New York City Opera Announces 2013-14 Season

NEW YORK CITY OPERA ANNOUNCES 2013-14 SEASON:

• U.S. Premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole (2010), a Co-Production with BAM

• U.S. Premiere of Johann Christian Bach's Endimione (1772)

• First U.S. Performances of Daniel Kramer-Directed Bluebeard's Castle (Bartók, 1911), a Co-Production with St. Ann's Warehouse

• New Production of Christopher Alden-Directed The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart, 1786)

JAYCE OGREN APPOINTED MUSIC DIRECTOR

VOX Returns for 14th Season, and Education Program Continues with Fantastic Mr. Fox

New York City Opera is on track to have its second consecutive balanced budget in a decade, and is receiving overwhelming acclaim for its current season. Today the Company announces its 2013-14 season, which includes two U.S. premieres, two new productions of landmark operas, and multiple opportunities to witness the artistry of Jayce Ogren, New York City Opera's newly appointed Music Director.

Ogren's term as Music Director will begin September 1. He will conduct at least two productions per season as well as concerts, galas and other projects. Ogren will work directly with General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel on programming and casting.

New York City Opera opens its 2013-14 season with the U.S. premiere of Anna Nicole (2010), a colossal co-production with theBrooklyn Academy Of Music (BAM) that launches the 2013 Next Wave Festival. Running for seven performances (September 17-28) in BAM's 2,100-seat Howard Gilman Opera House, where New York City Opera has presented two critically acclaimed chamber operas this spring, Anna Nicole will provide a sensational beginning to the Company's 2013-14 season.

Composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage with a libretto by Richard Thomas, the opera is based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. Reviewing the world premiere at Covent Garden, The New York Times called Anna Nicole a "musically rich, audacious and inexplicably poignant work." Building upon New York City Opera's history of integrating opera and popular music,Richard Jones will direct a large cast featuring veterans of Broadway as well as highly accomplished opera singers, including Sarah Joy Miller as Anna Nicole, along with Susan Bickley, Robert Brubaker, Rod Gilfry, John Easterlin, Joshua Jeremiah, Mary Testa,Stephen Wallem, Christina Sajous, James Barbour and Ben Davis. Steven Sloane will conduct 66 members of the New York City Opera Orchestra.

The second production of the season culminates a seed sown in 2001. Having seen and loved So Long Ago I Can't Remember, fromMichael Counts' theater company GAle GAtes (April 2001), Steel met with Counts to discuss the latter directing an opera for the first time. Steel suggested Endimione (1772), a little known and rarely staged opera by Johann Christian Bach, the only Bach to compose operas. When New York City Opera presents the work (February 8-16, 2014, at El Museo del Barrio), with Counts at the helm, it will be the third new production the Company has created with the director. (Next month (April 14-20), Counts will direct Rossini's Moses in Egypt at New York City Center, New York City Opera's original home, having previously directed Monodramas to acclaim in 2011.) El Museo del Barrio was Steel's first choice of venue for Endimione, a mythological story for which the fairy tale murals that line the walls of El Museo's Heckscher Theater will provide apt environs.

From February 28 through March 15, 2014, New York City Opera will co-present Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle (1911) with St. Ann's Warehouse. The opera will provide a showcase for Jayce Ogren, the Company's new Music Director, and the New York City Opera Orchestra. The production will use all 13,000 square-feet of the cavernous warehouse space. Having presented the first fully staged U.S. production of Bluebeard's Castle in 1952, New York City Opera will now join with St. Ann's in offering the first American presentation of director Daniel Kramer's staging, originally produced by ENO in 2009. George Steel is thrilled to welcome Kramer to the Company for the first time. Kramer previously worked at St. Ann's Warehouse when his unforgettable Woyzeck made its U.S. premiere there in 2006.

Speaking on behalf of New York City Opera's Board, Chairman Charles Wall remarked, "We take great pride in George Steel's leadership of the Company, which has resulted in financial health and productions that bring new audiences to opera while electrifying our longtime supporters. The Board and I would also like to extend a warm welcome to Jayce Ogren, whose work in A Quiet Place,Prima Donna, and our new production of The Turn of the Screw last month, makes clear his place among his generation's greatest young conductors. I can't wait to see the four operas we will present next season."

Jayce Ogren said, "Over the past four years, New York City Opera has been my closest collaborator, and our work together has provided many of the most rewarding artistic experiences of my career. I knew from my very first hour of rehearsal with the NYC Opera Orchestra in 2009 that we had a synergy that doesn't come along every day. Making music with these fine players has continued to be a joy. No other company in the United States is more dedicated to mounting courageous and timely productions than New York City Opera, and the same goes for its commitment to young American singers. There is nowhere I would rather be Music Director."

