The Damnation of Faust Bios
PAUL GROVES
(Faust)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Pylade/ Iphigénie en Tauride (2006-07); Tamino/ Die Zauberflöte (2001-02); Nadir/ The Pearl Fishers (1997-98).
Also this season: Lulu, Teatro Real (Madrid); Idomeneo, Canadian Opera Company; Les contes d’Hoffmann, Santa Fe Opera.
“I love this piece’s dramatic and expressive orchestration , ” says the Louisiana-born tenor. “That’s one reason it’s done so much in concert – conductors love it!” Groves finds Faust’s aria in Part Four particularly challenging: “The last line is, ‘I’ve tasted the world, and yet I’m still in want. Everything I’ve been through still leaves me completely empty-hearted.’ He’s alone, he’s had a wasted life. Nowadays I have moments myself when I think, ‘If I could have done this, maybe my life would have been different.’ As modern people we have so many choices, compared to Faust, but I can definitely relate to him. I’m much more emotionally drained after Berlioz’s Faust than after Gounod’s.” Groves has sung Berlioz’s Faust in concert with major orchestras internationally and onstage in Salzburg (DVD), Paris, Geneva, and Los Angeles. In French repertoire he is also celebrated as Gluck’s Admète/ Alceste (Paris, Santa Fe, CD), Renaud/ Armide (La Scala), and Pylade/ Iphigénie en Tauride (Lyric, San Francisco, Salzburg, CD). He has starred as Gounod’s Faust (Minneapolis) and in Béatrice et Bénédict (Amsterdam), Manon (Berlin), and Louise (Opéra National de Paris). In Mozart he has earned acclaim as Tamino (Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Salzburg, Vienna), Don Ottavio (Salzburg, Met), Belmonte (Salzburg, DVD, CD), and Idamante (Geneva). Groves’s versatility encompasses bel canto (Elixir /Paris, Washington, DVD); operetta (The Merry Widow/ Met, Candide/ New York Philharmonic); contemporary opera (Met world premiere of Tan Dun’s The First Emperor); and recitals (Lincoln Center, La Scala, Amsterdam Concertgebouw).
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SUSAN GRAHAM
(Marguerite)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Six roles since 1989-90, most recently title role/ Iphigénie en Tauride (2006-07); Octavian/ Der Rosenkavalier (2005-06 ); Donna Elvira/ Don Giovanni (2004-05) .
Also this season: Dido and Aeneas, tour of California with Philharmonia Baroque; Der Rosenkavalier, Metropolitan Opera; Xerxes, Houston Grand Opera.
The American mezzo-soprano is “in awe of Berlioz’s music. One of his hallmarks is amazing musical characterizations. Whenever the devil sings, you always know it’s his music, whether wicked or seductive. Whenever Faust sings, it’s usually tormented. Whenever Marguerite sings, she’s the picture of beautiful innocence. These characterizations are so complete, and the picture-painting with the orchestral colors is the most compelling thing of all. The music is creepy and ominous wherever it needs to be, but at the same time, nothing could be more beautiful than the redemption chorus at the end.” Graham has recorded Marguerite and has sung the role in Lyon, Brussels, Milan (La Scala), at the Metropolitan Opera (new production), and at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival. Acclaimed as Berlioz’s Béatrice (Santa Fe) and Didon (Paris’s Châtelet), she has also sung his Nuits d’été with virtually every major American and European orchestra. Other French roles range from Gluck’s Iphigénie (Lyric, Met, San Francisco, London, Paris, Salzburg) to Massenet’s Charlotte (Met, St. Louis, Amsterdam, Paris) and Chérubin (Covent Garden). Among Graham’s Baroque roles are Ruggero/ Alcina (Paris) and Poppea (Houston, Los Angeles). Greatly celebrated for Mozart and Strauss, she has recently been heard in that repertoire in New York, Houston, Santa Fe, and Paris. Her world premieres include The Great Gatsby (Met), Dead Man Walking (San Francisco, CD), and An American Tragedy (Met). The Grammy winner, who has recorded seven solo discs, stars on DVD in La clemenza di Tito, Werther, and Les Troyens. Graham holds the rank of Commandeur de Légion d’Honneur, the French government’s highest honor for an artist.
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JOHN RELYEA
(Méphistophélès)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: The Marriage of Figaro, Metropolitan Opera; Messiah, Cleveland Orchestra; Faust, San Francisco Opera.
