At the beginning of July, the annual Summer Festival of the Merola Opera Program will be back to “business as usual.” In what may be an effort to “make up for lost time,” the training program associated with the Festival will have the largest class of artists in the Program’s history, 31 in all coming from China, Costa Rica, South Korea, Taiwan, and Uzbekistan, as well as across the United States and Canada. This will amount to nine sopranos, four mezzos, five tenors, one countertenor, two baritones, three bass-baritones, one bass, five pianists also serving as coaches, and one stage director. Ticketed events that will be open to the general public will be as follows:
Saturday, July 9, 3 p.m., San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Concert Hall: A Celebration of American Song will be a joyous tribute to music from the Great American Songbook and beyond. Featured composers will include Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, Frederick Loewe, Frank Loesser, and Richard Rodgers. The program will be curated by pianist Craig Terry, Jannotta Family Endowed Chair Music Director of the Ryan Opera Center of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. All songs will be performed in English with supertitles. Ticket prices will be $80 and $55. The SFCM Concert Hall is located at 50 Oak Street, halfway between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street and a short walk from the Van Ness Muni station.
Thursday, July 14, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, July 16, 3 p.m., SFCM Concert Hall: This will be the annual Schwabacher Summer Concert with its usual program format structured around staged scenes. The program will focus on works by Latin American and Spanish composers. The performances will be sung in Spanish with English supertitles. Staging will be directed by Jose Maria Condemi, and Jorge Parodi will conduct. Ticket prices will again be $80 and $55.
Thursday, August 4, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, August 6, 3 p.m., Blue Shield of California Theater: The full-length opera of the Festival will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s K. 620 opera The Magic Flute. The production will be staged by Gina Lapinski, and the conductor will be Kelly Kuo. The Theater is located on the grounds of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). The entrance is at 700 Howard Street, on the southwest corner of Third Street. Ticket prices will again be $80 and $55, but YBCA will charge an additional one dollar per ticket as a facility fee.
Saturday, August 20, 7:30 p.m., War Memorial Opera House: This will be the annual Merola Grand Finale. Programming has not yet been finalized. As usual, it will involve staged performances of both arias and ensembles. Staging will be by Matthew J. Schulz, and Patrick Furrer will conduct. Ticket prices will be $50, $40, and $25. The Opera House is located at 301 Van Ness Avenue on the northwest corner of Grove Street, and tickets will be sold at the Box Office in the outer lobby.
As usual, there will be a post-performance reception. This will take place in the new Barbro Osher Recital Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Bowes Center, which is located at 200 Van Ness Avenue. All tickets are $75 and may be purchased online through a separate Web page. All other tickets may be purchased online through the hyperlinks attached to the above dates.
No comments:
Post a Comment