2008 SPRING OPERA TOUR

SANTA FE OPERA NEEDS PIANOS

SANTA FE OPERA APPOINTS NEW GENERAL DIRECTOR

2008 Season Update

2009 Season Announced

2008 SPRING OPERA TOUR

The Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice program takes its show on the road with performances in 15 communities throughout New Mexico, Colorado and Texas on its annual Spring Opera Tour. Beginning April 4 in Las Vegas and ending in El Paso on May 15, two up-and–coming singers will offer public concerts as well as daytime performances for students in tour cities. The concerts are free and everyone is welcome.

“There is no better way to learn about the southwest than spending a month on the road in a van, performing for audiences, and eating on the run. That’s what our apprentice singers tell us after returning from the annual Spring Opera Tour,” said General Director Richard Gaddes. “They are filled with enthusiasm for the wonderful audiences, both young and old, for whom they have performed, and for the magnificent landscapes they have seen. It is a pleasure for The Santa Fe Opera to share the talents of these young performers in communities throughout the southwest,” he concluded.

The public concerts will feature soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine and baritone Andrew Darling. On the first part of the concert program they will perform Susanna and Figaro’s first act duet from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Gian Carlo Menotti’s short operetta, The Telephone. The second half of the program is comprised of arias and songs by American composers including Aaron Copland and George and Ira Gershwin.

The daytime performances for students will be an adaptation of Menotti’s The Telephone. The plot centers on a young man whose attempts to propose marriage are thwarted by endless interruptions from the telephone. In adapting the piece for the tour, director Kathleen Clawson has set it during a rehearsal for The Marriage of Figaro with Ben and Lucy as opera singers who are portraying Figaro and Susanna. During a break in the rehearsal, the action moves into The Telephone.

Ms. Guarrine and Mr. Darling will be members of the Apprentice Program this summer. Ms Guarrine was a member of the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program where she sang Veronique in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri’s Hotel Casablanca. As a resident artist with the Minnesota Opera she performed Rose in Lakme, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and returned during the current season for the American premiere of Reinhard Keiser’s The Fortunes of King Croesus. Mr. Darling, a graduate of Indiana University, served as a resident artist with the Palm Beach Opera where he performed Haly and Taddeo in The Italian Girl in Algiers and Prince Yamadori in Madame Butterfly.

Kirt Pavitt begins his twelfth year as Music Director and Pianist for the Spring Tour. His ability for assembling interesting programs well-tailored to each year’s artists ensures varied, informative and friendly concerts. Pavitt believes that in presenting music which is appealing to a large cross-section of audiences, programs should look neither up nor down at those who return year after year to these concerts but be entertaining and beautiful. Pavitt takes pride that after many years, the tour is welcomed each season in as many towns and cities it is possible to visit.

The 2008 Spring Opera Tour is supported by The Guilds of The Santa Fe Opera, Inc.; New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs; the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission-1% Lodgers’ Tax; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For information about daytime performances for students, contact Education Director Andrea Walters at 505 986 5928 or awalters@santafeopera.org. The annual Spring Opera Tour is a project of The Santa Fe Opera’s Education and Outreach Department.

SANTA FE OPERA NEEDS PIANOS

Do you have an upright piano, or even a grand, sitting somewhere in your house? The one you started lessons on, how many years ago? and still gathering dust in the living room. The Santa Fe Opera is looking for upright pianos, and one grand, to be used in rehearsal and coaching studios this summer. If you have such an item, in good, playable condition, why not donate it to the Opera? You will receive a tax deduction for your generosity. Please call The Santa Fe Opera, 505 986 5955, give your name and address and when it is convenient to have someone from the opera come and check it out for its usability. Please remember, not all pianos offered may be selected. You’ll be doing a good deed for the opera and finding a home for your instrument.

For more information, contact:
Joyce Idema, Cindy Layman
press@santafeopera.org

SANTA FE OPERA APPOINTS NEW GENERAL DIRECTOR

Santa Fe, NM, Friday, November 9. Charles MacKay will become The Santa Fe Opera’s General Director beginning October 1, 2008. Announcement of his appointment was made today by Susan F. Morris, President of the Board of Directors, following a meeting of the Board at which MacKay was unanimously chosen. MacKay, currently General Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, succeeds Richard Gaddes, who is retiring.

