LA Opera to Present World Premiere of JONAH AND THE WHALE, 3/21-22

Professional singers and musicians from LA Opera will collaborate with more than 400 members of the Los Angeles community to present the world premiere of Jonah and the Whale, a new opera for audiences of all ages by composer Jack Perla and librettist Velina Hasu Houston. Conducted by LA Opera Music Director James Conlon and directed by Eli Villanueva, the performances will take place at 7:00pm on both March 21 and 22 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, located at 555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Based on the familiar Old Testament tale, Jonah and the Whale explores the universal themes of overcoming personal fear and the burden of responsibility for the greater good of humankind. When God asks Jonah to prophesy to the sinful people of Nineveh, the fearful Jonah attempts to flee by sea, where he is thrown overboard during a storm. A great fish swallows Jonah, but he emerges safely after agreeing to fulfill God's orders.

Following in the tradition of previous Cathedral Project productions, Jonah and the Whale will feature professional opera singers alongside a large community-based chorus. Tenor Matthew O'Neill will sing the role of Jonah and the other principal roles will be performed by members of LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. These performers will be accompanied by an orchestra that combines talented amateur musicians with the LA Opera Orchestra. As in years past, the production will bring together community performers from schools, churches, choirs, and orchestras from across Los Angeles who will perform for an audience of more than 4,000.

Thanks to generous longtime support from the Dan Murphy Foundation, LA Opera is able to produce Jonah and the Whale and offer it free of charge as a special gift to the community. Advance tickets are required for admission; there will be a handling fee of $1 per order and a four-ticket limit per household. Tickets will become available at 10am on Wednesday, February 5, and can be reserved online at www.LAOpera.org or by phone at 213.972.8001.

LA Opera's annual community performances for families at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels were among the first initiatives that James Conlon brought to the Company after his 2006 arrival as music director. The series began in 2007 with Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde, a production that was also presented in 2009, 2011 and 2013. Other Cathedral productions have featured Handel's Judas Maccabaeus in 2008 and The Festival Play of Daniel in 2010 and 2012. Each year, overflow crowds have cheered the charm and spectacle of familiar biblical stories set to music. These annual productions are part of the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, dedicated to presenting a wide variety of artistic exploration outside the Company's traditional home at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.