NEIGE
Catherine Kontz (*1976)
From the novel “Neige” by Maxence Fermine
Libretto by Catherine Kontz
Création mondiale
In French and Japanese, with subtitles in French and English
After Der Turm in 2011, the Théâtres de la Ville once again support the work of a Luxembourg composer in 2013. Catherine Kontz was inspired by certain aspects of Japanese Kabuki theatre to create her first opera Neige. Based on the novel by Maxence Fermine of the same title, the story recounts the adventures of a 19th century haiku poet who comes across a blind painter, a tragic samurai warrior and a French tight-rope walker.
The multidisciplinary production features five soloists, a small female choir, a dancer and an acrobat. The music is provided by Luxembourgbased ensemble Lucilin, who impressed audiences last year in the production of The Raven and with whom the Théâtres de la Ville are thus continuing their collaboration.
As with her previous theatre work, Catherine Kontz will direct the piece herself but has assembled an impressive creative team around her from her London connections. Avant-garde studio Knifedge will create the projections and Conductor in Residence for the British National Youth Orchestra Gerry Cornelius will be in charge of the music while award-winning theatre designer Ellan Parry will be responsible for set and costumes. Together they will try to create a magical and beautiful landscape with mountains made out of fabric and cutting-edge projections inspired by Japanese painting and calligraphy.
Direction musicale Gerry Cornelius
Mise en scène Catherine Kontz
Collaboration à la mise en scène Keiko Sumida
Scénographie & costumes Ellan Parry
Créateur Vidéo Timothy Bird
Lumières Kristina Hjelm
Yuko Akita Rodrigo Ferreira
Père Akita Edward Grint
Dignitaire de la Cour & Horoshi Vincent Pavesi
Maître Soseki Omar Ebrahim
Neige Juliet Fraser
Neige jeune / Flocon du printemps Katharina Dröscher
Soseki jeune Reveriano Camil
Orchestre United Instruments of Lucilin
Chœur de femmes Lilith Verhelst (Soprano I), Coline Dutilleul (Soprano II), Dana Luccock ( Mezzo-soprano I), Anaïs Brullez (Mezzo-soprano II)
Instrumentalistes Philipp Marguerre (Glasharmonica), Akinori Fujimoto (Taiko drums)
Répétiteur piano Klauspeter Bungert
Régie générale Sabine Konz
Whether conducting contemporary masterpieces or bringing fresh insights to the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven or Brahms, Mark Russell Smith demonstrates consummate musicianship and enthusiastic commitment to the art of music-making – qualities that have endeared him to audiences and musicians alike. In June of 2007, Smith was appointed Director of New Music Projects of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Minnesota, a combined post that enables him to bring his commitment for excellence and passion for education to new audiences. In March of 2008, he was named Music Director and Conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, effective September, 2008. As Music Director of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, a position he held from 1999 to 2009, Smith was praised for his innovative and approachable programming and is widely credited with fostering the orchestra’s unprecedented artistic growth. As a guest conductor, Smith enjoys a burgeoning international reputation that has already brought him engagements and re-engagements with prestigious American orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. With the Minnesota Orchestra, he made his critically-acclaimed Sommerfest debut in 2006 and made his subscription series debut in March of 2009. In November 2007, he returned to his alma mater to lead the Symphony Orchestra of The Curtis Institute of Music in Verizon Hall. Smith’s debut at the Nomus Music Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia was met with critical and audience acclaim and led to immediate reengagement. Other recent and upcoming appearances include the Santa Barbara Symphony, Brazil’s Orquestra Sinfôniea da USP, the Hartford Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the Phoenix Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Eugene Symphony, the Curtis Opera Theatre, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Eastern Music Festival, the Tulsa Philharmonic, Orchestra London (Ontario), and the European Center for Opera and Vocal Art in Ghent, Belgium.
An alum of the Domingo-Cafritz Emerging Artist Program, performances in 2012-13 Anna Bolena and Don Giovanni with Washington National Opera, Amahl and the Night’s Visitors with Ashlawn Opera. And Un Ballo in Maschera with Opera Tampa . He made his European debut in Die Zauberflöte with Opera de Oviedo. Additionally he has sung Cosi fan tutte, Werther and Tosca with WNO, and, in Wolf Trap was seen in Sweeney Todd and Les contes d’Hoffmann. He has also sung with San Francisco Opera, Atlanta Opera, Los Angeles Opera , and Eugene Opera,
This season, tenor Matthew Plenk returns to the both the Metropolitan Opera and the Virginia Opera as Tamino in The Magic Flute. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his Met debut in the 2007/2008 season in Tristan und Isolde. He has since returned to the Met for Lucia di Lammermoor, The Makropolous Case, Il Tabarro and Hamlet. Other recent opera engagements have included Die fligende Holländer at the Los Angeles Opera, The Pirates of Penzanze at the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Cosi fan tutte at the Atlanta Opera, and Don Giovanni at the Boston Lyric Opera and the Des Moines Metro Opera. In concert he has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and at the Tanglewood and Aspen festivals. Mr. Plenk is a Samling Scholar, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Hartt School of Music and a Master’s degree from Yale University.
