an atonal version of “Auld lang syne” and Lady Bracknell’s rendition of “Ode to Joy.” The recording of the work on NMC received a 2016 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Gerald Barry studied with Stockhausen and Kagel in the 1970s, developing a distinct style comprising intense, edgy, and humorous sound worlds.

This production was originally presented at London’s Royal Opera House in June 2013; the director, Ramin Gray, and many of the cast members from this staging will reassemble for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL/Great Performers engagement, all in their Philharmonic debuts: bass Simon Wilding as Lane/Merriman, baritone Benedict Nelson as Algernon Moncrieff, tenor Paul Curievici as John Worthing, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Marshall as Gwendolen Fairfax, bass Alan Ewing as Lady Bracknell, contralto Hilary Summers as Miss Prism, soprano Claudia Boyle as Cecily Cardew, and Kevin West as The Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.

Co-commissioned by London’s Barbican Centre and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Importance of Being Earnest received its concert premiere by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in April 2011, led by Thomas Adès, and its first stage performance at the Opéra national de Lorraine in March 2013, led by Tito Muñoz. It received the 2013 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Large-Scale Composition. The Guardian called the work “that rarest of things in contemporary music, a genuinely comic opera.”

Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest will be the second presentation as part of the multi-year Lincoln Center–New York Philharmonic Opera Initiative, which presents fully staged productions of significant modern operas never before seen in New York. The collaboration was launched with the critically acclaimed U.S. Stage Premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, with Alan Gilbert conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival in August 2015.

There will be a pre-performance discussion with composer Gerald Barry and WNYC’s John Schaefer on Friday, June 3, 2016, at 6:15 p.m. at the Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Studio.

This production is co-presented by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers as part of the Lincoln Center–New York Philharmonic Opera Initiative.

Related Events  Play Date All audience members attending the performance on June 4 are invited to the NY PHIL BIENNIAL Play Date, a meet-up with composers and performers over cocktails, at Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

 #biennialist The New York Philharmonic invites audience members to be a #biennialist. The five attendees who attend the most NY PHIL BIENNIAL events and post about it on social media will win a free pair of tickets to the final concert, featuring the New York Philharmonic conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, June 11 at 7:00 p.m at David Geffen Hall. Additional prizes and offerings for #biennialists will be offered; follow the New York Philharmonic on its social media channels (instagram.com/nyphilharmonic and twitter.com/nyphil) for more information.

 Pre-Performance Discussion Composer Gerald Barry will speak about The Importance of Being Earnest with WNYC’s John Schaefer on Friday, June 3, 2016, at 6:15 p.m. at the Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Studio.

About the NY PHIL BIENNIAL A flagship project of the New York Philharmonic, the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is a wide-ranging exploration of today’s music that brings together an international roster of composers, performers, and curatorial voices for concerts presented both on the Lincoln Center campus and with partners in venues throughout the city. The second NY PHIL BIENNIAL, taking place May 23–June 11, 2016, will feature diverse programs — ranging from solo works to a chamber opera to large scale symphonies — by more than 100 composers, more than half of whom are American; present some of the country’s top music schools and youth choruses; and expand to more New York City neighborhoods. A range of events and activities will engender an ongoing dialogue among artists, composers, and audience members. Partners in the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL include National Sawdust; 92nd Street Y; Aspen Music Festival and School; Interlochen Center for the Arts; League of Composers/ISCM; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; LUCERNE FESTIVAL; MetLiveArts; New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival;

Whitney Museum of American Art; WQXR’s Q2 Music; and Yale School of Music. For complete information about the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL, see press release.

About Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Lincoln Center’s Great Performers offers classical and contemporary music performances from the world’s outstanding symphony orchestras, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and recitalists. Since its initiation in 1965, the series, presented by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. (LCPA), has expanded to include significant emerging artists and premieres of groundbreaking productions, with offerings from October through June in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and other performance spaces around New York City. LCPA maintains a strong commitment to contemporary programming, including composer commissions and residencies. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals, which also include American Songbook, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and White Light Festival, as well as the Emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS.

