Juilliard Opera Presents Mozart's "Don Giovanni" on April 24, 26, and 28, 2019

Conducted by Joseph Colaneri and Directed by Emma Griffin

3 Performances: Wednesday, April 24, and Friday, April 26, at 7:30pm and Sunday, April 28, at 2pm in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater

NEW YORK –– Juilliard’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, under the leadership of artistic director Brian Zeger, concludes its opera season with Mozart’s Don Giovanni, conducted by Joseph Colaneri and directed by Emma Griffin, on April 24, 26, and 28, 2019. 

Tickets are available for $30 ($15 for full-time students with a valid ID) at juilliard.edu/calendar.

The cast, in order of vocal appearance, includes Erik van Heyningen (Leporello); Meghan Kasanders (Donna Anna); Hubert Zapiór (Don Giovanni, April 24 and 28) and Xiaomeng Zhang (Don Giovanni, April 26); William Guanbo Su (Il Commendatore); James Ley (Don Ottavio); Maritina Tampakopoulos (Donna Elvira); Jessica Niles (Zerlina); and Gregory Feldmann (Masetto).

Scenic design is by Laura Jellinek; costume design is by Olivera Gajic; lighting design is by Mark Barton.  

Conductor Joseph Colaneri is music director of the acclaimed Glimmerglass Festival since 2013. He has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera since 1998, and he conducted Mozart’s La finta giardiniera at Juilliard in 2017. Emma Griffin, a theater and opera director, is managing artistic director of The Mannes Opera. At Juilliard, Griffin directed The Cunning Little Vixen in 2013 and Les mamelles de Tirésias in 2010.

This performance is part of Juilliard Opera, a program dedicated to the education and training of future generations of singers. Juilliard Opera is supported by the vision and generous lead funding of the International Foundation for Arts and Culture and its chairman, Dr. Haruhisa Handa.

Juilliard’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts was established in 2010 by the generous support of Ellen and James S. Marcus.

Meet the Artists

Joseph Colaneri (Conductor)

Since 2013, Joseph Colaneri has been music director of the Glimmerglass Festival, where this summer he will conduct Verdi’s La traviata and Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles. This season he conducted the revival of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Boïto’s Mefistofele, debuted at the Teatro Colón with Puccini’s La bohème and led a concert with Met artists Lisette Oropesa and Paul Groves in Baton Rouge. In May, Colaneri will conduct a concert featuring members of their Young Artists Program at Washington National Opera. He was artistic director of The Mannes Opera from 1998 to 2018 and artistic director of the West Australian Opera from 2012-14.

Emma Griffin (Director)

Emma Griffin is a theater and opera director based in New York City. She will direct Ellen West, a new opera by Ricky Ian Gordon based on the poem by Frank Bidart; it will premiere at Opera Saratoga and then move to NYC with Beth Morrison Productions. Griffin has also worked with BAM, Opera Colorado, Atlanta Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Curtis Opera Theatre/Opera Philadelphia, Perseverance Theatre, Geva Theater Center, Southern Rep, Actor’s Express, Virginia Stage, HERE, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. In 2018, she was appointed managing artistic director of The Mannes Opera at the New School. Previously, she was on the faculty of College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati as the professor of opera stage direction.

Gregory Feldmann (Masetto)

Baritone Gregory Feldmann, of York, Pa., is pursuing a master of music degree at Juilliard, where he studied with Sanford Sylvan. At Juilliard, Feldmann performed the role of Ananias in The Burning Fiery Furnace, as well as L’horloge Comtoise and Le Chat in a performance of L’enfant et les sortilèges with the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall. In November, he made his Carnegie Hall debut in Israel in Egypt with MasterVoices, conducted by Ted Sperling. He will return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis this summer as a Gerdine Young Artist, where he will cover Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. He holds the Helen Marshall Woodward Scholarship, Janet Southwick Norwood Scholarship, and Pfeiffenberger Scholarship.

