Thursday Evening, February 18, 2016, at 8:30 m a r A Coffin in Egypt: g o An Opera-in-Concert featuring r Frederica von Stade P e h T This evening’s program is approximately 90 minutes long and will be performed without intermission. (Program continued) Please make certain all your electronic devices are switched off. Major support for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook is provided by Amy & Joseph Perella. Endowment support provided by Bank of America This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center. Steinway Piano The Appel Room Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall American Songbook Additional support for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook is provided by The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, The Shubert Foundation, Jill and Irwin B. Cohen, The G & A Foundation, Inc., Great Performers Circle, Chairman’s Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts. Artist catering provided by Zabar’s and zabars.com MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center UPCOMING AMERICAN SONGBOOK EVENTS IN THE APPEL ROOM: Friday Evening, February 19, at 8:30 Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! Saturday Evening, February 20, at 8:30 Andy Karl & Orfeh Wednesday Evening, February 24, at 8:30 Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla & Bhi Bhiman: Swimming in Dark Waters—Other Voices of the American Experience Thursday Evening, February 25, at 8:30 La Santa Cecilia Friday Evening, February 26, at 8:30 Charles Busch: The Lady at the Mic A cabaret tribute to Elaine Stritch, Polly Bergen, Mary Cleere Haran, Julie Wilson & Joan Rivers Saturday Evening, February 27, at 8:30 Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic Project: Love & Soul featuring Valerie Simpson & Oleta Adams IN THE STANLEY H. KAPLAN PENTHOUSE: Wednesday Evening, March 16, at 8:00 Luluc The Appel Room is located in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse is located in the Samuel B. and David Rose Building at 165 West 65th Street, 10th floor. For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit AmericanSongbook.org. Call the Lincoln Center Info Request Line at (212) 875-5766 or visit AmericanSongbook.org for complete program information. Join the conversation: #LCSongbook We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might distract the performers and your fellow audience members. In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces . Flash photography and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building. American Songbook I The Program A Coffin in Egypt: An Opera-in-Concert Ricky Ian Gordon , Composer Leonard Foglia , Librettist and Director Based on the play by Horton Foote Place: Egypt, Texas Time: 1970 Frederica von Stade , Myrtle Bledsoe Isabel Keating , Jessie Lydell David Matranga , Hunter Bledsoe Ben Sheaffer , Captain Lawson Carolyn Johnson, Elsie Gospel Choir Malorie Casimir , Soprano Chantelle Grant , Mezzo-soprano Terrence Chin-Loy , Tenor Justin Hopkins , Bass-baritone Mannes American Composers Ensemble (MACE) Timothy Myers , Conductor Keturah Stickann , Choreographer Edward Barnes , Producer American Songbook I Meet the Artists Ricky Ian Gordon s t Ricky Ian Gordon’s (composer) operas include Morning Star for Cincinnati s i Opera (librettist: William Hoffman), 27 for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis t (librettist: Royce Vavrek), Rappahannock County for Virginia Opera (librettist: r Mark Campbell), Green Sneakers for the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival A (librettist: Mr. Gordon), The Grapes of Wrath for Minnesota Opera (librettist: Michael Korie), The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Houston Grand Opera e (librettist: Jean-Claude van Itallie), and Orpheus and Euridice for Lincoln Center (librettist: Mr. Gordon), which won an Obie Award. Mr. Gordon’s h t musicals include Sycamore Trees for the Signature Theatre (Helen Hayes Award), My Life with Albertine for Playwrights Horizons (AT&T Award, t Gilman and Gonzales-Falla Theatre Foundation Award), with writer/director e Richard Nelson, and Dream True for the Vineyard Theatre, with writer/direc - e tor Tina Landau (Richard Rodgers Award). Upcoming projects include the operas Intimate Apparel (librettist: Lynn Nottage), a co-commission from M the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater, and The House Without a Christmas Tree for Houston Grand Opera (librettist: Vavrek), and the musi - cal Private Confessions with Richard Nelson, for the Goodman Theatre. His songs have been recorded and performed by such artists as Renée Fleming, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Frederica von Stade, Dawn Upshaw, and the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Other