Green Mountain Opera Festival Announces 5th Season

’ÄùVermont’Äôs first and only professional opera company’Äù - OPERA AMERICA

Nestled in the beautiful landscape of the Mad River Valley in central Vermont, the Green Mountain Opera Festival, is now celebrating its fifth anniversary and has announced plans for its 2010 season.

The artists will begin arriving in Vermont on May 27 and will spend the next three and one half weeks rehearsing for the festival’Äôs two opera productions. The mainstage production will feature Donizetti’Äôs Lucia di Lammermoor, a pinnacle of the belcanto repertoire, which will be performed at the Barre Opera House on June 18 and 20, accompanied by festival orchestra and chorus. The Emerging Artist production will feature Handel’Äôs Orlando accompanied by chamber ensemble and will be performed in two venues, Middlebury’Äôs Town Hall Theater on June 13 and in Waitsfield’Äôs Neill Barn on June 17. Other events and performances include a festival opening concert, open rehearsals, master classes with the Emerging Artists, and an outdoor picnic concert.

Montreal born Artistic director Taras Kulish says ’ÄúWith last year’Äôs production of The Marriage of Figaro, I believe we reached a new level of excellence, and I am confident we have matched this high quality with the artists assembled for this year’Äôs festival. I am also very excited about our ever expanding Emerging Artist production for June 2010.’Äù

The conductor for Lucia di Lammermoor is Leonardo Vordoni, a native of Italy living in the United States. Last season, he was an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and worked on a number of productions across the United States. Other venues include Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Colorado, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Chicago Opera Theatre.  In 2011, he will conduct Il barbiere di Siviglia for Houston Grand Opera.

Garnett Bruce, artistic advisor and principal stage director for Opera Omaha, will direct the mainstage production.  His many credits include directing Turandot and La Traviata and collaborating with Peter Sellars on Doctor Atomic at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aida and Samuel Barber’Äôs Vanessa for San Diego Opera and new productions of La Clemenza di Tito and La Cenerentola for Wolf Trap Opera.

Canadian born, San Francisco resident soprano Nikki Einfeld will take on the lead role in Lucia di Lammermoor. Having sung the role with Syracuse Opera, she has been widely recognized for her ’Äúhigh flying virtuosity’Äù (New York Times). A San Francisco Opera Merola Program graduate, she has performed throughout the United States and Canada.

American tenor Scott Ramsay will sing the role of Edgardo, a role he has sung with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season he will perform with Opera New Jersey, Eugene Opera and Opera Boston and Arizona Opera. He trained at the prestigious Ryan Opera Center of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera and Glimmerglass Opera.

Warren resident and set designer Gary Eckhart, who designed the set for last season’Äôs production of The Marriage of Figaro, will again design the set for this year’Äôs mainstage opera. Eckhart has designed more than 200 productions for the theater and opera stage.

The festival’Äôs training component continues to grow. This year, the festival is offering a two tiered training experience for highly talented young singers, the Emerging and Resident Artist Programs.  More than 300 singers applied for eight positions. These aspiring opera singers come to Vermont to perfect their craft and to gain much needed performing experience. They also gain valuable insight from interacting with professionals in the opera world. Last year for the first time, the emerging artists staged an abridged version of Donizetti’Äôs Elixir of Love to an enthusiastic audience. This year they will present Handel’Äôs Orlando. Bruce Stasyna is returning for his third year as program director, and Sanford Sylvan, renowned American baritone, will serve as director in residence as well as teach master classes. These free public master classes will again provide an opportunity for audiences to observe the arduous training that opera singers must undergo to succeed in a highly competitive world.

The Green Mountain Opera Festival is located in the beautiful Mad River Valley in Central Vermont USA and has a full calendar of events in June with details soon to be posted on its website. A gala fundraiser is scheduled for March 7 at the Joslyn Round Barn in Waitsfield. Reservations for the gala may be made by calling 802-583-3184 after January 23.

For further ticket information please consult the festival website.

Sponsored by the Green Mountain Cultural Center, the festival is funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts and is a professional member of OPERA America, an association of recognized opera companies in the United States. For a full schedule of opera festival events, go to www.greenmountainoperafestival.com.  

Detailed cast information:

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
by Donizetti

June 18 (7:30pm), June 20 (3pm)

Conductor: Leonardo Vordoni
Director: Garnett Bruce

LUCIA: Nikki Einfeld
EDGARDO: Scott Ramsay
ENRICO: Jordan Shanahan
RAIMONDO: Gus Andreassen
NORMANNO: Adam Caughey
ARTURO: Cameron Schutza
ALISA: Samantha Grenell-Zaidman

Set Design: Gary Eckhart
Lighting Design: Jeff Bruckerhoff
Costumes: Rental from Opˆ©ra de Montrˆ©al
Rehearsal Pianist: Laurie Rogers
Production Manager: Timothy Mikovitz
Stage Manager: Donna Sharpe

ORLANDO
by Handel

June 13 (8pm), June 17 (8pm)

Conductor: Bruce Stasyna
Director: Sanford Sylvan

ORLANDO: Gerrod Pagenkopf
ANGELICA: Greer Davis
MEDORO: Shirin Eskandani
DORINDA: Margot Rood
ZOROASTRO: Cairan Ryan

Production Manager: Simon Chaussˆ©