Meghan Kasanders (Donna Anna)

Meghan Kasanders is a second-year Artist Diploma in Opera Studies candidate at Juilliard, studying with Edith Wiens. Most recent engagements with the Juilliard Orchestra include Luonnotar in Alice Tully Hall with conductor Barbara Hannigan and Songfest at Carnegie Hall (debut) under the direction of Marin Alsop. Kasanders sang the role of Magda Sorel in The Consul at Opera Saratoga and Oenone in Juilliard's production of Hippolyte et Aricie last spring. She has worked with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera, Union Avenue Opera, and the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. Kasanders has been featured in Modern Singer magazine and was a 2019 Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as a semifinalist in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. She holds degrees from Rice University and Simpson College.  She holds a Risë Stevens Scholarship, the Barbara Rogers Agosin Scholarship, and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

James Ley (Don Ottavio)

Tenor James Ley, from Maryland, is an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies student at Juilliard, where he studies with Edith Wiens. At Juilliard, Ley has appeared in a shared, semi-staged performance of Winterreise with Brian Zeger in Alice Tully Hall, as Le petit vieillard in L'enfant et les sortilèges with the Juilliard Orchestra conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, and in a vocal master class taught by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He recently participated in Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio, where he worked closely with guest teachers and coaches, including Renée Fleming. This past summer, he participated in the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in the Mozart Académie and with the Nϋrnberg Symphoniker through the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie. Prior to Juilliard, Ley performed as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Abraham in a staged production of Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, and in Messiah at Wheaton College. He holds the Noah Stella Luna Laffont Scholarship, the Burford Scholarship, the Otto Lehmann Scholarship, and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

Jessica Niles (Zerlina)

American soprano Jessica Niles is a fourth-year undergraduate at Juilliard studying with Marlena Malas. Recent performances include Aminta e Fillide with Juilliard415 conducted by William Christie; Adina in Elixir of Love; Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld; Une Matelote in Hippolyte et Aricie; Anne Page in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor; Julie in Carousel; Amiens in Shakespeare’s As You Like It; the soloist in Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 in Juilliard ChamberFest 2018; Wenzelberg’s The Opposite of Loneliness: A Chamber Piece (commission and world premiere); and the inaugural performance of OperaComp at Juilliard in 2017. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, and the Morgan Library and Museum, and has appeared as a soloist with Cantori New York and MasterVoices. Past studies include Juilliard’s Pre-College Division, Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy, and the Chautauqua Institution. She is the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

William Guanbo Su (Il Commendatore)

New York City-based bass William Guanbo Su is pursuing his master’s degree at Juilliard under the guidance of Cynthia Hoffmann. In 2018, he was a member of the Gerdine Young Artist program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and a voice fellow at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he performed Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other opera roles include Pluton in Hippolyte et Aricie, Herr Reich in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, and Seneca in L'incoronazione di Poppea. In 2017, Su made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Cecilia Chorus of New York. He was awarded first prize in the Gerda Lissner Lieder Competition (2017); second prize at Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition (2019); and was a Grand Finals winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2019). He holds the John W. Drye Jr. Memorial Scholarship in Voice, and the Michael L. Brunetti Memorial Scholarship in Voice.

Maritina Tampakopoulos (Donna Elvira)

Greek soprano Maritina Tampakopoulos is a young artist in the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program at Juilliard, where she studies with Edith Wiens. Tampakopoulos earned her master’s degree at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali Vecchi-Tonelli in Modena with Raina Kabaivanska, as a recipient of a scholarship from the Raina Kabaivanska Foundation, and she earned her bachelor’s degree at the National Conservatory of Greece in Athens. She has participated at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana Festival and the St. Margarethen Opernfestspiele, earned the audience prize in the 67th G.B Viotti International Music Competition, and has performed in concerts and recitals in Austria, Greece, Italy, and China. She holds the George and Marie Vergottis Scholarship, the Constance Goulandris Scholarship, and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

Erik van Heyningen (Leporello)

