New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera Names Lucy Arner Music Director and Principal Conductor

The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera announces Lucy Arner has been named Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Verismo Opera Orchestra. Verismo Opera, a nonprofit opera company based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, selected Ms. Arner after a search was undertaken earlier this fall. She succeeds Maestro Anthony Morss, who is retiring at the end of this season. Morss conducted Lucia di Lammermoor, his last production with Verismo Opera, in October at the Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC) in Englewood, New Jersey.

Ms. Arner will debut with Verismo Opera, the house opera company of bergenPAC, in its premiere of Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda on Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. at the theatre. Born in Santiago de Cuba, Ms. Arner is known for her understanding of Italian and French operas and has worked with several leading opera houses, including the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain and The Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

"We are thrilled to welcome Maestra Arner. She is a master pianist, coach and conductor. We embrace her into the Verismo Opera family with open arms and hearts," said Lucine Amara, Artistic Director, Verismo Opera.

From 1994 through the 2007-2008 season, Ms. Arner served on The Metropolitan Opera's music staff as the recitative accompanist in several productions, including Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore. She prepared several Met telecasts such as Giordano's Fedora with Mirella Freni and Placido Domingo. Among the prominent singers she has worked with in operatic productions are Alfredo Kraus, Montserrat Caballé, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes, José Carreras and Placido Domingo.

Known as "a true singer's conductor," Lucy Arner debuted professionally in 1996 conducting Puccini's Suor Angelica and Menotti's The Telephone at the Teatro Mancinelli in Orvieto, Italy. Ms. Arner has conducted opera and concerts worldwide, and she was the first woman to conduct opera in Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes, debuting with Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. She was the Artistic Director of the New York Chamber Opera from 2000-2005 and the interim Music Director of the University of Houston's Opera Center in the 2008-2009 season, conducting Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld and critically acclaimed performances of Daniel Catán'sFlorencia en el Amazonas. She was the first Cuban woman to conduct an opera with Florida Grand Opera and received the Henry C. Clark Distinguished Conductor Award for her work on Les Contes d'Hoffmann.

Ms. Arner attended Baldwin-Wallace College and Indiana University, receiving Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Miami.

For over a quarter century, the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera has been an integral part of the region's classical music culture. Led by Metropolitan Opera luminary Lucine Amara, Verismo Opera delivers a rich, grand opera experience for performers and viewers.

The organization provides performing opportunities for young musicians and artists through its semi-annual productions at the Bergen Performing Arts Center and concerts held in community settings. Community members are invited to get involved as supernumeraries and volunteers. An annual international vocal competition is conducted in November with finals generally drawing artists throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Verismo Opera also organizes opera workshops, master classes and concerts and offers affordable, highly professional productions.

For more information, visit Verismo Opera's web site, www.verismopera.org; like the company on Facebook, bit.ly/9JXTP8; get updates on Twitter @NJVerismoOpera; follow the opera company on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/LuhrsAssoc; or call (201) 886-0561.

Photo Credit: Pierre-Etienne Bergeron

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