Juilliard Opera to Present AGRIPPINA Featuring Juilliard Singers and Juilliard415

The Juilliard Opera season continues with a concert version and a fully staged production of G.F. Handel's Agrippina, presented by Juilliard as part of Carnegie Hall's La Serenissima: Music and Arts From the Venetian Republic festival.

The opera features Juilliard singers and period-instrument ensemble Juilliard415, conducted by Laurence Cummings in a concert version on Saturday, February 11, 2017, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall.

A fully staged production of the opera follows a week later in Juilliard's Willson Theater on Saturday, February 18, 2017, at 2pm; and Monday, February 20, and Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at 7:30pm with Juilliard singers and Juilliard415, conducted by Juilliard Historical Performance alumnus Jeffrey Grossman and directed by Louisa Proske.

Scenic design is by Kate Noll; costume design is by Beth Goldenberg; and lighting design is by Oliver Wason. The movement director is Emma Jaster.

The cast, in order of vocal appearance, features mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey(Agrippina); soprano Angela Vallone (Nerone); baritone Jacob Scharfman (Pallante); mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau (Narciso); bass Andrew Munn (Lesbo); countertenor Jakub Józef Orli?ski (Ottone); soprano Onadek Winan (Poppea); bass-baritone Cody Quattlebaum(Claudio); and mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms (Giunone). In the staged production, Avery Amereau will sing the roles of Narciso and Giunone.

Handel's three-year visit to Italy culminated in the first performances of his opera Agrippina in Venice's theater of San Giovanni Grisostomo during the winter carnival season of 1709-10. The libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani - whose family owned the theater - was written for Handel, and the characters in the opera are all historical, although Grimani made some changes in his chronology.

Tickets for the Alice Tully Hall concert are $20 and will be available at events.juilliard.edu, through CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500, or at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office. Tickets are free for Juilliard students; non-Juilliard students with valid ID may purchase tickets for $10, only at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office. Tickets for Juilliard Opera productions are $30 and available at events.juilliard.edu or at the Juilliard Box Office. Free tickets are available for Juilliard students; non-Juilliard students with valid ID may purchase tickets for $15, only at the Juilliard Box Office.

This performance is part of Juilliard Opera, a program dedicated to the education and training of future generations of singers at Juilliard. Juilliard Opera is supported by the vision and generous lead funding of the International Foundation for Arts and Culture and its chairman, Dr. Haruhisa Handa.

Juilliard's full-scholarship Historical Performance program was established and endowed in 2009 by the generous support of Bruce and Suzie Kovner.

About Laurence Cummings (conductor for the concert version on Feb. 11) - Laurence Cummings is an internationally acclaimed conductor and harpsichordist, and an exciting and versatile exponent of historical performance. 2016 marks his fifth season as artistic director of the International Händel-Festpiele Göttingen, and since 1999, he has served as music director of the London Handel Festival. At the Royal Academy of Music, he serves as the William Crotch Professor of Historical Performance. He was also musical director of the Tilford Bach Society, is a trustee of Handel House London, and is a regular guest at Casa da Musica in Porto, Portugal where he conducts Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música. His discography includes the first recording of Handel's newly discovered Gloria and recital discs of solo harpsichord music for Naxos. (schwalbeandpartners.com/laurence-cummings-conductor/)

About Jeffrey Grossman (conductor for fully staged production on Feb. 18, 20, and 22) - Conductor and keyboardist Jeffrey Grossman specializes in vital, engaging performances of music of the past, through processes that are intensely collaborative and historically informed. This season, Mr. Grossman conducts Bach's St. John Passion from the organ with the Sebastians and performs as featured harpsichord soloist in Bach's Brandenburg Concerti with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In addition to serving as artistic director of the acclaimed Baroque ensemble the Sebastians, Mr. Grossman also performs this year with the Green Mountain Project, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Quodlibet, Music in the Somerset Hills, and the Bach Players of Holy Trinity. Mr. Grossman can be heard on the Avie, Gothic, Naxos, Albany, Soundspells, Métier, and MSR Classics record labels. A native of Detroit, he holds degrees from Harvard College, Juilliard, and Carnegie Mellon University. (jeffreygrossman.com)

