0 Yale Opera

Doris Y

arick Cross, Artistic Director

Bon Appétit!Lee Hoiby

Riders to the SeaRalph Vaughan Williams

Gianni SchicchiGiacomo Puccini

may 2 & 3, 2015

Sprague Memorial HallSaturday, 8 pm & Sunday, 2 pm

douglas dickson & timothy shaindlinmusic direction and preparation

louisa proskestage director

May 2 & 3, 2015

Bon Appétit!Lee Hoiby

Riders to the SeaRalph Vaughan Williams

Gianni SchicchiGiacomo Puccini

0 Yale Opera

Doris Y

arick Cross, Artistic Director

rebecca l. wellescostume designer

doug harry lighting designer

paul lieberprojection designer

Robert Blocker, Dean

Yale Opera

In Bon Appétit!, Julia Child takes us through the many delicate steps of making a glorious French chocolate cake.

Julia Child

A Musical Monologue

Music by Lee HoibyText by Julia Child Adapted by Mark ShulgasserBy arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright ownerPerformed in English Musical direction and preparation by Timothy Shaindlin

leah hawkins, mezzo-soprano

Bon Appétit!

cast

Yale Opera

Living on the harsh coast of the Aran Islands, Maurya has already lost four sons, a husband, and a father-in-law to the sea. While she is resting, her daughter Nora brings home a bundle of clothes that were taken off a drowned man in Donegal, suggesting to her sister, Cathleen, that they might belong to Michael, Maurya’s fifth son, who went missing nine days before.

Maurya tries to prevent Bartley, her last living son, from going on a boat to Connemara to sell horses, but Bartley insists he must provide for the family. The daughters are shocked when Maurya refuses to give Bartley her blessing for the journey, and they send Maurya after him to break the spell.

While she is out, they open the bundle of clothes – they are indeed Michael’s, his death by drowning confirmed. When Maurya returns, she is horror-stricken by a evil-boding vision of Michael, in new clothes, following Bartley on a gray pony. Soon after, women of the village enter. Bartley is knocked off his horse by the gray pony and drowns. Maurya, having lost her last son, sees her own end coming.

intermission

NoraCathleenMauryaBartleyWoman

Music by Ralph Vaughan WilliamsAfter the play by J.M. SyngeBy arrangement with C.F. Peters CorporationPerformed in EnglishMusical direction and preparation by Timothy Shaindlin

evanna chiew, mezzo-sopranonicole percifield, soprano kathleen reveille, mezzo-sopranobrian vu, baritonemeechot marrero, soprano

Riders to the Sea

cast (in order of vocal appearance)

Yale Opera

The rich Buoso Donati dies, and his relations promptly assemble in hope for the inheritance. However, there are rumors that he has given all his money to a convent. After a frantic search for the will, the horrid truth is confirmed: not a cent to the family!

Rinuccio, the young nephew of the elderly Zita, suggests that Gianni Schicchi be consulted — a colorful character around town, he always finds a solution to any quandary. Rinuccio hopes that Schicchi’s help

Zita, Buoso’s cousinSimone, Buoso’s cousinRinuccio, Zita’s nephew

Marco, Simone’s sonLa Ciesca, Marco’s wifeGherardo, Buoso’s nephew

Nella, Gherardo’s wifeBetto, Buoso’s brother-in-lawGherardino, Gherardo’s sonGianni SchicchiLauretta, his daughter

Spinnelloccio, a doctor Amantio di Nicolao, a notaryPinellino, a shoemakerGuccio, a tailorBuoso Donati

Music by Giacomo PucciniLibretto by Giovacchino ForzanoPerformed in Italian with English translationMusical direction and preparation by Douglas Dickson

kathleen reveille, mezzo-sopranoandy berry, basshalim shon, tenor sunting li, tenor satsamuel hinkle, baritoneleah hawkins, mezzo-sopranoting li, tenor sunhalim shon, tenor satnicole percifield, sopranopawel konik, bass-baritoneandrew holms, boy soprano*zhiguang hong, bass-baritonemeechot marrero, soprano sunjinxiang yu, soprano satjorge prego, tenorbrian vu, baritonebrad walker, bass-bartitoneandrew swartzell*andrew swartzell** guest artist

Gianni Schicchi

cast (in order of vocal appearance)

will make Zita reverse her staunch opposition to his planned marriage to Lauretta, Schicchi’s daughter, as Lauretta has no dowry and Schicchi is a low-class outsider. When Schicchi arrives, Zita insults him bitterly, but Lauretta implores her daddy with such crafty passion that he relents and considers the will. He comes up with a plan: as no one yet knows that Buoso has died, Schicchi will disguise himself as Buoso and dictate a new will to a notary.

