Nashville Opera Sets 2015-16 Season: DIE FLEDERMAUS, HYDROGEN JUKEBOX & More

Nashville Opera's 2015-16 season will showcase four extraordinary opera productions, Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox, W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte and Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus. 3 and 4-show, 2-show, and FLEX voucher season ticket orders are available immediately online at www.nashvilleopera.org, or directly from the Nashville Opera's Box Office by calling (615) 832-5242. Individual reserved seats for all performances may be purchased on Monday, July 6. Nashville Opera 3/4-show subscription packages offer a host of special perks, including free parking and backstage tours, plus significant discounts over the published single ticket prices which range in price from $26 to $102.50. Nashville Opera now offers a convenient installment payment option for subscribers which is available through the Nashville Opera Box Office.

In addition to the 2015-16 season, John Hoomes also announced the appointment of Maestro Dean Williamson as the company's first Music Director. In his new role, Maestro Williamson will work closely with Mr. Hoomes to select future productions, prepare the Nashville Opera Orchestra, and become Nashville Opera's primary conductor. This past season, Maestro Williamson led the Nashville Opera Orchestra for Romulus Hunt and Florencia en el Amazonas. In addition, he oversaw all of the musical arrangements for the recordings of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat and Romulus Hunt. Next season he will lead Hydrogen Jukebox, Così fan tutte, and Die Fledermaus.

"Maestro Williamson has been a frequent collaborator and a valued resource," said John Hoomes. "Long considered one of the most respected conductors, Maestro Williamson is considered an expert in both traditional and contemporary opera. His addition to our artistic team will be yet another critical milestone in the growth and development of Nashville Opera."

Dean Williamson is widely known throughout the United States for his perceptive and commanding conducting. His ambitious and versatile career in standard and contemporary repertoire earns the conductor worldwide acclaim. Maestro Williamson has served as the artistic director of Opera Cleveland, in addition to being the principal coach and pianist for Seattle Opera for 12 years. He also was the music director of the company's Young Artists Program for five years, conducting all of the program's productions from 1999 to 2007. Maestro Williamson is frequent guest conductor at major opera companies, including Seattle Opera, Opera Colorado, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, and Minnesota Opera. His Nashville Opera credits include, Romeo and Juliet, Samson and Delilah, The Girl of the Golden West, The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, Cinderella, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

"I am honored to join Nashville Opera as it moves into a new era," said Maestro Williamson. "High artistic standards, excellent musicians, and innovative programming have made it an important force in American opera. Working with John Hoomes and his creative team is most inspiring and I look forward to many amazing productions together."

TURANDOT by Giacomo Puccini
Thursday, October 8 at 7 PM
Saturday, October 10 at 8 PM
Tennessee Performing Arts Center - Andrew Jackson Hall

Nashville Opera opens the 2015-16 season with a grand production of one of the most popular operas ever written, Puccini's Turandot. Sponsored by Patricia and Rodes Hart, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall will be transformed into mythical China through the opera's elaborate sets and costumes. After composing La Bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, what could Puccini possibly do for a final statement? The answer: Turandot. Containing some of the greatest operatic music ever written, Turandot is the culmination of Puccini's brilliant career. This grand-scale opera is full of thrilling choruses, thundering orchestrations, and a cast as large as ancient China! This magnificent work (which features Pavarotti's signature aria "Nessun dorma") promises to be a landmark event for the Nashville Opera and an evening not to be missed. (Sung in Italian with easy-to-read English supertitles)

Tenor Jonathan Burton will make his Nashville Opera debut as Prince Calaf in Turandot this October. Critically-acclaimed for the "power and beauty" of his voice, Mr. Burton has performed with many renowned opera companies including Kentucky Opera, Sarasota Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, Castleton Festival , Dayton Opera, Opera New Jersey, Lyric Opera of Virginia, Palm Beach Opera, and Florida Grand Opera. Mr. Burton studied at Westminster Choir College and the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and was a member of Florida Grand Opera's Young Artist Program.

