Tickets to Opera in the Heights' 2015-16 on Sale 8/1

Opera in the Heights (OH!) announces that single tickets will go on sale Aug. 1 for the 2015-2016 season, which also celebrates the organization's 20th anniversary. The company presents an inspired selection of works which should appeal to diverse operatic tastes.

The season includes Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, a double-bill of Menotti's The Medium and The Telephone, Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. All will be conducted by Maestro Eiki Isomura.

"The repertoire OH! has selected for its 20th anniversary season reads like a celebration of opera itself," says Isomura. "Each piece represents an essential development in the history of the art form. It's a great privilege to bring these iconic works to life with the extraordinary OH! orchestra and some of today's finest emerging artists."

"We are thrilled that Maestro Isomura, an amazingly gifted young conductor and artist, returns to lead the orchestra, providing continuity from our previous season," says Mariam Khalili, Opera in the Heights' Executive Director. "Our focus remains on delivering the superb artistic product that has come to be expected of Opera in the Heights."

OH! will present each opera with four performances rather than seven as in some previous seasons. The change will allow Opera in the Heights to better focus its financial resources, while enhancing the artistic quality of each of the four productions.

The season opens Sept. 18 with I Pagliacci (The Clowns), the enduring tale of jealousy and rage between lovers in a comedy troupe. Art imitates life with fatal results in this iconic tragedy, featuring one of the most famous arias in the entire repertoire. Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 18, 24 and 26 and at 2 p.m. on Sept. 20.

October and November bring to the stage two operas by Menotti, both sung in English: The Telephone and The Medium. Serving as the opener will be the light one-act comedy, The Telephone, in which a man comes to his girlfriend's apartment to propose, only to find her preoccupied with chatting incessantly on the telephone. In the dark psychological drama, The Medium, audiences will encounter a fraudulent spiritual medium, who starts to genuinely hear voices and feel phantom presences she cannot explain. Performance dates are Oct. 30, Nov. 5 and Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 1 at 2 p.m.

Rossini's La Cenerentola is OH!'s late winter production and is perfect for the entire family. Rossini's take on the classic fairy tale, Cinderella, the opera La Cenerentola is considered to be one of his greatest achievements, complete with mistaken identities, stepsisters and of course, romance. Performance dates are Feb. 5, 11 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.

The season closes with Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, which is based on the myth of Orpheus, a legendary ancient Greek hero endowed with superhuman musical abilities, and his love, Eurydice. The opera takes to the stage on Apr. 8, 14 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. and on Apr. 10 at 2 p.m.

Single tickets prices are $35 - $67 for regular tickets, $32 - $58 for seniors and $15 - $17 for student tickets in limited seating areas. To buy tickets or to become a subscriber, please visit operaintheheights.org or call 713-861-5303. All performances take place at Lambert Hall, 1703 Heights Boulevard, in the Houston Heights.

Opera in the Heights is a professional opera company that exists to provide a stage for emerging performers and to bring affordable opera to the Greater Houston Area. All operas are fully staged with orchestra and presented in the original language with English translation (where applicable) projected above the stage.