The relatives divvy up the spoils, but cannot agree on the best part of the inheritance: the mule, the house, or the mills of Signa. Everyone in turn tries to bribe Schicchi for those coveted things. When the lawyer arrives, everything goes according to plan, but Schicchi tricks the tricksters by giving the three best prizes to himself. The relatives cannot prevent him, because revealing the scheme would mean grave punishment. Outraged, they loot the house and leave. Rinuccio and Lauretta can now be married, because Schicchi can give his daughter Buoso’s inheritance for a dowry.

Yale Opera

Gianni Schicchi (continued)

Biographies

Louisa Proskestage director

Louisa Proske is a versatile director of theatre, opera, and musicals. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera, which the Wall Street Journal recently hailed as “pioneers … reformatting the opera experience from the grand to the deliberately intimate.” Her production of Offenbach’s forgotten operetta Daphnis & Chloé won high critical praise, and her Falstaff with Dell’Arte Opera was called a “revelation” and “everything an opera performance should be.” Other opera productions include Lucia Di Lammermoor (Heartbeat Opera), La Voix Humaine (Yale Opera), the world premiere of Invisible Cities (Red Light New Music), and several world premieres with Experiments in Opera. Theatre work includes The Winstons (Juilliard School of Drama), Balm in Gilead (Mason Gross), Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Strasberg Institute), Rum ’n Coca Cola in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Pinkalicious the Musical (Hangar Theatre), ’Tis Pity She’s A Whore (The Tank), Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and As You Like It at Yale School of Drama, A Servant To Two Masters (Edin-burgh Fringe), The Barber Shop (Cambridge Footlights), and an international tour of Macbeth. Louisa holds an M.F.A. in direc- ting from Yale School of Drama and is a proud alumna of the Drama League Di-rector’s Project and the Soho Rep. Writer-Director Lab. She is also on faculty at Maggie Flanigan Studio teaching Shake-speare Acting and Script Analysis.

» www.heartbeatopera.org

Douglas Dicksonmusical direction and preparation

Douglas Dickson received his B.A. degree from Princeton University and his M.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. On various occasions the Washington Post has called him an “intelligent, sensitive” pianist with “super technique,” a “skillful pianist,” and has praised him for the “finely integrated oneness” he achieves as an accompanist. Mr. Dickson has performed in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America in venues ranging from Japan’s Expo Hall to the Cincinnati Coliseum.

While still in college, he was the accompa-nist for the American Boychoir. As part of Duodecaphonia, a prize-winning piano duo, he has performed at the Kennedy Center and elsewhere. Mr. Dickson has been music dir-ector for productions at Quinnipiac Univer- sity, Yale School of Drama, Opera Theater of Connecticut, and Connecticut Experi-mental Theater. He was music director and conductor for Yale Opera’s production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, and he conducted a concert featuring Yale Opera with the Orchestra Verdi in Milan. He has taught at Quinnipiac University since 1993, and joined the Yale faculty in 1998. He made his Carnegie debut in an all-Ives concert at Weill Recital Hall. For Naxos, he has recorded more than eighty Charles Ives songs.

Biographies

Timothy Shaindlinmusical direction and preparation

A native of New York City, Timothy Shaindlin joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2008. After studies at The Juilliard School and Indiana University, he worked for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Diego Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. He has also coached for Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Hawaii Opera Theatre. In Europe, he worked for Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu and played master classes for Tito Gobbi. He has played classes and coachings for such artists as Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne, Natalie Dessay, Ben Heppner, Luciano Pavarotti, Eleanor Steber, Samuel Ramey, Régine Crespin, Thomas Hampson, Frederica von Stade, and Carlo Bergonzi. Mr. Shaindlin’s work on the podium inclu-des conducting engagements with the Wolf Trap Opera Festival, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Light Opera Works, and Eugene Opera. He has assisted such renowned con-ductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Andrew Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Richard Bonynge, Bruno Bartoletti, Donato Renzetti, Louis Langrée, Edoardo Müller, Yves Abel, Daniele Gatti, Antonio Pappano, and Paul Gemignani.

