CrossCURRENT 2013

The rising tide of contemporary vocal music.

The undertow of the traditional.

Friday, March 8, 2013 at 7 pm

Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo at NYU 

24 W. 12th St.

between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
$20 advance sale tickets

Lauren Alfano and Evan Flath in Outer Borough Songs

Contemporary works by Thomas Deneuville, 
Henry Papale,  Corinna Manetto and Michael Dutka

Works by Donizetti, Schubert, Puccini, and others

Performed by Underworld Productions Opera

with

Evan Flath, guitar
Kostja Kostic, clarinet

Elizabeth Rodgers, piano

Gina Crusco, director

Black Horses by Michael Dutka

A 15 minute chamber opera for soprano, tenor, clarinet, and piano. 

Nero has a new job pulling a heavy cart with three other black horses, 

little knowing what the sad cargo may be. 

Michael Dutka

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence’s music program, Michael studied harmony with Alexander Lipsky, counterpoint with David Loeb of the Curtis Institute, and composition and orchestration at Mannes with Charles Jones and Rudy Palmer. Black Horses  is Michael’s fourth opera, which OperaDelaware premiered at the 2009 Wilmington Arts Festival, along withThe Stronger, based on the Strindberg play. The Crowded House, a children’s opera / ballet was performed at the 2010 Philadelphia Arts Festival, and Underworld Productions commissioned and premiered Animales en Rima, a bi-lingual work based the poetry of Mexican poet Elisa Gonzalez. On April 27, in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, The Interfaith Committee of Remembrance, along with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, will premiere excerpts of Liebovar, his latest opera, about prisoners in a Terezin-like concentration camp, who write an opera to try to save their lives. A native New Yorker, Michael now lives, writes operas, and rides his horse, Sir Richard Cholmondeley, in Doylestown, PA.

Outer Borough Songs by Thomas Deneuville

For electric guitar and soprano. 

Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island frame political and personal dramas in music tinged with rock and French courtly airs. 

Thomas Deneuville.  Photo by Axel Dupeux.

Thomas Deneuville was born in Provence, grew up in Tahiti, and was educated in Paris, Milan and New York, where he received his BA and MA degrees is composition. He has experimented with Irish traditional music, rock, and carnatic music, and studied composition with Shafer Mahoney, Eric Tanguy and Tristan Murail. His contemporary classical music creates a genuine connection with his audiences while raising awareness on societal issues. His music has been performed at Music with a View Festival (Tribeca), CUNY New Music Festival, Cornelia Street Cafe, Wild Project, the Masters & Pelavin Gallery, the Estonia House, and Andrea Clearfield's Salon in Philadelphia. A recording of this Half Clarinet Quartet will be released this Spring.

Caro Mio Ben/Too Much Alone 
by Corinna Manetto

from You Must Be Mine: The Story of Anita & Giuseppe Garibaldi

For soprano, baritone, and jazz piano.

Garibaldi has been fighting for weeks.  Anita waits for him to come home.

Corinna Manetto. Photo by Peer Bazarini.

Corinna Manetto began her career at the top: singing on Broadway in The King and I with Yul Brynner. Other singing credits include the Gary Moore Show on CBS, Once Upon a Mattress with Carol Burnett, Bernstein's Theatre Songs with Theatre de Lys, and studio recording with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Burt Bacharach, and many others. After her best friend's husband told her how the Garibaldis met, she ordered 20 books and spent 3 years writing of their 10 years together. 

 Ten Songs on poems by Stephen Crane 

by Henry Papale 

For voice and piano. 

The author of The Red Badge of Courage reveals a vision in which humans are left to fend for ourselves.

Henry Papale

Henry Papale was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1937.  He has composed 8 operas, some 40 works for chorus, 140 Songs, 43 chamber works (including 10 String Quartets), and 250 works for piano, with performances in New York, Toronto, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and venues in New Jersey including the John Harms Auditorium. UPO premiered his operatic monodrama JULIA at the Thalia Theatre in 2007 and frequently performs his works in concert.