MacKay, who is 57, is the company’s third General Director in its 51 year history. He comes to Santa Fe after 23 years in St. Louis, where he followed Gaddes as that company’s general director. MacKay grew up in Santa Fe and graduated from Santa Fe High School before attending the University of Minnesota. His career in music began at The Santa Fe Opera, first as a member of the Opera Orchestra and orchestra assistant. Subsequently, he held several administrative positions including box office manager, development manager and business manager. In all, MacKay spent ten years in Santa Fe, leaving in 1979 to join the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, as Director of Finance and Administration. He was hired by Richard Gaddes, General Director of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in l984 and became its General Director in 1985. In his 23 year tenure, MacKay has led the company to become one of the nation’s most admired and innovative opera companies. He hired and fostered careers of many young American singers, presented eight world premieres and many new and unusual works, and put the organization on sound financial footing. Under his leadership Opera Theatre of Saint Louis endowment has grown from $682,000 in 1985 to the present $20 million. Active in national opera affairs, MacKay is Chairman of the Board of OPERA America.

“The Board feels that Mr. MacKay is ideal to lead The Santa Fe Opera,” said Mrs. Morris. “His tenure in St. Louis has made the company outstanding among our nation’s opera companies. He has the artistic, fiscal and administrative skills we feel mesh perfectly with The Santa Fe Opera,” she said. “Mr. MacKay is fully prepared to handle the myriad duties of General Director. He will continue the legacy of John Crosby and Richard Gaddes, expanding their vision and sense of mission. He is a natural for this position and I could not be more delighted than to announce this appointment,” concluded Mrs. Morris.

“On September 30, 2008, Richard Gaddes’s tenure as General Director of The Santa Fe Opera will come to an end, an end that he has requested,” Mrs. Morris continued. “And what a tenure it has been! He has given us seven extraordinary seasons, and happily we have an eighth to look forward to. We will miss him and can take comfort in the fact that he will be with us for the rest of this year, and that he has pledged to make himself available to Charles to help in whatever way is asked of him.”

“The Board of Directors made a wise decision in selecting Charles MacKay as General Director,” commented Richard Gaddes. “He is a superb administrator, an innovative thinker and highly regarded colleague. The Santa Fe Opera will be in very good hands, indeed.”

“One of the great pleasures of returning to my roots will be renewing friendships and discovering new ones,” responded MacKay. “Already I am fortunate to know many of the current and longtime supporters of The Santa Fe Opera, many of the artists who’ve appeared there over the years and many members of the staff. It’s a first-rate team of dedicated, generous and talented people and I am truly excited to have the chance to work with such an outstanding group of friends and colleagues. I am deeply grateful and will always be indebted to John, to Richard, to Susan Morris and to the Board of Directors for giving me this wonderful opportunity.”

The internationally renowned soprano Christine Brewer, who has sung in both St. Louis and Santa Fe, spoke eloquently about the appointment of Charles MacKay. “I am thrilled about the news,” she said. “My career began in St. Louis and the years working for Charles, and before him, Richard, were some of the happiest times of my life,” she recalled. “The high standards, long rehearsal periods, and the integrity of music making enabled me to develop my life as an artist. Given a choice, I will choose to spend my summers singing in St. Louis and Santa Fe,” she said.

MacKay will be formally introduced to the Board of Directors at its February 2008 meeting.



CONTACT: Joyce Idema, Cindy Layman press@santafeopera.org


Charles MacKay Statement: November 9, 2007

It is a tremendous honor to be chosen General Director of The Santa Fe Opera, and to follow giants like John Crosby and Richard Gaddes. It will be a joyful homecoming for me to return to the company where I saw my first opera at age nine and where I began my career in opera as a teenager.

In a sense, I grew up at The Santa Fe Opera, doing all sorts of jobs: playing in the orchestra under great conductors like Edo de Waart, painting scenery, operating a follow-spot, appearing as a super on stage and getting my basic training in arts administration in the SFO business office. I was fortunate to have been mentored by the best in the business: first by John Crosby, who in my early twenties encouraged me to shift my focus from being an orchestra player to work in almost all departments of the company and follow my developing interest in opera management; and then by Richard Gaddes, who worked with me in the early days and eventually chose me to follow him at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

After almost ten years at SFO I moved on for six years at the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston and Italy and then twenty-three years in St. Louis. Since 2004, the added perspective of Opera America has heightened my appreciation for the excellence and international stature of SFO – to which I have returned as a visitor and avid fan almost every summer for the past thirty years.

My own experience has made me a crusader for opera education and training programs which give young people practical, one-on-one experience in the arts. The Santa Fe Opera is the ideal setting for programs like this and, of course, it is a leader in training the finest young opera singers and technicians. I hope that I can make a contribution in strengthening and expanding SFO’s programs for young people – because I know first-hand what a difference it can make.

