OPERA IN WILLIAMSBURG PRESENTS:
Il TrovaTore
NOVEMBER 6 AND 8,, 2013
KIMBALL THEATRE WILLIAMSBURG,, VIRGINIA
Opera in Williamsburg Founder: Naama Zahavi-Ely
Opera in Williamsburg is dedicated to bringing to Williamsburg, Virginia in mate fully-staged opera with world-class cast. Funded by cket sales and the support of members of the community, Opera in Williamsburg is commi ed to the highest ar s c standards and maintains a rela onship with the Interna onal Vocal Arts Ins tute (IVAI), which is run by co-founders Joan Dornemann and Paul Nadler of the Metropolitan Opera. Opera in Williamsburg’s objec ves are as follows: Bring excellent live mainstream opera performances to Williamsburg, Virginia Help outstanding ar sts earn a living by prac cing their art for fair compensa on Give highly qualified professional singers opportuni es to debut mainstream roles professionally Create effec ve and a rac ve mainstream opera produc ons with minimal financial investment in sets, props, and costumes A ract new audiences to mainstream live opera, and provide opera lovers with more opportuni es to see it locally A part of the vision of Opera in Williamsburg is working with outstanding professional ar sts and paying them fairl. It is also crucially important to keep cket prices within reach of the community, and within reach of students in par cular. As of November 2012, Opera in Williamsburg is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a na onal non-profit tax-exempt art service organiza on. Fractured Atlas can accept tax-exempt dona ons to the extent permi ed by law and can administer grants earmarked for the use of Opera in Williamsburg. Raising money is crucial for the con nuing ac vity of Opera in Williamsburg: otherwise, for all its ar s c success, it would have to stop for lack of funds. Our budget is minuscule by opera standards, but it cannot be covered by cket sales alone, even if every seat at the Kimball is sold. A group of loyal friends has been providing advice, assistance, hospitality, and contribu ons to Opera in Williamsburg. Opera in Williamsburg is s ll at an early stage. Advice, volunteers, and assistance would be very welcome indeed. Please contact Naama Zahavi-Ely at [email protected]
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Il TrovaTore BY GIUSEPPE VERDI LIBRETTISTS: SALVATORE CAMMARANO AND LEONE EMANUELE BARDARE
Conductor: ...... Jorge Parodi
Manrico ...... Rodrigo Garciarroyo, tenor Leonora ...... Yasmine Levi-Ellentuck, soprano Conte Di Luna ...... Gustavo Feulien, baritone Azucena ...... Claudia Chapa, mezzo-soprano Ferrando ...... Matthew Anchel, bass Inez ...... Fiorella Velez, mezzo-soprano Ruiz ...... Santiago Aponte, tenor Old Gypsy ...... Daniel Hoy Chorus mistress ...... Agueda Fernandez-Abad Chorus ...... Christine Sperry. Cathy Thorpe, Leo Paolo Leal Dancers ...... Bryan E. Ingram, Lauren Hebert, Kenna Holley ...... Jillian Losty, Lauren Findlay Stage combat ...... Nathan Arries, Josua Blum, Anthony Finch
Stage director / lighting designer ...... Mathieu Guertin Visual artist (background) ...... Olivier Carignan Stage combat ...... Aaron Orensky Dance choreography ...... Christy Delaney Set, prop, and costume design ...... Amelie Cote Supertitles ...... Naama Zahavi-Ely
Pianist / assistant conductor ...... Jamison Livsey Violin ...... Simon Lapointe Cello...... Peter Greydanus Clarinet ...... Shawn Buck
Production ...... Naama Zahavi-Ely
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Il Trovatore -- Synopsis Act I: The guards of Count Di Luna are wai ng for him while he keeps watch under the balcony of his beloved, against his rival, a mysterious troubadour. Their commander, Ferrando, tells them how the old Count, the father of their present master, burned a witch at the stake. In re- venge, her daughter stole his younger son and the burned remains of a child were found in the same fire. The old Count insisted that the burned child was not his, and made his son swear to search for his brother. But the brother was never found. Leonora tells her friend Inez how she met an unknown warrior who won at the tourney and she crowned him with laurels. When the civil war started he disappeared like a dream, but a while a er a troubadour ap- peared at night singing her name—it was him! He is her des ny, she says, and if she can’t live with him she’ll die for him. The Count is watching in the garden; the troubadour is singing in the dis- tance. Leonora comes eagerly to meet her beloved, but in the darkness she mistakes Count Di Luna for him. The troubadour appears and accuses her of infidelity; she reassures him that only he is her love. The furious Count demands the troubadour’s iden ty. He turns out to be Manrico, a commander on the other side of the civil war. Rather than call the guards to arrest and execute Manrico, Di Luna fights him in person. The two exit, figh ng. Act II: In a camp of gypsy metal scavengers, Azucena sings a sad song about a ferocious fire and a woman taken by a horrendous mob to death by burning. The gypsies leave, and Manrico asks Azicena about her song. It is about the sad end of his grandmother, she says. She was sen- tenced to burning by the wicked Count. Azucena recalls with horror how her mother was pushed by the mob and not even allowed to stop and bless her, her daughter, who was following weeping with her child in her arms. Her mother’s last cry, “Avenge me!” echoes ever in her heart. Did she avenge her mother, asks Manrico? She says that she stole the child of the Count and brought him to the same fire. At Manrico’s horrified reac on, she recalls how the child was weeping, and her heart broke; but then the vision of her mother’s terrible end engulfed her, and she grabbed the child and pushed him into the fire. The vision faded, and she turned around and found—the child of the Count! The child she had
