OPERA COLORADO announces theProfessional WORLD PREMIERE of
Lori Laitman's THE SCARLET LETTER
For Release: May 19, 2011
Media Contact: Rex Fuller, rfuller@operacolorado.org, 303.778.0214
Media Contact: Rex Fuller, rfuller@operacolorado.org, 303.778.0214
DENVER, CO - Greg Carpenter, General Director of Opera Colorado, will announce that Opera Colorado will produce the professional world premiere of the opera The Scarlet Letter created by composer Lori Laitman and librettist David Mason. The new production of the opera will debut in May of 2013 as part of Opera Colorado’s thirtieth anniversary season.
“The opera first came to our attention last year,” Carpenter said. “I was struck by the lyrical beauty of this work and how it dramatically reflects the piece of classic American literature it is based upon.” The full-length opera in two acts was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 romantic novel set in 17th century Puritan Boston. “The opportunity to work with a composer of Lori Laitman’s stature, as well as with Colorado’s Poet Laureate, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Opera Colorado. We are excited to bring this new opera to life,” Carpenter continued.
“I am thrilled that Opera Colorado will be presenting the professional world premiere of The Scarlet Letter in 2013,” Laitman said. “Opera Colorado's dedication to excellence and education, under Greg Carpenter's visionary leadership, is truly inspiring. I cannot imagine a more perfect home for my opera than at the beautiful Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver.”
Mason agreed, commenting, “I have admired Opera Colorado for years and to have these extraordinary people and this great theatre for the first professional production of our opera is simply marvelous. I can’t wait for my fellow Coloradoans to discover just how great Lori Laitman’s music is, and of course the drama of The Scarlet Letter is perennially important to America at large.”
Laitman is one of America’s most prolific and widely performed composers of vocal music, with over 200 songs to her credit as well as two operas and an oratorio. Laitman and Mason's recent composition, Vedem, an oratorio based on writings by children from the Terezin concentration camp, received its world premiere in 2010 and was released on the Naxos label in May, 2011. Laitman’s works are performed frequently in the U.S. and abroad, including in such venues as Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, The Kennedy Center and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.
The co-director of the creative writing program at Colorado College, Mason was named to a four-year term as Colorado’s Poet Laureate in 2010. The author of several poetry collections, including The Buried Houses (1991), The Country I Remember (1996) and Arrivals (2004), Mason’s award-winning 2007 novel in verse, Ludlow, describes Colorado’s infamous labor dispute from 1914.
The Scarlet Letter was commissioned by The University of Central Arkansas and received a faculty/student performance in 2008. That performance was followed by a presentation of excerpts from the opera at the Clinton Presidential Library in 2009 and excerpts performed in New York through the OPERA America Salon Series. “There has been a great deal of interest in this work circulating throughout the opera community,” Carpenter said. “I am proud to be partnering with Lori and David to present the professional world premiere of this amazing work.”
Performances of The Scarlet Letter will close Opera Colorado’s 30th Anniversary Season in May, 2013 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Beth Greenberg will direct the production. As Opera Colorado moves toward this historic performance, additional updates will be available at the company’s website: OperaColorado.org.
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OPERA COLORADO
Professional WORLD PREMIERE:
May 4, 7, 10 and 12 of 2013
ELLIE CAULKINS OPERA HOUSE
DENVER, COLORADO
Interested co-producers may contact Brad Trexell, Director of Artistic Planning at btrexell@operacolorado.org or 303-778-0215.
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The NY premiere of excerpts from THE SCARLET LETTER took place on
Opera America's "Salon Series: Exploring American Voices"
with Sari Gruber, Vale Rideout and Randall Scarlata, accompanied by the composer.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 6 pm
OPERA AMERICA, NY Office, 330 Seventh Avenue, 16th floor
with Sari Gruber, Vale Rideout and Randall Scarlata, accompanied by the composer.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 6 pm
OPERA AMERICA, NY Office, 330 Seventh Avenue, 16th floor