The American bass-baritone finds that, compared with Gounod’s devil, “in Berlioz, there is definitely the irony and some of the sarcasm, but it’s not quite so out front. You have a sense of Berlioz’s Mephisto being a little more of a gentleman and a guiding hand. I think there’s a little more depth to him. When he’s being tender and seductive, he’s really doing it in a very convincing way. In ‘Voici des roses,’ there’s nothing artificial about it at all – he wants to create something of beauty. He’s very much at the helm all the time, steering things along. When you look at Mephisto in the Gounod, it’s almost a parrying situation. In Berlioz, it’s really Méphistophélès controlling the entire illusion.” Last season Relyea portrayed Méphistophélès in a new Damnation of Faust at the Metropolitan Opera, where he has sung 12 leading roles. He has appeared with many other celebrated companies, including those of San Francisco, Seattle, London, Paris, Munich, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. He appears regularly with major orchestras in North America (Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Montreal, many others) and abroad (Israel, Berlin, Brussels, Stockholm, London). Relyea, who has performed at important festivals (Tanglewood, Ravinia, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne) and in the BBC Proms, has given recitals in New York’s Weill Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Wigmore Hall, and other prestigious venues. The most recent addition to his discography is Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Sir Simon Rattle conducting. Relyea holds the Beverly Sills Award (2009) and the Richard Tucker Award (2003).
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CHRISTIAN VAN HORN
(Brander)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Seven roles since 2004-05, most recently Nourabad/ The Pearl Fishers (2008-09); Police Commissioner/ Der Rosenkavalier, Count Ceprano/ Rigoletto (both 2005-06).
Also this season: La bohème, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris); The Marriage of Figaro, Staatsoper Stuttgart; Tannhäuser, Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich).
The American bass-baritone considers Berlioz’s tavern scene “a small example of the fast living that Méphistophélès wants to show Faust. In that scene, Brander is like the guy at the end of the bar telling a crazy story that everyone has heard a million times, but they love it and want to hear it again. Vocally Brander sits right in the bass-baritone wheelhouse.” The Ryan Opera Center alumnus is in his second season at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper, where he has sung more than ten major roles. “It’s definitely a ‘Class A’ house, and the productions are very ‘out there.’” The highlight has been Oroveso in Norma (“It was almost surreal to be performing opposite the Norma of a legend, Edita Gruberova”). Van Horn has also appeared in Salzburg for both festivals – Easter (Weill’s Sieben Todessünden with the Berlin Philharmonic) and Summer (Duke/ Roméo et Juliette). Much acclaimed as Karenin/ Anna Karenina (Miami world premiere, St. Louis revival, CD) and the American premieres of Flight (St. Louis) and Tea: A Mirror of the Soul (Santa Fe), he has also been heard in The Marriage of Figaro (title role with Chicago Opera Theater), La bohème (Los Angeles), and Turandot (Fort Worth); with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Bard Music Festival; and at Carnegie Hall with the Emerson String Quartet. Van Horn is a former winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals and the Richard Tucker Foundation’s coveted Sara Tucker Study Grant.
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KURT ADAMETZ
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
At the World Dance Championships, Adametz won two gold medals and titles of Junior Male World Tap and Jazz Champion (Slovenia, 2001), and a gold medal and the title of Male World Tap Champion (Germany, 2002). He began his formal training at the Hackworth School of the Performing Arts (Easthampton, Massachusetts) before proceeding to North Carolina School of the Arts (summer, 2007) and Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. Directly following his graduation from Wheaton in 2008, he studied on full scholarship at the Giordano Dance School. He is currently a member of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago II.
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VICTOR ALEXANDER
(Solo Dancer)
The Cuba native has appeared in many Lyric productions, most recently The Merry Widow, Manon, and Eugene Onegin. He trained at Havana’s National Dance School and for ten years was a principal with his homeland’s National Contemporary Dance Company. Alexander has toured and danced internationally, and has participated in major dance festivals in America and Europe. He has performed at Houston Grand Opera and, in Chicago, with Hedwig Dances, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Concert Dance, Inc., and the Ruth Page Foundation’s Billy Sunday (Chicago- Midwest Emmy Award nominee). In 2008 he visited China as a guest artist with the HSDC tour and to teach at Nanjing Normal University.