Subscriptions to the 2013-14 season, which include a 20% discount, are currently on sale. The on sale date for individual tickets, which are priced $25-$235, will be announced at a later date. To purchase tickets, visit nycopera.com or call 212.870.5600 (Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm). Tickets to Bluebeard's Castle are also available to St. Ann's Warehouse members at stannswarehouse.org and 718.254.8779(Tue-Sat, 1-7pm). Tickets to Anna Nicole are available to BAM Season Ticket buyers on June 17 (June 10 for Friends of BAM) at BAM.org and 718.636.4100.

Since 1999, New York City Opera has presented VOX: Contemporary American Opera Lab, the Company's annual workshop for new American operas. On January 14 as a central part of OPERA America's New Works Forum, VOX returns for its 14th season at theNYU Skirball Center.

VOX solidifies the Company's commitment to producing new works by American artists. Composers are invited to submit works-in-progress or completed, previously unproduced works, and the selected composers will have their work produced by NYC Opera. Since 1999, composers including Mark Adamo, Charles Wuorinen, Richard Danielpour, John Zorn, and Stephen Schwartz have had pieces presented in VOX that have gone on to redefine American opera. Described by The New York Times as an "invaluable showcase," VOX offers excerpts of new operatic works in professional unstaged performances by members of the New York City Opera orchestra and soloists. As the only program in the country that gives composers the opportunity to hear their new works and works-in-progress with full instrumental ensembles and professional soloists, VOX continues to play a vital part in the fabric of American opera.

New York City Opera has been a pioneer in the field of arts education for more than 40 years. Drawing upon the company's adventurous and contemporary approach to opera, NYC Opera Education provides students with a three-dimensional introduction to the art form, from page, to stage, to backstage. Students meet with NYC Opera Teaching Artists and other theater professionals in their classrooms, go behind the scenes to see how productions come together, and watch world-class performances during the season.

In classrooms around the City of New York, NYC Opera Teaching Artists collaborate with school teachers to introduce young children to the world of opera through the study of an age-appropriate opera based on a fairy tale or myth. After extensive professional development with school teachers, NYC Opera introduces students to the basics of music and drama, and then encourages students to create their own interpretations of the story through original poems, songs, or art projects. The focus of this year's Opera is Elementary program, designed for 2nd-5th graders, will be the chamber opera version of Tobias Picker's Fantastic Mr. Fox. This classic story by Roald Dahl will be a wonderful starting point for thousands of NYC children as they have their first encounter with opera. The project will feature costumes designed and constructed in partnership with students from the High School for Fashion Industries. An English teacher at LaGuardia High School says of the program, "NYC City Opera Education is a necessity. It is definitely one of the greatest additions to classroom education in New York City. Opera relates the themes of life and brings together and presents all of the arts in a way that engages young people."

Anna Nicole (2010)

Co-produced with BAM for the 2013 Next Wave Festival

Composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage

Libretto by Richard Thomas

Conducted by Steven Sloane

Directed by Richard Jones

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn)

September 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 28 at 7:30pm

Composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage to a libretto by Richard Thomas, Anna Nicole tells the story of Anna Nicole Smith, a small-town Texas waitress (and, later, exotic dancer) in pursuit of the American Dream. Smith weds an octogenarian billionaire and becomes a Playboy model and tabloid celebrity, living a life of excess and substance abuse under the constant glare of the media until her death at the age of 39. The opera mixes comedy and tragedy and boldly confronts issues of modern celebrity, greed and exploitation.

Richard Jones directs this U.S. premiere, a co-production with BAM that kicks off the 2013 Next Wave Festival. The diverse cast forAnna Nicole includes Sarah Joy Miller as Anna Nicole, Susan Bickley as Virgie, Robert Brubaker as Old Man Marshall, Rod Gilfry as Stern, John Easterlin as Larry King, Stephen Wallem as Trucker, Mary Testa as Aunt Kaye, Christina Sajous as Blossom, James Barbour as Daddy Hogan, Ben Davis as Billy and Joshua Jeremiah as Deputy Mayor. Steven Sloane will conduct the New York City Opera Orchestra.

Commissioned by London's Royal Opera House, Anna Nicole premiered at Covent Garden in February 2011 under the direction of Richard Jones. The Times (UK) called it "jazzy, bitter-sweet, fizzing, moody and often touchingly tender." The Independent (UK) said "Richard Thomas' libretto would carry the day even if the score weren't as terrific as it is: varied, acidic, lyrical and occasionally heartbreaking." Turnage's dynamic score draws on jazz, blues, musical theater and traditional operatic structures; Thomas (co-creator,Jerry Springer: the Opera) provides a razor-sharp and darkly humorous libretto.