One of the great pleasures of returning to my roots will be renewing friendships and discovering new ones. Already I am fortunate to know many of the current and longtime supporters of SFO, many of the artists who’ve appeared there over the years and many members of the staff. It’s a first-rate team of dedicated, generous and talented people and I am truly excited to have the chance to work with such an outstanding group of friends and colleagues. Moreover, I’m delighted that my return to Santa Fe will also be a reunion with longtime personal friends and, of course, my family.

Naturally, it will be a huge wrench to leave St. Louis and so many very good friends after twenty-three years with Opera Theatre, but I know they understand that going to SFO is a natural evolutionary step and the realization of a lifelong dream. It’s difficult to express in a few words what the last twenty-plus years have meant to me and what a huge honor it has been to work with the amazing board, artists, staff and volunteers of Opera Theatre.

I know there are tremendous challenges ahead in Santa Fe, but I am fully committed to doing my very best to ensure the company’s continued prominence as the leading summer opera festival in America and one of the finest in the world. This will take vigilance about artistic excellence, and about attracting and retaining the best operatic talent. It will take continuous work to strengthen the company’s already solid financial position.

I am profoundly grateful to the Board of Directors of The Santa Fe Opera for giving me this wonderful opportunity and, most especially, wish to thank Susan Morris, Paul Hoffman, and other members of the board who have been so supportive. This moment in my career wouldn’t be possible without the invaluable guidance and friendship of John Crosby and Richard Gaddes over these many years, and I will always be indebted to both of them. I also must thank my late parents, whose love of music and singing set the stage for my life in opera.

Charles MacKay
November 9, 2007

CHARLES MACKAY
Biography

2007 marks Charles MacKay’s 23rd year as general director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. He has overseen company operations since he was named Executive Director in 1984 and General Director in 1985.

Before coming to St. Louis, Mr. MacKay spent six years as Director of Finance and Administration with the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. in Charleston, South Carolina, and four years as Business Manager of The Santa Fe Opera. In addition, he spent five years as the manager of all American artists appearing with the "Festival of Two Worlds" in Spoleto, Italy. His first professional involvement in the field of opera was as a member of The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra.

During Mr. MacKay's tenure, Opera Theatre has consistently won national and international acclaim for the presentation of innovative repertory and the discovery of important young singers. Under his aegis the company has presented thirteen world premieres (seven mainstage, six for young people, all but one commissioned by OTSL) and presented a number of important American premieres and revivals, including recent critically acclaimed new productions of John Adams’ Nixon in China and Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana. OTSL commissioned both Minoru Miki’s Joruri (1985) and The Tale of Genji (2000) and presented their world premieres in St. Louis and at the Nissay Theater in Tokyo. A new performing version of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles will have its world premiere in June 2009.

Mr. MacKay has also focused his attention on the company’s operating endowment, having presided over its growth from $682,000 to over $18 million (with an additional $2 million in reserves). In addition, the annual budget has grown from $2.8 million to over $7 million with no accumulation of debt. Construction of the Sally S. Levy Opera Center, a new rehearsal and administrative facility, was completed in May 2006, exceeding a $400K Challenge Grant from The Kresge Foundation, also without any debt. In 2006 OTSL received the highest rating of any opera company from Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent charity evaluator.

A stalwart champion of quality education and outreach programs to develop young audiences and young talent, Mr. MacKay pioneered the development of OTSL’s unique Artists-in-Training program for talented high school students. Also, he expanded of the curriculum-based
Music!Words!Opera! currently in 50 area schools.

Mr. MacKay is Chairman of the Board of Directors of OPERA America, the national service organization to the field, and has served as Chairman of the Opera-Music Theatre panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a frequent adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a member of the board of the William M. Sullivan Musical Foundation. Mr. MacKay grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and attended the University of Minnesota, where he majored in music performance. He received the Arts Management Career Service Award - for notable achievements in arts administration over the past decade - onstage at the Kennedy Center in 1997. He is the recipient of a Missouri Arts Award in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of the arts in Missouri; a Doctor of Music honoris causa from the University of Missouri-St. Louis; and the St. Louis Arts & Education Council’s Excellence in the Arts Award.