This season, soprano Nadine Sierra makes her debuts at the Seattle Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto and at the Virginia Opera as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and returns to the Boston Lyric Opera for Rigoletto. She also appears in a performance of the Brahms Requiem in Ann Arbor and will be presented in recital in the Tucson Desert Song Festival and by the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in New York. She recently made debuts at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples in Rigolett and the Glimmerglass Festival in staged performances of the Pergolesi Stabat Mater. A graduate of the Adler Fellowship program at the San Francisco Opera, she appeared on their main stage in The Magic Flute and Heart of a Soldier. Other recent engagements have included her debuts at the Florida Grand Opera as Gilda and the Boston Lyric Opera as Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the title role in Orfeo ed Euridice at the Palm Beach Opera, and the critically acclaimed production of Montsalvatge’s El gato con botas at the Gotham Chamber Opera.
In 2013-14 Heather Buck sings Alma Beers in Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain with Teatro Real (Madrid, world premiere), debuts with Nashville Opera as Leila in Les Pêcheurs de perles, and with Pittsburgh Opera as La Princesse in Glass’ Orphée. In 2012-13 Heather Buck sang Leila in Les Pêcheurs de perles with Virginia Opera; returned to Opera Naples as Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and to Teatr Wielki, Opera Naradowa as Medea in Dusapin’s “Medeamaterial.” She sings Lulu Baines in Elmer Gantry with Florentine Opera (Naxos label), nominated for three Grammy awards, and voted “Best of the Year” by Opera News.
Performances include La Boheme with Den Norske Opera, Schmidt’s Notre Dame in Carnegie Hall, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with El Paso Opera, Andrea Chenier in Avery Fisher Hall, Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Theater of Connecticut, concerts with Dallas Opera, Wonderful Town with the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra di Milano, and a recording of L’amore dei tre re at the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Awards include the Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, the Kauder Competition for Voice, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Giulio Gari Foundation Competition, Opera Index, George London Foundation, and Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation.
Natalie Polito, hailed as “one of the finest young sopranos in Greater Boston”, makes her Virginia Opera mainstage debut as the First Bridesmaid in Le nozze di Figaro. Ms. Polito recently made her international debut during a 2012 concert tour of Vietnam. She made her mainstage debut at the 2012 Green Mountain Opera Festival as Musetta in La Bohème under the baton of internationally renowned conductor Leonardo Vordoni. The 2011 recipient of the Santa Fe Opera’s Lillian Caroff Mayer award, Ms. Polito covered Kitty in The Last Savage and Marie in Wozzeck for Santa Fe. Ms. Polito holds degrees from The Boston Conservatory and Northwestern University. 
Mezzo-Soprano Courtney Millerjoins Virginia Opera as a Resident Artist this season. A New England Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Ms. Miller is a current Career Bridges Grant recipient. Highlights include Sister Helen (Dead Man Walking), L’enfant (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Concepción (L’heure Espagnole),Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), and Nancy (Albert Herring). She has sung with Boston Lyric Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Ohio Light Opera, and Seagle Music Colony. An art song enthusiast, Ms. Miller is an avid recitalist. A Wisconsin native, Ms. Miller holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Boston Conservatory. 
Recognized for her “warm, clear, and colorful voice” and “huge talent, full of temperament, and pinache”(Washington Post), Mezzo-soprano Sarah Williams has performed to critical acclaim worldwide. Equally at home in opera, musical theater, chamber music, and recital, Ms. Williams has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Virginia Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Sarasota Opera. A prolific recording artist, Ms. Williams can be heard on the Albany and Naxos labels. Her performances have been broadcast on PBS, NPR, and the radio program Performance Today. A deep commitment to contemporary music, has led Ms. Williams to premiere the role of Veruca Salt in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket. In addition, she debuted the title role of Jo in Mark Adamo’s Little Women in Tel Aviv, Israel. She received her degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) and Westminster Choir College (B.M.).
