Chicago Opera Theater Receives $500K from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

On June 26, 2009, Chicago Opera Theater (COT) was awarded a $500,000 multi-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This grant, to be used in the 2010, 2011 and 2012 Seasons, will support three contemporary and three Baroque opera productions.

"I am thrilled to have The Mellon Foundation recognize that Chicago Opera Theater is an essential part of the international opera world, as well as Chicago's rich cultural landscape," said General Director Brian Dickie. "Their support acknowledges the importance of the work we've been doing at COT for years - rarely produced masterpieces from the Baroque period and newer works from the 20th century."

Since Brian Dickie's first season at Chicago Opera Theater in 2000, he has presented 18 Chicago premieres - a combination of both contemporary works such as John Adams' Nixon in China (2006) and Britten's Death in Venice (2004), as well as early works like Monteverdi's Orfeo (2000) and Handel's Agrippina (2003).

In the 2010 Spring Festival Season, COT will produce the first opera in the presentation of three Baroque masterpieces through 2012, Francesco Cavalli's Giasone. This Baroque "trilogy" will be devoted to the exploration of three operas with Medea as a central character: Giasone, Médée by Marc-Antoine Charpentier presented in 2011, and Teseo by George Frideric Handel presented in 2012.

Jake Heggie's Three Decembers will close COT's 2010 Spring Festival Season. This new work, which premiered at the Houston Grand Opera in March of 2008, will feature Frederica von Stade in her final opera performances in Chicago before retirement.

"In these difficult economic times, this grant is invaluable to Chicago Opera Theater to continue our work that is so well respected in the community," said General Manager Roger Weitz. "We are grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support."

Founded in 1974 by Alan Stone, Chicago Opera Theater has carved a significant place for itself in the operatic life of Chicago and has reached an audience of hundreds of thousands through its main stage performances, outreach, education and young artist programs. Since Brian Dickie's appointment as General Director in 1999, COT has evolved as an opera company that is young, fresh, and colorful - an image well suited to its surroundings at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park.

The Foundation's Performing Arts Program currently provides multi-year grants on an invitation-only basis to leading orchestras, theater companies, opera companies, modern dance companies, and dance-specific presenters based in the United States. Although the Foundation does not confine its support to large organizations with national visibility, it does seek to support institutions that contribute to the preservation and development of their art form, provide creative leadership in solving problems or addressing issues unique to the field, and which present the highest level of institutional performance. Grants are awarded on the basis of artistic merit and leadership in the field, and concentrate on achieving long-term results. In conjunction with regular program grants, the Foundation also makes a limited number of grants to research and service organizations that are doing work closely related to program goals.

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