|
Event
Queen of the Night
Fresco Opera presents this world premiere opera called, "The Queen of the Night". Mozart was given a gift from the immortals to bestow the world with "The Magic Flute" and it's up to us to tell the untold story that has been hidden in secret for over 200 years. The opera is Steeped in Masonic symbolism, secret rituals, and lush musical melodies.
Synopsis
The Queen of the Night lives in the Realm of Night, a place of perpetual darkness. Sarastro, a sorcerer priest from the Realm of Day, enters her world and they fall in love. Their children, Papageno, Pamina, and The Three Ladies, are born from the shadows. They are stalked by Apophis the Serpent, an ancient denizen of the night who hates Day, and is jealous of the QUEENs feelings for Sarastro, and wants to destroy him. Apophis persuades a young prince from the borderlands named TAMINO to enter the Realm of Night on the promise of a reward if he will destroy Sarastro. Night and Day are at odds with each other and a storm of black magic awaits anyone that gets in the way of the Queen's happiness.
Artist Biographies
Jordan Jenkins - Composer
Jordan Jenkins is an American composer focused on creating unique, powerful concert music that weaves different styles and genres into a single coherent narrative. Jordan has written a diverse catalog of music ranging from full orchestra to wind ensemble to string quartet to art song, and also done arrangements for jazz band, string quartet, and a cappella ensemble. His music has been performed on numerous recitals and concerts, as well as read by groups such as the Ciompi quartet and the Zeitgeist ensemble. Jordan's wind ensemble piece "Ontogenesis" was performed and toured by the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Wind Symphony after winning its composition competition, and his orchestra music has also been performed by the UWEC Symphony Orchestra. His recently composed chamber opera, The Blind Date, was developed in collaboration with the Roosevelt University Opera Department and will be staged and performed this fall as part of their OperaFest in Fall 2016. Jordan has also participated in various summer festivals including the Atlantic Music Festival and the Source Song Festival.
Amy Quan Barry - Librettist
Amy Quan Barry is the author of the poetry collections Asylum, Controvertibles, and Water Puppets. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Missouri Review, Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, and other literary publications. She is the recipient of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize (for Asylum) and has received fellowships from Stanford University, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Andrew Ravenscroft - Librettist
Writer Andrew Ravenscroft was born in London and grew up European. He now makes his home in Madison WI, which in his words make him both a "town mouse and a country mouse, as he belongs everywhere and nowhere at the same time." He enjoys the works of Michael Moorcock, HP Lovecraft, Philip K Dick and Stanislaw Lem. chances are you will see the influences of W.G. Sebald, Iain Banks and even a little Hunter S Thompson thrown in for good measure. He is excited to have had the chance to write the story for "Queen of the Night," given all the possibilities Mozart gave us with inferences in "The Magic Flute."
Caitlin Cisler - in the role of Queen of the Night
Caitlin Cisler (soprano), from Appleton, WI made her professional debut headlining as Cunegonde in Candide with Four Seasons Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin. Praised for her breathtaking range of voice, Ms. Cisler has appeared as Marie in La fille du régiment, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Queen of the Night, Pamina and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Armida in Rinaldo, Madame Herz in The Impresario, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, Norina in Don Pasquale, Morgana in Alcina, Valencienne in Die Lustige Witwe, Susanna and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande.
Ms. Cisler holds a Masters in Opera Performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and Bachelor degrees in vocal performance and biology from Lawrence University. She is a published researcher in vocal health and the effects of singing on the immune system. Currently, Ms. Cisler studies with Julia Faulkner and lives in Montana.
Jonathan Ten Brink - in the role of Sarastro
Jonathan Ten Brink is an exciting Baritone active in opera, concert, and chamber music. His big voice that rumbles like foghorns (Pioneer Press) is regarded as rich (Madison Magazine), heartwarming (Examiner), and possessing considerable agility (Grand Rapids Press).
He has performed more than 25 opera roles and given hundreds of performances in the concert setting across 30 states. A frequenter of the chamber music scene, Mr. Ten Brink enjoys the collaborative process of creating a meaningful experience for performer and listener alike.
Jonathan holds degrees from Calvin College (BA), Bowling Green State University (MM), and the University of Minnesota (DMA). He has taught voice at Shorter University, Crown College, North Central University, and Concordia College.
Melanie Cain - in the role of Apophis
Melanie Cain, Soprano, holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Opera Production and a Masters of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A native of Carroll, Iowa, she received her BA in both Music and Art from Luther College in Decorah, IA.
Melanie has performed both in the Madison area and nationally receiving rave reviews. The Capital Times wrote, Melanie Cain sang with a gorgeous range and a strong, thrilling voice that projected to the top row. Cain is a graduate student in vocal performance with a big career ahead of her. Her past roles include Second Lady in Mozarts Die Zauberflöte, The Mother and The Witch in Humperdincks Hansel and Gretel, Madame Lidoine in The Dialogues of the Carmelites, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus. She has also studied the roles of Leonora in Beethovens Fidelio, Miss Jessel in Brittens The Turn of the Screw, the title role from Glucks Armide and Salome in Herodiade by Massenet in UWs Opera Workshop. While at UW, Cain understudied the well known soprano, Julia Faulkner, in the title role of Vanessa. She has been a finalist and semi-finalist in numerous national vocal competitions including the Orpheus National Vocal Competition in Tennessee and the prestigious Jenson Vocal Competition in New York.
