Madison Opera's Opera in the Park 2011 Set For Tonight

Madison Opera's Opera in the Park marks its tenth anniversary on Saturday, July 16 at 8 p.m. in Garner Park on Madison's West Side. The annual free concert of opera and Broadway favorites will close Madison Opera's 50th anniversary season.

A Madison summer tradition that attracted an estimated 14,000 people in 2010, Opera in the Park 2011 will feature soprano Maria Kanyova, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, tenor Scott Ramsay, and baritone Hyung Yun in performance with the Madison Opera Chorus and Madison Symphony Orchestra led by Madison Opera's Artistic Director John DeMain. Madison Opera's new General Director Kathryn Smith and WKOW TV's "Wake Up Wisconsin" anchor John Beard will co-host the event.

All of this year's Opera in the Park guest artists will also be performing in Madison Opera's upcoming 2011-2012 season. Maria Kanyova, last seen in Madison as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, will return in November as Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Baritone Hyung Yun, who starred as Escamillo in Madison Opera's most recent production of Carmen, will sing the title role in Eugene Onegin, and both artists will be joined by Wisconsin native Scott Ramsay, who will sing Lenski in the same production. Rising star mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack makes her Madison Opera debut at Opera in the Park and will sing the title role in Rossini's Cinderella with the
company in April 2012.

The program for Opera in the Park will feature selections from important works in Madison Opera's history, including Die Fledermaus, which the company performed pieces of in its first outing, and Shining Brow, the company's 1993 commission based on the life of Frank Lloyd Wright. In addition, the program will highlight selections from Eugene Onegin and Cinderella, as well as signature arias from The Elixir of Love, Madama Butterfly and La bohème.

Garner Park is located at 333 S. Rosa Road; its south end borders Mineral Point Road. Parking is available in the CUNA Mutual Group and University Research Park lots. Attendees are encouraged to bring picnics. Alcohol is permitted but not sold in the park. On the day of the concert, Garner Park will open at 7 a.m. Audience members may not leave items in the park prior to this time. The rain date for Opera in the Park is Sunday, July 17 at 8 p.m.

ARTIST BIOS

Soprano Maria Kanyova will star as Tatiana in Madison Opera's Eugene Onegin
next season, having last appeared with the company in the title role of
Madama Butterfly in 2008. The American soprano has received praise for her
portrayals of the leading heroines with opera companies throughout the
United States. During the 2010-2011 season, Maria Kanyova returned to
Portland Opera for a double-bill of Pagliacci and Carmina Burana, as well as
revisiting her critically acclaimed role as Pat Nixon in Nixon in China for
the Canadian Opera Company. This summer, she appears at the Opera Theatre of
St. Louis as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack makes her Madison Opera mainstage debut next
season in the title role of Cinderella. Acclaimed for her "caramel timbre,
flickering vibrato, and crisp articulation" (Opernwelt) as she "hurls fast
notes like a Teresa Berganza or a Frederica von Stade" (San Francisco
Chronicle), Daniella Mack is a young star on the rise. Recent engagements
include Rosina in IL Barbiere di Siviglia at Pittsburgh Opera, the title
role of Cinderella at Opera Colorado, and Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri
at Opera National de Bordeaux and Florentine Opera in Milwaukee.

Tenor Scott Ramsey, a native of Wisconsin, makes his Madison Opera mainstage
debut next season as Lenski in Eugene Onegin. Praised by The New York Times
for his "impressive...bright-voiced tenor", he is highly regarded by opera
companies and orchestras across North America. Recent engagements include
Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Mark in Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage
at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Fritz in La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein
opposite Stephanie Blythe at Opera Boston, Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte at
Arizona Opera, and the title role in Faust at Eugene Opera.

Baritone Hyung Yung will sing the title role in Eugene Onegin with Madison
Opera next season, having recently earned critical acclaim for his 2009
performances with the company as Valentin in Faust and Escamillo in Carmen.
At the Metropolitan Opera, he has sung Valentin in Faust, Ping in Turandot,
Lescaut in Manon with Renee Fleming in the title role, and Silvio in
Pagliacci. He made his debut at Los Angeles Opera as Angelotti in Tosca and
has returned to sing Marcello in La bohème and Lescaut in Manon with Anna
Netrebko. Recent engagements include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with San
Francisco Opera and the Welsh National Opera.

John DeMain is the Artistic Director of Madison Opera and Music Director of
the Madison Symphony Orchestra. In recent seasons, he has led productions at
the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera,
and Los Angeles Opera. Most recently, he conducted the Canadian premiere of
Nixon in China at Vancouver Opera and Carmina Burana and Pagliacci at
Portland Opera. As the former music director of the Houston Grand Opera, he
conducted significant world premieres by Leonard Bernstein, John Adams, and
Sir Michael Tippet, in addition to leading a history-making production of
Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Upcoming engagements include Showboat at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago and Porgy and Bess at Seattle Opera.

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