CCM, Cincinnati Opera Co-Host Free Performance of 'Some Light Emerges'

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and Cincinnati Opera's Opera Fusion: New Works program presents excerpts from the new American opera Some Light Emerges at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 22, in the Cincinnati Club's Oak Room. This free public performance provides audience members with a rare behind-the-scenes look at the creation of an original work!

Tickets are available now though the Cincinnati Opera box office by calling 513-241-2742 or visiting cincinnatiopera.org.

Opera Fusion: New Works is currently providing a workshop for Some Light Emerges, which is composed by Laura Kaminsky to a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. Inspired by the creation of Houston’s iconic Rothko Chapel by philanthropist and art collector Dominique de Menil, the opera is commissioned by HGOco, Houston Grand Opera’s community collaboration and education initiative. The chamber opera will have its world premiere in Houston in March 2017. The Cincinnati workshop is directed by Robin Guarino, CCM's J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair, and conducted by Bradley Moore, Houston Grand Opera’s head of music staff and music director for HGO Studio.

In the mid-1960s, the renowned art collector Dominique de Menil commissioned the noted American artist Mark Rothko to create a series of paintings and the ideal gallery in which to house them. Mrs. de Menil also envisioned that the resultant Rothko Chapel, which opened in 1971, would serve as a spiritual space for “those of all faiths, or no faith.” Some Light Emerges is set mostly within the Rothko Chapel and chronicles the direct and tangential intersections of five people across four decades who visit the chapel, as well as the struggles and triumphs of Dominique de Menil in realizing her dream.

Opera Fusion: New Works will also workshop Intimate Apparel, a new American opera by composer Ricky Ian Gordon with a libretto by Lynn Nottage, from November 5 to 14, 2016. The new opera is commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater’s New Works Program. The workshop will be directed by Guarino and conducted by Timothy Myers, the artistic and music director of North Carolina Opera. Paul Cremo, dramaturg and director of opera commissioning programs for the Metropolitan Opera, will be the dramaturg for the workshop. This residency will culminate in a free public performance of excerpts in Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14,  in the Cincinnati Club’s Oak Room. Tickets are available beginning Tuesday, November 1 through the Cincinnati Opera box office.

About Opera Fusion: New Works

Funded by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Opera Fusion: New Works is a groundbreaking joint program of Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music created in 2011 to foster the development of new American operas. The program offers composers or composer/librettist teams the opportunity to workshop an opera during a 10-day residency in Cincinnati, utilizing the talent, personnel and facilities of both organizations. The workshops are cast with a combination of CCM students and professional artists, and each workshop concludes with a public performance. The program is led by co-artistic directors Marcus Küchle, Director of Artistic Operations of Cincinnati Opera, and Robin Guarino, the J. Ralph Corbett Distinguished Chair of Opera at CCM. In 2015, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation renewed the program’s funding, allowing for a second cycle of six workshops over three years.

 In 2011, Opera Fusion: New Works awarded its first workshop to composer Douglas J. Cuomo and librettist John Patrick Shanley in support of their new opera Doubt, which premiered at Minnesota Opera in January 2013. In 2012, Opera Fusion: New Works provided workshops for Champion, by composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Michael Cristofer, which premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 2013; and Morning Star, by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist William M. Hoffman, which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in June 2015. In 2013, the residency went to Fellow Travelers, by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce, which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in June 2016. In 2014, the program invited composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally to workshop Great Scott, which premiered at the Dallas Opera in October 2015. For the final workshop of the original six-workshop grant, the residency was awarded to Meet John Doe, with music and libretto by the late Daniel Catán. The first workshop of the second grant cycle was given in October 2015 to Shalimar the Clown, by composer Jack Perla and librettist Rajiv Joseph, which premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June 2016.

Opera Fusion: New Works Lab Presents

SOME LIGHT EMERGES

Composed by Laura Kaminsky

Libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed

Robin Guarino, director

Bradley Moore, conductor

Performance Time

7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22

Location 

The Cincinnati Club's Oak Room

30 Garfield Place, Cincinnati OH 45202

Reserving Tickets

Admission to Some Light Emerges is free, but reservations are required. Please contact the Cincinnati Opera box office for tickets by calling 513-241-2742 or visiting www.cincinnatiopera.org.

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CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Opera Department Sponsor: Mr. & Mrs. Edward S. Rosenthal

Opera Production Sponsor: Genevieve Smith