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LEAH BARSKY
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer debuted at Lyric Opera this season as Margot/ The Merry Widow. She was seen at the Metropolitan Opera in the 2007 production of Iphigénie en Tauride. Among her other appearances in the New York metropolitan area have been The Elegant Universe (with Armitage Gone!), The Nutcracker (Rockland Youth Dance Ensemble), El Rey del Tango (with New Generation Dance Company at Symphony Space), and various works with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company (also in Poland and Korea). She trained at the California Institute of the Arts, the American Dance Festival, the Juilliard School Summer Intensive Program, the New York State Summer School of the Arts, and the Coupe Dance Studio in Nanuet, New York.
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ANDREA BEASOM
(Solo Dancer)
The singer-dancer debuted at Lyric this season as Frou-Frou/ The Merry Widow. Her credits with major opera companies include The Merry Widow (as Lolo, Los Angeles Opera; as Margot, Dallas Opera), Rigoletto (San Diego Opera), and La traviata (Los Angeles). She portrayed Cupid/ Venus and Adonis with Musica Angelica Baroque (Santa Monica, California). In New York she has been seen in City Center’s “Encores” presentation of On the Town, and at Pasadena Playhouse she played Annette/ Can-Can. She worked with Lines Contemporary Ballet Ensemble (San Francisco) and is a former principal with Pasadena Dance Theatre. She trained at Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
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MELISSA BLOCH
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
The dancer, who studied on scholarship at the Martha Graham Intensive Summer Program, received her BFA degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2006. While there she choreographed Motley, Childhood Was…, and (with Melissa Beck Matijas) Yellow Wallpaper. She performed in Alonzo King’s Shostakovich, which was also presented at Washington’s Kennedy Center. In 2009 Bloch returned to UMAA as a guest performer in the Dance Department’s 100th-anniversary concert. Since 2006 she has performed with the Chicago-based Leopold Group. In 2007 she appeared in Thodos Dance Chicago’s annual New Dances program. She was a guest soloist in the musical Green Eyes at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival.
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KAREN CASTLEMAN
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
An alumna of Belhaven College (Jackson, Mississippi), the dancer also studied at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet schools. In 2008 and 2009 she was a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where she performed works by Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, and Doug Varone. Also in Chicago, she has appeared with Momenta (2006-2010) and Hedwig Dances (2006). As a soloist she toured throughout America, Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East with Moses Pendleton’s MOMIX. She has participated in numerous special dance projects including work by Myra Bazell for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and the Oxbridge Conference (Cambridge, England) with members of the Limon Company.
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PAUL CHRISTIANO
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer has appeared with numerous Chicago-based companies, including Lyric Opera ( The Midsummer Marriage, Manon), Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Concert Dance, Inc., Instruments of Movement, The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, and Hubbard Street II. The Joffrey and Thodos collaborated in performing Christiano’s Miracle, Interrupted, which won the 2001 Ruth Page Award of Excellence in Choreography. Other works by Christiano have been performed by Instruments of Movement, River North Chicago Dance Company, Illinois Ballet Theatre, and most recently Eisenhower and Chicago Dance Crash. Christiano was named a 2001 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune, and the 2003 Best Dancer in Chicago by Chicago magazine. He received an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in 2002.
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KARI GREGG
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer previously appeared at Lyric Opera in the much-acclaimed company premieres of Iphigénie en Tauride and Dialogues of the Carmelites. She trained at Butler University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in arts administration with dance concentration. She also studied with four distinguished teachers at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg. Gregg has appeared with The Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, Civic Ballet of Chicago (guest dancer in The Nutcracker), Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis (guest dancer in Giselle), and Indianapolis Opera ( Roméo et Juliette and Werther). She has been a teacher in the education and community-engagement programs of The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
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VERONICA GUADALUPE
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer was previously seen at Lyric in Manon. Another French work, Gluck’s Alceste, brought her to Santa Fe Opera last summer. In Chicago she has performed with Luna Negra Dance Theater (2002-09), River North Chicago Dance Company (2001-02), and Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago (2000-01). Other performance experience includes works by choreographers Lauri Stallings and Eddy Ocampo in the U.S. and Turkey; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s “Welcome Yule” Christmas show; and appearances in the 2009 feature film Public Enemies and in an episode of the television series ER. Guadalupe studied in the year-round program of Virginia School of the Arts (Lynchburg). She performed in VSA’s production of David Keener’s ballet Palladio in Italy and France.