For more information, contact:
CONTACT: Joyce Idema, Cindy Layman
press@santafeopera.org

2008 Season Update

2008 SEASON UPDATE

REPERTORY
Verdi, Falstaff. New Production
Mozart, The Marriage of Figaro. New Production
Britten, Billy Budd. New Production. First Performance by The Santa Fe Opera
Handel, Radamisto. New Production. First Performance by The Santa Fe Opera
Saariaho, Adriana Mater. New Production based on The Paris Opera 2006 production.
American Premiere

DEBUTS
SINGERS: Corey Bix, Laura Claycomb, David Daniels, Pia Freund,
Laura Giordano, Thomas Hammons, Joseph Kaiser, Isabel Leonard,
Michaela Martens, Lucas Meachem, Kevin Murphy, Aaron Pegram,
Luca Pisaroni, Franco Pomponi, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Peter Rose,
Christine Rice, Claire Rutter, Matthew Tuell, Elizabeth Watts
CONDUCTORS: Paolo Arrivabeni, Ernest Martinez Izquierdo
DIRECTOR: Kevin Newbury
SCENIC DESIGNER: Gideon Davey
COSTUME DESIGNER: Gideon Davey

RETURNING ARTISTS
SINGERS: Matthew Best, William Burden, John Duykers, Monica Groop, Gwynne Howell,
Keith Jameson, Mariusz Kwiecien, Nancy Maultsby, Anthony Michaels-Moore,
Laurent Naouri, Timothy Nolen, Kelley O’Connor, Wilbur Pauley, Susanna Phillips,
Norman Reinhardt, John Stephens, Richard Stilwell, Heidi Stober
CONDUCTORS: Harry Bicket, Kenneth Montgomery, Edo de Waart
DIRECTORS: David Alden, Paul Curran, Jonathan Kent, Peter Sellars
SCENIC DESIGNERS: Paul Brown, Robert Innes Hopkins, Allen Moyer, George Tsypin
COSTUME DESIGNERS: Paul Brown, Robert Innes Hopkins,
Clare Mitchell, Martin Pakledinaz
LIGHTING DESIGNERS: Rick Fisher, James F. Ingalls, Duane Schuler
CHOREOGRAPHER: Peggy Hickey

Additions to the cast are indicated in bold.

“The 2008 season is vintage Santa Fe Opera,” commented General Director Richard Gaddes. “In completing the casts, we have been able to bring together many of the elements for which the company has become so well-known: there are exciting young singers on the threshold of their careers along with those who have already graced opera stages around the world. The repertory is the classic blend of favorites, rarities and something new. Audiences should find the performances challenging and entertaining,” he observed.

The summer marks his final season as General Director; he will relinquish his post on October 1. Gaddes has been at the helm of the company since 2000, succeeding founder John Crosby, who retired that year. Gaddes joined The Santa Fe Opera in 1969.


**American debut
*Santa Fe Opera debut
+Former Apprentice singer


FALSTAFF
GiuseppeVerdi
New Production
Last performed in Santa Fe in 2001
June 27, July 2, 5, 11, 29, August 4, 11, 16, 19, 23

Conductor **Paolo Arrivabeni
Stage Director *Kevin Newbury
Scenic Designer Allen Moyer
Costume Designer Clare Mitchell
Lighting Designer Duane Schuler

Falstaff Laurent Naouri (June 27-July 11)
Anthony Michaels-Moore (July 29-Aug. 23)
Alice *Claire Rutter
Ford +*Franco Pomponi
Mistress Quickly +Nancy Maultsby
Nannetta *Laura Giordano
Fenton Norman Reinhardt
Bardolfo +Keith Jameson
Pistola +Wilbur Pauley
Meg Page +Kelley O’Connor
Dr. Caius +*Corey Bix


Kevin Newbury, in his company debut, will direct Falstaff. He comes to Santa Fe after directing The Magic Flute at the Houston Grand Opera. He has also staged productions at the Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Chicago Opera Theater as well as the Portland and Cincinnati Operas. Allen Moyer, who executed the scenic design for Daphne last season, and the revival of Così fan tutte, returns. Former apprentices Wilbur Pauley, seen in La bohème and Platée last summer; Kelley O’Connor, who will be remembered for her portrayal of Federico Garcia Lorca in Ainadamar in 2005; and Corey Bix, an apprentice in 2005, have been added to the cast.
Award-winning lighting designer Duane Schuler returns to illuminate both Falstaff and The Marriage of Figaro. He has been with the company for more than a decade.





THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
New Production
Last performed in Santa Fe in 2000
June 28, July 4, 9, 18, 28, August 2, 5, 9, 13, 18, 22

Conductor Kenneth Montgomery
Robert Tweten (August 5)
Stage Director Jonathan Kent
Scenic and Costume
Designer Paul Brown
Lighting Designer Duane Schuler
Choreographer Peggy Hickey

Figaro *Luca Pisaroni
Susanna *Elizabeth Watts
Countess +Susanna Phillips
Count Mariusz Kwiecien
Cherubino *Isabel Leonard
Basilio +*Aaron Pegram
Marcellina *Michaela Martens
Bartolo Gwynne Howell

The Marriage of Figaro, the second production of the season, opens Saturday, June 28. Joining the cast is Michaela Martens as Marcellina. The Seattle native who made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2006-2007 season has returned for the current season. She has performed extensively in this country including the Spoleto Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago and New York’s Lincoln Center Festival. This is Ms. Martens’ Santa Fe Opera debut. Gwynne Howell appeared most recently in the 2006 production of The Tempest. Peggy Hickey has choreographed several past productions for the company including Lucio Silla in 2005.