Bass-baritone Erik van Heyningen, hailing from San Diego, is an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies student at Juilliard, where he studied with Sanford Sylvan. Van Heyningen makes his Spoleto Festival (USA) debut as the 1st Nazarene in Salome and his Teatro Nuovo debut as Fernando in La gazza ladra this summer. Van Heyningen spent last summer at the Santa Fe Opera for his second year as an apprentice artist, where he sang the Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly and Ragotzki/Archbishop in Candide. Van Heyningen received the Donald Gramm Memorial Award from the Santa Fe Opera in 2017, the first place prize in the Gerda Lissner Lieder competition in 2016, and the Richman Memorial Award from the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 2015, where he spent three summers as a young artist. He holds the Dr. Gary Portadin Scholarship, the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Scholarship, the Anna Case Mackay Scholarship, and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

Hubert Zapiór (Don Giovanni)

Hubert Zapiór is a baritone from Brzesko, Poland, and a second-year Artist Diploma in Opera Studies student at Juilliard studying with Edith Wiens. He graduated from Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. Recent engagements include Papageno in Barrie Kosky’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Marullo in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Teatr Wielki — Polish National Opera, and Herr Fluth in Nicolai’s Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor and Neptune in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie with Juilliard Opera. He also sang the baritone part in Britten’s War Requiem with The Albany Symphony. After his graduation, Zapiór will make his Bayerische Staatsoper debut as Marquis d'Obigny in Verdi’s La Traviata this summer, and he will join the ensemble of Hannover Staatsoper starting in the 2019-20 season. He holds the J.S. and Barbara P. Johnson Scholarship.

Xiaomeng Zhang (Don Giovanni)

Chinese baritone Xiaomeng Zhang is an Artist Diploma student at Juilliard studying with Marlena Malas. Past performances at Juilliard include Minskman in Flight, Giove in La Calisto, Presto in Les mamelles de Tirésias, Kuligin in Káťa Kabanová, and Le Feuteuil/Arbre in L’enfant et les sortilèges. He has also performed Tancredi in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Carnegie Hall), Rodomonte in Orlando Paladino and Macduff in Bloch’s Macbeth (Manhattan School of Music), Schaunard in La Bohème (Chautauqua Music Festival), Licinio in Aureliano in Palmira and Fernando in Fidelio (Caramoor Summer Music Festival), and Don Giovanni at the Merola Opera Program. Upcoming engagements include Count Almaviva with Aspen Music Festival and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Columbus. Zhang was a 2018 National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He holds a Jerome L. Greene Fellowship and is supported by the Hardesty and Beverley Peck Johnson Fund.

Laura Jellinek (Scenic Designer)

Juilliard Opera and Drama productions: The Cunning Little Vixen, Les mamelles de Tirésias, Buried Child, Angels in America. Additional opera: La Traviata, Madame Butterfly (Opera Theatre of St. Louis); Don Giovanni (Boston Lyric Opera); A Quiet Place, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Owen Wingrave (Opera Philadelphia); Three Decembers (Atlanta Opera); Orlando Paladino (Manhattan School of Music). Broadway: Oklahoma!, Marvin’s Room. Off-Broad­way: Oklahoma! (St. Ann’s, Bard); Mary Page Marlowe (Second Stage); Mary Jane (New York Theatre Workshop, Lortel nomination); Rags Parkland… (Ars Nova); Queens, The Wolves (Lincoln Center Theater); A Life (Playwrights Horizons, Lortel & Hewes Awards); The Treasurer, Marjorie Prime (Playwrights Horizons); The Antipodes, Everybody (Signature Theater); Sea Wall/ A Life (Public Theater); The Debate Society; The Mad Ones. OBIE for Sustained Excellence in design. MFA: NYU.

Olivera Gajic (Costume Designer)

Olivera Gajic’s work has been seen at Juilliard in more than 30 productions, among others: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Le Comte Ory (Juilliard Opera); The Americans, The Greeks, William in Transit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marisol, Othello (Drama Division); Cracked Orlando (Juilliard Center for Innovation in the Arts); 2005-10 Senior Dance Production (Dance Division). Other work: Jedermann (Salzburg Festival); The Long Christmas Dinner (American Symphony Orchestra); God’s Ear (Vineyard Theatre), and many others. She has 150-plus theater, opera, dance, and film productions to her credit. Gajic’s work has been shown at exhibitions including the U.S. national exhibit at the 2004 and 2007 Prague Quadrennial; Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance (Lincoln Center); Costume at the Turn of the Century (Moscow). Gajic is a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers, TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master, Bessie, and Barrymore awards, and is a member of USA local 829.

