Atlanta Opera's 2015-16 Season to Include LA BOHEME, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE & More

The Atlanta Opera will take audiences on a journey of adventure, romance and an exploration of the human condition in its 2015-16 season. This season features five productions including one of the most popular operas of all time and a contemporary American opera never before seen in the Southeast.

On the mainstage, audiences will visit the magical streets of Paris with Puccini's immortal La bohème, England's rocky shoreline with Gilbert & Sullivan's rollicking The Pirates of Penzance, and Shakespearean Verona, with a romantic French twist, for Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. All mainstage performances will be at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Atlanta Opera Discoveries, a new series created to showcase innovative contemporary works and rarely presented gems, will feature a theatrical version of Schubert's famed song cycle Winterreise and David T. Little's powerful Soldier Songs in its southeastern U.S. premier. Unlike the mainstage productions, the Discoveries series will play in one or more of the metropolitan area's great theaters.

"I am very excited about this season. The power of the human voice and the music that great composers wrote in the past 400 years are the foundation of these operas, but each show also offers terrific opportunities for visual storytelling and interpretations that throw a new light on these familiar masterpieces" said Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera's General & Artistic Director. "We are proud to continue to offer bold new productions that will help audiences find something new to love about opera."

Mainstage Season at Cobb Energy Centre

The mainstage season opens with a fresh interpretation of Puccini's most famous opera, La bohème. One of the most popular operas of all time and based on Henri Murger's collection of stories "Scènes de la vie de bohème", La bohème follows the lives and loves of four friends across the rooftops of Paris. Zvulun will direct an international cast of Maria Luigia Borsi as Mimì, Gianluca Terranova as Rodolfo, Atlanta resident Leah Partridge as Musetta, Trevor Scheunemann as Marcello and Theo Hoffman as Schaunard. Atlanta Opera Music Director Arthur Fagen will conduct The Atlanta Opera Orchestra for this production. Sung in Italian, with English subtitles, La bohème opens October 3 for four performances.

Next, The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera of romance on the high seas, opens March 5 for four performances, marking the first time this show has appeared on The Atlanta Opera stage. American bass Kevin Burdette will make his Atlanta Opera debut as The Pirate King. Stage director and choreographer Seán Curran will lead the production, while David Agler will conduct the orchestra. Sung in English, The Pirates of Penzance opens March 5 for four performances.

The season concludes with the everlasting story of Romeo and Juliet, by composer Charles Gounod and based on William Shakespeare's "Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." Not seen on the Atlanta Opera stage since 2007, this production is set in Verona, though seen through a French romantic lens. Zvulun returns to direct with Fagen as conductor. Tenor Jesús León, making his Atlanta Opera debut as Roméo, joins soprano Nicole Cabell as Juliette and bass-baritone Burak Bilgili as Frère Laurent, both of whom are Atlanta Opera veterans. Baritone Edward Parks will play Mercutio and soprano Sandra Piques Eddy will play Stephano. Both are making returns The Atlanta Opera. Sung in French, with English subtitles, Romeo and Juliet opens May 7 for four performances.

Atlanta Opera Discoveries

The company's season begins with a rare gem, Franz Schubert's famed song cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey), featuring baritone David Adam Moore. Typically presented in a recital format, this will be a semi-staged production, featuring interpretive projections and sophisticated multimedia designs. Sung in German, with English subtitles, Winterreise opens in September 2015 with performance dates and locations to be determined.

Soldier Songs is an evening-length multimedia event that combines elements of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation, composed by American David T. Little and featuring baritone Matthew Worth. Introduced in 2006, this is the first production of Soldier Songs in the southeastern United States. With a libretto by the composer based on interviews with veterans of five wars, Soldier Songs opens in November 2015 and will be timed to generally coincide with Veterans Day.

Moore and costume and set designer Vita Tzykun are the founders of the design collective GLMMR in New York City. Together, they are playing an integral role in designing both Winterreise and Soldier Songs at The Atlanta Opera.