OPERA PARALLÈLE ANNOUNCES 2015-2016 SEASON
OPERA PARALLÈLE AND SFJAZZ CO-PRESENT FULLY STAGED PRODUCTION OF CHAMPION: AN OPERA IN JAZZ BY TERENCE BLANCHARD, FEBRUARY 19-28, 2016 AT SFJAZZ CENTER IN SAN FRANCISCO
PREMIERE OF NEW PRODUCTION OF PETER MAXWELL DAVIES’ RIVETING THE LIGHTHOUSE, APRIL 29-MAY 1, 2016 AT Z SPACE
PREMIERE OF NEW CHILDREN’S OPERA, AMAZING GRACE, NOV. 12-14, 2015
Opera Parallèle has announced its 2015–2016 season, which will feature its first collaboration with SFJAZZ, a new production of Peter Maxwell Davies’ riveting and mysterious The Lighthouse, and the world premiere of a new children’s opera by Chris Pratorius. Opera Parallèle and SFJAZZ will present their first collaboration: a new, fully staged production of Champion: An Opera in Jazz by Terence Blanchard, SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director, with eight performances to be given February 19-28, 2016 at SFJAZZ Center. Based on the life of African-American boxing champion Emile Griffith (1938-2013), the production marks both Opera Parallèle’s first foray into an operatic jazz idiom and SFJAZZ’s first opera. The complete schedule of performances will be announced and tickets go on sale to the general public mid-July, 2015. For more information about Champion, click HERE.
Peter Maxwell Davies’ three-character opera, The Lighthouse, based on the mysterious and unsolved disappearance of three people off the Scottish coast in 1900 will be given a new production April 29-May 1, 2016 at Z Space in San Francisco. The season will open with the world premiere of a new children’s opera by Chris Pratorius entitled Amazing Grace, featuring San Francisco fourth graders and soloists, November 12-14, 2015, at a venue to be announced. Watch for more information about The Lighthouse and Amazing Grace in the next few months!
“For our 2016 season, Opera Parallèle is so honored to work with Terence Blanchard and SFJAZZ, two incredible leaders in the field,” says Opera Parallèle founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement. “The story of Emile Griffith is extremely powerful and personal and at the same time his dreams, determination and triumphs will resonate with just about everyone who has passion and drive. It is perfectly suited to Opera Parallèle’s style of operatic story-telling. Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Lighthouse is based on a true historical mystery from the family of Robert Louis Stevenson, and features an intimate cast of characters who arrive at a lighthouse only to discover its inhabitants have disappeared without a trace. We begin the season with what has become a delightful annual tradition: our Hands-On-Opera education program. This season we present the world premiere children’s opera, by Santa Cruz composer Chris Pratorius returning to Opera Parallèle after last year’s successful premiere of My Head is Full of Colors.”