Artists Born in Israel in 1976, Ilan Volkov began his conducting career at the age of 19. Following studies at London’s Royal College of Music, he held posts including principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor and then principal guest conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. From 2011 to 2014 he was music director and principal conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra; his arrival coincided with the opening of Harpa, Reykjavík’s new concert hall, and his tenure included the creation of the Tectonics Festival, which combined classical modern music improvisation, electronics, rock and other new-music genres and which, since 2014, expanded with residencies in cities like Glasgow, Adelaide, Oslo, New York, Tel Aviv, and London. A frequent guest with leading orchestras worldwide, Ilan Volkov works regularly with a wide range of ensembles and appears in many of the foremost festivals of the world, including Salzburg, Edinburgh, BBC Proms, Lucerne, and Berlin. Highlights include performances with the BBC Symphony and Stuttgart Opera, as well as City of Birmingham Symphony, SWR Stuttgart, Atlanta Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Ensemble Intercontemporain, WDR Köln, and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras. Equally interested in opera, He has conducted Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin for San Francisco Opera, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Glyndebourne Festival, Britten’s Peter Grimes for Washington National Opera, Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle with Israeli Opera. Ilan Volkov is one of the guiding forces behind Levontin 7, one of the most adventurous venues in Tel Aviv, which brings together classical, jazz, electronic, rock and other musical genres, reflecting his determination to keep alive the creative spirit and sense of artistic adventure that shaped so many late 20th- century works.

Ramin Gray (director) was born in London and grew up in Oxford, Tehran, New York, and Paris. He studied at Oxford University and trained on the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme at Liverpool Playhouse. In the 1990s he directed new plays by playwrights including Jon

Fosse, Paul Godfrey, and Gregory Motton at the Gate Theatre, Odéon Théâtre de l’Europe, and Théâtre de Gennevilliers. In 2000 he joined the Royal Court as International Associate and went on to work there until 2009 as associate director, directing World or U.K. Premieres by such playwrights as Marius von Mayenburg, Mark Ravenhill, Roland Schimmelpfennig, and Simon Stephens. Other work includes productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Salzburg Festival, Vienna Schauspielhaus, and Moscow’s Praktika Theatre. He is artistic director of the Actors Touring Company, for which he has directed David Greig’s The Events (Traverse, Young Vic, and New York Theatre Workshop) and Marius von Mayenburg’s Martyr (Unicorn Theatre and tour). His opera directing credits include the European Premiere of Brett Dean’s Bliss and Death in Venice and the World Premiere of Beat Furrer’s La bianca notte for Hamburg Staatsoper.

Ben Clark (associate set design) is a freelance set designer based in Berlin. He has designed for thearres, companies, opera houses, and festivals including the Young Vic, Berliner Ensemble, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Volksbühne Berlin, Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, Hamburg Schauspielhaus, Vienna Burgtheater, Vienna Festival, Salzburg Festival, Zurich Schauspielhaus, Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, Sydney Theatre Company, Theater an der Wien, Zurich Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Opéra national du Rhin, and Florence’s Teatro del Maggio Musicale. He has worked with directors including Cate Blanchett, Thomas Vinterberg, Jürgen Gosch, Stein Winge, Benedict Andrews, Roland Schimmelpfennig, Claus Peymann, and Reinhild Hoffmann, and collaborated with designer Johannes Schütz.

Christina Cunningham’s (costume design) costume designs include People, Places, Things and As You Like It (National Theatre), The Nether (Royal Court), Chimerica (Almeida and West End), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (National Actors Theatre, New York), and many productions for Complicite on international tours and at the Barbican, National Theatre, and Duchess Theatre, including The Master and Margarita, Shun-kin, Measure for Measure, Strange Poetry and Mnemonic. she has designed costumes for operas including Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and The Importance of Being Earnest (The Royal Opera), A Dog’s Heart (English National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, and Opéra de Lyon), and Nabucco (Opéra de Nancy). Her dance designs include Sun (Hofesh Shechter Company), Just for Show (DV8), and Just Add Water (Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company).

Franz Peter David (lighting design) began his career in several German theaters, and was lighting designer and head of the lighting department for Berlin Staatsoper, 1994–2005. He has worked with designers including Hans Schavernoch, Johannes Schütz, and Erich Wonder; directors including Ruth Berghaus, Luc Bondy, Götz Friedrich, Harry Kupfer, Johannes Schaaf, and Robert Wilson; and choreographers Patrice Bart, Maurice Béjart, and Vladimir Malakhov. Last year he lit Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier for Baden-Baden Easter Festival, and has worked for opera and theater companies in cities including Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Beijing, Glasgow, Paris, Oslo, Tokyo, and Zurich. For The Royal Opera he lit Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for Johannes Schaaf, and designed the lighting for Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

