Photo Flash: Asia Society And The Santa Fe Opera Present David Henry Hwang And Huang Ruo's M. BUTTERFLY Opera Working Rehearsal

Asia Society's inaugural Contemporary Art Triennial of Asia, in partnership with the Santa Fe Opera, kicked off its pre-opening programming on Nov 20, 2019 with a sold-out exclusive world preview of the much anticipated new opera M. Butterfly.

Executive Chair of the Art Triennial, Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and her husband, Oscar Tang, a trustee of Asia Society, hosted a pre-performance reception for a delegation of board members from the Santa Fe Opera at the Asia Society in New York. Many board members from the Met Opera and Asia Society, including Betsy Cohen, Met Opera Treasurer and Asia Society Vice Chair, and her husband Ed Cohen, the President and CEO of the New York Philharmonic Deborah Borda, Met Opera's Assistant General Manager Diane Zola, and President of the Juilliard School, Damian Woetzel, were also in attendance.

Based on Hwang's 1988 Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer-Prize finalist Broadway play, M. Butterfly is the story of René Gallimard, a French diplomat who carried on a 20-year love affair with Song Liling, a Peking opera star with an astonishing secret that leads to Gallimard's professional and personal ruin. The story's many parallels with Puccini's well-known Madama Butterfly are echoed in the new opera's music, composed by the celebrated young Chinese American composer Huang Ruo. The working rehearsal featured Conductor Susanne Sheston and pianist John Arida.

Kangmin Justin Kim (countertenor) and Michael Hawk (baritone) star as Song Liling and René Gallimard respectively. The cast also features Hera Hyesang Park as Comrade Chin/Shu Fang, Joshua Dennis as Marc, Adrian Rosas as Manuel Toulon/Judge. The ensemble features Stephen Carroll, Hayan Kim, Seiyoung Kim, Nicolas Martorano, Nate Mattingly, Jana McIntyre, Elliott Paige, Heather Petrie Elizabeth Picker, Rachel Policar, Jarrett Porter and Kathleen Reveille.

Huang Ruo's (composer) first collaboration with The Santa Fe Opera was the American premiere of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, his first opera, in 2014. Admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory at age twelve, Chinese-born Huang Ruo moved to the U.S. to continue his education, earning a BM from Oberlin's Conservatory of Music and MM and DMA degrees from Juilliard. Now a U.S. citizen, The New Yorker cited Huang Ruo as "one of the most intriguing of the new crop of Asian-American composers." His writing spans orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, and modern dance to sound installation, multimedia, folk rock, and film. Reflecting his life story, he strives to create a seamless integration between Eastern and Western elements, integrating influences from Chinese folk, Western avant-garde, rock, and jazz to create a seamless, organic whole.

David Henry Hwang's (librettist) stage works includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Kung Fu, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, and the Broadway musicals Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 revival) and Disney's Tarzan. Hwang is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a three-time Obie Award winner, and a two-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also America's most-produced living American opera librettist (two Grammy Awards), and co-wrote the Gold Record Solo with the late pop icon Prince. Since 2015, he has been a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series "The Affair". Hwang serves as Head of Playwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts, and as Chair of the American Theatre Wing. His newest work, Soft Power, a collaboration with composer Jeanine Tesori, received its New York premiere this fall at the Public Theater.

The world premiere preview of M. Butterfly is a collaboration between Asia Society and the Santa Fe Opera and is developed with assistance from the American Lyric Theater, Lawrence Edelson, Founder and Producing Artistic Director, with generous support from Agnes Hsu-Tang PhD and Oscar Tang.

The World Premiere of M. Butterfly will take place at the Santa Fe Opera on August 1, 2020, with subsequent performances on August 5, 14, 19 and 26, 2020. Click here for tickets for M. Butterfly.

Asia Society Triennial.

Countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim and mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, who will be singing the roles of Song Liling in the world premiere of M. BUTTERFLY, and Rosina in THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, respectively, at the Santa Fe Opera next summer. Photo by Lia Chang