Juilliard Opera Center presents "Trilogy" - three one-act portraits of marriage - on Wednesday, November 12 and Friday, November 14 at 8 PM, and Sunday, November 16 at 2 PM in the School's Peter Jay Sharp Theater

Production conducted and conceived by James Conlon, realised by Darko Tresnjak and James Marvel, and directed by James Marvel, with singers from the Juilliard Opera Center and the Juilliard Orchestra

The Juilliard Opera Center presents Trilogy: three one-act portraits of marriage on Wednesday, November 12 and Friday, November 14 at 8 PM with a Sunday matinee on November 16 at 2 PM in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater (155 West 65th Street). The operas are being presented as part of James Conlon’s two-year artist residency with the Recovered Voices project at Juilliard, which began in the fall of 2007 and features all three of Juilliard’s Divisions: Dance, Drama, and Music.

The three one-act operas include: The Marriage (Zhenitba), music and libretto by Modest Mussorgsky and orchestrations by Tcherepnin, based on the comedic social-satire by Gogol; Heavyweight or The Pride of the Nation, Op. 55 (Schwergewicht, oder Die Ehre der Nation), a farce about European culture between the world wars with music and libretto by Ernst Krenek; and Rothschild’s Violin (Skripka Rotshilda), music and libretto by Benjamin Fleischmann and completed and partly orchestrated by Dmitri Shostakovich, after a short story by Chekhov. The evening is conceived and conducted by James Conlon, with the production realised by Darko Tresnjak and James Marvel and directed by Mr. Marvel, with singers from the Juilliard Opera Center and the Juilliard Orchestra. Scenic design is by David P. Gordon. Costume Design is by Linda Cho, and Lighting Design is by Jane Cox. 
      
Tickets at $20 are available at the Juilliard Box Office located in the newly renovated lobby of Juilliard at 155 West 65th Street. For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu. Half-price tickets for students and seniors available only at the Box Office. 
      
The cast for The Marriage features Shen Yang as Podkolyosin (a councillor), Nicholas Coppolo as Kochkarev (his friend), Renée Tatum as Fyokla Ivanova (a matchmaker), and Nicholas Pallesen as Podkolyosin’s valet. The cast for The Pride of the Nation features Paul LaRosa as Ochsenschwantz (boxing champion), Jennifer Zetlan as Evelyne (his wife), Paul Appleby as Gaston (her dancing instructor), Nicholas Pallesen as Professor Himmelhuber, Frédérique Vézina as Anna Maria (his daughter), Nicholas Coppolo as a journalist, Tevita Pupu’a as the government minister, Andy McCullough as Ottokar (servant), and Jane Monari as the maid. In Rothschild’s Violin, Shen Yang is Yakov Matveeeyevich Ivanov (nicknamed Bronze, a coffin-maker and violinist), Paul Appleby is Rothschild (flautist, then violinist), Nicholas Coppolo is Moisei Ilyich Shakhes (gravedigger), Julie Boulianne is Marfa (Ivanov’s wife), and the wedding band features
Javier Bernardo, Martin Coyle, Daniel Curran, Nicholas Pallesen, David Williams, and Benjamin Bloomfield.
      
These opera productions conclude Mr. Conlon’s two-year residency at Juilliard. This semester, as part of his Recovered Voices project, Mr. Conlon gave a doctoral forum at Juilliard on October 21; he will be leading the Juilliard Orchestra on Monday, October 27 at Carnegie Hall in the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Symphony No. 5: Concerto for Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp Minor. He gives a master class at Juilliard on November 6 featuring Juilliard singers. 
      
One of today’s preeminent conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire, and developed enduring relationships with many of the world's most prestigious symphony orchestras and opera houses. Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, Mr. Conlon has appeared as guest conductor with virtually every major North American and European orchestra and has been a frequent guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera for over thirty years. Mr. Conlon is Music Director of Los Angeles Opera, Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and celebrates his 30th season as Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival in 2009.  Mr. Conlon served as Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989-2002); and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-1991). 