George Abbott - in the role of Tamino
George has over twenty years of singing performance experience starting with the Childrens Chorus of San Antonio at age nine. He graduated with a double major from the University of North Texas: Music BA and Math BS. After graduation he taught 7th grade math in Dallas ISD for one year before attending Texas A&M to earn an MS in Chemical Engineering. He originally moved to Madison to work for Epic, but had since moved on to pursue a career in performance. His recent credits include singing with: Madison Bach Musicians, University Theater UW, Fresco Opera Theater, Music Theater of Madison, Madison Opera.
Cat Richmond - in the role of Pamina
A versatile musician with a "clear and gorgeous soprano" (Broadway World), Cat Richmond is an accomplished, regional performer.
Along with winning multiple awards, Ms. Richmond has performed and covered a diverse set of roles including Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Yum-Yum (The Mikado), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Gianetta (L'elisir d'amore), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), and Carolina (Il matrimonio segreto). She has bowed with companies such as Lyric Opera Studio of Weimar, Opera Charleston and Peach State Opera.
Ms. Richmond has been seen as a young artist with the Charleston-based Piccolo Spoleto Festival and has performed as a soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. She holds a Bachelor's degree from the College of Charleston and recently completed her Master's degree at Georgia State University.
Dana Carlson - in the role of First Lady
Dana is a classically trained soprano with experience performing on the recital, opera, and concert stage in Wisconsin, South Dakota, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Italy, and the Czech Republic. She earned her Bachelors degree in Choral Music Education and Vocal Performance from UW-Stevens Point, and a graduate degree in Vocal Performance from the University of South Dakota.
Erin Sura - in the role of Second Lady
Soprano Erin Sura is a native of Wisconsin and has performed excerpts of Cio Cio San with the Florentine Opera Companys outreach concerts while also participating in their full productions of Madama Butterfly and The Magic Flute. She has been heard singing the full and partial roles of Belinda and the Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas, Agathe in Der Freischutz and the title role in Arabella with the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute. Ms. Sura performed the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with New York Opera Forum and several roles with Opera in the Ozarks including the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Mrs. Hayes in Susannah. She has worked with the Natchez Festival of music performing the role of Pertelote in the childrens opera Chanticleer in addition to participating in their mainstage productions. Active in new music as well Ms. Sura originated the role of Gloria in Prodigal Lust by Matthew Walton as well as the title role in the concert production of Paula Kimpers The Captivation of Eunice Williams.
Meghan Hilker - in the role of Third Lady
Ms. Hilker is a singer and teacher in the Madison, Wisconsin area. She has performed with Fresco Opera Theatre, Middleton Players Theater, and Madison Savoyards. She received her masters from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 2016 where she studied under Elizabeth Hagedorn. Currently, she is on the faculty at Rhapsody Arts Center, Inc. in Verona and Ripon College where she teaches private voice lessons. Ms. Hilker is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and received a BM in voice performance from Penn State University. In 2013, she attended the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Most recent performances include Jo March (Little Women), Dorothy Brock (42nd Street)
Jen Plants - Director
A proud member of Actors Equity Association and LMDA, Jen Plants has worked as an actor, director, writer, deviser and dramaturg at professional regional theatres in the United States and the UK.
Current London-based work includes roles as a deviser, director, and dramaturg for No Feedback, an original immersive work about the forms of discrimination that lead to genocide. As an actor, U.S. regional theatre credits include The Asolo Theatre Festival, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Atlantic Stage, and three years as an artistic associate at Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, where as an artistic associate.
Recent directing credits include Richard II at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival (UK); A More Opportune Time at Drew University in Madison, NJ; Doubt at Atlantic Stage, in Myrtle Beach, SC; The Taming of the Shrew in Chatham, NJ; and the direction and original adaptation of Evgenii Shvarts The Dragon at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Jen is Faculty Associate at UW-Madison (Department of English: Creative Writing and Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies), where she teaches playwriting, devised theatre-making, theatre for youth, performance studies, and critical race theory. Jen founded the theatre program at Hood College in Frederick, MD, and directed a number of productions there from Lysistrata and Tartuffe to Stop Kiss and The Shape of Things. She earned her MFA from the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory and has trained with The So and So Circus in London and DellArte International in Denmark.
James Huschka - Conductor
James Huschka has performed extensively throughout the Southwest and Midwest as a Conductor, Violinist, and Singer. He is also a composer and arranger. He has been an educator and private musical instructor for over 25 years and is the Co-Owner of the Souls Song LLC. He was the founding conductor and musical director of the Four Lakes Chamber Orchestra and was Associate Director of the New Horizons Band in Madison.
|
|
 |
LocationMadison Masonic Center (View)
301 Wisconsin Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 10 |
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
|
Contact
|
