Odyssey Opera and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project to Perform FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Boston, MA (For Release 11.06.14) - At the vanguard of Boston's classical music scene, Odyssey Opera and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) present a co-production of the comedic, family opera Fantastic Mr. Fox. For one performance only, Fantastic Mr. Fox unites Odyssey Opera (a new, Boston-based opera company dedicated to exploring the full spectrum of adventurous repertoire), BMOP (the nation's premier orchestra dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording new orchestral music), the Boston Children's Chorus, and some of today's top vocal performers including baritone John Brancy and mezzo-soprano Krista River. (See below for complete cast.)

Based on the beloved children's story by Roald Dahl, Mr. Fox features music by American composer Tobias Picker (b.1954) and English-language libretto by Donald Sturrock. Commissioned and premiered by the Los Angeles Opera in 1998, Picker's operatic adaptation of Mr. Fox establishes him as a composer whose appeal crosses all boundaries of age. "Fantastic Mr. Fox brings the characters of Dahl's novel to life in a way that enchants opera and music lovers of all ages," says Gil Rose, Artistic Director and Conductor of both Odyssey Opera and BMOP. "It's a production that the whole family can enjoy! Where else can you see a hedgehog fall in love with a porcupine?!"

The tale concerns a battle of wits and wills between the clever Mr. Fox who is trying to feed his family and three mean and curmudgeonly farmers-Boggis, Bunce, and Bean-who want to kill the fox who's eating their chickens and drinking their cider. To outwit his enemies, Mr. Fox gets help from his woodland friends including Mr. Porcupine, Miss Hedgehog, Agnes the Digger, Mavis the Tractor, and more.

"The opera is full of symbolism, for those who want to find it," says Picker. "The underground world of the foxes is the unconscious natural world, and the above-ground world of the humans is cold and mechanistic. You could say there's a green message there."

Part slapstick humor, part action-packed romp, part chronicle of a loveable anti-hero, Mr. Fox moves at a cracking pace. Picker's complex score combines neo-classical Stravinsky, Eastern European stylings, tango, acting and singing into a cohesive theatrical production. A renowned opera and symphony composer, Picker has adapted novels before but a children's story was a new project for him. Initially trained by a trio of American modernists-Elliott Carter, Milton Babbitt and Charles Wuorinen-Picker eventually embraced tonality and lyricism, traits that he effectively combines in his operas. Currently the Artistic Director of Opera San Antonio, Picker has been called "our finest composer for the lyric stage" (Wall Street Journal).

About Odyssey Opera

Founded in 2013 by Artistic Director/Conductor Gil Rose, Odyssey Opera presents adventurous and eclectic works that affirm opera as a powerful expression of the human experience. Its world-class artists perform the operatic repertoire from its historic beginnings through lesser-known masterpieces to contemporary new works and commissions in a variety of formats and venues. Odyssey Opera sets standards of high musical and theatrical excellence and innovative programming to advance the operatic genre beyond the familiar and into undiscovered territory. Odyssey Opera takes its audience on a journey to places they've never been before.

About BMOP

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is widely recognized as the leading orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to performing new music, and its signature record label, BMOP/sound, is the nation's foremost label launched by an orchestra and solely devoted to new music recordings.

Founded in 1996 by Artistic Director Gil Rose, BMOP affirms its mission to illuminate the connections that exist naturally between contemporary music and contemporary society by reuniting composers and audiences in a shared concert experience. In its first 18 seasons, BMOP established a track record that includes more than 100 performances, over 100 world premieres (including 40 commissioned works), two Opera Unlimited festivals with Opera Boston, the inaugural Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music with the ICA/Boston, and 61 commercial recordings, including 40 CDs from BMOP/sound.

About the Boston Children's Chorus

The Boston Children's Chorus is a creative social integration organization that unites area children ages 7-18 across differences of race, religion and socioeconomic status to discover the power of singing and transcend social barriers in a celebration of shared humanity and love of music. Our focus is not on one specific community, but the energy of the intersection of all our communities. We bridge Greater Boston's many diverse groups and foster a sense of belonging and inclusion. Through intensive choral training and once-in-a-lifetime performing experiences locally, nationally and around the world, BCC enhances the education and social development of youth as future leaders and global citizens in the 21st century.