4 burned was her own child! Once past his horror, Manrico asks who is he, then. She says he is her child. She has always been a devoted mother to him. When rumor said he had died on the ba lefield, she came searching for his body to bury it. She found him barely alive and nursed him back to health. Yes, he says, he alone was s ll facing the enemy rather than flee- ing. He was a acked by the men of the evil Count Di Luna and le for dead. Why didn’t he kill the Count when he had the chance, asks Az- ucena? Manrico answers that he does not know himself; he was figh ng with Di Luna and almost killed him, but a mysterious feeling stopped his descending sword. But the Count had no such feeling, says Azucena. She encourages Manrico to swear that he would kill Count Di Luna when he next gets a chance. A messenger appears; Manrico is appointed as com- mander of the defense of Castellor, and the le er men ons that Leonora, who thinks that Manrico is dead, is planning to take the veil at a convent that evening. Manrico rushes to intercept her, in spite of the urgent pleadings of Azucena that he is barely healed and a wild solitary ride might kill him. Count Di Luna can’t stand the idea that Leonora will not be his. He plans to abduct her with his men before she enters the convent, and sings of his adora on for her. The nuns appear singing a hymn. Leonora parts from her friends: since Manrico has died, there is no joy for her in anything, and her only wish is to reunite with him in heaven a er a peniten al life. She turns to the altar; Di Luna intervenes, to the dismay of Leonora and the nuns, but before he can take Leonora Manrico appears. Leonora is Jubilant, the Count furious. Manrico’s men appear and disarm the raging Count Di Luna. Again, Manrico does not kill him but rather curses him to life of torment. Manrico leaves with Leonora. Act III: Count Di Luna is besieging Castellor, and his soldiers sing confi- dently of their coming a ack on the castle. Di Luna fumes that Leonora is in the arms of his rival. Ferrando appears and says that a suspicious gypsy woman was captured by the scouts. Di Luna interrogates her: she is searching for her son, she says, and comes from Biscay. He asks whether she has heard of a child of Counts who was abducted and brought there some fi een years ago. She denies it, but Ferrando recognizes her as the witch’s daughter who abducted the child. When threatened with burn- ing, she cries out to her son Manrico to save her. The jubilant Di Luna re- alizes that a threat to Azucena will lure Manrico out of the castle. In the castle, Leonora hears the sound of arms as fighters prepare for
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JORGE PARODI: CONDUCTOR
Reviewed as having “the most expressive conduc ng hands since Stokowski’s,” (New York Daily News) Argen nean conductor Jorge Parodi has worked as conductor, coach or repe teur at pres gious ins tu ons, including the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), The Banff Centre (Canada), SIVAM (Mexico), Opera Tampa, Connec cut Grand Opera, Lake George Opera Fes val, Hofstra University and New York University. He has collaborated with Tito Capobianco, Sherrill Milnes, and Rufus Wainwright; and he has assisted conductors Lorin Maazel, Julius Rudel and Grammy-winning Spanish conductor, José de Eusebio. He made his Canadian debut conduc ng Bri en’s The Turn of the Screw at The Banff Centre; and recently, made his Argen nean opera c debut conduc ng Donize ’s Lucrezia Borgia with Buenos Aires Lírica. In the last two seasons in the United States, he has conducted Orphée aux Enfers, L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Candide, Il Tri co and Alcina. Jorge Parodi is the Music Director of the Senior Opera Theater at the Manha an School of Music, where he has conducted its produc ons to cri cal acclaim. Senior Opera Theater produces one opera a year with the Manha an School senior voice class, accompanied by an orchestra of MSM Orchestral Performance students. The New York Times praised its produc on of Schubert’s Die Verschworenen as “superbly performed” and said of its United States premiere of Paisiello’s Nina: “the opera played beau fully, with graceful music throughout, sonorous choruses and a radiant finale”. Also at Manha an School of Music, he has led the Graduate Opera Scene Program and conducted historically informed performances of Cavalli’s La Calisto and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the MSM Summer Voice Fes val. Recently, Maestro Parodi has been appointed Ar s c Director of Opera Hispánica, the only company in the United Sates focused on the Hispanic vocal repertoire and on the La no perspec ve. This season marked the company’s inaugural Opera Hispánica Fes val in which he performed with Eglise Gu érrez and Metropolitan Opera star, Isabel Leonard. He conducted OH Fes val’s produc on of Piazzola's Maria de Buenos Aires at (le) poisson rouge, that the New York Times described as “excellent”. Mr. Parodi is the Vocal Coach of the premier Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, and a faculty member of VOICExperience under the direc on of Sherrill Milnes. He has been a long me faculty member of the Interna onal Vocal Arts Ins tute, teaching at the Nagano Opera Master Class (Japan) and at the Inaugural Opera Master Class in conjunc on with China Na onal Opera (Beijing). He has offered master classes at the Ins tuto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires) and the Escuela Superior de Canto (Madrid). Mr. Parodi completed studies in Conduc ng and Piano Performance at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música of Buenos Aires. He holds a Masters degree in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan as a full-scholarship student of the eminent accompanist, Mar n Katz. He par cipated in the recording of the complete edi on of the music for piano by Muzio Clemen with the German label, Aurophon and is featured in recordings for Albany Records and MSR Classics.