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JESSIE GUTIERREZ
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
A native of Havana, Cuba, the dancer studied in her hometown’s National School of Art, graduating as a professional dancer and teacher. During that period she also participated in the International Theater School Festival in Holland. In 2002 she continued her professional training with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, touring as a company member to England, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Hong Kong, Mexico, Austria, and Hungary. The company promoted her to the rank of principal dancer in 2006, and she continued to perform with DCC, working with numerous internationally celebrated choreographers. In 2008 she moved to Chicago, where she currently performs with Hedwig Dances.
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JARRETT KELLY
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
In addition to serving as a master teacher for Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, the dancer has appeared with the company in works by choreographers including Gus Giordano, Mia Michaels, Tony Powell, Ron De Jesus, Christopher Huggins, Davis Robertson, and Jon Lehrer. Kelly has also appeared with Joel Hall Dancers & Deeply Rooted Productions 2. He danced in the “Dance for Life 2008” performance benefit in a world-premiere finale choreographed by Randy Duncan, he was a featured dancer in “Gay Games VII Chicago,” and he has also appeared in the Goodman Theatre’s presentation of the Congo Square Theater production of Black Nativity. In Chicago he has taught for the Joel Hall Dance Center, the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, and Intrigue Dance and Performing Arts Center.
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HOGAN McLAUGHLIN
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer has previously appeared at Lyric in Iphigénie en Tauride (debut) and The Merry Widow. He is a former apprentice with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where he worked with such choreographers as Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, and Marguerite Donlon. Prior to his association with HSDC he was a principal dancer with Hubbard Street 2, a guest artist with the Civic Ballet of Chicago, and a soloist with Momenta Dance Company in Oak Park, Illinois. He trained in Chicago with Lou Conte Dance Studio and the Ruth Page Foundation, in Oak Park with the Academy of Movement and Music, and in Boston with the School of the Boston Ballet.
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DMITRI PESKOV
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
The dancer is a Chicago-based choreographer whose work has been presented throughout the United States and Russia. His next concert, “Of Fleeting Things,” will be presented at Chicago’s Links Hall performance space in June 2010. He has collaborated with various choreographers, including Bob Eisen and Paul Sanasardo. Peskov has served on the dance faculties of Beloit College, College of DuPage and University of Wisconsin at Madison. In 2008 he was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Choreography Fellowship. In 2010 several of his poems will appear in Speedpoetz Zine (Brisbane, Australia), Pennine Ink (Burnley, England), Axe Factory Review (Philadelphia), and South Star Magazine (Stavropol, Russia).
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TODD RHOADES
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer has been seen at Lyric Opera in The Midsummer Marriage (debut, principal), Iphigénie en Tauride, Doctor Atomic, and most recently The Merry Widow, choreographed by Wayne McGregor, Philippe Giraudeau, Lucinda Childs, and Daniel Pelzig, respectively. In the Chicagoland area he has also performed with Chicago Opera Theater ( A Flowering Tree, Dido and Aeneas, The Padlock), Marriott Theatre ( All Night Strut), the Schaumburg Dance Ensemble ( The Nutcracker) and has been a member of Luna Negra Dance Theater. Other credits nationwide include performances with Pittsburgh’s Playhouse Dinner Theatre (principal, 1996-99), Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (guest artist, 1999), and Ballet Austin (soloist, 1999-2003).
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JOHN ROSS
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer’s performing experience includes Lyric Opera (seven productions, most recently The Merry Widow, Manon, and Eugene Onegin), Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (2005-06, 1995-00), The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago (2003-05), Ballet Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre. He has also been seen in Andrea Chénier and The Merry Widow (Portland Opera), the Susan Stroman/John Weidman musical Contact (national tour), the Columbia Pictures feature Waiting for the Light, and with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. His repertoire includes major works of George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato, John Cranko, Jiri Kylián, and many other leading choreographers. He has been a dancer and model for Nike Sportswear and Fila Footwear.
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YAEL LEVITIN SABAN
(Solo Dancer)
The Israeli dancer, who was seen as Lolo/ The Merry Widow at Lyric earlier this season, has appeared in many Lyric productions, most recently Eugene Onegin and Die Fledermaus. She trained at the studios of Tel Aviv’s Bat-Dor Dance Company and began her performing career with The Haifa Ballet. Saban has previously appeared with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (1999-2004), and Ballet Hispanico of New York (soloist, 1994-99). She is also a former principal of both Connecticut Ballet and the Bat-Dor Dance Company. Saban was a guest artist in Ballet Hispanico’s “First Steps” education program, performing in colleges and universities nationwide. She received the silver medal in the Paris Opera Dance Competition, in which she represented Israel.