Performers include:

Hillary Esqueda, soprano

Stephanie McGuire, mezzo-soprano

Elise Jablow, soprano

Bill Heigen, tenor

AND: 

Lauren Alfano, Tara Bobiak, 

Rachel Policar, Miran Robarts, Briana Sakamoto

Winterim 2013

UPO Gala December 7, 2012 with Resident Artists and guests

Winterim 2013 Resident Artist Auditions

Wednesday January 23, 2013, 6-8 pm

The program was an excellent way to test out new repertoire, new ideas and new stagings and receive immediate feedback. I enjoyed being part of such an intimate, supportive group – something rare and valuable in a program like this. The performing experiences gave me so much insight as I compared my initial performance with the final product. For me those opportunities are like gold! -- Alicia Williams, Fall 2012 Resident Artist

The Winterim 2013 RA program offers:

• Group coaching on traditional arias and contemporary fare 

• Special Guest workshop/s with noted professionals
• Outreach performance opportunities
• Performance in CrossCURRENT concert on March 8.

Tuition: $450. Some scholarships available.

Just being fresh out of school, I am eager to get out and sing for as many people as I can. UPO provided great opportunities to do that. It was so rewarding to perform for such an encouraging crowd and to feel proud not only of my own performance, but of those of the other Resident Artists. With Gina Crusco’s and Elizabeth Rodgers' excellent guidance, I felt that we all succeeded.

                          -- Elise Jablow, soprano, Fall 2012 Resident Artist

For audition consideration, please send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com.

Additional information

CrossCURRENT is a concert exploring the intersection of traditional opera and contemporary vocal music to be performed March 8, 2013 at 7 pm at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU.

Sessions begin on January 30 and take place mostly on Wednesday evenings.

You will get coaching on arias from your repertoire, from which will be made selection/s for performance at the March 8 concert.

You may be provided with a contemporary piece to learn for the concert; it will not be necessary to memorize it. 
Core faculty is Gina Crusco, UPO Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Rodgers, pianist, Manhattan School of Music opera coach.
Guest workshops TBA.

Auditions

For audition consideration, please send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com.

If selected please prepare one traditional aria and one piece by a living or recent classical composer. 

UPO will provide you with:

1. An audition timeslot on Wednesday, January 23, 2013, between 6-8 pm.

2. Manhattan audition location details.

3. Instructions for submitting your $25 non-refundable audition fee, receipt of which will confirm your slot. 

4. An accompanist at the audition. 

There is no age limit for this program.

Audition fee is waived if you are referred by a UPO RA program alum!

Spring 2013 Resident Artist Auditions

UPO Gala December 7, 2012 with Resident Artists and guests

Spring 2013 Resident Artist Auditions

Wednesday January 16, 2013, 6-9 pm

Bridge the gap between education and a professional career! 

The Underworld Productions Opera Resident Artist program transforms singers into full-fledged stage performers.

Guest Artists may also audition at this time, and must have one or more publicly-performed lead roles with orchestra to their credit.

The Spring 2013 RA program offers:

• 20+ hours of group coaching on traditional arias and contemporary fare 

• Performance in CrossCURRENT concert on March 8 

• 70+ hours of rehearsal for Scarlatti’s Il Trionfo dell’Onore 

• Lead roles and covers in Trionfo performances May 5, 17, 22 and 23

• “Presenting your Personal Best” with Amy Frawley, Concert Artists Guild.

Tuition: $1250. Some full and partial scholarships available as rebates upon successful completion of the program.

Just being fresh out of school, I am eager to get out and sing for as many people as I can. UPO provided great opportunities to do that. It was so rewarding to perform for such an encouraging crowd and to feel proud not only of my own performance, but of those of the other Resident Artists. With Gina Crusco’s and Elizabeth Rodgers' excellent guidance, I felt that we all succeeded on our own terms.

                           

 -- Elise Jablow, soprano, Fall 2012 Resident Artist

For audition consideration, please send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com.

Additional information

CrossCURRENT

A concert exploring the intersection of traditional opera and contemporary vocal music.

Performance March 8, 2013 at 7 pm at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU.

Rehearsals begin on January 23 and take place mostly on Wednesday evenings.

You will get dramatic coaching on 2 arias from your audition repertoire, at least 1 of which will be selected for performance at the March 8 concert.

Your core faculty is Gina Crusco, UPO Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Rodgers, pianist, Manhattan School of Music opera coach.

You may be provided with a contemporary piece to learn for the concert; it will not be necessary to memorize it.

Il Trionfo dell’Onore

Alessandro Scarlatti’s only comic opera in its New York premiere.

