FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alexandra Tursi                                     Taras Kulish
PR Director                                           Artistic Director
Green Mountain Opera Festival               Green Mountain Opera Festival
802-578-7926                                        514-502-0095
alex@borealispr.com                             GreenMtnOpera@aol.com

 THE GREEN MOUNTAIN OPERA FESTIVAL’S 2012 SEASON PRESENTS
LA BOHEME, DON PASQUALE – AND AN EXPANSION INTO BURLINGTON

Festival’s Seventh Season Runs June 3-24, 2012;
New Performances at the University of Vermont Recital Hall Co-Presented with The Lane Series

January 9, 2011 – Waitsfield, VT – The hills of Vermont will once again be alive with the sound…of opera. The Green Mountain Opera Festival, Vermont’s premiere opera event, is pleased to announce its seventh season, a three-week long series of performances in June 2012. 

This year’s mainstage production is Puccini’s La Bohème, the heartbreaking story of star-crossed bohemian lovers, cherished by audiences worldwide. La Bohème will come to life on the stage of the Barre Opera House on June 22 and 24, 2012. Audiences may trade tears for laughs when the festival also presents Donizetti’s Don Pasquale on June 21 and 23, 2012. The cheeky comedic opera about the wily side of love and marriage is performed by some of the country’s most talented young performers, all members of the festival’s Emerging Artists Program. The festival will also present an opening gala concert, a Broadway picnic, and several free events including master classes and open rehearsals.  

The 2012 festival calendar includes:
(For more information on the schedule of events and tickets please visit the calendar page of the festival website: www.GreenMountainOperaFestival.com) 

·         June 3, 2012: Festival Opening Gala Concert at the UVM Recital Hall in Burlington;

·         June 10, 2012: Opera Brunch at Timbers Restaurant at Sugarbush Resort in Warren:

·         June 10, 2012: Opera Concert at St. John’s in the Meadows Church in Stowe;

·         June 13, 2012: Broadway Picnic at The Round Barn Farm in Waitsfield (picnic food will be on sale);

·         June 21, 2012: Don Pasquale at the Gate House at Sugarbush Resort in Warren;

·         June 22, 2012: La Bohème at the Barre Opera House in Barre;

·         June 23, 2012: Don Pasquale at the UVM Recital Hall in Burlington; and

·         June 24, 2012: La Bohème at the Barre Opera House in Barre.

New this year is an exciting partnership with The Lane Series, bringing the festival to Burlington: On June 3, the festival kicks off at the UVM Recital Hall with an opening gala concert featuring the stars of the 2012 season. The second Burlington performance, the Emerging Artists production of Don Pasquale, takes place on June 23.

“Our partnership with the Lane Series expands the footprint of our festival,” said Taras Kulish, artistic director of the festival. “This signifies an important next step in cultivating and growing what we consider to be a jewel in the Vermont musical landscape. At a time when some opera and classical music organizations are experiencing pains, we are proud to bring the talents of our performers and the beauty of opera to more audiences – and they are welcoming us with open arms.”

Several favorite festival performers will return for the 2012 season – and some new voices will join, too. They include:

·         Leonardo Vordoni conducts the festival orchestra in La Bohème. Vordoni recently conducted a well-received Bohème at Santa Fe Opera. Audiences will remember him as the conductor of the festival’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor in 2010. Jim Lowe, the critic at the Times-Argus, called the orchestra's performance "vibrant and sensitive."

·         Ellen Douglas Schlaefer, who has served as stage director for two GMOF productions - The Marriage of Figaro in 2009 and last year's thrillingly staged Carmen – returns for La Bohème. She is director of opera studies at the University of South Carolina and has directed many operas, plays and musicals, including six productions of La Bohème for regional opera companies.

·         Soprano Mary Dunleavy sings the leading role of the doomed seamstress Mimì in La Bohème. The acclaimed singer has played opera’s heroines, from Violetta to Gilda, on stages including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the New York City Opera as well as internationally at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest.

·         Tenor Richard Troxell sings the leading role of the lovesick poet Rodolfo in La Bohème. Audiences will remember him as a thrilling Don José in the mainstage production of Carmen. After the 2011 festival, he sang Don José at Castleton, Virginia, opposite Denyce Graves with Lorin Maazel conducting. Richard is best known for his portrayal of Pinkerton in the critically-acclaimed movie version of Madama Butterfly directed by Frédéric Mitterand.

Rounding out the cast of La Bohème is baritone Jordan Shanahan, who sings the role of Marcello, a painter in a love/hate relationship with Musetta. Shanahan performed Enrico in GMOF’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Since then, he was cast in five productions at the Metropolitan Opera. Vermont's own Erik Kroncke will sing the role of Colline, the wisdom-spouting philosopher, and Natalie Polito, a member of the Emerging Artists Program will breathe life into the role of Musetta, the flirtatious cabaret singer.

"These highly talented artists will make for an exciting and fresh group of bohemians for our mainstage production. They will be loved by festival participants and audiences alike," said Kulish. “We’re equally excited to share the discovered performers who will participate in our Emerging Artists Program.”

The Emerging Artists Program, headed by Bruce Stasyna as program director, is at the core of the Green Mountain Opera Festival. The training experience invites a select group of talented, aspiring young opera singers to perfect their craft, gain performance experience and gather invaluable insight from professionals of the highest caliber in the opera world. Close to 400 singers applied for 14 positions. Graduates of the program have gone on to perform with Palm Beach Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Minnesota Opera, Virginia Opera, Opera Boston, Utah Opera, and several other companies.

To learn more and to purchase tickets to any of this season’s events, please visit www.greenmountainoperafestival.com. Reservations for the festival’s first event – the annual gala fundraiser, taking place on March 10, 2012, at the Inn at the Round Barn in Waitsfield – may be made by calling Sarah Stavraky at 802-496-2877 or by emailing GMOFadmn@gmail.com.

The summer of 2012 will be full of high notes – what could be better than summer in Vermont accentuated by some of the most beautiful music even written?

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About the Green Mountain Opera Festival

Founded in 2005, the Green Mountain Opera Festival is based in the beautiful Mad River Valley in Central Vermont, USA. The festival is co-sponsored by Sugarbush Resort and The Round Barn Farm. It is funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts and is a professional member of OPERA America, an association of recognized opera companies in the United States. The GMOF is part of the Green Mountain Cultural Center, a non-profit organization, founded by the Inn at The Round Barn Farm. For a full schedule of festival events, please visit www.greenmountainoperafestival.com.

Detailed Cast Information

La Bohème by Puccini

 Conductor: Leonardo Vordoni
Director: Ellen Douglas Schlaefer
Chorus Master: Dawn Willis

Mimì: Mary Dunleavy
Rodolfo: Richard Troxell
Musetta: Natalie Polito
Marcello: Jordan Shanahan
Colline: Erik Kroncke
Schaunard: Philip Kalmanovitch
Benoit & Alcindoro: Geoff Penar

Don Pasquale by Donizetti

Conductor: Bruce Stasyna
Director: Scott Parry

Don Pasquale: Brian Wehrle
Norina: Emily Duncan Brown
Ernesto: Matias Mariani
Malatesta: TBD