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JAMES MONROE STEVKO
(Solo Dancer)
Seen earlier this season in Lyric’s production of The Merry Widow, the dancer studied on scholarship at the Academy of Dance Arts (Downers Grove), Ballet Tech Ohio Institute, Milwaukee Ballet, and Northern Illinois University (BFA degree). He danced with Northern Dance Theatre from 2004 through 2007, where his leading roles included Albrecht/ Giselle, Jeane de Brienne/ Raymonda, and Conrad/ Le Corsaire. In 2008 he debuted with Milwaukee Ballet, where he has appeared in Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. He has also appeared with Dance Chicago, DanceLoop Chicago, Dance West Ballet (Naperville), Ballet Tech Ohio (Cincinnati), and Salt Creek Ballet (Westmont).
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J. P. TENUTA
(Solo Dancer)
The dancer was previously seen at Lyric Opera in Die Fledermaus and the company premiere of Iphigénie en Tauride. In Chicago he was a member of Luna Negra Dance Theater from 2007 to 2009. He is currently a member of Momenta, and the Academy of Movement and Music dance companies. He was previously a member of Nashville Ballet Company (with which he toured to Argentina and Uruguay); the Civic Ballet of Chicago (with which he danced major roles in The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, and Con Spirito), Chicago Festival Ballet, and NIU Dance Theatre. Tenuta is an alumnus of Northern Illinois University, where he earned a BFA degree in dance performance in 2003. Since 2004 Tenuta has taught at the Academy of Movement and Music.
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NEFERTITI THOMAS
(Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
The dancer is an alumna of Marymount Manhattan College (New York), where she earned her BFA degree in 2007. She also studied at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (full scholarship); San Francsico’s Lines Ballet; Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York (full scholarship) and in DTH’s residency program at Washington’s Kennedy Center; and in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Summer Intensives in New York. In Chicago she is currently performing with Lucky Plush Productions. She has performed more than ten works with Chicago’s Hubbard Street 2 company. Her repertoire also includes works by such major choreographers as Twyla Tharp ( The Fugue), Doug Varone ( Of the Earth Far Below), and Robert Battle ( Promenade, The Hunt).
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TIFFANY VANN
(
Solo Dancer)
Lyric Opera debut
The dancer earned a BFA degree from The Juilliard School (2004), where she performed works by such major choreographers as José Limon, Jiri Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, and Paul Taylor. Subsequently she has performed as a member of Ballet Memphis (2004-05); Dayton Contemporary II (2005-06); Hubbard Street 2 (2006-07); and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (2007-08). Her repertoire with these companies has been exceedingly wide-ranging: for example, Swan Lake in the Petipa choreography; and works by Twyla Tharp ( Bakers Dozen), Nacho Duato ( Gnawa), Doug Varone ( Constant Shift), Robert Battle ( In the Dark), and other noted contemporary choreographers.
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ANIMA – YOUNG SINGERS OF GREATER CHICAGO
Lyric Opera debut
The internationally recognized Anima (formerly the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus) is now in its 45th season. Its five ensembles serve approximately 250 children from over 40 different suburban Chicago communities, with outreach programs reaching over 1,000 additional children annually. The Chorus performs frequently with Chicago’s major musical organizations under many of the world’s most eminent conductors. Under Emily Ellsworth’s artistic direction, the Chorus has received many honors and awards. In June of 2009, Anima was the first youth chorus to receive the Dale Warland Commissioning Award from Chorus America for an upcoming collaboration with the Grammy-winning ensemble eighth blackbird. Other awards include the once-in-an-organizational-lifetime Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence in 2008 from Chorus America, the ASCAP Award for adventurous programming in 2001, and the United States Library of Congress’ Local Legacies Award in 2000. Recent highlights include performances of a major new commission from composer Daniel Brewbaker, Living the Divine, with guest artists Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano, and Cynthia Yeh, principal percussion, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, at Millennium Park; performances of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; serving as host choir for the Windy City Choral Festival at Symphony Center; and performances at the Somerset Festival in Wells Cathedral, England. The Chorus will tour in June to Spain and Morocco. “Anima” (“Ah-nee-mah”) is the Latin word for breath, life, soul, spirit.