Leon Baugh (movement director) trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and went on to dance for companies and choreographers including Jasmin Vardimon and Frantic Assembly, and in many television commercials and music videos. He has worked as a dancer and deputy rehearsal director for Hofesh Shechter, assisting him on projects including Saint Joan (National Theatre) and Skins (Channel 4). He has worked as a choreographer and movement director for theaters including the Royal Court, Young Vic, Almeida Theatre, and Boston’s American Repertory Theatre, and in 2011 he won an Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Sucker Punch (Royal Court). A qualified osteopath and movement coach, he treats dancers and performers internationally.

Bass Simon Wilding (Lane / Merriman) studied at the Royal National Conservatory of Music. For The Royal Opera he has most recently appeared as Lane / Merriman in Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Sciarrone in Puccini’s Tosca, Lackey in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, and Pinellino in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Other recent appearances include Prince de Bouillon in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, Talpa in Puccini’s Il tabarro, and Betto di Signa in Gianni Schicchi for Opera Holland Park; Athlete in Olga Neuwirth’s American Lulu for The Opera Group at the Young Vic and the Edinburgh and Bregenz festivals; and Hobson in Britten’s Peter Grimes for the Beijing Music Festival. He has also sung Zaccaria in Verdi’s Nabucco for the Macedonian National Opera, Pig in Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig for New York’s New Victory Theater, and roles for the Wexford and Batignano Festivals, among others.

Baritone Benedict Nelson (Algernon Moncrieff) was an inaugural Harewood Artist with English National Opera (ENO). His recent operatic highlights include Algernon (The Royal Opera) in Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Count Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (ENO), Ned Keene in Britten’s Peter Grimes (Opéra de Lyon and Opera North), Stranger in Craig Armstrong’s The Lady from the Sea (Edinburgh Festival and Scottish Opera), Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Verbier Festival, Salzburg Festival, Teatro Regio, and Turin), the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème, and Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (Angers-Nantes Opéra). Concert highlights include Brahms’s A German Requiem (Hallé), Weill’s Berliner Requiem (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France), Brander in Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by Charles Dutoit) and Orff’s Carmina burana (Gulbenkian Orchestra). This season he sings Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and gives recitals at the Oxford Lieder Festival and the Norfolk and Norwich Chamber Music Festival.

Tenor Paul Curievici (John Worthing) studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and made his Royal Opera debut as Jack Worthing in Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest in 2013, returning as Eames in Matt Rogers’s The Virtues of Things. His other appearances include Painter in Olga Neuwirth’s American Lulu (The Opera Group at the Young Vic and the Bregenz and Edinburgh festivals), roles in Philip Glass’s The Trial (Music Theatre Wales), and Sam Kaplan in Weill’s Street Scene (The Opera Group at Liceu, Barcelona, and Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet). He has also worked with Scottish Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, New Sussex Opera, Clonter Opera, Chelsea Opera Group, and Grange Park Opera.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Marshall (Gwendolen Fairfax) studied at the Royal Academy of Music and was a company principal for English National Opera, where her roles included Wellgunde in Wagner’s Ring cycle, Sonya in Prokofiev’s War and Peace, Mercédès in Bizet’s Carmen, Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Annio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Offred in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Kasturbai in Philip Glass’s Satyagraha. She has also sung for Opera North, Pacific Opera, Victoria, and the Classical Opera Company; at the BBC Proms; for Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society; and for orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. For The Royal Opera she has sung Gwendolen Fairfax in Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Girl in Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Upcoming appearances include Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Buxton Festival.

Bass Alan Ewing (Lady Bracknell) has performed for companies including The Royal Opera (in roles including Lady Bracknell in Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest), Berlin Staatsoper, Zurich Opera, Dutch National Opera, and at Theater an der Wien, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Paris’s Salle Pleyel, and the Salzburg, Aix-en-Provence, and Lucerne festivals. His roles include many Handel bass roles, Osmin in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Fafner in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Siegfried, Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and the title roles in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Recent appearances include Archbishop in Szymanowski’s Król Roger (The Royal Opera), Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Grange Park Opera), and Claudio in Handel’s Agrippina (Northern Ireland Opera). Upcoming highlights include an appearance in Thomas Adès’s Powder Her Face (Bilbao), the role of Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Performing Arts Centre, Hyogo), and a return to The Royal Opera.

