Opera Atelier Announces Tour To Chicago's Harris Theater

Opera Atelier's founding co-artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg today announced that the company will tour to Chicago as part of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance's 2018-19 season. Opera Atelier's French Baroque double bill of Charpentier's Actéon paired with Rameau's Pygmalion will embark on an international tour to the Harris Theater (Nov. 15-17, 2018) and the Palace of Versailles (Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2018), following its run at Toronto's Elgin Theatre (Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2018). Opera Atelier's longtime partners Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra will join the company on tour.

"We are thrilled to be part of the 18-19 season for the Harris Theater, one of the most important performing arts venues in America." say Pynkoski and Zingg. "We are honoured to represent Canada in Toronto's sister city of Chicago, in a season that features an impressive international roster of artists and companies including the English National Ballet, Italy's Teatro Regio Torino and Stuttgart's Gauthier Dance. We have long dreamed of an America engagement such as this."

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is Chicago's primary residence for music and dance, connecting diverse audiences with outstanding artists from across the city, the nation, and the world. Opened in November 2003 in Chicago's Millennium Park, the Harris Theater features the most diverse offerings of any venue in Chicago, and has earned national recognition as a distinctive model for collaboration, performance, and artistic advancement. Canadian Patricia Barretto is President and CEO of the Harris Theater and the 18-19 season is the first she has curated in her new capacity. Opera Atelier's performance on Nov. 17 at 2:00pm is part of the Exelon Family Series. The Harris Theater's presentation is made possible by Porter Air, Airline Presenting Sponsor.

Following its Chicago dates, Actéon & Pygmalion will tour to the Royal Opera House at the Palace of Versailles, marking Opera Atelier's fifth appearance since the company's debut there in 2012. While in Versailles, Opera Atelier will present an expanded version of Harmonia Sacra, the staged and choreographed performance that premieres in Toronto tomorrow (Currelly Hall at the Royal Ontario Museum, Feb. 15) and debuted to great acclaim in the Royal Chapel in 2017.

Charpentier's Actéon & Rameau's Pygmalion - These famous Greek myths, taken from Ovid's Metamorphosis, are transformed into riveting operatic masterpieces in the hands of two of the greatest composers in French music history. The performance begins with Charpentier's Actéon, the deeply moving story of the young hunter turned into a stag by Diana, goddess of the hunt. Actéon's magical transformation takes place on stage - a tour de force for the singer in the title role. He is then hunted by his own men and hounds. Following the intermission, Opera Atelier presents Pygmalion, Rameau's glittering Rococo masterpiece, in which a beautiful statue is transformed into a living, breathing woman by the power of love. Pygmalion opens with Opera Atelier's first Canadian commission for solo baroque violin and contemporary dancing, entitled Inception. This creation has been conceived as a theatrical intervention that leads into and merges with Rameau's famous overture. Performed by composer/violinist Edwin Huizinga and choreographer/Artist of Atelier Ballet, Tyler Gledhill, Inception is literally a pas de deux for instrumentalist and dancer, transforming the performance space as part of the evening's theme of metamorphosis.

Colin Ainsworth is featured in both title roles, alongside Mireille Asselin (Diana & Amour), Allyson McHardy (Juno & Céphise), Jesse Blumberg, Christopher Enns, Meghan Lindsay, Cynthia Smithers and Anna Sharpe. Performed in French with English Surtitles. Actéon & Pygmalion is directed by Marshall Pynkoski and choreographed by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, with set design by Gerard Gauci, lighting design by Michelle Ramsay and costume designs by Michael Legouffe respectively. The production will feature the full corps of Artists of Atelier Ballet, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Elisa Citterio, Music Director) under the baton of David Fallis.

Opera Atelier's 2018-2019 Major Sponsors

Season Presenting Sponsor: BMO Financial Group

Season Underwriter: El Mocambo Productions

Opera Atelier gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

Opera Atelier is North America's premier period opera/ballet company, producing the opera, ballet and drama of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. While drawing upon the aesthetics and ideals of the period, Opera Atelier goes beyond "reconstruction" and infuses each production with an inventive theatricality that resonates with modern audiences. Led by founding artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg since 1985, Opera Atelier has garnered acclaim for its performances at home as well as in the United States, Europe and Asia. Opera Atelier is committed to the development of young Canadian artists and offers innovative education programs for youth, as well as $15 tickets for ages 15 to 30.

Photo: Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg and Marshall Pynkoski in the Palace of Versailles. Ms. Zingg is wearing a gown by Reem Acra, generously provided by The Room at Hudson's Bay. Photo by Bruce Zinger.