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SIR ANDREW DAVIS
(Conductor)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 34 productions since 1987, most recently Faust, Tosca (2009-10); The Abduction from the Seraglio (2008-09).
Also this season: The Marriage of Figaro, Lyric Opera; concerts with the major orchestras of Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, London, Rotterdam.
The internationally celebrated English conductor has been Lyric Opera’s music director since 2000. Sir Andrew has enjoyed successes in more than ten works at the Metropolitan Opera, most recently Don Giovanni and Die Walküre on the company’s 2006 tour to Japan (where he also led a concert with Renée Fleming as soloist and the Met orchestra). He has conducted at many other prestigious theaters internationally, including La Scala (debut leading Janáˇcek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, return last year for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), the Bayreuth Festival ( Lohengrin), the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, and the major houses of Munich, Paris, and San Francisco. Sir Andrew is former music director of both Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In 2000 he concluded an enormously successful 11-year tenure as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He is now conductor laureate of the BBCSO, with which he has led many international tours and has recorded extensively (recent releases include “The Elgar Experience” and “The Vaughan Williams Experience”). He has also recently appeared with the major orchestras of Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Among other engagements have been the leading orchestras of Cleveland, Philadelphia, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Rome. His vast discography, which appears on more than ten major labels, includes a much-acclaimed new recording of a rarely heard work by Elgar, The Crown of India, with the BBC Philharmonic. Universally acclaimed Glyndebourne productions of works by Rossini, Mozart, and Janáˇcek conducted by Sir Andrew are currently available on DVD.
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STEPHEN LANGRIDGE
(Stage Director)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Rigoletto, Vienna Volksoper; Wake by Klaas de Vries and David Mitchell, Nationale Reisopera (Enschede, The Netherlands); Madama Butterfly, Royal Danish Opera.
Among the English director’s recent operatic projects have been Otello (Salzburg Festival, Rome Opera), Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie (Nationale Reisopera), Salome (Malmö), Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice (Athens), Offenbach’s Bluebeard (Bregenz Festival), The Marriage of Figaro (Grange Park Opera), Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Bordeaux); and two world premieres by Sir Harrison Birtwistle – The Minotaur (Covent Garden) and The Io Passion (Aldeburgh Festival, later at Almeida Opera, Bregenz Festival). His initial work in professional opera included Peter Maxwell Davies’s Martyrdom of St. Magnus at London’s Donmar Warehouse with Opera Factory. Langridge is also well known for his education and training work, and these projects have taken him across Europe and into Africa working both as a project leader and a trainer, helping opera companies develop their education and access programs. He has created many productions in unusual spaces, including West Side Story and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with prisoners in British high-security prisons, and Ngoma, a multi-racial music theater project in South African townships, “where we brought together hundreds of people from different townships in a music-theater event created by the participants. This work is all about facilitation: participants bring the ideas; a leader brings the theatrical know-how. I spend time each year working with Share Music on residential courses for young disabled people – we make a show in a week. It’s exhilarating: you feel in touch with the raw passion and enthusiasm that underpins the essential human drive to express itself through music, action and words – the form otherwise known as opera.”
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GEORGE SOUGLIDES
(Set and Costume Designer)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: A Flowering Tree, Nuovo Teatro Comunale (Bolzano) and Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa).
The designer explains that, in conceiving this production with longtime colleague Stephen Langridge, “we decided to start from where Faust’s mind was at the time of saying all these things. In our world we decided he was going to be a mathematician, investigating the minutiae of life. We’ve started off with him and his mathematical equations, which then move from writings into video projections that envelop him – then the space becomes like being inside the workings of his mind. We’ve created a white box onto which we can project the images. John Boesche, our projection designer, started out with some ideas that got us excited into the whole process.” Born in Cyprus and educated in Greece and England, Souglides studied at Kingston University and the Motley Design Course. Chicago audiences first saw his designs in John Adams’s A Flowering Tree (Chicago Opera Theater, 2008). His work has won praise throughout Europe, including the Salzburg Festival and Rome Opera ( Otello, directed by Stephen Langridge), the Bregenz Festival (Offenbach’s Bluebeard), Malmö Opera ( Salome), Greek National Opera (works by Handel, Gluck, Donizetti, and Dallapiccola), Nationale Reisopera in The Netherlands ( Arianna in Creta, Der Freischütz), and at many important British venues: London’s Grange Park Opera (Maria Stuarda, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville), the Aldeburgh Festival ( A Midsummer Night’s Dream), the Buxton Festival ( Semele), and Scottish Opera ( Aida, Così fan tutte).His theater work has been seen at the Curve Theatre in Leicester ( The Light in the Piazza, directed by Paul Kerryson), Epidaurus Festival, National Theater of Northern Greece, and, in London, the New End Theatre and Gate Theatre.