BILLY BUDD
Benjamin Britten
New Production
First performance by The Santa Fe Opera
July 12, 16, 25, 31, August 6, 14, 21

Conductor Edo de Waart
Stage Director Paul Curran
Scenic and Costume
Designer Robert Innes Hopkins
Lighting Designer Rick Fisher

Billy Budd *Teddy Tahu Rhodes
Vere +William Burden
Claggart *Peter Rose
Mr. Redburn Richard Stilwell
Mr. Flint Timothy Nolen
Lieutenant Ratcliffe John Stephens
Red Whistler +John Duykers
Donald *Lucas Meachem
Dansker +*Thomas Hammons
Novice +Keith Jameson
Maintop +*Matthew Tuell


The third opera of the summer is Britten’s Billy Budd, being performed for the first time by The Santa Fe Opera. It opens Saturday, July 12. These performances mark the return of Edo de Waart as the company’s Chief Conductor. Cast additions include long-time Santa Fe Opera favorite, Timothy Nolen, Benoit in last season’s La bohème, as Mr. Flint; and former apprentices John Duykers, Thomas Hammons and Matthew Tuell. Debuting is Lucas Meachem, who made his debut at both Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera this season. Rick Fisher designed the lighting for La bohème, Daphne and Tea last season.


RADAMISTO
George Frideric Handel
New Production
First Performance by The Santa Fe Opera
July 19, 23, August 1, 7, 15, 20

Conductor Harry Bicket
Stage Director David Alden
Scenic and Costume
Designer *Gideon Davey
Lighting Designer Rick Fisher

Radamisto *David Daniels
Polissena *Laura Claycomb
Zenobia *Christine Rice
Tigrane Heidi Stober
Tiridate *Luca Pisaroni
Farasmane +*Kevin Murphy

Radamisto opens Saturday, July 19. Heidi Stober, who had such a success as La Folie in Rameau’s Platée last summer, returns to sing the role of Tigrane. Former apprentice Kevin Murphy is Farasmane.










ADRIANA MATER
Kaija Saariaho
American Premiere
July 26, 30, August 8, 12

Conductor **Ernest Martinez Izquierdo
Stage Director Peter Sellars
Scenic Designer George Tsypin
Costume Designer Martin Pakledinaz
Lighting Designer James F. Ingalls

Adriana Monica Groop
Refka *Pia Freund
Jonas *Joseph Kaiser
Tsargo Matthew Best


The final opera of the season, Adriana Mater by Kaaija Saariajo, opens Saturday, July 26.
Matthew Best, who won praise last summer as Peneios in Daphne, will sing the role of Tsargo. Martin Pakledinaz is the costume designer, as he was for the 2002 production of L’Amour de loin. This new production is based on the world premiere at The Paris Opera in 2006, and marks the American premiere of the work.

Tickets for the 2008 season are available on line: www.santafeopera.org, by telephone:
505 986 5900, toll free 800 280 4654. The Box Office will open for in-person sales Monday, June 2 -- Monday through Saturday from 9:00 until 5:00. It is also open through intermission on performance nights.

The Santa Fe Opera receives funding from the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission and the 1% Lodgers’ Tax; New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs; New Mexico Department of Tourism; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Opening night performances are sponsored by Las Campanas Santa Fe. American Airlines is the company’s official airline.


February 1, 2008

Contact: Joyce Idema, Cindy Layman press@santafeopera.org

For more information, contact:
Cindy Layman
clayman@santafeopera.org

2009 Season Announced

2009 SEASON REPERTORY ANNOUNCED
World Premiere of The Letter composed by Paul Moravec scheduled.

REPERTORY
Verdi, La traviata. New Production
Donizetti, The Elixir of Love. New Production
Mozart, Don Giovanni. Revival
Moravec/Teachout, The Letter. World Premiere
Gluck, Alceste. New Production. First Performance by The Santa Fe Opera


Santa Fe, NM. April 30, 2008. General Director Richard Gaddes and General Director Designate Charles MacKay announced The Santa Fe Opera repertory for the 2009 season at a press conference today in Santa Fe. Gaddes retires on September 30 and will be succeeded by MacKay.

