I can’t believe that our eighth workshop starts in two weeks, and although I’m glad of this calm before the operatic storm hits, I am really looking forward to our work this year!
Not only are we presenting three shows, instead of our usual two, but we also have two special concerts this year: our annual Opera Cabaret on August 9th, and a very special concert of American opera music on July 28 at the Music Room. This recital will be coached and accompanied by American composer Dr.Leonard Lehrman with special guest soprano Helene Williams performing, along with some of the singers in town for the workshop.
Our three shows are:
1. Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, starring Halifax countertenor Andrew Pickett as one of our Oberons, and directed by Nina Scott-Stoddart and David Mosey, with Haligonian Greg Myra at the piano.
2. Carmen by Georges Bizet, directed by Dr Anthony Radford, with music director Tara Scott.
3. Four One Act Operas in English, including two Canadian premieres: Marc Blitzstein’s The Harpies, directed by Steven Bourque and Steven Serpa’s Thyrsis and Amaranth, directed by Andrew Pelrine and Nina Scot-Stoddart. Also on the program is Gisela in Her Bathtub, the NS premiere of Neil Weisensel and Michael Cavanagh’s hilarious opera, directed by Bonnie Archibald Awalt, and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Riders to the Sea, directed by Anne Morison.
Tickets are now on sale for the three operatic shows. Because most of the operas are double cast, we won’t know the precise makeup of the specific casts for specific performances until Friday July 20th, when we will post them on the 2012 Workshop Information page.
Tickets can be purchased online from the Dalhousie Arts Centre website, or by phone at 902-494-3820 or in person during box office hours. Tickets for the American Song Recital can be reserved by emailing producer Marja Ernst or can be bought at the door.
