MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

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Northwestern School of Music Announces 2006-07 Opera/Voice Season

EVANSTON, Ill. --- During its 2006-07 season, the Northwestern University School of Music will present an outstanding line-up of opera masterpieces performed by Northwestern students as well as faculty recitals and renowned guest artist master classes and performances. Prices, subscriptions and single tickets will be available in early September.

All opera and voice programs will be held in venues on the Evanston campus, as noted below.

The first performance of Northwestern’s 2006-07 Opera Season is “La buona figliuola” (“The Good Girl”) by Niccolò Piccinni, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, and Saturday, Nov. 18, in Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St. “La buona figliuola” is the story of a forbidden love between a nobleman and his beautiful, virtuous gardener. Issues of class arise and are challenged, and the ensuing calamity makes for an entertaining adventure of twists and turns. The most-performed opera of the 18th century, “La buona figliuola” will make its Chicago debut at Northwestern, complete with period instruments, period costumes and period sets. It will be sung in Italian with English supertitles and is the main event of Northwestern’s Evelyn Dunbar Early Music Festival.

Bedrich Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride,” the second opera of the 2006-07 season, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, in Cahn Auditorium. “The Bartered Bride,” which has become a national institution in the Czech Republic and has assumed a prestigious place among folk operas even outside the composer’s homeland, tells of the rejection of an arranged marriage, mistaken identities and female ingenuity. These elements combine to create a charming story of one couple’s quest for love within the carnival atmosphere of a Bohemian village at holiday time. It will be performed in English.

The Northwestern opera department will conclude its 2006-07 season next spring with Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmelites” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 18, and Saturday, May 19, in Cahn Auditorium. Renowned director of many New York Metropolitan Opera productions, Fabrizio Melano will direct alongside Northwestern faculty conductor Frederick Ockwell. Based on a true event and George Barnanos’ screenplay of the same name, “Dialogue of the Carmelites” follows Blanche, a young novice, and the nuns in the order as they face the ultimate test of their faith during the Reign of Terror in France. The story is told in a range of musical styles, including the haunting liturgical and medieval sounds of the chanting Carmelite sisters. It will be performed in English.

In addition to the vibrant 2006-07 opera season, the Northwestern University School of Music will showcase several of its voice faculty members during the upcoming fall quarter. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place, Bruce Hall and Sunny Joy Langton, and piano accompanist Sylvia Wang, will team up for a faculty voice recital.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Sherrill Milnes will present a multimedia retrospective that reflects his accomplished career. Hailed as one of the greatest baritones of all time, Milnes has played major roles in the great opera houses of the world, including Count di Luna in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” Escamillo in Bizet’s “Carmen,” Falstaff in Verdi’s “Falstaff” and Figaro in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” among many other famous roles.

The School of Music will complete its fall voice season with several other guest artists, master classes and performances. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, in Lutkin Hall, celebrated tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, a leading soloist of his generation in the symphonic/choral world, will perform in a recital with faculty pianist James Giles.

Tito Capobianco, an opera director known on stages across the United States, including the New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera and Pittsburgh Opera, will present a master class in Lutkin Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24.

The East Village Opera Company, which presents operatic repertoire in rock format, will bring the emotion and musicality of opera’s most beloved arias straight into the 21st century with arrangements that opera goers and rock fans will love. The rock opera event takes places at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, in Cahn Auditorium. The Chicago premiere is a unique collaboration between a five-piece band, string quartet and outstanding vocalists Tyley Ross and AnnMarie Milazzo.

To order tickets, call the Pick-Staiger ticket office at 847-467-4000.

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