The 2009 season, opening July 3, is highlighted by the world premiere of The Letter, commissioned by The Santa Fe Opera, as well as new productions of Gluck’s Alceste, Verdi’s La traviata and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love. Alceste is being performed by the company for the first time. Don Giovanni, the only revival, was last staged in Santa Fe in 2004. The season also features several important debuts, major singers tackling roles for the first time, and the debut of fashion icon Tom Ford designing costumes for opera.

“It is a great honor for me to begin my tenure here with such an exhilarating and illustrious season,” commented MacKay, who becomes the company’s third general director on October 1. “Although the selection and much of the planning was done by Richard, I had an opportunity to participate and contribute ideas as well. The company’s commission of an important new opera from the distinguished composer Paul Moravec and librettist Terry Teachout will be, I believe, enormously popular with the public, as will all the operas in the 2009 repertory.”

“The 2009 season follows The Santa Fe Opera’s well-known and popular format,” Gaddes said. “There are two familiar and loved operas, La traviata and Don Giovanni. The Elixir of Love, long absent from our repertory, makes a welcome return. Our rarity this year is Alceste, and the world premiere of The Letter continues the company tradition of introducing exciting new operas. Throughout the season we feature many superb singers, including a number of former apprentices. And we have three magnificent sopranos, all audience favorites here in Santa Fe, who are taking on important roles for the first time – Natalie Dessay in La traviata, Christine Brewer in Alceste and Patricia Racette in The Letter,” said Gaddes. “Our casts this season are truly exceptional.”


DEBUTS
SINGERS: John Del Carlo, Paul Groves, Elza van den Heever, Ning Liang,
Kate Lindsey, James Maddalena, Saimir Pirgu, Matthew Rose,
Rodell Rosel, Harold Wilson, Charles Workman
CONDUCTORS: Frédéric Chaslin, Patrick Summers
DIRECTOR: Jerry Zaks
SCENIC DESIGNERS: Hildegard Bechtler, Louis Desire
COSTUME DESIGNERS: Louis Desire, Tom Ford, William Ivey Long

RETURNING ARTISTS
SINGERS: Jennifer Black, Christine Brewer, Patrick Carfizzi, Natalie Dessay,
Roger Honeywell, Keith Jameson, Corey McKern, Lucas Meachem,
Anthony Michaels-Moore, Laurent Naouri, Susanna Phillips,
Dimitri Pittas, Patricia Racette, Wayne Tigges
CONDUCTORS: Kenneth Montgomery, Corrado Rovaris, Edo de Waart
DIRECTORS: Jonathan Kent, Francisco Negrin, Laurent Pelly, Chas Rader-Shieber
SCENIC DESIGNERS: Thomas Lynch, Chantal Thomas, David Zinn
COSTUME DESIGNERS: Laurent Pelly, David Zinn

*Santa Fe Opera Debut
+Former Apprentice Singer


LA TRAVIATA
Giuseppe Verdi
Sung in Italian
New Production
Last performed by The Santa Fe Opera in 2001
July 3, 8, 11, 17, 24, August 4, 11, 17, 22, 26, 29

Conductor *Frédéric Chaslin
Director Laurent Pelly
Scenic Designer Chantal Thomas
Costume Designer Laurent Pelly

Violetta Natalie Dessay
Alfredo *Saimir Pirgu
Gastone +Keith Jameson
Germont Laurent Naouri/
Anthony Michaels-Moore
Douphol Wayne Tigges
Dr. Grenvil *Harold Wilson

Internationally-renowned soprano Natalie Dessay returns to Santa Fe for her first-ever performances as Violetta in La traviata to open the season Friday, July 3. This is Ms. Dessay’s third appearance in Santa Fe, following Amina in La sonnambula in 2004 and Pamina in The Magic Flute in 2006. Alfredo will be sung by the young Albanian tenor, Saimar Pirgu, who makes his American debut at the Los Angeles Opera in September, and his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2009. The role of Germont will be shared by Laurent Naouri and Anthony Michaels-Moore. Naouri was Escamillo in Santa Fe’s Carmen in 2006; Michaels-Moore first appeared with the company as Simon Boccanegra in 2004; the two will share the title role in Falstaff this summer. Dr. Grenvil will be sung by American bass Harold Wilson, in his debut.

Conductor Frédéric Chaslin makes his Santa Fe Opera debut with these performances. A native of France, Chaslin has been resident conductor of the Vienna State Opera since 1997, and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2002. The French team of Laurent Pelly and Chantal Thomas will direct and design the production. Their last Santa Fe collaboration was the highly popular Platée in 2007.