HYDROGEN JUKEBOX by Philip Glass
Friday, November 13 at 8 PM
Saturday, November 14 at 8 PM
Sunday, November 15 at 2 PM
Noah Liff Opera Center Studio Theatre
Note: This opera contains adult language and subject matter.

Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox is an intimate voyage through the cultural landscape of America from the 1950's through the 1980's. Delving into such topics as life, death, the atomic bomb, sex, drugs, rock and roll, war, and significant political events, Hydrogen Jukebox is a kaleidoscope of societal phenomena. This new production is an electrifying opera-featuring a haunting, dynamic score by Philip Glass and the prophetic poetry of Allen Ginsberg-promising to overwhelm your senses with a poignant experience that is at once passionately nostalgic and strikingly relevant. (Sung in English with easy-to-read English supertitles)

COSÌ FAN TUTTE by W.A. Mozart
Friday, January 22 at 8 PM
Sunday, January 24 at 2 PM
Tuesday, January 26 at 7 PM
Tennessee Performing Arts Center - James K. Polk Theater

Mozart's Così fan tutte starts with a bet. Two young men enter into a wager with an older bachelor to prove the indestructible fidelity of their beautiful fiancées. Lesson #1: Never make bets in which the human heart is involved. This comic opera is the peak of Mozart's brilliant exploration into the workings of love. Following closely on the heels of such masterpieces as The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte is the ultimate statement on the dissimilarity between men and women when it comes to affairs of the heart. (Sung in Italian with easy-to-read English supertitles)

Baritone John Hancock will make his Nashville Opera debut in the role of Don Alfonso. Acclaimed for his refined vocalism and theatrical versatility, Mr. Hancock made his Metropolitan Opera debut as le Gendarme in Les Mamelles de Tirésias under the baton of James Levine. He has since appeared in dozens of Met productions, including: Le nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Werther, Manon, Roméo et Juliette, and in La Bohème. He has also sung leading roles with companies including San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, New Israeli Opera, Opéra du Rhin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Cincinnati Opera. Mr. Hancock is a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center, where he was winner of the Richard F. Gold Grant presented by the Shoshana Foundation. He also is the grateful recipient of grants and prizes from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Loren L. Zachary Society and the Sullivan Foundation.

DIE FLEDERMAUS by Johann Strauss
Thursday, April 9 at 7 PM
Saturday, April 11 at 8 PM
Tennessee Performing Arts Center - Andrew Jackson Hall

The final production of the 2015-16 season, Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, is one of the most popular comic operettas ever written. Based on a French farce (by way of Vienna), this madcap, comic production has been described as "The Marx Brothers meet The Carol Burnett Show" by critics and audiences alike. Featuring elaborate sets, costumes, and split-second timing-and filled throughout with the magic and effervescent music of the glorious Viennese waltz-Die Fledermaus offers an unforgettable night of glorious music, thrilling singing, and side-splitting comedy. (Sung in English with easy-to-read English supertitles)

Baritone Corey McKern, a favorite of Nashville Opera audiences, will return in the role of Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. Mr. McKern frequently appears with leading opera companies across the world, including Opera Hong Kong, Opera Cleveland, Michigan Opera Theatre, Pensacola Opera, Tulsa Opera, BARD Summerscape, and Arizona Opera. Equally active on the concert platform, Mr. McKern made his Carnegie Hall debut in Faure's "Requiem" and recently returned to the prestigious concert hall for John Rutter's "Mass of the Children" and Mozart's "Requiem." Mr. McKern is a grant recipient from the Sullivan Foundation, as well as the first place winner of Opera Birmingham, Shreveport Opera, and Mobile Opera competitions. He holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and Bachelor of Music Education from Mississippi State University. He is a graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program.

"We are proud to continue Nashville Opera's tradition of creating legendary productions," says John Hoomes, General and Artistic Director. "The 2015-16 season features four unique and popular operatic works, and will display the best and brightest opera talent throughout the year."