Modesto arts company plans eight months of Festival @ Home entertainment
Opera Modesto plans a slate of Festival @ Home productions through the summer of 2021.
The on-demand online shows will run for eight months, beginning with “Mansfield Park,” from a January production at the State Theatre, according to a press release.
The shows include two youth concerts featuring Central Valley artists, three professional concerts with regional, national and international artists, three operas and a youth opera movie filmed in the region.
The productions will be offered from January through August on the second Fridays of the month. Each will remain available for unlimited viewing by ticket holders until midnight on the last day of the month.
“We are very excited to offer Festival @ Home to our local and regional audiences, Roy Stevens, Opera Modesto’s general director, said in the release. “We hope to brighten this time of isolation with the joyful pleasure of music and amazing voices, combined with engaging stories both personal and operatic.”
Subscription and single event tickets will be available. The link to view the programs will be provided with a ticket purchase.
The productions planned are as follows.
Jan. 8-31: “Mansfield Park,” an opera in English based on the book by Jane Austen that was performed in January by Opera Modesto. The production was directed by Carolina Stevens and conducted by Ryan Murray and Liisa Davila.
Feb. 12-28: TOP Young Artists Valentine’s Concert, featuring favorites from musical theater, operetta and classic rock. It was performed by 22 teen and other Central Valley artists, accompanied by Dashiel Reed. The production is from a February 2019 performance at Mistlin Art Gallery.
March 12-31: “High, Low & Hip Hopera” with international opera singers blending musical disciplines in concert. Countertenor Logan Tanner, bass Nathan Stark and viral “Hip Hopera” baritone Babatunde Akinboboye will perform the new concert. It will be recorded at the Gallo Center for the Arts’ Foster Theater.
April 9-30: “The Race,” the premiere of a youth opera movie commissioned by Opera Modesto from Central Valley composer Deborah Kavasch and librettist Linda Bunney-Sarhad. Based on five Aesop’s Fables, the April showing will follow those at international film festivals, according to the press release. Director was Carolina Stevens, conductor Liisa Davila and film director Michael Everett of The Creation Lab.
May 14-31: “From Russia With Love” — A concert of Russian favorites performed by mezzo-soprano Anna Yelizarova, soprano Natasha Collier and concert pianist Alda Turgieva. Selections by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Glinka and more are planned. This new concert also will be recorded at the Foster Theater at the Gallo Center.
June 11-30: 2020 Summer Opera Institute Concert featuring 28 Central Valley youth artists, ages 11 to 19, performing 24 opera selections in four languages. Filmed in front of a huge outdoor green screen in August 2020 with distancing protocols, the artists were placed in proximity with each other through computer technology in post-production, the release said.
July 9-31: “Opera in the Heights,” a new concert combining aerial trapeze operatic artist Nikola Printz and Bel Canto specialist Maya Kherani. Together, the artists create “high flying musical magic,” according to the release. It also will be recorded in the Gallo Center Foster Theater.
Aug. 13-31: “Rigoletto,” the Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The production features tragedy, romance, danger and a court jester, as well as the famous tune “La donna e’ mobile.” Opera Modesto’s production stars Roy Stevens as Rigoletto, Victor Starsky as Duke of Mantua, Maya Kherani as Gilda and basso profundo John Ames as Sparafucile. It was directed by Annalisa Winberg and conducted by Ryan Murray. The opera is from Opera Modesto’s October 2019 production at the Gallo Center.
All performances will include subtitles in English. The “Opera in the Heights” concert will include ASL interpretation.
Single event tickets are $15, $25 for youth concerts, $25 for professional concerts and $35 for operas. There’s a 10 percent discount for students and seniors.
A full subscription to all eight productions is $185; patrons also can purchase partial subscriptions.
According to the press release, there’s also a “pay what you want” option. “Opera Modesto wants to make this available to everyone — pay what you can or want to pay.”
To purchase tickets, go to OperaModesto.org or call its office at 209-523-6426.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