THE ELIXIR OF LOVE
Gaetano Donizetti
Sung in Italian
New Production
Last Performed by The Santa Fe Opera in 1968
July 4, 10, 15, August 6, 12, 20, 25, 28

Conductor Corrado Rovaris
Director *Jerry Zaks
Scenic Designer Thomas Lynch
Costume Designer *WiWilliam Ivey Long

Adina +Jennifer Black
Nemorino +Dimitri Pittas
Belcore +Patrick Carfizzi
Dulcamara *John Del Carlo

The second opera of the season is the sparkling comedy, The Elixir of Love, which opens Saturday, July 4. This new production of the Donizetti classic, not staged in Santa Fe since 1968, features three former apprentices now making headlines on the national music scene: Jennifer Black as Adina, Dimitri Pittas as Nemorino and Patrick Carfizzi as Belcore. Black and Pittas were the star-crossed lovers in Santa Fe’s La bohème in 2007; Carfizzi was Masetto in the company’s 2004 Don Giovanni. American bass-baritone John Del Carlo makes his company debut as Dulcamara.

Corrado Rovaris, who led La bohème here in 2007, will conduct. Santa Fe’s production team includes three outstanding award-winning Broadway veterans. Director Jerry Zaks, a four-time Tony Award winner, received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director for the revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial on Broadway in 2006. A well-known actor, Zaks has also appeared in movies and television. Scenic designer Thomas Lynch, internationally noted for his work in opera and theater, including the recent Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun, designed The Santa Fe Opera’s productions of Xerxes in 1993 and Ashoka’s Dream in 1997. Costume designer William Ivey Long makes his Santa Fe Opera debut. A five-time Tony Award-winner, Ivey Long is known for his work on The Producers and Hairspray, as well as Mel Brooks’s new musical, Young Frankenstein.

DON GIOVANNI
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sung in Italian
Revival
Last Performed by The Santa Fe Opera in 2004
July 18, 22, 31, August 8, 13, 21, 24, 27

Conductor Edo de Waart
Director Chas Rader-Shieber
Scenic and
Costume Designer David Zinn

Donna Anna *Elza van den Heever
Donna Elvira +Susanna Phillips
Zerlina *+Kate Lindsey
Don Ottavio *Charles Workman
Don Giovanni Lucas Meachem
Leporello *Matthew Rose
Masetto +Corey McKern
Commendatore *Harold Wilson

Mozart’s Don Giovanni, a revival from the 2004 season, opens July 18. The original director, Chas Rader-Shieber, and scenic and costume designer David Zinn will return to oversee the production. The title role will be taken by Lucas Meachem, a young American baritone who made debuts at both the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden during the 2007-08 season, and makes his Santa Fe Opera debut in this summer’s Billy Budd.

The Don Giovanni cast includes three former apprentices: Susanna Phillips, the Countess in this summer’s Marriage of Figaro, sings the role of Donna Elvira; Corey McKern, Marcello in Santa Fe’s 2007 La bohème, is Masetto; and Kate Lindsey, in her debut, sings Zerlina. Also making their debuts are Elza van den Heever, who appears regularly with the San Francisco Opera, as Donna Anna; Arkansas-born tenor Charles Workman as Don Ottavio; the British bass Matthew Rose as Leporello; and Harold Wilson as the Commendatore. 2009 is the second season for Edo de Waart in Santa Fe as the company’s Chief Conductor. The Dutch-born maestro made his American debut in Santa Fe in 1971 leading The Flying Dutchman. He was recently named Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra beginning in 2009, and one of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s group of Artistic Partners in 2010.

THE LETTER
Composer: Paul Moravec
Librettist: Terry Teachout
Sung in English
World Premiere
Commissioned by The Santa Fe Opera
July 25, 29, August 3, 7, 15, 18

Conductor *Patrick Summers
Director Jonathan Kent
Scenic Designer *Hildegard Bechtler
Costume Designer *Tom Ford

Leslie Crosbie Patricia Racette
Chinese Woman *Ning Liang
Geoff Hammond Roger Honeywell
Ong Chi Seng *Rodell Rosel
John Withers +Keith Jameson
Robert Crosbie Anthony Michaels-Moore
Howard Joyce *James Maddalena

The Letter is based on W. Somerset Maugham’s 1927 stage adaptation of one of his best-known short stories. It has been filmed twice, the second time in 1940 in an Oscar-nominated version starring Bette Davis and directed by William Wyler. Paul Moravec, the composer, won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Music for Tempest Fantasy and is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and University Professor at Adelphi University. The Letter is his first opera. Terry Teachout, the librettist, is the drama critic of The Wall Street Journal and the author of a forthcoming biography of Louis Armstrong.