awards include the National Institute for Music Theater, Stephen Sondheim, and Jonathan Larson Foundation Awards, the Second Stage Constance Klinsky Award, and the Shen Family Foundation Award. Leonard Foglia Leonard Foglia’s (librettist and director) original Broadway productions include Master Class , Thurgood , and The People in the Picture . Broadway revivals include On Golden Pond , Wait Until Dark , and the recent production of The Gin Game with James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson. Off-Broadway credits include Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy and One Touch of Venus for New York City Center’s Encores! As a librettist, Mr. Foglia’s mariachi opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna , with music by José “Pepe” Martínez, pre - miered at Houston Grand Opera and has since been presented by San Diego Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Arizona Opera, and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Lyric Opera of Chicago presented the premiere of El Pasado Nunca Se Termina , with music by Martínez, which has since played at Houston Grand Opera and San Diego Opera. A Coffin in Egypt was commissioned and pre - miered by Houston Grand Opera and has played at Opera Philadelphia, the Wallis Annenberg Center in Los Angeles, and Chicago Opera Theater. Mr. Foglia has also directed the world premieres of operas such as Moby-Dick , Three Decembers , The End of the Affair , Cold Mountain , and Everest . His production of Dead Man Walking was seen at New York City Opera as well as across the country. Upcoming is the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life at Houston Grand Opera. American Songbook I Meet the Artists Frederica von Stade Praised as one of America’s finest artists and singers, Frederica von Stade (Myrtle Bledsoe) is one of the music world’s most beloved fig - ures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname, “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for four D and a half decades. R A L L I M T R Ms. von Stade’s career has taken E B O her to the stages of the world’s R great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In addition, Ms. von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and LA Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House –Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, and Paris Opera. She has collaborated with the world’s finest conduc - tors, including Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as with leading orchestras such as the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of La Scala. Ms. von Stade also enjoys close collaborations with several contemporary composers, including Jake Heggie, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Dominick Argento, among others. Isabel Keating Isabel Keating (Jessie Lydell) is widely acclaimed for her starring performance in Broadway’s The Boy from Oz , opposite Hugh Jack - man, for which she garnered Tony, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nomina tions, and won the Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards. She also starred on Broadway in Enchanted April (directed by Michael Wilson) , Hairspray (directed by Jack O’Brien), and most recently American Songbook I Meet the Artists Terrence McNally’s It’s Only a Play (also directed by O’Brien). Off-Broadway, Ms. Keating has appeared at Primary Stages (Cusi Cram’s A Lifetime Burning directed by Pam MacKinnon), Atlantic Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and others. She won the Helen Hayes Award for her t urn in Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink at Washington, D.C.’s Studio Theatre, and has appeared regionally at the Old Globe (where she was directed by Leonard Foglia), Hartford Stage, Bay Street Theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Williams town Theatre Festival, and more. For television, Ms. Keating has guest-starred in The Path (upcom - ing), opposite Stanley Tucci in 3 Lbs , and with Vincent D’Onofrio in Law & Order: Criminal Intent . Her films include The Nanny Diaries , Life Before Her Eyes , and James Schamus’s directorial debut, Indignation , which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. David Matranga David Matranga (Hunter Bledsoe) performed the role of Hunter Bledsoe at the opening of A Coffin in Egypt at Houston Grand Opera, and in subse - quent performances in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Other recent productions include Macbeth and Twelfth Night (Houston Shake - speare Festival); Marie Antoinette , Failure: A Love Story , and Dollhouse (Stages Repertory Theatre); You Can’t Take It with You and A Christmas Carol (Alley Theatre); Show Boat (Houston Grand Opera); Uncle Vanya (Classical Theatre Company); and more.