MEROLA OPERA PROGRAM PRESENTS...
MEROLA GRAND FINALE CONCERT AT WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE
The Merola Opera Program will present the Merola Grand Finale on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the War Memorial Opera House.
The concert which is designed to showcase the progress made by the Merola artists during the course of the Program features conductor Antony Walker, who will lead members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and 2009 Merola Apprentice Stage Director Fernando Parra Bortí. They will stage a mixed production of works by Pagliacci, Mozart, Handel, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Bizet, Rachmaninoff, and many more.
This year’s Grand Finale will star all 23 Merola 2009 singers as they regale the audience with thrilling arias and captivating ensembles. The first Grand Finale was held in 1957 as both a concert and an audition for San Francisco Opera’s general director. In 1986 the concert was opened to the public as the Merola artists’ final performance of the summer.
THE MEROLA OPERA PROGRAM has nurtured the careers of more than 1,000 up-and-coming singers, accompanists and stage directors since its establishment in 1957. It operates in collaboration with San Francisco Opera Center (Sheri Greenawald, Director), and San Francisco Opera (David Gockley, General Director) . Each year, more than 750 international artists vie for approximately 30 coveted spots in the summer program. There is no charge to the participants. Admission is based solely on talent rather than financial ability.
Merola has served as a proving ground for many of today's acclaimed artists including: Sylvia McNair, Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette, Ruth Ann Swenson, Carol Vaness, Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Brian Asawa, Gary Lakes, Kurt Streit, Jess Thomas, Rolando Villazón, Thomas Hampson, John Relyea and Patrick Summers.
Casting for the Merola Grand Finale:
Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Tonio - Aleksey Bogdanov
The Abduction from the Seraglio by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart
Belmonte - Alex Mansoori / Eleazar Rodríguez; Osmin - Benjamin LeClair
Mignon by Ambroise Thomas
Mignon - Ellie Jarrett; Lothario - Evan Boyer
Giulio Cesare by George Frederick Handel
Cornelia - Suzanne Hendrix
Arabella by Richard Strauss
Zdenka - Susannah Biller; Arabella - Lori Guilbeau
Joan of Arc by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
Joan - Margaret Gawrysiak
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard
Wagner
Eva - Kate Crist; Magdalena - Suzanne Hendrix; Walther- Gregory Carroll; David
- Alex Mansoori; Sachs - Aleksey Bogdanov
Carmen by Georges Bizet
Carmen - Maya Lahyani; Don José - Brian Jagde
Aleko by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Aleko - Yohan Yi
Béatrice et Bénédict by Hector
Berlioz
Héro- Susannah Biller; Béatrice - Maya Lahyani; Ursule - Suzanne
Hendrix
Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioacchino Rossini
Rosina - Caitlin Mathes; Figaro - Paul Scholten
Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
Gilda - Sara Gartland; Giovanna - Margaret Gawrysiak; The Duke - Nathaniel
Peake
Mignon by Ambroise Thomas
Lothario - Evan Boyer
Xerxes by George Frederick Handel
Arsamene - Ryan Belongie
Der fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner
Senta - Kate Crist; Erik - Gregory Carroll
Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss
Rosalinde - Lara Ciekiewicz; Eisenstein - John Chest
Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi
Macduff - Brian Jagde
La Cenerentola by Gioacchino Rossini
Alidoro - Michael Sumuel; Cenerentola - Ellie Jarrett
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi
Alice- Lori Guilbeau; Nannetta - Sara Gartland; Meg - Maya Lahyani; Mistress
Quickly - Suzanne Hendrix; Fenton - Alex Mansoori; Bardolfo - Eleazar Rodríguez;
Dr. Caius - Gregory Carroll; Falstaff - Aleksey Bogdanov; Ford - Michael Sumuel;
Pistola - Evan Boyer
TICKETS: $45 (Orchestra premium and Grand Tier premium), $35 (Orchestra and
Grand Tier), $25 (Dress Circle) and $15 (students).*
Call San Francisco Opera Box Office at (415) 864-3330 to purchase tickets
Monday 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. or Tuesday-Friday 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. The
War Memorial Opera House is located at 301 Van Ness Avenue.
*Student tickets must be purchased in person at the Box Office window, located inside the War Memorial Opera House at 301 Van Ness Ave. Valid student ID is required.
Source: SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
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