Keyboard performance May 5 at MOSA; orchestral performances May 17 at Casa Italiana, and May 22 and 23 at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, Symphony Space.

Dorian Bandy, music director; Gina Crusco, stage director; with Sinfonia New York orchestra.

Rehearsals begin March 12 and take place mostly on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Friday evenings in Manhattan.

Lead roles and covers are available for all parts (3 sopranos, 2 mezzos, 2 tenors, and 1 bass-baritone); some are travesty roles. There is no chorus in this opera.

Outreach performances

Additional outreach performance opportunities may be available to RAs.

Auditions

For audition consideration, please send your resume and headshot to Gina Crusco, Artistic Director, at underworldprod@gmail.com.

If selected you will be provided with:

1. An excerpt from Trionfo to be sung (on or off-book) at your audition. Please also prepare one traditional aria and one piece by a living or recent classical composer.

2. An audition timeslot on Wednesday, January 16, 2013, between 6-9 pm.

3. Manhattan audition location details.

4. Instructions for submitting your $25 non-refundable audition fee, receipt of which will confirm your slot.

5. An accompanist at the audition. 

There is no age limit for this program.

Join Marcello Giordani at UPO Gala

Annual Gala Performance and Reception

Friday, December 7, 2012
6 pm
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo'
24 W. 12th Street
New York City

Meet our reception Guest of Honor 

Met Opera Star Marcello Giordani

We are excited to celebrate another year with our friends and supporters!

Hear the Sounds of the Season

A sneak preview of Scarlatti's Il Trionfo dell'Onore, festive Handel duets, 
favorite arias by Mozart, Gounod, Puccini, and more.

Performers include Guests and Resident Artists 

Guests: Isaac Grier, Stephanie McGuire, Alison McConekey
Residents: Danielle Bendjy, Aditi Chakravarty, Elise Jablow, Radoslav Lesay,
 Alicia Williams; Elizabeth Rodgers, piano

Tickets include wine reception with Marcello Giordani

$35 ($10 tax deductible) 

$75 donor ticket ($50 tax deductible) 

$125 supporter ticket ($100 tax deductible)

http://underworldprod.com/html/contribute.html

Exclusive Live Auction

Bid for Opera online beginning November 7

Bid live at the Gala, where winners will be announced!

www.32auctions.com/bidforopera2012

Escape to beautiful Santorini Greece. Take a backstage tour. 
Go for a night on the town to Carnegie Hall, the Philharmonic or the Metropolitan Opera. 
Discover fine dining and rare wines, personal French lessons, 
photography sessions, and travel advice.

Get bargains and gift ideas as you help UPO! 

Join us for a wonderful evening!

Commedia dell'Arte Workshop

Rescheduled for Friday, November 9. Join us! Discover Commedia masks and new ways to animate your characters with UPO's Commedia dell'Arte Skills Workshop led by Lydia Biondi (read more about Lydia below...) UPO is proud to offer this internationally praised Commedia workshop to New York.  Lydia Biondi, an actor on stage and screen ("Eat Pray Love") as well as a director and choreographer for film and opera, comes to us from Rome. In this workshop she will show you how to: Analyze character through Commedia archetypes Move like a Commedia player Reveal yourself through Mask  Hone your skills in Commedia scenes Rescheduled:  Friday, November 9, 2012 6:30 - 9:00 pm Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo 24 W. 12th Street Guests by special arrangement Email us at underworldprod@gmail.com Free for current UPO Resident Artists "Commedia is the soul of the Italian language."  Lydia Biondi was featured in Miracle at St. Anna (2008) directed by Spike Lee; she can also be seen in Casanova (2005) directed by L. Hallstrom, in Letters to Juliette, directed by G. Winick with Vanessa Redgrave, and in Eat, Pray, Love directed by R. Murphy, with Julia Roberts. She works as a stage director and choreographer and as an assistant director and casting director in film and opera. She also teaches Commedia dell’Arte workshops around the world. Born in Tuscany, Lydia Biondi founded the non-profit MTM (Mimoteatromovimento), a theater school and company that became one of the most important private theater schools in Rome. In 1981, she joined Mummenschanz and toured with them around the world. Since returning to Rome in the 90s she has resumed direction of MTM, working as actress, choreographer, teacher and director.