During the 2008-09 season at L.A. Opera, Mr. Conlon conducts his first Ring cycle in the U.S., beginning this season with the first two installments of the cycle; Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. He also continues his Recovered Voices series, a multi-year project during which he brings the music of composers suppressed by the Nazi regime to the L.A. Opera stage, with the company premiere of Walter Braunfels’ The Birds (Die Vögel). He will conduct Puccini’s Il Trittico directed by Woody Allen and William Friedkin; Robert Wilson’s production of Madama Butterfly; and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. 

Mr. Conlon also continues his two-year Juilliard residency, during which he works with the School’s young artists in a cross-genre educational project consisting of performances, symposia, master classes, and coaching. He will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival where he is Music Director, and he will guest conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic in the U.S., and in Europe the NDR Sinfonieorchester in Hamburg, Rotterdam Philharmonic, and National Philharmonic of Russia in Moscow.
       
In an effort to raise public consciousness to the significance of works of composers whose lives and compositions were suppressed by the Nazi regime, Mr. Conlon has devoted himself to extensive programming of this music in North America and Europe. At both the Ravinia Festival and L.A. Opera he continues to program works of these composers, including Alexander von Zemlinsky, Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Kurt Weill, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Karl-Amadeus Hartmann, Erwin Schulhoff, and Ernest Krenek. His residency at Juilliard also focuses in part on the study and performance of these works. 
       
Mr. Conlon has recorded extensively for EMI, SONY Classical, ERATO, CAPRICCIO, and TELARC, for which he has received numerous citations. He has been featured on DVDs for DECCA, and has appeared in several television series on PBS. 
       
Mr. Conlon’s recent awards include the Medal of the American Liszt Society for his distinctive performances of the composer’s works, Italy’s Premio Galileo 2000 Award for his significant contribution to music, art and peace in Florence, and the Crystal Globe Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for his efforts in championing the works of composers silenced by the Third Reich. He is one of five first recipients of the Opera News Award given in recognition for distinguished achievement in opera, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree by The Juilliard School. He received the Zemlinsky Prize for his efforts in bringing the composer’s music to international attention. He was named an Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 1996, and in 2004 was promoted to Commander. In 2002, James Conlon received France’s highest distinction from the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac—the Légion d’Honneur.

FOR LISTINGS:
TRILOGY: 3 One-Act Portraits of Marriage
Wednesday, November 12 and Friday, November 14 at 8 PM; Sunday, November 16 at 2 PM
Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 155 West 65th Street

Tickets are $20, available beginning October 8 at the Juilliard Box Office located in the lobby of Juilliard at 155 West 65th Street or through CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500. Half-price tickets available for students and seniors; TDF accepted only at the Box Office.

Conceived and conducted by James Conlon
Featuring singers from the Juilliard Opera Center and the Juilliard Orchestra
Production realised by Darko Tresnjak and James Marvel
Directed by James Marvel
Scenic Designer by David P. Gordon
Costume Designer by Linda Cho
Lighting Designer by Jane Cox
Choreography by Jeanne Slater

Cast:
The Marriage, music and libretto by Modest Mussorgsky and orchestrations by Tcherepnin
Podkolyosin (a councillor): Shen Yang
Kochkarev (his friend): Nicholas Coppolo
Fyokla Ivanovna (a matchmaker): Renée Tatum
Podkoylosin’s valet: Nicholas Pallesen

The Pride of the Nation, music and libretto by Ernst Krenek
Ochsenschwantz (boxing champion): Paul LaRosa
Evelyne (his wife): Jennifer Zetlan
Gaston (her dancing instructor): Paul Appleby
Professor Himmelhuber: Nicholas Pallesen
Anna Maria (his daughter): Frédérique Vézina

Rothschild’s Violin, music and libretto by Benjamin Fleischmann and completed and partly orchestrated by Dimitri Shostakovich
Yakov Matveeeyevich Ivanov (nicknamed Bronze),
coffin-maker and violinist: Shen Yang
Rothschild (flautist then violinist): Paul Appleby
Moisei Ilyich Shakhes (gravedigger): Nicholas Coppolo
Marfa (Ivanov’s wife): Julie Boulianne
Wedding Band: Javier Bernardo, Martin Coyle, Daniel Curran, Nicholas Pallesen, David Williams, Benjamin Bloomfield