Fort Worth Opera Announces 2013 Season: LA BOHEME, GLORY DENIED and More

Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) will open its 2013 Festival (the company's 67th season and seventh Festival) with Puccini's tragic drama, La Bohème; Donizetti's spirited switched-at-birth romantic comedy, The Daughter of the Regiment; and the company's first-ever production of Strauss' entertaining and comedic opera-within-an-opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, all performed in the company's artistic home, Bass Hall.

The company's popular alternative venue series receives a name and a new location for the 2013 season-previously unnamed, the newly-titled Opera Unbound series will feature the regional premiere of American composer Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied, to be held in the McDavid Studio across from Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth. An emotion-packed, landmark work based on the bestselling book by journalist Tom Philpott, Glory Denied tells the tragic, true story of America's longest-held Vietnam prisoner-of-war, Colonel Jim Thompson. The 2013 Festival will also move earlier into spring, running April 20–May 12, 2013, one month earlier than previous Festival seasons. Historically a strong supporter of young artists, FWOpera's 2013 season also includes company debuts by nine singers in lead roles.

"The 2013 Festival features an incredibly talented ensemble of singers," said General Director Darren K. Woods. "I couldn't be more pleased with our three traditional productions, and I'm absolutely thrilled to stage the regional premiere of the visceral, contemporary tragedy Glory Denied. This piece is a great example of the kind of work we at Fort Worth Opera are passionate about: it's a piece written in our time, about a pivotal era in our history, portraying very human, very fragile characters whose journeys will cause everyone in the audience to think and question and search their hearts about their loyalties to self, family, and country."

Music Director Joe Illick added, "What a privilege and a pleasure to lead FWOpera's very first Ariadne auf Naxos. It's a quintessential Strauss opera that our audience is sure to enjoy, along with the perennial favorite La Bohème and the comedic treat, The Daughter of the Regiment."

The 2013 Festival also includes the inaugural season of FWOpera's new works showcase, Frontiers. Offering the public free access to the performances and post-performance discussions with composers, the program will be held during the last week of the 2013 Festival. The new works showcase will feature short excerpts from six to eight unpublished contemporary operatic works by composers from across the Americas, whose pieces were submitted according to rigorous standards and will be selected by a blind jury panel this summer. In fall 2012, the company will release the names of the composers who have been selected to participate in Frontiers 2013.

Of the Frontiers initiative, Woods added, "Fort Worth Opera is dedicated to promoting compelling works by contemporary composers and helping them to earn a place in the operatic canon. With our new initiative Frontiers, we are expanding our focus to include developing and nurturing new works, not only giving composers a professional performance with singers and piano, but also by providing them with a recording of the performance to help them promote their work after the showcase, and by giving them exposure to industry leaders from other opera companies and publishing houses."

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