JEANNE, THE STORY OF A WOMAN Operatic Episode Set for FPTC This Weekend

JEANNE, the story of a woman, an operatic episode presented by Fort Point Theatre Channel in collaboration with Contrapose Dance and Ensemble Warhol. Performances this weekend, September 11 & 12, 8:00 pm. at the Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Avenue (entrance on Buick Street), Boston.

Contrapose Dance and Ensemble Warhol join forces with Fort Point Theatre Channel in presenting an hour long operatic episode entitled JEANNE, the story of a woman. This production is a fully staged excerpt derived from JEANNE, a full-length opera by James Swindell and Mark Warhol. JEANNE, the story of a woman promises to not only intrigue the audience on its own merits, but also to leave them with a craving to view the completed work. At the moment, that opportunity is still a best kept secret.

JEANNE, the story of a woman will feature the choreography of Junichi Fukuda, accompanied by the music of composer Mark Warhol which will be performed live by the Boston String Quartet, conducted by Andrew Altenbach. Evie Huang on double bass will join the quartet for this particular production. Percussionist Bob Schulz will provide additional solo accompaniment for the prelude and postlude.

Opera singers Anna Ward (soprano) and Patrick Massey (tenor), along with Contrapose dancers Nina Brindamour, Danielle Davidson, and Magdalena Gyftopoulos, will portray a modern day tale of birth, labor, death ... a story of wisdom that comes with age and of innocence that only youth can claim as their own.

Interacting within a set designed by Richard Dorff, the vocalist protagonists, along with the dancers, will use movement as another means to communicate their energy, passion, and tension. For JEANNE, the story of a woman is a tale rich with attraction, perhaps considered fatal, as the protagonists are swept away towards their inevitable, inescapable destiny.

Tickets: $20 ($14 students, seniors, and members of the Boston Dance Alliance). For more information: www.fortpointtheatrechannel.org/jeanne; for reservations: 800.838.3006, www.fortpointtheatrechannel.org/tickets-shows.

Brief background on the principal creative team (for complete background on all participants visit www.fortpointtheatrechannel.org/jeanne):

Currently a member of Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, Junichi Fukuda (choreographer) has had his dance pieces commissioned nationally and internationally in France, Japan, Brazil, Germany and Spain, as well as in his native Japan. His work has been praised for its "easeful harmony ... bringing to mind freedom and flight" (Washington Post). Fukuda has also received high acclaim for his own "intensity and strength" as a dancer (BALLET.CO). www.fukudance.com

Andrew Altenbach (conductor), Director of Opera at Boston Conservatory, has received numerous accolades for his "polished music direction" (Boston Intelligencer) as well as his ability to elicit "a raw, rustic flavor" (Boston Globe) from his musicians. Recent credits include the Minnesota Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Birmingham, Opera Africa, Indiana University Opera Theatre, Temple University, and MetroWest Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theater and Opera on the James. www.andrewaltenbach.com

Formed in 2004, Boston String Quartet has been a local leader in fusing contemporary music with classical tradition. The Boston Globe credits them with continually "exploring different ways of sparking musical interest." For JEANNE, the story of a woman, Evie Huang will be joining the Quartet. [Solo musician Bob Schulz will also be contributing to the production's musical landscape.] www.bostonstringquartet.com

Anna Ward (soprano) has been a featured vocalist with the Raylynmor Opera, Lorelei Ensemble, Copley Singers, the Freisinger Chamber Orchestra, the Longfellow Chorus, the MIT Women's Chorale, and Seraphim Singers, to name a few. As a chorister, she performed in the inaugural series of Yale Choral Artists under William Christie at Carnegie Hall and in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Company at Yale University. After the tragedy of the 2013 Boston Marathon, Ward was selected for the chorus of Barack and Michelle Obama's Interfaith Memorial Service. www.annawardsoprano.com

Based out of New York, Patrick Massey (tenor) is equally at home performing the traditional operatic repertoire as well as performing contemporary musical works and musical theater. He frequently appears locally as a soloist for several Boston-based ensembles such as Cappella Clausura, the Fine Arts Chorale, and Longwood Opera. He has toured to Italy performing the role of Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro. Other memorable roles have been Prunier in Puccini's La Rondine, Basil Howard in Jeffrey Brody's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Hourglass by Matthew Raymond Cooper, premiered by the Juventas New Music Ensemble. www.patrickmassey.com

Richard Dorff (set designer) currently works out of his studio in East Boston. He is a founding member of the Atlantic Works Gallery, as well as serving as an artistic director of Fort Point Theatre Channel (FPTC). He very recently designed and curated INTER-ACTIONS: Performance Art x Art That Performs, FPTC's multi-media presentation featuring dozens of musicians, actors, poets, and performance artists collaborating with an inter-active art installation. It was presented on Boston Common during the 2015 Outside the Box Festival and in Fort Point inside the Channel Center Garage, itself a 10-story-high work of art.

James Swindell (librettist of the opera JEANNE) was born in Alexandria, Alabama, and grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He worked throughout his life behind the scenes as lighting designer, sound designer, set designer, stage manager, and house manager at such theaters as Main Street Theater and Stages Theater in Houston, the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, and the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Besides Sunday with Joy, a play produced by Fort Point Theatre Channel (FPTC) in 2010, he wrote poems and full-length plays. He also wrote Jeanne and one other opera libretto for composer Mark Warhol, FPTC's co-founder and the artistic director of Ensemble Warhol. Swindell died of lung cancer in 2006.

Fort Point Theatre Channel (FPTC) (co-presenter) is dedicated to creating and sustaining new configurations of the performing arts. FPTC brings together an ensemble of artists from the worlds of theater, music, visual arts, and everything in between as a forum for collaborative expression while enriching the Fort Point community, Boston, and beyond. FPTC serves as an anchor for the Fort Point arts community, but also enjoys presenting their material in various venues throughout the city. www.fortpointtheatrechannel.org

Contrapose Dance (co-presenter) was founded in 2008 by artistic director Courtney Peix. They present modern, contemporary, and balletic works in repertory, often collaborating on new work with a variety of Boston-based choreographers, such as Marcus Schulkind, Gianni Di Marco, Nicole Pierce, and Lorraine Chapman. The company has received funding from the Somerville Arts Council, the Boston Center for the Arts Dance Residency, and the National Science Foundation. www.contraposedance.com

Ensemble Warhol (co-presenter) was formed in 1999 by Mark Warhol (composer of the opera JEANNE), who continues to serve as its artistic director. The Ensemble is dedicated to the presentation of works by contemporary composers, such as Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, Charles Ives, György Ligeti, Giacinto Scelsi, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Mark Warhol. They have appeared as part of the Elizabeth Musser New Music series and the Isolated Acts Festival in Saint Paul and Minneapolis; the Happy New Ears Festival and Série West in Kortrijk and Ypres, Belgium; and the Théâtre La Chapelle and La Sala Rossa in Montréal. They have collaborated locally with Deveanaughn Theatre, Apollinaire Theatre, Contrapose Dance, Kelley Donovan & Dancers, and FPTC. www.markwarhol.net

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