The Making of The Snowy Day: An Opera for All Directed and Produced by Annalise Ophelian Music by Joel Thompson Libretto by Andrea Davis Pinkney Based on the Children’s Picture Book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats Opera initially conceived in collaboration with Julia Bullock Performed in English 7:30 P.M. CT |DECEMBER 10 Available on demand through January 9, 2021 The Making of The Snowy Day An Opera for All © Ezra Jack Keats Foundation “Peter is a child of color, but he is really a child on an adventure. And that is why the book is so powerful.” —Librettist Andrea Davis Pinkney The Making of The Snowy Day An Opera for All Background Ezra Jack Keats wrote and illustrated The Snowy The HGO Digital documentary will introduce audi- Day—the story of a little boy named Peter who ences to the story behind the children’s book, ventures into the snow—in 1962. The book won the the brilliant minds turning the iconic book into a 1963 Caldecott Medal, and it broke a persistent color brand-new operatic work, and the incredible singers barrier: Peter was the first Black boy to be the main preparing to perform in the production. Viewers will character of a mainstream children’s book. get to peek behind the scenes, enjoy an intimate view of the creative process, and build anticipation ahead In 2016, acclaimed children’s author Andrea Davis of the opera’s exciting future world premiere. Pinkney wrote A Poem for Peter, an homage to Keats and the legacy of Peter. She would become the librettist of an opera based on The Snowy Day a few Fun Fact years later, when Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation auspiciously put The Snowy Day has a fan in former first lady Michelle her name forward in the early stages of the opera’s Obama, who told the New York Times it was one of creation. Star soprano Julia Bullock brought the idea her favorite books growing up. It is also the most of an opera on The Snowy Day to Patrick Summers, checked-out title in the history of the New York HGO’s Artistic and Music Director. He, too, knew the Public Library. book from his childhood, and the opera started to take form. Cast In the summer of 2017 at the Aspen Music Festival, Summers heard a few seconds of a new score and Peter Raven McMillon, immediately knew this unidentified composer would Brenda Harvey-Traylor Fellow † be the perfect fit for an opera on The Snowy Day. Joel Amy / Ensemble Elena Villalón, Thompson was that composer, and his unique and Dian and Harlan Stai Fellow † colorful musical voice has breathed new life into the Mama / Ensemble Karen Slack * story of Peter, beautifully adapted into poetic narrative Daddy / Tim / Ensemble Nicholas Newton, by Pinkney. Nancy Haywood/Kathy Moore and Steve Homer/Jill and Allyn Risley Fellow † HGO had planned to debut The Snowy Day in Papi / Jasper / Ensemble Andrés Acosta December 2020. While the live production has been Billy / Ensemble Cory McGee, delayed to a future season, this documentary-style Beth Madison Fellow *† appetizer to the main event will introduce audiences to Ensemble Ricardo Garcia, the making of this breathtaking new opera. Michelle Beale and Dick Anderson/ Dr. Ellen Gritz and Mickey Rosenau Fellow † The Story * Houston Grand Opera debut † Houston Grand Opera Studio artist Both book and opera recount the adventures of Peter after he wakes up to the first snow of winter—the first winter when his parents have promised to let him play Special Guests in the snow by himself. After breakfast he sets off to explore, getting in a snowball fight and making friends Perryn Leech Managing Director, Houston Grand Opera, before sneaking a snowball home in his pocket. He Sarah and Ernest Butler Chair discovers it has melted and dreams that his new Kiana Caleb Production Underwriter friends and their snowy day all melt as well, until he Deborah Pope Executive Director, Ezra Jack Keats Foundation awakens to another layer of snow. The Making of The Snowy Day An Opera for All Production Creative Team Composer Joel Thompson * Librettist Andrea Davis Pinkney * Conductor Patrick Summers Director Omer Ben Seadia Scenic Designer Amy Rubin * Costume Designer Jessica Jahn Lighting Designer Michael James Clark Choreographer / Movement Director Courtney D. Jones Dramaturg Jeremy Johnson Musical Preparation Kevin Miller, Peter Pasztor ‡, Bin Yu Sanford, Stephanie Larsen and Lynn Des Prez/Valerie and Miguel Miro-Quesada Fellow † Assistant Director Katrina Bachus Stage Manager Annie Wheeler * Houston Grand Opera debut † Houston Grand Opera Studio artist ‡ Former Houston Grand Opera Studio artist Documentary Credits Annalise Ophelian Documentary Director and Producer Molly Dill Producing Director, Houston Grand Opera Daniel James Video Producer, Houston Grand Opera Kristen Burke Production Manager, Houston Grand Opera The entire staff of HGO contributed to the success of this production. For a full listing of the company’s