Washington National Opera Kicks Off American Opera Initiative with Three World Premieres Tonight

(WASHINGTON)-Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced complete details and casting for the fourth season of the American Opera Initiative, its comprehensive commissioning program that brings contemporary American stories to the stage while fostering the talents of rising American composers and librettists. Three pairings of new opera composers and librettists- Sarah Hutchings and Mark Sonnenblick (Twenty Minutes or Less), David Clay Mettens and Joshua McGuire (Alexandra), and Christopher Weiss and John de los Santos (Service Provider)-will premiere new one-act operas, each based on a contemporary American story, in semi-staged concert performances tonight, December 2, 2015 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The 7 p.m. performance is sold out; a second performance at 9 p.m. has just been added to accommodate demand.

The composer/librettist teams have been collaborating on their works with three distinguished mentors who have each enjoyed professional success with new American operas:composer Ricky Ian Gordon (27, A Coffin in Egypt), librettist Mark Campbell (Silent Night, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music), and conductor John DeMain (the world premiere of Nixon in China, WNO's Show Boat, 2013).

These new works will be presented with accompaniment by members of the WNO Orchestra conducted by Maestro DeMain and will be performed in English. The majority of roles will be sung by members of WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. Andrea Dorf McGray, an alumnus of the program, is the director. Following each performance, there will be a Q&A session with the artists and creative team.

Twenty Minutes or Less

Music by Sarah Hutchings Libretto by Mark Sonnenblick

Osha's first night working at Pizza Queen coincides with its most important delivery of the year. Will her co-workers like and respect her? Will she get the pizza to the customer in time? Will the thin veneer of human civilization prove strong enough to keep the empty chaos of the universe at bay? The clock is ticking...

Cast:
Osha Damian Candice Pizza Queens

Alexandra

Music by David Clay Mettens Libretto by Joshua McGuire

As a young widow tries to return a library book stolen by her deceased husband, she realizes it is the first link in a chain of secret messages from another time. With the library closing around her, she is forced to choose between her own complex history with the book and an uncertain future.

Service Provider

Music by Christopher Weiss Libretto by John de los Santos

Service Provider is a comic opera detailing the erosion of modern romance by our obsession with mobile technology. When a loving young couple goes out for their anniversary dinner at an elegant restaurant, the evening descends into farcical disaster as the constant threat of cell phone use eventually unmasks the fractured reality of their marriage.

Washington National Opera's 2015-2016 season also includes a revival of WNO's charming holiday production of Hansel and Gretel; the world premiere of Better Gods, a one- hour opera about the last queen of Hawaii, presented under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative; the company premiere of Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars in a gripping production from Cape Town Opera; and WNO's first complete presentation of Wagner's extraordinary four-part Ring Cycle, with a world-class cast under the direction of Francesca Zambello and featuring the WNO Orchestra conducted by WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin.

TICKET INFORMATION
American Opera Initiative: Three 20-Minute Operas takes place on Wednesday, December 2 at 7 and 9 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $15 and are on sale now at the Kennedy Center box office, by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600, or through the Kennedy Center website.

ABOUT WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA

Washington National Opera (WNO) is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, the company presents a diverse season of grand opera-including both classics from the repertory and more contemporary pieces-plus an annual holiday family opera, several newly commissioned American works, and a variety of special concerts and events. The WNO Orchestra is led by Music Director Philippe Auguin. Founded in 1956 and an affiliate of the Kennedy Center since 2011, WNO has a storied legacy of world premieres, new productions, international tours, live recordings and radio broadcasts, and innovative education and community-engagement programs. Throughout its history WNO has been led by titans in the opera field, including the legendary Plácido Domingo, who headed the company from 1996 to 2011.

WNO contributes to the future of opera through two signature artist-development programs. The Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, now in its 14th season, has become one of the nation's most competitive and comprehensive professional training programs for young singers and collaborative pianists. Alumni of the program have won major competitions and gone on to successful careers at major operas houses in the U.S. and abroad. The WNO Opera Institute nurtures the ambitions of high-school-age singers from across the nation during an intensive three-week summer program held at American University in Washington.

Among the company's most successful recent programs is the 2012 launch of the American Opera Initiative, a comprehensive commissioning program that works to expand the American operatic repertory, to give WNO's young artists the chance to collaborate with living composers and librettists on new works, and to make American opera more relevant to 21st- century audiences. The most popular of WNO's community-engagement programs is M&M'S® Opera in the Outfield, during which an opera is broadcast live from the Kennedy Center Opera House stage to the high-definition scoreboard at Nationals Park. The company's other education programs include the Kids Create Opera program at local elementary schools, Look-In performances for students in grades 4-8, and the Student Dress Rehearsal Program for middle and high school students. The company also offers free Opera Insights programs before every performance in the Opera House.

To celebrate the company's 60th anniversary, Washington National Opera will present three complete cycles of Wagner's Ring in spring 2016. These performances, featuring an acclaimed production by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and conducted by Music Director Philippe Auguin, will be the first time the company has presented The Ring in complete cycles in its history.

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