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WOLFGANG GÖBBEL
(Lighting Designer)
Lyric Opera debut
Also this season: Lucia di Lammermoor, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (Brussels); As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Company; Gershwin’s Let ’Em Eat Cake, Opera North (Leeds, England).
The distinguished German designer has created lighting for all the Berlioz stage works: The Damnation of Faust (English National Opera, Hamburg Staatsoper), Les Troyens (ENO), Beatrice and Benedict (ENO), and Benvenuto Cellini (Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam): “Of course, he’s one of the greatest French composers. I like Damnation more than the Gounod Faus t, which is softer and less dramatic, to my taste. I’ve done Goethe’s play a couple of times and, as a German, I’m interested in the Faust theme.” Göbbel has designed a vast repertoire, although “I’ve never done The Magic Flute. My favorite composer is actually Verdi – I’d like to do Don Carlos, also some of the earlier pieces that are seldom done and that I would like to see in proper productions.” Göbbel’s work has brought him ongoing associations with major directors, among them Peter Stein, David Alden, Richard Jones, Keith Warner, and David Fielding. He has designed for the major German houses, Milan’s La Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Zurich Opernhaus, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Salzburg Festival, and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. His versatility encompasses Purcell’s King Arthur at the Théâtre Musical de Paris/Châtelet; Carmen and Ariadne auf Naxos at Brussels’s Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie; Un ballo in maschera, La bohème, and Aida at the Bregenz Festival; the Ring cycle at Netherlands Opera and Covent Garden; the world premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s The Second Mrs. Kong at Glyndebourne; and much classic and contemporary theater for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, the Berlin Schaubühne, and many other major companies.
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JOHN BOESCHE
(Projection Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four operas since 1988-89, most recently The Merry Widow (2009-10); Lulu (2008-09); The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe (1990-91).
Also this season: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago).
“One part of this production’s aesthetic is that it is very rich and complex, within a very modern vocabulary of images,” says the American projection designer. “One example would be a collection of images of words, numbers, symbols – swirling, falling, coming in and out of focus – as a kind of modern computational alchemy. We’ve been less interested in visualizing the demonic imagery – the will-o’-the-wisps and so on – and more interested in representing the interior landscape of Faust. How do we connect with this person whom we recognize, and how do we project his interior landscape on the world around him?” Boesche’s operatic work has been seen at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the major companies of Minnesota, Toronto, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Portland, and Vancouver. His designs were integral to the world premieres of The Dream of Valentino (Washington National Opera), Galileo Galilei (Goodman Theatre) and The Death of Klinghoffer (La Monnaie in Brussels). Highlights of his Chicago theater work include productions at the Goodman ( The Ballad of Emmett Till, Vigils, Finishing The Picture, Drowning Crow, The Odyssey), Lookingglass ( RACE), Steppenwolf ( Space, Slaughterhouse V, Libra), and Chicago Shakespeare ( Julius Caesar, Sunday in the Park with George). Broadway credits include The Glass Menagerie and Beyond Glory (Roundabout). Notable regional work includes productions for Arizona Theatre Company, Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles), McCarter Theatre (Princeton), Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare at the Folger (Washington, D. C.), South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa), and Theater on the Square (San Francisco). Boesche received a Joseph Jefferson Special Award for projection design in 2005.
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DONALD NALLY
(Chorus Master)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Chorus master since 2007-08.
Also this season: First season as music director of Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble; commissioned premieres of David Lang, Lansing McLoskey, and Paul Fowler with The Crossing, Philadelphia.