Ryan C. Connelly, tenor, is from New Freedom, Pennsylvania. He attended Temple University where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Performance in 2009, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where he received a Master’s degree in Voice Performance in 2011. He has since performed with many companies, including Kentucky Opera, making his professional debut as Remendado in Carmen; the Queen City Chamber Opera, singing the roles of Vogelsang and Bastien in the company’s first production of Der Schauspieldirektor and Bastienne und Bastienne; and the CCM Spoleto festival, where he starred in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino as Florville.
Soprano Amanda Opuszynski recently appeared as Frasquita (Carmen) with The Atlanta Opera and covered Woglinde and Wellgunde in Seattle Opera’s renowned Ring Cycle. During her two seasons with the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, she appeared as Norina (Don Pasquale) and Sophie (Werther) and made her mainstage debut as Frasquita (Carmen). Ms. Opuszynski has also enjoyed apprenticeships with the Glimmerglass Festival, The Santa Fe Opera, and the Wolf Trap Opera Studio. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland Opera Studio and has twice been a Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
A native of Walled Lake, Michigan, bass-baritone Matthew Scollin has begun his emerging career with young artist residencies at Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Seattle Opera. In 2012, he performed Man with a Cornet Case (Postcard from Morocco) while a member of the Merola Opera Program. As a Seattle Opera young artist during the 2012-13 season, Scollin made his mainstage debut as Second Prisoner in Fidelio and sang La Rocca in the program’s touring production of Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno. He has also covered Colline (La Bohème), First Apprentice (Wozzeck), and Antonio (Le Nozze di Figaro) while an apprentice at Santa Fe Opera in 2011 and 2013. Scollin holds degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Illinois.
Tenor David Blalock is participating in his first season as a Virginia Opera Emerging Artist. In the spring of 2013, he made his Fort Worth Opera debut as Young Thompson in Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied. During his second summer as an apprentice with Santa Fe Opera in 2013, David made his SFO mainstage debut, singing Bertram in Rossini’s La Donna del Lago, as well as First Prisoner in the world premiere of Theodore Morrison’s Oscar. He is a two-time district winner of the MONC auditions. After receiving his undergraduate degree from UNC Greensboro, David attended the Maryland Opera Studio for two years.
André Chiang is young baritone with great musicality and promise. Mr. Chiang’s credits include Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Ctésippe (Pénélope), and Il Conte (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Manhattan School of Music; Masetto (Don Giovanni), El Gallo (The Fantisticks), Sciarrone/Jailer (Tosca) with Shreveport Opera; Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Young Galileo/Salviate (Galileo Galilei), Maximillian/Captain (Candide), Argante (Rinaldo), Ford (Falstaff) with Portland Opera. He has been a Gerdine Young Artist with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and joins the young artist program with the Glimmerglass Festival covering Lancelot (Camelot) and the Emerging Artist Program with Virginia Opera.’
Kristen Choi (Mezzo-soprano) is a Los Angeles native and a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Recent roles include Jo (Little Women) with Opera North, Tisbe (La Cenerentola) with Townsend Opera, Lady Thiang (The King and I) with Opera North, Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, CA, and St. Theresa II (Four Saints in Three Acts) with Opera Parallèle in San Francisco. Ms. Choi recently sang arias from Bizet’s Carmen with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra and received a scholarship with the Pasadena Opera Guild. Earlier this year, Ms. Choi participated in Sarasota Opera’s apprenticeship program.
Tenor Ben Kwak is well know in Korean community in Washington DC area. He has been tenor soloist in Washington Soloist Ensemble since year 2000. He has performed tenor solos in Mozart’s Requiem, Coronation Mass, Verdi’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah with Global Mission Church, Washington Soloist Ensemble, The First Baptist Church in Washington. He is continuously invited from the Ureuk Symphony Orchestra’s annual concert performing at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. Recently he sang with Tenor Tracey Welborn and Soprano Anne O’bern In Love With Music concert which Lyric Opera Virginia and Grace and Holy Trinity Church presented. In 2013-2014 season, Mr. Kwak will sing numerous rolls and cover lead rolls with Virginia Opera productions.
Troy has designed over 275 productions for various off-Broadway, regional and opera companies across the USA, Canada and internationally; including The New Victory, New York Theatre Workshop, Cherry Lane Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Epic Theatre Ensemble, Juilliard, The Guthrie, Bay Street Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Williamstown, Huntington Theatre, Court Theatre, Studio Theatre, DC., Syracuse Stage, and Sarasota Opera. Awards: AUDELCO Award and nominations for Helen Hayes Award, Joseph Jefferson Award, Henry Hewes Award, Drama Desk Award, six AUDELCO nominations and Ford Foundation Artist Grant. Upcoming: Falstaff at Opera Hamilton and Ariadne in Naxos at Glimmerglass Opera.
Opera, My Love Magazine 