Anna Nicole will be sung in English with English subtitles.

Endimione (1772)

Composed by Johann Christian Bach

Libretto by Pietro Metastasio

Directed by Michael Counts

El Museo del Barrio (1230 5th Avenue, Manhattan)

February 8, 12 and 14, 2014 at 7:30pm; February 16, 2014 at 1:30pm

Presenting a very rare, perhaps first-ever staging of a Johann Christian Bach opera in New York, New York City Opera returns to El Museo del Barrio, where the Company presented Telemann's Orpheus in 2012 to great acclaim. Michael Counts (Moses in Egypt, 2013;Monodramas, 2011) will direct.

The story of Endimione centers on the characters of Diana and Nice. Through the mischief of Amore (Cupid), both fall madly in love with Endimione, a local shepherd. Pastoral mayhem ensues.

J.C. Bach's ravishing score to Metastasio's libretto makes crystal clear his enormous influence on Mozart. J.C. Bach, known as "the London Bach," befriended Mozart when the eight-year-old and his family visited London.

This production, which Steel believes to be the U.S. premiere, culminates his longstanding desire to stage the opera. Endimione will be sung in Italian with English subtitles.

Bluebeard's Castle (1911)

Co-produced by St. Ann's Warehouse

Composed by Béla Bartók

Libretto by Béla Balázs

Conducted by Jayce Ogren

Directed by Daniel Kramer

St. Ann's Warehouse (29 Jay Street, Brooklyn)

February 28, March 4, 7, 11, 13 and 15, 2014 at 7:30PM

March 2 and 9 at 1:30PM

Béla Bartók's only opera, the fantastical one-act masterpiece Bluebeard's Castle is a mysterious encounter between two characters, Duke Bluebeard and his new wife, Judith. In the castle, Judith not only discovers great riches, but also bloodstained weapons, lakes of tears and, finally, the bodies of former wives. The opera, based on Charles Perrault's chilling 1697 fairytale, was written in 1911 and first produced in 1918. New York City Opera presented the first fully staged American production in 1952.

In his Company debut, director Daniel Kramer presents a vision that is brutally dark and full of shocking surprises, as Judith descends deeper within the castle and, perhaps, into Bluebeard's soul. Reviewing the first presentation of Kramer's staging, by English National Opera, at the London Coliseum in 2009, The Telegraph (UK) said it was "refreshing to encounter a director who has dug deep into the resonances of a masterpiece... an interpretation that will unsettle any idea you may have had as to what this weird fable signifies." The Arts Desk (UK) said Kramer "has ripped from the pages of modern newspapers one of the most vital questions of today, which is just how far and appallingly men will go to define and license their own desires."

The Marriage of Figaro (1786)

Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Conducted by Jayce Ogren

Directed by Christopher Alden

New York City Center (131 W 55th Street, Manhattan)

April 19 and 22, 2014 at 7:30pm; April 24, 2014 at 7pm; April 26, 2014 at 1:30pm

New York City Opera presents a new staging, by Christopher Alden, of the Mozart landmark The Marriage of Figaro. The production completes the Company's trilogy of Mozart / Da Ponte operas directed by Alden, including Don Giovanni (2009) and Così Fan Tutte(2012), Jayce Ogren will conduct, and the cast will include Company regulars Rod Gilfry (baritone) as the Count Almaviva and Keri Alkema (soprano) as the Countess Rosina.

Mozart's most popular opera, The Marriage of Figaro takes place in one single day inside the palace of the Count Almaviva. Figaro, the Count's valet, is set to marry Susanna, the Countess's maid, who is also a favorite of the Count. But before Figaro can finally be united with his bride, he must first overcome every obstacle put in his way by the philandering Count, who is aiming to bed Susanna first.

The Marriage of Figaro will be sung in Italian with English subtitles.

With mounting successes in symphonic repertoire, opera and contemporary music, Jayce Ogren is rapidly developing a reputation as one of the country's finest young conductors.