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MATHIEU GUERTIN: STAGE DIRECTOR Mathieu Guer n has directed each of Opera in Williamsburg three produc ons to date — L’Elisir d Amore, La Traviata (both with Carlos Conde), and now Il Trovatore. He graduated from London Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in direc ng theatre. He has worked in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Israel as a stage director and assistant. Most recently stage director for Artescenica in Mexico. His credits includes La Traviata, Elisir d'Amore for Opera in Williamsburg, Pagliacci for Opera Camerata in Washington DC, Les pêcheurs de perles at the Montreal conservatory of music and various opera scenes for Sherbrooke University and Vincent d'Indy school of music in Montréal. Career highlights as an assistant include Poulenc's IVAI produc ons: Dialogue des Carmélites (director: Tomer Zvulun), Mamelles de Tirésias (director: Joshua Major) and Il Trovatore (director: Orio Thomas) at the Opera de Montreal. He also tour for les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada on Die Zauberflöte, la Veuve Joyeuses, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, les Contes d'Hoffmann as a tour director. He's presently enroll in a Arts management program at HEC Montréal business school where he co-founded Comité Culturel HEC Montréal in 2013. Next projects: Crea on of Gertrude Kolmar ar s c project at the Na onal Arts Center (NYC) and Don Pasquale for Opera in Williamsburg.
JAMISON LIVSEY: PIANIST / ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR Jamison Livsey has been with Opera in Williamsburg in L’Elisir d’Amore (October 2012), La Traviata (April 2013), and is now with us for Il Trovatore. He served as repe teur and assistant conductor at numerous opera companies, including the Minnesota Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Cleveland, Sarasota Opera, Opera North, Anchorage Opera, Toledo Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Pine Mountain Music Fes val, and the fes val at Sugar Creek Symphony and Song, having prepared produc ons under such conductors as Harry Bicket and Anne Manson. He has also served as the music director for the young ar st program at Opera Santa Barbara. Jamison is an ac ve performer as well, having performed at venues across the United States, Europe, and Africa, collabora ng with numerous vocalists and instrumentalists in recital including radio broadcast performances with Vivica Genaux and James Valen . Other highlights include performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. on the Conservatory Project Concert Series, the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series, and the Lakes Area Music Fes val. He recently joined baritone Sidney Outlaw in a recital and educa on tour of Guinea as part of the U.S. Department of State's Arts Envoy Program.
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Manrico: Rodrigo Garciarroyo
Born in Mexico City and raised in Monterrey, and with a major in architecture, Rodrigo studied singing at the Escuela Nacional de Música and the Escuela Superior de Música. He was awarded the Plácido Domingo scholarship to study at the Sociedad Internacional de Valores de Arte Mexicano (SIVAM) from 2003 to 2006, the Interna onal Vocal Arts Ins tute (IVAI) scholarship to study in Puerto Rico and Israel, and the Olga Forrai Founda on and Mar na Arroyo Founda on scholarships to study in New York City from 2006 to 2010. In 2008 he was finalist at the Concurso de Ópera de San Miguel and the Compe zione dell'Opera in Dresden, Germany; and made his debut at the Palacio de Bellas Artes as Spoleta in Tosca. In 2009 he debuted at Lincoln Center with Verdi’s Requiem. Roles he has performed include Luigi in Il Tabarro, Pinkerton in Madama Bu erfly, Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, Don José in Carmen, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Alfredo in La Traviata, Gustavo (=Ricardo) in Un Ballo in Maschera, Hoffman in Les Contes d´Hoffmann, Don O avio in Don Giovanni, Cavaradossi in Tosca, and Samson in Samson et Dalila. In 2013 he was named as a dis nguished Opera Leader by the Mexican Leaders Magazine. He is President of Opera Insolente, A.C. producer company to bring opera where it has never been.
Leonora: Yasmine Levi-Ellentuck Acclaimed Israeli soprano Yasmine Levi- Ellentuck is currently singing the role of Erste Dame in the Deutsche Oper Berlin’s produc on of The Magic Flute. She recently won second prize at the Gerda Lissner interna onal voice compe on in New York City. Yasmine has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Players Club and the University Club. She has won prizes from he Metropolitan Opera Na onal Council Compe on, The Gerda-Lissner Founda on, The Giulio Gari Founda on and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Founda on. In 2010 Yasmine completed her Master’s degree, studying with Patricia McCaffrey at the Brooklyn Music Academy in New York. During her Masters studies Yasmine sung the roles of La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, The Fox in Janaceks Cunning Li le Vixen and Giorge a from Puccini’s Il Tabarro. Yasmine has been taking part in the summer opera produc ons of the Interna onal Vocal Arts Ins tute (IVAI) in Tel Aviv since 2007, where she sang the roles of First Lady in The Magic Flute, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tu e, Ele ra in Idomeneo, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro. Between the years 2006-2008 Yasmine was a part of the Israeli Opera’s Studio, where she sang Mimi in La Boheme, Ta ana in Eugene Onegin, First Lady in The Magic Flute and Gertrud in Hansel and Gretel. She studied for her Bachelor’s degree at the erusalem Music academy. Yasmine is also an experienced concert performer, singing pieces such as Strauss’ Four Last Songs, Bri en’s War Requiem, Berg’s Seven Early Songs and more. Yasmine is currently residing in Berlin, Germany, where she is studying and mastering the German repertoire.