Rebecca L. Wellescostume designer

Rebecca L. Welles received her M.F.A. in theatre design from Yale School of Drama in 2012. Her recent design credits include Le Nozze de Figaro, La Cenerentola, and Iolanta for Yale Opera, Awake and Sing! and Murder Mystery for the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Conn. Recent New York credits include Irreversible with the Red Fern Theatre Company; The Taming of the Shrew, Baruch Performing Arts Center; Blank Canvas, Downtown Urban Theatre Festival; Two Gentlemen of Verona, Shrunken Shakespeare; and Marie Christine, Columbia University. Upcoming work includes Fools and The Education Project for the Educational Center for the Arts.

Doug Harrylighting designer

Doug hails from the U.K. and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama way back in the crazy eighties. He has travelled the world as a lighting designer for theatre, opera, and corporate events. Currently, he splits his time between production manage-ment and design and is currently the prod- uction manager for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. He is very happy to be design-ing for the Yale Opera program.

Biographies

Paul Lieberprojection designer

Paul Lieber is a projection designer, play- wright, songwriter, and performer. His design work has been seen at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale Opera, BAM, MaYi Theater Company, and with the Elisa Monte and Martha Graham dance companies. He is co-founder of the song- writing collective Strange Motel and holds an M.F.A. in projection design from Yale School of Drama.

» www.paullieberprojections.com

Richard CrossRichard HardingRobert HeltzelChristina HolmsJeromy HuntLydia NiemiJohn RoachJohn SullivanKyle SwannMarc VerzattYale School of DramaLong Wharf TheatreSouthern Connecticut State UniversityWendall K. Harrington and her projection design students

special thanks

Andy Berry • bassB.S. Yale University; Young Artist Programs: dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Opera on the Avalon, Central City Opera*

Evanna Chiew • mezzo-sopranoB.M. University of British Columbia; Young Artist Programs: Opera nuova, Toronto Summer Music Academy, Chamber Music Northwest Program*

Leah Hawkins • mezzo-sopranoB.A. Morgan State University; Young Artist Programs: Houston Grand Opera Young Artist Vocal Academy, Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance, Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera*

Samuel Hinkle • baritoneB.M. Mannes College of Music; Young Artist Programs: Siena Music Festival

Zhiguang Hong • bass-baritoneB.M. China Conservatory of Music, M.M. Mannes College of Music; Young Artist Programs: International Vocal Arts Institute, Dicapo Opera Theater

Pawel Konik • bass-baritoneB.A., Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music; M.A. Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music - Katowice/Poland Opera Academy; Young Artist Programs: Teatr Wielki Polish National Opera (Warsaw, Poland)

Ting Li • tenorB.M. Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Meechot Marrero • sopranoB.M. Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico; Young Artist Programs: International Vocal Arts Institute, Savannah Voice

Student Profiles

Festival, VOICExperience, Savannah Voice Festival*

Nicole Percifield • sopranoB.M. New England Conservatory, M.M. Manhattan School of Music; Young Artist Programs: Minnesota Opera

Jorge Prego • tenor B.M. Vigo Conservatory (Spain); M.M. Hartt School of Music; Artist Diploma, Roosevelt University; A.D. Yale University; Young Artist Programs: Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Opera Theater

Kathleen Reveille • mezzo-sopranoB.M. Mercyhurst University; Young Artist Programs: New York Summer Opera Scenes

Halim Shon • tenorB.M. Seoul National University, M.M. Peabody Institute of Music

Brian Vu • baritoneB.A. U.C.L.A.; M.M. Yale University; Young Artist Programs: Chautauqua Institution Voice Program, Wolf Trap Opera, Music Academy of the West, Glimmerglass Festival* Brad Walker • bass-baritoneB.M. Michigan State University; M.M. Kansas University; Young Artist Programs: Chautauqua Opera, Merola Opera Program*

Jinxiang Yu • sopranoB.M. CUNY Queens College, Performance Certificate, American Musical and Dramatic Academy * upcoming

louisa proskeStage Director

rebecca l. wellesCostume Designer

doug harry Lighting Designer

paul lieberProjection Designer brad walkerProps Runner

evanna chiewbrian vuStudent Assistants

erika niemiManager norah scheinmanProduction Stage Manager & Coordinator

kristianna ibsenAssistant Stage Manager

jeromy huntProps Assistant

jo nazroWardrobe Assistant

jill brunelleSurtitle Operator

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Yale Baroque Ensemblemay 4

Morse Recital Hall | Monday | 7:30 pmThe Harmony of Nations:

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