Manahan Renews Contract as Music Director of NYC Opera

New York City Opera General Manager-Designate Gerard Mortier is very pleased to announce that Maestro George Manahan has renewed his contract as Music Director of the New York City Opera through 2012.  Maestro Manahan was appointed Music Director of City Opera in 1998 and currently is overseeing the artistic production of City Opera's 2008-09 schedule.  For Mr. Mortier's inaugural season beginning in the fall of 2009, Maestro Manahan will conduct performances of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Britten's Death in Venice.  He is also scheduled to conduct Szymanowski's King Roger during City Opera's 2010-11 season.

"I am delighted that Maestro Manahan, a talented musician for whom I have great respect, will continue with New York City Opera as its Music Director," said Mr. Mortier, "George is held in high esteem by the orchestra, singers and administration and gives me great confidence as I anticipate my inaugural season next year."

Maestro Manahan said, "I am very proud to be part of this exciting period in the company's history.  Throughout City Opera's past, there has been a rich tradition of being on the cutting edge of new and inventive styles in music and drama.  It is thrilling to be part of Mr. Mortier's unique and passionate vision for opera."

George Manahan made his New York City Opera debut conducting Die tote Stadt in 1991. In his tenure at City Opera, he has conducted 53 different operas including two world premieres, four US stage premieres and forty-one new productions including: Margaret Garner, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Cendrillon, Madama Butterfly ('Live from Lincoln Center' Telecast), Falstaff, Candide, La bohème ('Live from Lincoln Center' Telecast), L'elisir d'amore, La donna del lago, La traviata, Capriccio, Il viaggio a Reims, The Mines of Sulphur, Turandot, Carmen, Lysistrata, The Most Happy Fella, Daphne, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, La fanciulla del West, Il trittico, Don Giovanni, Salome, L'etoile, Hansel and Gretel, Little Women, Flavio, Lucia di Lammermoor, La finta giardiniera, Don Pasquale, Sweeney Todd, Mourning Becomes Electra, Ermione, The Flying Dutchman, Macbeth, Lilith, Roberto Devereux, The Love for Three Oranges, Rigoletto, The Ballad of Baby Doe, The Mother Of Us All, Tosca, Partenope, The Cunning Little Vixen, Lizzie Borden ('Live from Lincoln Center' Telecast), Intermezzo, L'heure espagnole and L'enfant et les sortilèges, Xerxes, Emmeline, and L'italiana in Algeri.

George Manahan has been a frequent guest conductor with the Seattle Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Santa Fe Opera companies, and was principal conductor with the Minnesota Opera from 1988 to 1996. He has also appeared at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Opéra National de Paris, Opera Australia, Teatro di Comunale di Bologna, Verona Filarmonico, Bergen Festival (Norway), and the Casals Festival (Puerto Rico). In the 2007 - 2008 season, Maestro Manahan conducted performances of Handel's Rodelinda' at Portland Opera in Oregon.

He served as Music Director of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra (Virginia) from 1987 to 1998 and will return to Richmond this season for orchestral performances of music by Debussy, Stravinsky, and Bartók. Under his leadership, the orchestra recorded the music of Ginastera and Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and was honored four times by the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) for its commitment to 20th century music.

Mr. Manahan served as acting Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1985 and has been a regular guest conductor ever since. He has made frequent appearances with the Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival. He has also conducted the Atlanta Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, National Symphony, and Jerusalem Symphony.

George Manahan has recorded works including Edward Thomas' Desire Under the Elms with the London Symphony, (a reading nominated for a Grammy Award in 2003), Steve Reich's Tehillim, on the EMI-Warner Brothers label, and two albums of 20th century concertos for clarinet featuring Richard Stolzmann.

He received his formal musical training at the Manhattan School of Music, studying conducting with Anton Coppola and George Schick, and was appointed to the faculty of the school upon his graduation in 1976. After the Juilliard School awarded him a fellowship as Assistant Conductor with the American Opera Center, he began his professional activities as a pianist and coach at the Santa Fe Opera in 1978.

In 1980, Mr. Manahan was chosen as the Exxon Arts Endowment Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. That same year he made his Santa Fe Opera conducting debut in the American premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's opera Von Heute auf Morgen. Within short order, debuts followed with other leading North American opera companies and orchestras.

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