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Azucena: Claudia Chapa Claudia Chapa has been lauded for having a "dark, rich instrument" and "a wonderfully burnished and expressive voice." Ms. Chapa was most recently seen as a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera Appren ce Program where she covered the role of Gertrude in Romeo et Julie e. Other recent roles include Dame Quickly in Verdi's Falstaff with Opera in the Heights and Madame de Croissy in Dialogues of the Carmelites with the IVAI in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she also received the Silverman Award. In the 2011–2012 season Claudia made her professional debut as Dri e Dame in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Aus n Lyric Opera, Aunt Cecilia in Li le Women with Opera Faye eville and Marthe in Faust with Indianapolis Opera. Ms. Chapa received her training at the University of Texas in Aus n's Butler School of Music where she performed the roles of Beatriz with late composer Daniel Catan for the world premiere of the new orchestra on of La Hija de Rappaccini, Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, the tle role in Rodriguez’s La Curandera, Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel, and Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring. Ms. Chapa has performed Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Missa Brevis, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and De Falla's El Amor Brujo. Ms. Chapa is excited to debut with Opera in Williamsburg as Azucena in Il trovatore. Other future engagements include reprising the role of Dame Quickly in Falstaff with Winter Opera St. Louis and returning later that season as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Count Di Luna: Gustavo Feulien
Gustavo Feulien made his opera c debut in 2006-07 as Don Giovanni in his na ve Argen na where he also performed Germont in La Traviata and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In 2007-08 he sang the roles of Haly in L'italiana in Algeri for Buenos Aires Lírica, Di Luna in Il Trovatore in the ci es of San Carlos de Bariloche and Il Marito in Meno 's Amelia al ballo for Juventus Lyrica.. Gustavo Feulien made his Teatro Colon debut in 2008-09 in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. He was chosen by Montserrat Caballe to perform at her concert: Monserrat Caballe's Voices in Zaragoza, Spain. In 2009-10 he sang Di Luna in Il Trovatore in San Juan and made his debut at the Teatro Argen no in La Plata as Marullo in Rigole o. He returned to the New York scene as Escamillo in Carmen at Whitman Auditorium with Brooklyn Opera Theater. In 2010-11 he appeared as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore at the Interna onal Vocal Arts Ins tute (IVAI) in Tel Aviv, Israel. He returned to Teatro Colon as the Herlad in Wagner's Lohengrin and was Teramanes in the world premiere of Mario Peruso's opera Fedra . Feulien performed as Robert in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with DiCapo Theater in New York, and the tle role in Eugene Onegin in Tel Aviv, Israel. .In 2012-2013 Feulien par cipated in concerts with Eve Queler and Eugene Kohn. He sang with DiCapo Opera the role of Silvio in Pagliacci. Recently he made his debut with Opera de Puerto Rico in their produc on of L'Elisird'Amore in the role of Belcore.
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Ferrando: Matthew Anchel Bass Ma hew Anchel, called "a voice to watch" by the Wall Street Journal, was recently a Grand Finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera Na onal Council Audi ons. Performances during the 2013-14 season include joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for its produc ons of The Nose and Die Zauberflöte, and he returns to Opera San Jose for the Bonze in Madama Bu erfly and to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Sarastro in The Magic Flute, a produc on directed and designed by Isaac Mizrahi. Performances in the 2012-2013 season included Ferrando (Il Trovatore) with Opera San Jose, Alidoro (La Cenerentola) with Knoxville Opera, and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) with Music Academy of the West. For the 2011-12 season Mr. Anchel was a member of the Ensemble of Oper Leipzig, singing Zaretski (Eugene Onegin), Alaska Wolf Joe (The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny), Harasta (The Cunning Li le Vixen), Marquis D'Obigny (La Traviata), and The Police Inspector (Der Rosenkavalier), among others. In the 2010-2011 season, he sang with Los Angeles Opera as a member of the Domingo-ThoArnton Young Ar st Program, performing the roles of Count Ceprano (Rigole o) and Fourth Noble (Lohengrin), under the baton of James Conlon, and joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Dr. Chausable in the world premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest. Other performance highlights include Haraste (Troilus and Cressida) and First Soldier (Salome) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Familiare (Maria di Rohan) with the Caramoor Fes val; and the tle role in Le nozze di Figaro in his interna onal debut with the Intermezzo Fes val in Brugge, Belgium. He has also performed Sparafucile (Rigole o), Enrico VIII (Anna Bolena), Oroveso (Norma), the Verdi Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. In addi on to his recogni on from the Metropolitan Opera Na onal Council Audi ons, Ma hew’s awards include 3rd Place in the Palm Beach Opera Compe on, the Judges Award from Opera Index, and Encouragement Award from the George London Founda on, Encouragement Award Winner in the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Founda on and Finalist and Encouragement Award in the Loren L. Zachary Compe on. Born and raised in New York City, Ma hew graduated from the LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, and a ended the Manha an School of Music, with his current teacher, Patricia McCaffrey. Ruiz: Santiago Aponte
Mr. San ago received his Bachelors of Music degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico in 2012, where he studied with Maestro Jus no Díaz and Professor William Woodruff and performed Monostatos in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Ramiro in Ravel's L'heure Spagnole. In Puerto Rico he had the opportunity to sing small roles professionally for local opera, zarzuela and opere a companies in the island. San ago was invited in 2007 as a guest singer at the Fes val of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Americas. In 2011 he par cipated in the Interna onal Ins tute of the Vocal Arts. He is currently pursuing his Masters degree at the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College with Dr. Carlos Conde where he sang Le Pêcheur in a produc on of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol .
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Inez: Fiorella Velez Puertorican Mezzo-Soprano Fiorella Vélez had her debut as Flora in La Traviata with Opera in Williamsburg in April 2013. In May 2013 she returned to Carnegie Hall as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem Mass with the New England Symphony Ensemble. She was a Young Ar st of the 2013 Greek Opera Fes val where she performed the role of Tibes in La Cenerentola. In 2012 she did her debut at Carnegie Hall as a soloist in Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore with the New England Symphony Ensemble. She sang the roles of La Zelatrice and Abadessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre at Symphony Space Hall, and was part of Opera in Williamsburg’s produc on of L’elisir D’amore. In 2010 she was an award recipient at the Puerto Rico District Metropolitan Opera Na onal Council Audi ons. For the last two summers she has been a Young Ar st at the Sherrill Milnes and Friends V.O.I.C.Experience Program in Tampa and Orlando, Florida. She has also been part of the Interna onal Vocal Arts Ins ute (IVAI) and Rising Star Singers Program. During her studies she has been fortunate to par cipate in Master Classes with ar sts such as Mignon Dunn, Sherrill Milnes and Jus no Díaz. Among her performances, Fiorella has portrayed The Witch in Hänsel und Gretel with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré , and The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. She recently completed her Masters Degree in Vocal Performance at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. She lives in New York and is part of the private Voice Studio of Mezzo-Soprano Patricia McCaffrey. Chorus Mistress: Agueda Ferrandez-Abad
Mrs. Fernández-Abad has performed operas and oratorios with the leading orchestras of Argen na, United States and Europe. Her awards include the Leonor Hirsch de Von Buch Scholarship for three consecu ve years to study with Ernst Haeffliger; Finalist/Special Honorary Men on in the Young Argen nean Soloist compe on; "Promociones Musicales" Award; and the Na onal Fund of Performing Arts Singer of the Year. Upon arrival in the USA in 1990, she worked with the Florida Grand Opera, including work on Carmen in their Middle School Program. Between 2003 and 2012, Mrs. Fernandez Abad offered recitals in Germany, Italy and Spain, in venues including the Palau de la Musica Valenciana, Radio Nacional de España, Interna onal Fes val of Sacred Music. In 2007 she made her debut at the Valencian´s Opera House “Reina Sofia”, singing under the baton of the Mtro. Lorin Maazell as well as the world premiere of Mexican composer Alejandra Hernández´s electro-acous c work, “Thirty three God's Names” reprised in Mexico City. Her latest appearances in Europe have included performances in Madrid, of works by Salvatore Sciarrino with the saxophone quartet Adolphe Sax, the leading role in “The Medium” by G.C.Meno with the Chamber Opera Company of Moncloa. Beethoven’s Coral Fantasy and the Christmas Oratorio “Na vity” by the American composer Norman Dello Joio with Orchestra and Chorus of Radio y Televisión Española. She ended 2012 singing Charpen er’s Te Deum and Mozart’s Corona on Mass with the Orquesta del Mediterráneo in the Auditorium of Castellón. 11
Soprano 1 (chorus): Christine Sperry Recognized by the New York Times cri c Allan Kozinn for her fluid and beau ful tone, Chris ne Sperry has performed in New York with various early and contemporary ensembles. Specializing in oratorio, Chris ne is excited to return to Opera in this produc on of Il Trovatore in Williamsburg Virginia.
Soprano 2 (chorus): Catherine Thorpe Catherine Thorpe, soprano, has been praised by The Washington Post as having “a voice of liquid silver” and The Boston Globe described her as “[a]n accurate and commi ed musician with a voice that can meet any demand, no ma er how extreme, with secure and a rac ve tone.” Ms. Thorpe’s roles and musical stylings are as varied as her vocal range: from leading roles with the New York City Opera Na onal Touring Company to featured solos with The Boston Pops and as the “girl singer” with the Sammy Kaye Orchestra, The Providence Journal, aptly noted that she
Tenor (chorus): Leo Paolo Leal LEO PAOLO LUCIANO LEAL (Tenor) finished his degree in Bachelor of Music in Voice at the Manha an School of Music. He has sung the roles of Beppo from Daniel Auber’s Fra Diavolo, Basilio and Curzio in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Ben Budge in Bri en’s The Beggar’s Opera and Li le Bat in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. He has also performed as a tenor soloist in Handel’s “Messiah”, Bach’s “B-minor mass,” Dubois’ “Seven Last Words,” and more. Old Gypsy/Baritone (chorus): Daniel Hoy Baritone Daniel Hoy was born and raised Stroudsburg, PA. He received his BM in Music Educa on (summa cum laude) from James Madison University and his MM in Vocal Performance from CCM at the University of Cincinna . He performed two seasons as a vocal fellow at Tanglewood, and with the Indianapolis, Sarasota, Ash Lawn and Kentucky Operas, Opera North and Lyric Opera Cleveland (Georg Nowack in She Loves Me). In recent seasons, Mr. Hoy appeared in San Diego Opera’s Wozzeck directed by Des McAnuff, made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in The Mass of the Children under John Ru er, was Papageno in the Harrisburg Opera Associa on’s produc on of Die Zauberflöte. He premiered the role of Mr. Cole in a reading of Séance on a Wet A ernoon, composer Stephen Schwarz’s (Godspell, Pippin, Wicked) first opera, and sang the role of Robert Green in Der Vampyr with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. As an auxiliary member of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, he has appeared in Tan Dun’s The First Emperor, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra, War and Peace, Peter Grimes, La Damna on de Faust, Parsifal, and Eugene Onegin.
