Welcome to the 2015-2016 season of Lyric Theatre @ Illinois. Our flagship program is continuing to break new ground through innovation, interdisciplinary instruction, and a consistent effort to increase our footprint nationally and internationally.
As I mentioned in a previous letter, we have decided to celebrate the life and works of Shakespeare this year by performing Beatrice and Benedict (Much Ado about Nothing), Kiss Me Kate (The Taming of the Shrew), and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In order to give the students a more complete artistic and learning experience, we are combining efforts with professors from Dance and Theatre, professional conductors, directors, choreographers, and (as always) the talented students and teachers of LEVEL21 (production and design).
Now, more than ever before, the performing arts need to be united and the performers need to be well-versed in all disciplines. Not only are opera companies (large and small) producing new vocal works, but orchestras around the world are as well. For example, beginning this season, the New York Philharmonic- in partnership with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts- is committing to a multi-year project which will present fully staged productions of new operatic works that have yet to be seen in New York. Opera Philadelphia is in its fifth year of a ten-year commitment to develop and produce one new work per year. This past summer, Santa Fe Opera- in collaboration with Opera Philadelphia- produced the first opera ever written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Jennifer Higdon, to great critical and public acclaim. Dallas Opera is producing two new pieces: Great Scott by Jake Heggie and Terrance McNally, and Becoming Santa by Mark Adamo. Our team at Lyric Theatre not only recognizes this changing landscape, but are a part of it as well, and we are developing a curriculum to prepare our students for professional careers that may span from Monteverdi to Muhly and Lerner to Laird.
New works do not, however, develop on their own. They need to be worked and reworked. They are written and rewritten, tested and tried. One of the most critical periods in the development of a new piece is the "workshop" phase. At the center of our mission here at Lyric Theatre @ Illinois is to have our finger on the pulse of the professional performing world. One of the ways we are doing this is by bringing the professional world to us and offering them something that they can only get here: a safe environment to experiment. Last year we workshopped Polly Peachum, a new piece by Gene Scheer and Billy VanHorn. This year we will begin workshopping Bhutto by composer Mohammed Fairouz and writer Mohammed Hanif about the life of Benazir Bhutto. This production is scheduled to be debuted at Pittsburgh Opera in February of 2018.
These opportunities, in combination with the teaching of solid fundamental skills, is what makes Lyric Theatre @ Illinois unique among all other programs throughout the country. Preparing students for a professional career is our responsibility. Developing artists who will shape the performing world for future generations is our goal.
As I mentioned in a previous letter, we have decided to celebrate the life and works of Shakespeare this year by performing Beatrice and Benedict (Much Ado about Nothing), Kiss Me Kate (The Taming of the Shrew), and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In order to give the students a more complete artistic and learning experience, we are combining efforts with professors from Dance and Theatre, professional conductors, directors, choreographers, and (as always) the talented students and teachers of LEVEL21 (production and design).
Now, more than ever before, the performing arts need to be united and the performers need to be well-versed in all disciplines. Not only are opera companies (large and small) producing new vocal works, but orchestras around the world are as well. For example, beginning this season, the New York Philharmonic- in partnership with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts- is committing to a multi-year project which will present fully staged productions of new operatic works that have yet to be seen in New York. Opera Philadelphia is in its fifth year of a ten-year commitment to develop and produce one new work per year. This past summer, Santa Fe Opera- in collaboration with Opera Philadelphia- produced the first opera ever written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Jennifer Higdon, to great critical and public acclaim. Dallas Opera is producing two new pieces: Great Scott by Jake Heggie and Terrance McNally, and Becoming Santa by Mark Adamo. Our team at Lyric Theatre not only recognizes this changing landscape, but are a part of it as well, and we are developing a curriculum to prepare our students for professional careers that may span from Monteverdi to Muhly and Lerner to Laird.
New works do not, however, develop on their own. They need to be worked and reworked. They are written and rewritten, tested and tried. One of the most critical periods in the development of a new piece is the "workshop" phase. At the center of our mission here at Lyric Theatre @ Illinois is to have our finger on the pulse of the professional performing world. One of the ways we are doing this is by bringing the professional world to us and offering them something that they can only get here: a safe environment to experiment. Last year we workshopped Polly Peachum, a new piece by Gene Scheer and Billy VanHorn. This year we will begin workshopping Bhutto by composer Mohammed Fairouz and writer Mohammed Hanif about the life of Benazir Bhutto. This production is scheduled to be debuted at Pittsburgh Opera in February of 2018.
These opportunities, in combination with the teaching of solid fundamental skills, is what makes Lyric Theatre @ Illinois unique among all other programs throughout the country. Preparing students for a professional career is our responsibility. Developing artists who will shape the performing world for future generations is our goal.