The Damnation of Faust is “a tour de force for the chorus,” says Lyric’s chorus master. “The piece was, of course, designed as an oratorio and therefore not conceived to be memorized; the challenges are plenty and multi-dimensional. In fact, the chorus sings in three languages: French, Latin, and a ‘devil-tongue’ that Berlioz invented (and that bears a certain similarity to German!). The rewards are great, as we are given a great volume of exquisite, exciting, sophisticated music that features our many colors and personalities: the sleeping chorus is seductive, the neighbors crazed, the devils diabolic, the beckoning voices of redemption sublime.” Nally is in his first season as music director of Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble. He received the 2009 ASCAP/Chorus America National Award for Adventuresome Program with The Crossing, his Philadelphia-based professional chamber choir. Their recording of Kile Smith’s Vespers was released last April. Former chorus master of Welsh National Opera, Nally conducted that company on tour in major cities throughout Britain and Northern Ireland. While in the U.K., Nally often guest-conducted London’s Philharmonia Chorus and collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru of Wales, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was previously based in Philadelphia as chorus master at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, director of music at Saint Mark’s Church, and artistic director of the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. He also collaborated regularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet. Nally was for many years chorus master at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.
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PHILIPPE GIRAUDEAU
(Choreographer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four productions since 1999-00, most recently Dialogues des Carmélites, Iphigenie en Tauride (both 2006-07); Jen°ufa (2000-01).
Also this season: Annie Get Your Gun, Young Vic (London); Jonathan Dove’s opera The Enchanted Pig, Linbury Studio Theatre at Covent Garden; Salome, Teatro Real (Madrid).
“I’m working with 20 dancers in this production,” says the French choreographer, “and we’ve done a lot of exploring and improvising together. They’re involved both as dancers and actors, with some of them performing as doubles of Marguerite and Faust. What we need here is not really dance as such – I’m not creating a series of steps. For example, I want all sorts of things in the Hungarian March – cheerleaders, target practice, an assault course. The men are celebrating being soldiers, the happy moment of going to war but leaving their girlfriends behind.” Among highlights of Giraudeau’s operatic work are the world premieres of Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna (Manchester, 2009) and Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur (Covent Garden, 2008). The latter was directed by Stephen Langridge, with whom Giraudeau has created productions for the Salzburg Festival ( Otello), Holland’s Nationale Reisopera (Handel’s Arianna in Creta) and Glyndebourne on Tour (John Lunn’s Tangier Tattoo). He has choreographed productions by Tim Albery for the Metropolitan Opera ( A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Widow), Covent Garden ( The Flying Dutchman), and English National Opera ( Boris Godunov, From the House of the Dead); and by Richard Jones for Netherlands Opera ( The Cunning Little Vixen, Jen°ufa), Opera North ( Pelléas et Mélisande), English National Opera ( Pelléas, The Trojans), and the Opéra National de Paris ( Juliette ou la clé des songes). His choreography for Robert Carsen’s Dialogues des Carmélites production has been seen widely since its 1997 Amsterdam premiere. His other collaborations with Carsen include more than ten operas, ranging from Alcina (Paris, Lyric, La Scala) to Der Rosenkavalier (Salzburg).
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AUGUST TYE
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(Ballet Mistress)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 16 productions since 1994-95, most recently The Merry Widow (2009- 10); Manon, The Pearl Fishers (both 2008-09).
The Chicago-based dancer-choreographer recently presented a 20-year retrospective of her work, Level 41, at Chicago’s Vittum Theater and Ruth Page Dance Center, as well as in Tye’s hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Two seasons ago she remounted the choreography of Lyric Opera’s Iphigénie en Tauride at San Francisco Opera and Covent Garden, and she will do the same for Lyric’s Salome (starring Deborah Voigt) at the 2010 Saito Kinen Festival (Japan). Tye is a past recipient of Regional Dance America’s Best Young Choreographer and the Monticello Choreographer’s Award. In addition to Lyric Opera, she has performed in Chicago with Joel Hall Dancers, Salt Creek Ballet, and Second City Ballet. Tye is artistic director and principal instructor of ballet at the Hyde Park School of Ballet, which she founded in 1993. Her company, Tyego Dance Project (founded in 1997), has performed at Steppenwolf, the Athenaeum, and toured the country in a revival of Spike Jones’s Nutcracker.
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RICHARD JARVIE
(Wigmaster and Makeup Designer)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Wigmaster and makeup designer since 2000-01; supervisor of the wig department and principal makeup artist, 1982-2000.
Lyric’s wigmaster and makeup designer served in both of those positions for Chicago Shakespeare Theater from 1989 to 2000. He has previously served as wigmaster for Minneapolis’s Tyrone Guthrie Theatre and wig/makeup supervisor for the Thomas Patterson Theatre of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. Later this season he will design wigs and makeup for The Magic Flute at Atlanta Opera and The Ghosts of Versailles at Northwestern University. He currently teaches at both Northwestern and DePaul University.