Ogren made his debut with New York City Opera in 2010, conducting the Company's critically acclaimed production of Bernstein's A Quiet Place. The New York Times said Ogren "had an impressive City Opera debut, drawing a pulsing, sensitive and brilliant account of this stylistically far-ranging score from the orchestra." In 2012, he conducted the American premiere of Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donnafor the Company, and in February 2012, he returned to lead a new production of Britten's The Turn of the Screw. The New York Timespraised him for drawing "a richly colored and suspenseful performance from the skillful players and a terrific cast." He will conduct a new production of Rossini's Moses in Egypt in April. These operas culminate a 2012-13 season full of significant New York City appearances: Ogren debuted with the New York Philharmonic; debuted with the Mostly Mozart Festival leading the groundbreaking International Contemporary Ensemble; led ICE in programs at Columbia University's Miller Theatre (and the Wien Modern Festival); joined New York City Ballet for an all-Stravinsky program; and led CONTACT! concerts at Symphony Space and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the summer of 2012 Ogren led performances of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Verbier Festival Academy and conducted the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in performing Bernstein's West Side Story at the Royal Albert Hall, accompanying a 50th anniversary screening of the film. He led the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa in performances of the work in January 2013 and repeats it with the Detroit Symphony in June. In May, he returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra for performances at the Barbican Center in London.

Other recent U.S. engagements include dates with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Juilliard Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the New World Symphony and the Grand Rapids Symphony. Mr. Ogren stepped into a last-minute cancellation for James Levine, conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a challenging program that included the world premiere of Peter Lieberson's song cycle Songs of Love and Sorrow with Gerard Finley. European guest engagements have included the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, repeat appearances with the Asturias Symphony, regional opera companies and orchestras throughout Scandinavia.

Jayce Ogren was appointed by Franz Welser-Möst as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. In 2009, he led the Orchestra in regular season subscription concerts, and at The Blossom Festival.

As a composer, Ogren's works have been premiered at venues including the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, the Brevard Music Center, the American Choral Directors Association Conference, and the World Saxophone Congress. His Symphonies of Gaia has been performed by ensembles on three continents and serves as the title track on a DVD featuring the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. He is the founder of Young Kreisler, a band that performs Ogren's own work as well as music ranging from Mahler to Piazzolla to Kurt Cobain. A native of Hoquiam, Washington, Mr. Ogren is based in New York City.

For nearly seventy years, since Mayor Fiorello La Guardia established it as "The People's Opera," New York City Opera has introduced generation after generation of young singers who are stars in the making, brought the public exciting new works and compelling, fresh interpretations of classics, acted as a champion for American composers and performers, and ensured that every New Yorker can experience the live art of opera.

Now is a time of extraordinary achievement by the Company. Under the leadership of George Steel, New York City Opera's ninth General Manager and Artistic Director, the Company will present four new productions in venues best suited for the scale of the work: the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, St. Ann's Warehouse, El Museo del Barrio and New York City Center, New York City Opera's original home, which Mayor La Guardia dubbed "The People's Theater." The Company is on track to have its second consecutive balanced budget.

In the past three years, 64 singers and 25 directors and designers have made their New York City Opera debuts. Among singers alone, those who have gone from New York City Opera debuts to international success are Joshua Hopkins (2011 A Quiet Place, made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2012); David Lomelí (2011 The Elixir of Love, debuted with Santa Fe in 2011 and Glyndebourne in 2012); Corinne Winters (2012 Rufus Wainwright Concert, 2012 George London Competition winner) and Anthony Roth Costanzo (2010Partenope, made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2012).

These artists join the ranks of more than 3,000 young singers whose international careers New York City Opera has launched, including David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Lauren Flanigan, Reneé Fleming, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, Beverly Sills, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Vaness and Frederica von Stade, to name a few.

Many innovations that define New York City Opera's identity and mission-promoting accessibility through the use of supertitles, prioritizing affordable ticket prices, nurturing young American artists, championing 20th-century opera and American works and presenting groundbreaking productions-have been adopted by leading U.S. companies of all sizes.

Prior to New York City Opera, Steel, a protégé of Leonard Bernstein, served as Executive Director of Columbia University's Miller Theatre, which he transformed into one of New York's most acclaimed showcases for early and modern music. Mr. Steel has received the Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming twice (2001-02 and 2005), the 2003 Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center and the 2003 ASCAP Concert Music Award.

At New York City Opera, Mr. Steel has achieved balanced budgets two years in a row, a first for the Company in over a decade. He has, in so doing, accomplished a feat that was all but unimaginable just a few years ago: helping the Company find a sustainable model that will allow it to remain true to its original promise for decades to come.

New York City Opera gratefully acknowledges Bloomberg Philanthropies, Emilie Roy Corey, The Ford Foundation, Michael and Mary Gellert, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Hearst Foundations, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund for their leadership support of its 2012-2013 season.

New York City Opera also expresses deep thanks to its Board of Directors for their extraordinary generosity, especially Board Chairman Charles R. Wall for his exemplary leadership.

Public support for New York City Opera is provided, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

American Airlines is the official airline of New York City Opera.