staff, please visit HGO.org/about-us/people. Performing artists, stage directors, and choreographers are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, the union for opera professionals in the United States. The Making of The Snowy Day An Opera for All EZRA JACK KEATS FOUNDATION (UNITED STATES) The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation is dedicated to nurturing children’s love of reading and creative expression by supporting arts and literacy programs in public schools and libraries and by cultivating new writers and illustrators of exceptional picture books that reflect our diverse population. This year the foundation celebrates the EJK Bookmarking: student illustration (left) 35th anniversary of one of its core programs, the Ezra Jack Keats Award, with a EJK Award Medallion (right) yearlong series of events for educators and book enthusiasts across the country. Since 1986 the Ezra Jack Keats Award has nurtured the careers of children’s book authors and illustrators who have become stars in the field. These authors and illustrators create books that, in the spirit of Keats, reflect our diverse popu- lation and portray the universal experience of childhood and the strength of family. In addition to the EJK Award, the foundation’s programs include an annual Bookmaking Competition for New York City public school students in grades 3 through 12, and the EJK Mini-Grants awarded annually to public school teachers and librarians across the country. Ezra imagined a better future. The foundation’s work is helping to make it real. EJK Mini-Grant Program EZRA JACK KEATS (1916–1983) (UNITED STATES) AUTHOR, THE SNOWY DAY Ezra Jack Keats wrote and illustrated over 20 picture books for children. He is most famous for having created the character of Peter in The Snowy Day, whose adven- tures continue in the many classic books that followed, including Whistle for Willie, Peter’s Chair, Pet Show, and A Letter to Amy. With Peter and his multicultural group of friends, Ezra changed children’s literature in this country by bringing greater diver- sity into mainstream children’s book publishing. His books are popular around the world and have been translated into many languages. Libraries, schools, and even a skating rink have been named in his honor. The Snowy Day is the most checked out book in the 125-year history of the New York Public Library. It is considered a book that has shaped America by the Library of Congress, and a book that has changed the world by an international BBC poll. Ezra directed that after his death the royalties from his books should be used by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation to “do good in the world.” The EJK Foundation is happy to fulfill Ezra’s wishes. The Making of The Snowy Day An Opera for All JOEL THOMPSON PATRICK SUMMERS (UNITED STATES) (UNITED STATES) COMPOSER Margaret Alkek Williams Chair CONDUCTOR Joel Thompson is an Atlanta-based composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, best known Patrick Summers was named artistic and music for the choral work, Seven Last Words of the director of HGO in 2011 after having served as Unarmed, which was premiered in November 2015 by the University the company’s music director since 1998. Some highlights of his work of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and Dr. Eugene Rogers and won the at HGO include conducting the company’s first-ever complete cycle 2018 American Prize for Choral Composition. His pieces have been of Wagner’s Ring and its first performances of the Verdi Requiem; performed by esteemed ensembles such as the Atlanta Symphony collaborating on the world premieres of Tarik O’Regan’s The Phoenix, Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Master Chorale, André Previn’s Brief Encounter, Christopher Theofanidis’s The Refuge, Los Angeles Master Chorale, EXIGENCE, and the San Francisco Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life, The End of the Affair, and Three Gay Men’s Chorus. Currently a doctoral student at the Yale School of Decembers, Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree and Prince of Players, Music, Thompson was also a 2017 post-graduate fellow in Arizona and Tod Machover’s Resurrection; leading the American premiere of State University’s Ensemble Lab/Projecting All Voices Initiative and Weinberg’s Holocaust opera The Passenger, both at HGO and on tour a composition fellow at the 2017 Aspen Music Festival and School, to the Lincoln Center Festival; and nurturing the careers of such artists where he studied with composers Stephen Hartke and Christopher as Christine Goerke, Ailyn Perez, Joyce DiDonato, Ana María Martínez, Theofanidis and won the 2017 Hermitage Prize. Thompson taught at Ryan McKinny, Tamara Wilson, Albina Shagimuratova, Anthony Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta from 2015 to 2017, and Roth Costanzo, Norman Reinhardt, Jamie Barton, and Dimitri Pittas.