Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) are pleased to announce that their groundbreaking joint program, Opera Fusion: New Works, will host two new operas in November and December of 2018.
In collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater’s New Works Program and LA Opera, the new opera Eurydice, by composer Matthew Aucoin and playwright Sarah Ruhl, will receive a 10-day workshop in Cincinnati from November 8 to 17, 2018. The residency will culminate in a public performance in Cincinnati on November 17 in Music Hall’s Wilks Studio, followed by a public presentation in New York City at the Century Association on November 19.
From December 2-6, 2018, composer Laura Kaminsky and filmmaker Kimberly Reed will bring their latest work, Postville: Hometown to the World, to the program. Taking place in Postville, Iowa, this piece investigates the intersection of immigration, race, religion, ethnicity, and culture in America’s heartland. Selections from this opera will be performed publicly at the conclusion of the workshop on December 6, 2018, also in the Wilks Studio at Music Hall.
Postville: Hometown to the World is part of “Opera For All Voices,” an initiative which was established with the goal of creating works that attract audiences of all ages who may not have had prior exposure to opera. The initiative is led by Santa Fe Opera and San Francisco Opera, but the full consortium currently includes seven companies—Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Seattle Opera. The consortium is working together to create new works, flexible in both scope and scale, which can be performed in a variety of venues off the main stage. The operas focus on storytelling in imaginative and compelling new ways, designed with modern attention spans in mind and the objective to break down pre-conceived notions about opera.
Tickets: Admission to each Cincinnati presentation is free, but reservations are required. Tickets will become available from the Cincinnati Opera box office on Monday, November 5 at 10 a.m. Call (513) 241-2742 to reserve.
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EURYDICE
Music by Matthew Aucoin
Libretto by Sarah Ruhl
Workshop: November 8-17, 2018
Public performance: Saturday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m.
Music Hall’s Wilks Studio, 1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati
Eurydice, by composer Matthew Aucoin and playwright Sarah Ruhl, retells the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus from the perspective of his wife Eurydice, who is trapped in the underworld and awaits her rescue. The libretto is based on Ruhl’s play by the same name and uses contemporary English to portray the quirky and confused young lovers. The opera was co-commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater’s New Works Program and LA Opera. At the completion of the workshop, excerpts from Eurydice will be publicly performed in Cincinnati on November 17 in Music Hall’s Wilks Studio at 7:30 p.m. A public performance in New York City at theCentury Association will follow on November 19.
The Met/LCT New Works Program develops new opera and music theater works, providing support during the creative process leading to a workshop production produced by The Met/LCT. The Met/LCT New Works program is funded by a generous gift to the Met from the Francis Goelet Charitable Trusts, and Lincoln Center Theater’s participation in the Met/LCT New Works Program is made possible by a major grant from the Ford Foundation.
POSTVILLE: HOMETOWN TO THE WORLD
Music by Laura Kaminsky
Libretto by Kimberly Reed
Workshop: December 2-6, 2018
Public performance: Thursday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Music Hall’s Wilks Studio, 1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati
Postville: Hometown to the World is the latest piece by composer Laura Kaminsky and filmmaker Kimberly Reed, known for their partnership on the critically acclaimed opera As One, concerning the journey of a transgender person, which was featured in Cincinnati Opera’s 2018 Summer Festival. Their new work takes place in Postville, Iowa, which bills itself as the “Hometown to the World,” but which is known for a massive 2008 raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency at a Kosher meat-packing plant, in which over a tenth of the town’s population was arrested and deported. This new work was created for the “Opera for All Voices” program, which is led by Santa Fe Opera and San Francisco Opera, and includes the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Sarasota Opera, and Seattle Opera. It is Kaminsky and Reed’s second work to participate in Opera Fusion: New Works, following their opera Some Light Emerges, which had a residency in September 2016.
About Opera Fusion: New Works
Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) is a partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) dedicated to fostering the development of new American operas. This collaboration is jointly led by Marcus Küchle, Director of Artistic Operations & New Works Development at Cincinnati Opera, and Robin Guarino, the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair in Opera at CCM. OF:NW offers composers or composer/librettist teams the opportunity to workshop an opera during a residency in Cincinnati. Residencies utilize the facilities, personnel, and talent of both Cincinnati Opera and CCM. The workshops are cast with a combination of CCM students and professional artists, and each workshop concludes with a free public presentation of excerpts followed by an audience Q&A session, all of which is streamed online. Since its founding in 2011, OF:NW has developed ten new American operas, including Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce’s Fellow Travelers, Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Great Scott, Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, and Rufus Wainwright and Daniel MacIvor’s Hadrian. For more information, visit ofnw.org.