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Violin: Simon Lapointe Simon Lapointe was born in Quebec, Canada. He started playing violin at age 4. He received his Bachelor’s of Music from the Conservatoire de Trois---Rivières in 2000, studying with Helmut Lipsky and Joanne Pothier. He then went on to get his MM at the Peabody Conservatory of Music with Mar n Beaver. Simon is Principal Second Violin of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2005. He also serves as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He performed as Assistant Concertmaster of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra during the 2009---2010 season. He previously played with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and the West Virginia Symphony, as Assistant Principal Second Violin and Concertmaster, respec vely. He was a prizewinner of many compe ons in the US and Canada and regularly performs as soloist and recitalist
Cello: Peter Greydanus An ac ve orchestral and chamber musician, Peter Greydanus is a member of the cello sec ons of the Richmond Symphony and of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and is an associate musician with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Formerly assistant principal cellist of the Youngstown Symphony, cellist with the Youngstown Symphony String Quartet and associate principal cellist of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra he has also been a member of the Haddonfield, Albany and Canton Symphonies. In addi on he has performed with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra and been a par cipant in the Spoleto fes vals in Spoleto, Italy and Charleston, SC as well as the Europaisches Musikfest Stu gart and the Crested Bu e Music Fes val. Mr. Greydanus is a graduate of Temple University where he was a student of Orlando Cole and studied as well with Me a Wa s and William Stokking. During the 2009-2010 season Peter and his wife, Jocelyn Smith lived in Crested Bu e, CO and organized a strings class at the
Clarinet: Shawn Buck Clarine st Shawn Buck has been playing for Washington audiences for almost twenty years. Recent performances include the Kennedy Center premiere of John Adams’ oratorio El nino, with the Washington Choral Arts Society; as well as concerts with the Apollo Chamber Orchestra, the Fairfax Symphony, the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Opera, Opera Camerata of Washington, and Washington Concert Opera. Mr. Buck received his BM from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and his MM from the Manha an School of Music. His teachers include some true legends of the clarinet world: Igna us N. Gennusa--Principal Clarinet of the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner; Peter Simenauer--Asociate Principal Clarinet/E- flat Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta; and Kalmen Opperman--renowned NYC-based clarinet pedagogue.
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Aaron Orensky: Stage Combat Instructor
Order of the Sword Aaron’s career in Stage Combat began over a decade ago when he studied ac ng and movement at The College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, VA. A er he graduated he con nued to train around the na on and interna onally. He has studied Stage Combat with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), the Interna onal and Pen (IOS&P), Art of Combat (AoC), and The Sydney Stage Combat School (SSCS). A er several years of study in Sea le, Washington under the auspices of the SAFD, including comple on of the United Stuntmen Associa on’s stunt training program, he relocated to Richmond, Virginia. He has performed at the Sea le Opera Company MacBeth and with the Washington Na onal Opera Company in Lucrezia Borgia. He is currently the Director of the Virginia Stage Combat School in Richmond, VA. Come fight with us at www.vastagecombat.com. He is very happy to be choreographing for Opera Williamsburg, and is pleased to be working at the historic Kimball Theater once again.
Josua Blum: Stage Combat
Josh Blum is currently a senior at the College of William & Mary studying theatrical design and stage combat. He has been an active member of the theatre community at the college both backstage and onstage.
Anthony Finch: Stage Combat
Anthony Finch is a student at the College of William and Mary studying mathe- ma cs. He has been prac cing mar al arts for 15 years, but only recently began learn- ing to apply his skills to the theater. He is the President and Founder of the William and Mary Tolkien Society, Vice-President of the Stage Combat club, and an ac ve member in several other clubs and organiza ons.
Nathan Arries: Stage Combat
Nathan Arries is a student at the College of William and Mary. He has been involved in theatre since he was a young child. He has studied European and Japanese swordsmanship since 2008.
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Dancer: Brian E. Ingram
A er only training for nine years, Bryan Ingram decided to pursue a career in dance a er gradua ng with a Bachelor's Degree in Marke ng and Economics from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. Since then, he has performed in shows, dance ensembles, and cruise ships all over the world. A true southern gentleman from Columbia, South Carolina, Bryan's main joy is making others smile. He hopes you enjoy the show as much as he does performing it for you.