“The Letter is an opera noir, a music drama about ordinary people who make a few mistakes and suddenly find themselves swept into very deep emotional water,” says Moravec. “It combines the aesthetic of American verismo with dream-like qualities often characteristic of a psychological drama. We intend it to be as fast-moving and hard-hitting as a film noir from the ’40s,” he stated. “Our goal,” says Teachout, “has been to write a work that’s firmly rooted in traditional operatic practice – one that will make dramatic sense to mainstream audiences.” The opera runs ninety minutes.

Patricia Racette and Anthony Michaels-Moore will star as Leslie and Robert Crosbie, an unhappily married expatriate couple whose life in the jungle of Malaya is torn apart by passion, violence and revenge. Racette made her Santa Fe debut in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Emmline in 1996, and appeared most recently with the company in Turandot in 2005. Michaels-Moore sings the title role in this year’s Falstaff. Other members of the cast include Roger Honeywell, who appeared in the 2007 production of Tea: A Mirror of Soul; former apprentice Keith Jameson, who made his debut in Turandot in 2005; and, in their company debuts, Rodell Rosel, James Maddalena, and Ning Liang. Patrick Summers, Music Director of the Houston Grand Opera, also making his Santa Fe Opera debut, will conduct.

The production will be staged by Jonathan Kent, who made his debut as an opera director with Santa Fe’s Katya Kabanova in 2003, and returned to the company most recently for Thomas Ades’s The Tempest in 2006. Kent is staging The Marriage of Figaro in Santa Fe this summer. The acclaimed British director recently directed Brian Friel’s Faith Healer on Broadway. Making her Santa Fe debut is designer Hildegard Bechtler, who created the set for Primo, Anthony Sher’s stage version of Primo Levi’s If This Is a Man, which played on Broadway in 2005. Tom Ford, the internationally renowned fashion designer, will design the costumes. Former creative director of the Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent companies, Ford now produces men’s clothing, perfume, and accessories under his own label. Ford grew up in Santa Fe, graduated from Santa Fe Prep, and maintains a home here. This marks his debut designing costumes for opera. The Letter opens July 25.

ALCESTE
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Sung in French
New Production
First Performance by The Santa Fe Opera
August 1, 5, 10, 14, 19

Conductor Kenneth Montgomery
Director Francisco Negrin
Scenic and
Costume Designer *Louis Desire

Alceste Christine Brewer
Admete *Paul Groves
Hercules Wayne Tigges

Christine Brewer returns to sing the title role in Gluck’s masterpiece, Alceste, a decade after she made her Santa Fe Opera debut as Ariadne. Now acclaimed as one of America’s great dramatic sopranos, Brewer last appeared with the company as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in 2005. Joining the cast are Paul Groves, in his Santa Fe Opera debut, as Admete, and Wayne Tigges, who first appeared as Don Basilio in Santa Fe’s The Barber of Seville in 2005, as Hercules. Kenneth Montgomery is the conductor. Francisco Negrin, who staged Santa Fe’s Agrippina in 2004, will direct. Louis Desire, who frequently collaborates with Negrin, makes his company debut as scenic and costume designer.

The powerful role of Alceste, one of the most demanding in all of opera, has long attracted Brewer, who had been waiting for the right opportunity to sing the opera for the first time. American tenor Paul Groves, who makes his Santa Fe Opera debut with these performances, created the role of Jianli in the world premiere of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006. Winner of the 1995 Richard Tucker Foundation Award, Groves made his La Scala debut in 1996 and regularly sings with the world’s leading opera companies.

Loosely based on the drama by Euripides, Gluck’s landmark opera tells of the devotion of Alceste, the Queen, to her dying husband, Admete, and how she is rewarded for offering herself as a sacrifice so that he may live. Gluck’s opera was considered revolutionary at the time of its premiere; the simplicity of the action and the noble grandeur of the music pointed the way to a new and more powerful kind of opera. Alceste opens August 1.

The nine week season of 37 performances runs from July 3 through August 29.

Ticket orders for the 2009 season can be made via the Box Office and by telephone: 505 986 5900, toll free 800 280 4654, beginning June 27, 2008. Online ticketing will be available starting in September 2008.

The Santa Fe Opera receives funding from the City of Santa Fe Arts and the 1% Lodgers’ Tax; New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs; New Mexico Department of Tourism; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Opening night performances are sponsored by Las Campanas Santa Fe. American Airlines is the company’s official airline.

For more information, contact:
Joyce Idema, Cindy Layman, Dolores McElroy
press@santafeopera.org