Mark Barton (Lighting Designer)

Productions at Juilliard: The Cunning Little Vixen with Emma Griffin; The Threepenny Opera. Broadway: The Real Thing, Violet, and The Realistic Joneses, Amélie (co-designed with Jane Cox). Off-Broadway: Lincoln Center Theater; Signature Theater; Public Theater; Playwrights Horizons; Roundabout Theater Company; New York Theatre Workshop; Elevator Repair Service; Soho Rep; Theater for a New Audience; BAM; Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company; and many others. Regional: American Repertory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Rep, Center Theater Group, Long Wharf Theater, Denver Center, Cincinnati Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, South Coast Rep, and Berkeley Rep. Additional Credits: Encores! Off-Center 2013-18 at New York City Center. Numerous productions with Curtis Opera Theatre in Philadelphia. Awards: Lucille Lortel Award, Hewes Design Award, Obie Award for Sustained Excellence.

About the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard

One of America’s most prestigious programs for educating singers, Juilliard’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degrees to an advanced Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program, Juilliard provides frequent performance opportunities, featuring singers in its own recital halls, on Lincoln Center’s stages, and around New York City. Juilliard Opera has presented numerous premieres of new operas as well as works from the standard repertoire. Juilliard graduates may be heard in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world; diverse alumni artists include well-known performers such as Leontyne Price, Renée Fleming, Risë Stevens, Tatiana Troyanos, Simon Estes, and Shirley Verrett. Recent alumni include Isabel Leonard, Susanna Phillips, Paul Appleby, Erin Morley, Sasha Cooke, and Julia Bullock.

About the Juilliard Orchestra

Juilliard’s largest and most visible student performing ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, is known for delivering polished and passionate performances of works spanning the repertoire. Comprising more than 350 students in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, the orchestra appears throughout the season in concerts on the stages of Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, and Carnegie Hall. The orchestra is a strong partner to Juilliard’s other divisions, appearing in opera and dance productions as well as presenting an annual concert of world premieres by Juilliard student composers. The Juilliard Orchestra welcomes an impressive roster of world-renowned guest conductors this season including John Adams, Joseph Colaneri, Mark Elder, Steve Osgood, Peter Oundjian, and Gil Rose as well as faculty members Jeffrey Milarsky, Itzhak Perlman, Matthias Pintscher, and David Robertson. The Juilliard Orchestra has toured across the U.S. and throughout Europe, South America, and Asia, where it was the first Western conservatory ensemble allowed to visit and perform following the opening of the People’s Republic of China in 1987, returning two decades later, in 2008. Other ensembles under the Juilliard Orchestra umbrella include the conductorless Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Wind Orchestra, and the new-music groups AXIOM and New Juilliard Ensemble.

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Program Listing:

Wednesday, April 24, 2019, 7:30pm

Friday, April 26, 2019, 7:30pm

Sunday, April 28, 2019, 2pm

Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater

 

Don Giovanni

Composer: W.A. Mozart

Libretto: Lorenzo da Ponte

 

Conductor: Joseph Colaneri

Director: Emma Griffin

 

Featuring Juilliard singers and the Juilliard Orchestra

 

The Cast (in order of vocal appearance):

Leporello: Erik van Heyningen

Donna Anna: Meghan Kasanders

Don Giovanni: Hubert Zapiór (April 24 and 28) and Xiaomeng Zhang (April 26)

Il Commendatore: William Guanbo Su

Don Ottavio: James Ley

Donna Elvira: Maritina Tampakopoulos

Zerlina: Jessica Niles

Masetto: Gregory Feldmann

 

Scenic Designer:       Laura Jellinek

Costume Designer: Olivera Gajic

Lighting Designer:    Mark Barton

 

Tickets are available for $30 ($15 for full-time students with a valid ID) at juilliard.edu/calendar.