Dancer: Lauren Herbert Lauren Hebert is from Newport News, Virginia. She has trained mostly at the Academy of Dance as well as the Virginia Ballet School. She is currently a professional dancer at Busch Gardens and hopes to con nue her path performing. Lauren is very excited to be a part of the Opera in Williamsburg's performance of Il Trovatore.
Dancer: McKenna Holley
McKenna Holley is 12 years old, from Williamsburg VA and is a dancer at SI Dance. She has been dancing since the age of 3. A er college, she'd like to dance on broadway. McKenna is excited to dance with Opera in Williamsburg!
Dancer: Jillian Losty
Jillian Losty is a 7th grader at Hornsby Middle School. She has been dancing since she was three years old. She is on the compe ve team at SI Dance Company. She loves to dance. It’s her life, she dances everyday. In her future she hopes to be a Radio City Rocke e.
Dancer: Lauren Findlay
Lauren Findlay is an 8th grader at Toano Middle School. She is 13 years old and trains at SI Dance. She is very excited to be performing in Il Trovatore tonight. In the future, Lauren wants to con nue dancing and possibly be a Rocke e or on Broadway.
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Choreographer: Christie Delaney Originally from Orchard Park New York, Chris e Delaney started dancing at the age of 2 at Mary Alice’s Dance Studio. Chris e graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in dance from the University at Buffalo. At UB, she was a member of Zodiaque Dance Company, director of student run show Dancer’s Workshop, tap teaching assistant, and student representa ve of the dance department. She has performed with Zodiaque Studio Dance Ensemble and Emerging Choreographers Showcase in addi on to ZDC and DW. Chris e has been trained in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Pas de Deux, Social Dance, Improvisa on, Voice, and Ac ng at the University at Buffalo. She has danced professionally with Spirit Produc ons in Le Grand Cirque and Masters of Magic in Niagara Falls, Canada and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Chris e has also been the Senior Area Supervisor of Dance, Swing performer, and dance captain at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in American Jukebox, Kine x, This is Oktoberfest, Mix It Up, Voila, Clocktoberfest and Maypole, Entwined, Fiends, Monster Stomp, Dig It Up, Night Beats, Miracles, and Deck the Halls in Williamsburg, Virginia. She has performed with Six Flags in Bugs Bunny and Friends Going Hollywood and Dead Man’s Party. She has taught at local dance studios in Buffalo, NY including Mary Alice’s Dance Studio and Dancentral and has also taught tap workshops and master classes in the Western New York area. She has choreographed locally for Opera in Williamsburg’s produc ons of La Traviata and Il Trovatore, Show Stoppers produc on of Spamalot, and high school musical produc ons. Currently, Chris e is Rehearsal Technician at Busch Gardens and is the Assistant Ar s c Director at SI Dance. Dancing is Chris e’s passion
Set prop and costume design: Amelie Cote
Amelie, graduated from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada in 2010. She then worked for a fine art museum up to 2011, and since then has worked as a props master for the movie industry and assisted as stylist and props master for the photography fashion industry in Montreal. Producer: Naama Zahavi-Ely
Israeli-born, long- me resident of Williamsburg Naama Zahavi-Ely is a music-lover who in 2012 took on the challenge of bringing to Williamsburg excellent live opera produc ons; founder of Opera in Williamsburg, LLC. Naama holds a PhD in Biblical Studies and has taught Biblical Hebrew and other classes at the Classical Studies department at the College of William and Mary from 1996 ll January 2013, when she re red in order to return to Israel, her home country. Naama plans to con nue visi ng Williamsburg with opera produc ons of Opera in Williamsburg.
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From our friends at the Lyric Opera Virginia (LOV):
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Did you miss our previous performances? Do you wish for a record of tonight’s performance?
Produc ons of Opera in Williamsburg are recorded professionally by Arts Laureate. The recordings are not for sale, but supporters and donors of Opera in Williamsburg can get them on DVD for a contribu on. We currently have recordings of L’Elisir d’Amore from October 2012 and La Traviata from April 2013. Tonight’s performance is recorded as well.
Please see www.OperainWilliamsburg.org
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(Con nued from page 5) ba le. Manrico confirms that they will be a acked at dawn, but com- forts her that her love will strengthen his arm and that even if fate de- crees that he dies, his last thoughts will be of her. They sing of their im- pending marriage. Ruiz rushes in and says that the gypsy is being brought to the fire. Manrico, distraught, calls his men to arms: he will rush to save her, or at least die with her. “I was her son before I fell in love with you,” he tells Leonora. Act IV: Ruiz tells Leonora that Manrico was taken and brought to the tower where state prisoners are held. Leonora plans to save Manrico; she has poison in her ring to protect herself. She sings of her love to him. Manrico is heard from the tower singing farewell to Leonora. A choir of Monks sings Miserere for the condemned man’s soul. Count Di Luna, in conquered Castellor, is fuming that Leonora has disap- peared. She shows up and pleads for Manrico’s life. The Count refuses and dismisses her angrily. He says that no price on earth would induce him to pardon Manrico. There is one such price, she says, and she is offering it: herself. Swear it, demands the Count. She swears; when he turns away, she swallows the poison in her ring. Yes, he will have her — but as a lifeless corpse. She sings jubilantly that she will gladly die to save Manrico . In the tower, Azucena is gripped with terror and a whirlpool of memo- ries at the thought of the stake. Manrico calms her and gets her to rest. As she falls asleep, Azucena sings drowsily of returning to their moun- tains where they would be safe, where he would play the lute and she would sleep in peace. Leonora appears and tells Manrico to escape, but when he realizes she is not coming with him and that she gave herself to his rival as the price for his life, he angrily denounces her for selling their love. She starts staggering, and tells him of the poison: rather than live as another’s, she prefers to die for him. He is shocked and remorseful. Di Luna comes in and realizes that she has deceived him . Leonora dies; Di Luna rushes Manrico immediately to the block. As he leaves, Manrico calls out farewell to his sleeping mother. She startles awake, calling for her son, and when Di Luna tells her that he is being executed, she tries to stop him. But it is too late. “He was your brother,” she tells the shocked count. “Mother, you are avenged!”