Welsh contralto Hilary Summers (Miss Prism) has created several roles, including Stella in Elliot Carter’s What Next (Berlin Staatsoper), Irma in Peter Eötvös’s Le Balcon (Aix-en- Provence Festival), Miss Prism in the U.K. Stage Premiere of Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest (The Royal Opera), and Mrs. Darling/Tiger Lilly in the U.K. and London Premieres of Richard Ayres’s Peter Pan (with the welsh National Opera, including at The Royal Opera House). Her operatic repertory also includes Baroque roles such as Juno in Handel’s Semele, performances in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, and Medoro in Handel’s Orlando. Other roles include Baba the Turk in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Mrs. Sedley in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Geneviève in Debussy’s Pélléas et Melisande, and Mescalina in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre. She has recorded more than 30 CDs, including Boulez’s Grammy Award–winning Le Marteau sans maître, conducted by the composer.

Soprano Claudia Boyle (Cecily Cardew) studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and participated in the 2010 Salzburg Festival Young Singers’ Project. She won First Prize and the Critics’ Prize in the 2012 Maria Callas Grand Prix. Her recent appearances include Konstanze in Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio (Komische Oper Berlin), Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto (Rome Opera), the title role in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (Danish National Opera),

Mabel in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance (English National Opera, Caen, and Luxembourg), Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (Semperoper Dresden), Jenny in Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Dublin’s Opera Theatre Company), and May-Shan in the World Premiere of Christian Jost’s Rote Laterne (Zurich Opera). Upcoming highlights include a return to Dresden as Adina in L’elisir d’amore.

Kevin West (The Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.) began his career with D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. His operatic engagements include David in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for English National Opera, Pong in Puccini’s Turandot for The Royal Opera, Schoolmaster in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Don Basilio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for Opera North and Northern Ireland Opera, Snout in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Governor in Bernstein’s Candide, and Missail in Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov for Turin’s Teatro Regio. He created the role of Swami Zumzum in Harrison Birtwistle’s The Second Mrs. Kong for Glyndebourne Festival as well as various roles for Almeida Opera, and sang in the World Premiere of Judith Weir’s Missa e combattimento for Brussels’s La Monnaie. He has appeared as an actor and narrator at Richmond Theatre and King’s Head Theatre. Television appearances include The People’s Passion and King Priam (Channel 4) and Figaro Live (BBC2).

* * * Major support for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and The Francis Goelet Fund.

* * * Additional funding is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Honey M. Kurtz.

* * * BNY Mellon is Lead Supporter of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers.

Tickets Tickets for this performance are $40. Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. To determine ticket availability, call the Philharmonic’s Customer Relations Department at (212) 875-5656. Ticket prices subject to change.

For press tickets, contact Eric Gewirtz at (212) 875-5049 or [email protected].

For more information about all NY PHIL BIENNIAL events, visit nyphil.org/biennial.

CONTACT! AT THE BIENNIAL: U.S. STAGE PREMIERE OF GERALD BARRY’S THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Co-Presented by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers as Part of the Lincoln Center–New York Philharmonic Opera Initiative

Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center 10 Columbus Circle

Thursday, June 2, 2016, 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 3, 2016, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4, 2016, 7:30 p.m.

Play Date with Lincoln Center’s Great Performers after the June 4 concert at Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Production by the Royal Opera

Ilan Volkov, conductor Ramin Gray*, director Ben Clark, associate set design, after an idea by Johannes Schütz Christina Cunningham, costume design Franz Peter David, lighting design Leon Baugh, movement director New York Philharmonic

Simon Wilding*, bass (Lane/Merriman) Benedict Nelson*, baritone (Algernon Moncrieff) Paul Curievici*, tenor (John Worthing) Stephanie Marshall*, mezzo-soprano (Gwendolen Fairfax) Alan Ewing*, bass (Lady Bracknell) Hilary Summers*, contralto (Miss Prism) Claudia Boyle*, soprano (Cecily Cardew) Kevin West* (The Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D.)

Gerald BARRY The Importance of Being Earnest (U.S. Stage Premiere–Co-Commissioned by Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, Gustavo Dudamel, Music Director, and Barbican Centre, London)

* denotes New York Philharmonic debut # # #

ALL PROGRAMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Photography is available for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL at nyphil.org/newsroom/1516/biennial or by contacting the Communications Department at (212) 875-5700; [email protected].