About Louisa Proske (director for the fully staged production on Feb. 18, 20, and 22) - Louisa Proske directs opera, classical theater, and new plays with equal passion. She is co-artistic director of Heartbeat Opera. Opera productions: Così fan tutte (LoftOpera); Lucia di Lammermoor; Daphnis et Chloé (Heartbeat Opera); Falstaff (Dell'Arte Opera); Gianni Schicchi, Riders to the Sea, La Voix Humaine (Yale Opera); and Invisible Cities (world premiere, Italian Academy). Theater Productions: peerless (nominated for Berkshire Theatre Award/Outstanding Direction) and Engagements (Barrington Stage), One Day When We Were Young (Assembly, Edinburgh), 'Tis Pity She's A Whore (Tank), Cymbeline (Yale Drama), and Macbeth (European tour). Ms. Proske has assisted Willy Decker, Harry Kupfer, and RoBert Woodruff. She holds an MFA in directing from Yale School of Drama and is a Drama League Director's Project alumna. (louisaproske.com and heartbeatopera.org)

About the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard (Brian Zeger, Artistic Director) - One of America's most prestigious programs for educating singers, Juilliard's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degrees to an advanced Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program, Juilliard provides frequent performance opportunities, featuring singers in its own recital halls, on Lincoln Center's stages, and around New York City. Juilliard Opera has presented numerous premieres of new operas as well as works from the standard repertoire.

Juilliard graduates may be heard in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world; diverse alumni artists include well-known performers such as Simon Estes, Renée Fleming, Leontyne Price, Risë Stevens, Tatiana Troyanos, and Shirley Verrett. Recent alumni include Paul Appleby, Sasha Cooke, Isabel Leonard, Erin Morley, Susanna Phillips, and Julia Bullock.

Widely recognized as one of today's leading collaborative pianists, Juilliard alumnus Brian Zeger has performed with many of the world's greatest singers including Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Piotr Beczala, Bryn Terfel, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves, and Adrianne Pieczonka in an extensive concert career that has taken him to the premier concert halls throughout the world. He is the artistic director of the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard, and formerly the executive director of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. (brianzeger.com)

About Juilliard415 - Since its founding in 2009, Juilliard415, the school's principal period-instrument ensemble, has made significant contributions to musical life in New York and beyond, bringing major figures in the field of early music to lead performances of both rare and canonical works of the 17th and 18th centuries. Among the distinguished guests who have led Juilliard415 are Harry Bicket, William Christie, the late Christopher Hogwood, Monica Huggett, Ton Koopman, Nicholas McGegan, Jordi Savall, and Lars Ulrik Mortensen. Juilliard415 tours extensively in the U.S. and abroad, with notable appearances at the Boston Early Music Festival, Leipzig Bachfest, and Utrecht Early Music Festival (where Juilliard was the first-ever conservatory-in-residence). With its frequent musical collaborator the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the ensemble has performed throughout Italy, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the U.K. Recent milestones include fully staged productions of Cavalli's La Calisto and Handel's Radamisto, a tour of Charpentier's Actéon, and concerts in New York and Miami of incidental music to Shakespeare plays in collaboration with the Juilliard Drama Division. It has also offered the rare opportunity to hear both Bach Passions in successive months.

This season's highlights include tours to Holland for Bach's Mass in B Minor conducted by Ton Koopman (a collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague), India with the Yale Schola Cantorum under the direction of David Hill, and New Zealand with Bach specialist Masaaki Suzuki. The season also sees a celebration of the Italian concerto led by Rachel Podger as part of the Music Before 1800 series, symphonies by Haydn with Huggett, fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout leading symphonies and concertos by Mozart.

PROGRAM:

February 11, 2017, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

G.F. Handel's Agrippina

Laurence Cummings, conductor

Juilliard Singers

Juilliard415

Saturday, February 18, 2017, 2pm

Monday, February 20 and Wednesday, February 22, 2017, 7:30pm, Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater

G.F. Handel's Agrippina

Jeffrey Grossman, conductor

Louisa Proske, director

Juilliard Singers

Juilliard415

Scenic Designer: Kate Noll

Costume Designer: Beth Goldenberg

Lighting Designer: Oliver Wason

Movement Director: Emma Jaster

The Cast (in order of vocal appearance):

Agrippina: Samantha Hankey (mezzo-soprano)

Nerone: Angela Vallone (soprano)

Pallante: Jacob Scharfman (baritone)

Narciso: Avery Amereau (mezzo-soprano)

Lesbo: Andrew Munn (bass)

Ottone: Jakub Józef Orli?ski (countertenor)

Poppea: Onadek Winan (soprano)

Claudio: Cody Quattlebaum (bass-baritone)

Giunone: Amanda Lynn Bottoms (mezzo-soprano) (Avery Amereau on 2/18, 2/20, and 2/22)

Pictured: Conductor Laurence Cummings (photo by Robert Workman)