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Il Trovatore – a story of clashing emotions The story of Il Trovatore makes about as much sense as the average TV adventure story. In other words, it has swordfights, desperate solitary gallops, mysterious strangers, love triangles, mistaken iden es, last- minute escapes, self-sacrifice, and terrible revenge. Of all of Verdi’s great operas, it demands the least background knowledge. Its focus is the clash between individuals as such, not the conflict between individuals and society as in most of his other operas. This focus on the individuals is clearly Verdi’s choice. The two strands of the story are the love triangle of Leonora, Manrico, and Di Luna; and the story of Azucena and her revenge. Both Count Di Luna and Manrico love Leonora with a deep, passionate, possessive love. Leonora loves Manrico desperately; she does not and can not love Di Luna. This could be portrayed as preferring an unknown and probably low-born upstart over a high-born well-known nobleman: but Leonora, Manrico, and Di Luna never speak in such terms in the opera. All three operate on the level of deep all-encompassing emo ons, not of reason. Manciro and Di Luna are in fact quite similar, except that Manrico is granted his longing and Di Luna is denied. Manrico’s heroism and Di Luna’s fury are two sides of the same coin. No wonder that the two are brothers — as they don’t know, but as the audience knows or suspects . The most complex character in the opera is Azucena. She is obsessed by the shadow of her mother’s cruel death and cry for revenge; she also loves Manrico as a son deeply, enough to leave her secure hiding place to search for his body for burial, and to stay dangerously exposed in order to heal him when she finds him barely alive. He, on his side, is tender to her and solicitous of her, though not to the degree of obeying her rather than rushing to stop Leonora from entering a convent. It is precisely the focus on the clash between individuals that makes Il Trovatore so musically complex. The opera contains superb arias, among the best known in the repertoire. But it contains even more duets, trios, and quartets, where each character expresses his or her standpoint. Therefore it is so important to have a uniformly excellent cast for it, and so wonderful to have such a group of singers with us in Williamsburg. - Naama Zahavi-Ely
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Major benefactors ($1000-$4999) Linda Collins Reilly Clyde Haulman Jeanne Sutherland and Rodney B Taylor Steadfast Supporters ($500-$999) Martha Jones and William Hutton Sustaining Friends ($200-$499) Cary Carson * Adriana Jacobs * Elizabeth and Ward Jones Philip Merrick * Robert and Sylvia Scholnick Significant Donors ($100-$199) Bertram Aaron * Howare Bierenbaum * Cynthia Bowser * Lisa Butler Ronit Ganor * Liora Halperin * David and Caroline Hemphill Richard Johnson * David Sisk * Miriam Walfitz Colleagues from the Department of Classical Studies Helpers Meredith Ann Alba * Gulay Berryman * Mary Blunt * Michael Bryant Carlos Conde * Sheila Conrad * Julie Galambush * John Greer * Mathieu Guertin * Georgia Irby * David Jacobs * Mark Lerman * Angela Leruth* Deanna Morinec * Theodora Evadne Noll * Gul Ozyegin Jorge Parodi * Katherine Preston * Sebastiana Springmann David Scherer * David Sisk * Barbette Spaeth * Patricia Volp George Whitaker * Cynthia White * Robin Wilder
…. and special thanks to: To Lisa Butler for the loan of her house for our Il Trovatore team To Our Savior Church in Norge and to Gigi Paddock for hos ng rehearsals To Clyde Haulman for helping us host our team and for his support To Cary Carson for the loan of his car for the Trovatore team To Day’s Inn Colonial Area for assis ng us with lodging for the singers To Gulay Berryman and the Newtown Art Gallery for hos ng events for us To Sibilla Dengs and ArtCafe26 for hos ng a recep on for the cast and crea ve team of L'Elisir d'Amore To George Greenia and Tom Wood, William Hu on and Martha Jones, Trish Volp, Carolyn Campbell, and Meredith and Peter Forney for hos ng To Jeanne Sutherland and Rodney Taylor and to William Hu on and Martha Jones for hos ng recep ons for supporters To Kathy Devanney for loaning us two vehicles for previous produc ons To Williamsburg Families, www.williamsburgfamilies.com for helping us publicize Opera in Williamsburg To Cecilia Firstenberg for help with the prin ng of the program To the many who spread the word and who came to the produc on
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Don’t miss our next production!
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale Opera in Williamsburg
April 9 and 11, 2014
Details at www.operainwilliamsburg.org
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Opera in Williamsburg, November 6 and 8, 2013
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