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Gene Scheer
Gene Scheer (born April 28, 1958) is an American songwriter, librettist and lyricist. Brother to Samuel Scheer, an English teacher at Windsor High School and part-time musician. Education and early career Scheer was born in New York City. He received his Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, followed by a scholarship to the University of Cologne and a Rotary International Fellowship to study at the Hochschule Für Musik in Vienna. While in Europe, he worked as an actor and singer in leading roles at the Theater an der Wien, the Deutsches Theater in Munich and as director George Tabori's assistant at the Schauspielhaus in Cologne. Operatic librettist Mr. Scheer worked as librettist with Tobias Picker on ''Thérèse Raquin'' (based on the Émile Zola novel), commissioned by a consortium of companies including The Dallas Opera San Diego Opera, and the Opéra de Montréal, and premiering in Dallas in November 2001, starri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastman School Of Music
The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M.) degrees, Master of Arts (M.A.) degrees, Master of Music (M.M.) degrees, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees, and Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degrees in many musical fields. The school also awards a "Performer's Certificate" or "Artist's Diploma". In 2015, there were more than 900 students enrolled in the collegiate division of the Eastman School (approximately 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students). Students came from almost every state of the United States, with approximately 25% foreign students. Each year approximately 2000 students apply (1000 undergraduates and 1000 graduates). The acceptance rate was 13% in 2011 and about 1,000 students (ranging in age from 16 years to over 80 years of age) are enrolled in the Eastman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Racette
Patricia Lynn Racette (born 1965) is an American operatic soprano. A winner of the Richard Tucker Award in 1998, she has been a regular presence at major opera houses internationally. Racette has enjoyed long-term partnerships with the San Francisco Opera, where she has been a regular performer since 1989, and with the Metropolitan Opera, where she has performed since 1995. Also active on the concert stage, Racette has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She also received the award for Best Opera Recording for her performance in the Los Angeles Opera's production of ''The Ghosts of Versailles'' at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. Racette has particularly excelled in Puccini and Verdi operas. Among her most well-known roles are Violetta in ''La traviata''; Blanche de la Force and Madame Lidoine in ''Dialogues of the Carmelites''; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playbill
''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's program. ''Playbill'' was first printed in 1884 for a single theater on 21st Street in New York City. The magazine is now used at nearly every Broadway theatre, as well as many Off-Broadway productions. Outside New York City, ''Playbill'' is used at theaters throughout the United States. As of September 2012, its circulation was 4,073,680. History What is known today as ''Playbill'' started in 1884, when Frank Vance Strauss founded the New York Theatre Program Corporation specializing in printing theater programs. Strauss reimagined the concept of a theater program, making advertisements a standard feature and thus transforming what was then a leaflet into a fully designed magazine. The new format proved popular with theatergoers, who s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Decembers (opera)
''Three Decembers'' is a chamber opera in two acts by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Gene Scheer which is based on the unpublished play ''Some Christmas Letters'' by Terrence McNally. Created with a role for Frederica von Stade, the work premiered on 29 February 2008 at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO). It commissioned the work in association with the San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances. The opera was first presented under the working title ''Last Acts'' at the world premiere by the Houston Grand Opera. The premiere production was directed by Leonard Foglia with lighting designed by Brian Nason and costumes by Cesar Galindo. The ten-instrument chamber orchestra included two pianos played by Heggie himself as well as Patrick Summers Patrick Summers (born August 14, 1963) is an American conductor best known for his work with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where he has been the artistic and music director since 2011, and with San Francisco Opera, where he served as principal gue ... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederica Von Stade
Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburger Festspielhaus, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne and Carnegie Hall. Conductors with whom she has worked include Abbado, Bernstein, Boulez, Giulini, Karajan, Levine, Muti, Ozawa, Sinopoli, Solti and Tilson Thomas. She has also been a prolific and eclectic recording artist, attracting nine Grammy nominations for best classical vocalist, and she has made many appearances on television. A mezzo-soprano equally at home in lyric music and in coloratura, she has assumed fifty-seven operatic roles on stage and eight more in concert or on disc, progressing from minor parts to romantic leadsboth male and femaleand, latterly, character parts. She is especially associated with the Mozart, Rossini and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at 50.'' Houston: Herring Press, 2005, p. 83. the company is resident at the Wortham Theater Center. In its history, the company has received a Tony Award, two Grammy Awards, and three Emmy Awards, the only opera company in the world to win these three honours. Houston Grand Opera is supported by an active auxiliary organization, the Houston Grand Opera Guild, established in October 1955. __TOC__ History In 1955, the German-born impresario Walter Herbert and Houstonians Elva Lobit, Edward Bing, and Charles Cockrell founded the company. Its inaugural season featured two performances of two operas, ''Salome'' (starring Brenda Lewis in the title role) and ''Madama Butterfly''. David Gockley succeeded Walter Herbert as general director in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," McNally was the recipient of five Tony Awards. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for ''Love! Valour! Compassion!'' and '' Master Class'' and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for '' Kiss of the Spider Woman'' and ''Ragtime,'' and received the 2019 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1996, and he also received the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the highest recognition of artistic merit in the United States. His other accolades included an Emmy Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, four Drama Desk Awards, two Luci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Last Acts
''Three Decembers'' is a chamber opera in two acts by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Gene Scheer which is based on the unpublished play ''Some Christmas Letters'' by Terrence McNally. Created with a role for Frederica von Stade, the work premiered on 29 February 2008 at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO). It commissioned the work in association with the San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances. The opera was first presented under the working title ''Last Acts'' at the world premiere by the Houston Grand Opera. The premiere production was directed by Leonard Foglia with lighting designed by Brian Nason and costumes by Cesar Galindo. The ten-instrument chamber orchestra included two pianos played by Heggie himself as well as Patrick Summers Patrick Summers (born August 14, 1963) is an American conductor best known for his work with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where he has been the artistic and music director since 2011, and with San Francisco Opera, where he served as principal gue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Costello
Stephen John Costello (born September 29, 1981 in Philadelphia) is an American operatic tenor and a recipient of the 2009 Richard Tucker Award.''Philadelphia Inquirer'' (April 17, 2009) Costello has performed in noted opera houses around the world including Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2010, Costello originated the role of Greenhorn (Ishmael) in the world premiere of Jake Heggie's ''Moby-Dick'' at the Dallas Opera. Education and vocal training A native of Philadelphia, Costello is a 2007 graduate of that city's Academy of Vocal Arts, where he performed the Duke in ''Rigoletto'', Rodolfo in ''La bohème'', Nemorino in ''L'elisir d'amore'', Ferrando in'' Così fan tutte'', Fritz in ''L'amico Fritz'', Roberto in ''Le villi'', and Des Grieux in Massenet’s ''Manon''. He studied with voice teacher Bill Schuman.Taylor (August 18, 2008) Professional operatic career While still in school, Costello made his professional debut as Rodolfo in ''La bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Heppner
Thomas Bernard Heppner (born January 14, 1956) is a Canadian tenor and broadcaster, now retired from singing, who specialized in opera and other classical works for voice. Early life and career Heppner, of Mennonite descent, was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. He began his musical studies at the University of British Columbia and first attracted national attention when he won the CBC Talent Festival in 1979. He is associated with the Wagnerian repertoire, but he performed a range of operas from the German, French and Italian canons. Heppner performed frequently with opera companies in the United States (including the New York Metropolitan Opera) and Europe, and concert appearances with symphony orchestras. He has appeared in the DVD recordings of the Met's productions of Beethoven's ''Fidelio'', Wagner's ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', and Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde'', three of his signature roles. He first per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moby-Dick (opera)
''Moby-Dick'' is an American opera in two acts, with music by Jake Heggie and libretto by Gene Scheer, adapted from Herman Melville's 1851 novel ''Moby-Dick''. The opera received its premiere at Dallas Opera in Dallas, Texas, on 30 April 2010. Heggie dedicated the opera to Stephen Sondheim. Composition history In 2005, Dallas Opera commissioned an opera from Heggie, intended for the company's inaugural season in the Winspear Opera House in 2010. In consultation with Terrence McNally, Heggie suggested ''Moby-Dick'' as the subject. Subsequently, Dallas Opera shared this commission jointly with San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia and Calgary Opera. McNally subsequently withdrew from work on the opera because of health issues. Heggie continued work on the opera in collaboration with Scheer and stage director Leonard Foglia. Scheer estimated that approximately 50% of his libretto used Melville's words directly. Heggie specifically wrote the role ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake Heggie
Jake Heggie (born March 31, 1961) is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers. Biography Childhood John ("Jake") Stephen Heggie was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Judith (née: Rohrbach) and John Francis Heggie, the third of four children. His father was a physician and an amateur saxophonist, and his mother was a nurse. Shortly after Heggie's birth, his family relocated to Columbus, Ohio. He began studying piano when he was seven years old. In 1972, Heggie's father committed suicide after a long battle with depression. Shortly thereafter, Heggie began writing music. A few years after his father's death, the family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Heggie completed high school and continued his studies in piano. Education and musical training As a teenager, Heggie studied composition privately with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
