Merolini from 2009 Countertenor Ryan Belongie
MEROLA OPERA PROGRAM ANNOUNCES 53RD SEASON HIGHLIGHTED BY FOUR PERFORMANCES OF DONIZETTI’S L’ELISIR D’AMORE
2010 Season also Includes Schwabacher Summer Concert at Herbst Theatre, a Free Concert at Yerba Buena Gardens and the Annual Merola Grand Finale
SAN FRANCISCO, January 25, 2010 — Four performances of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore highlight Merola Opera Program’s 2010 Season. L’Elisir d’Amore will be double cast, and performed on four separate dates: at 8:00 PM August 5, 6 and 7 and at 2:00 PM on August 8 at Fort Mason’s Cowell Theater. The 2010 Season begins with the annual Schwabacher Summer Concert at 7:30 PM on July 16 in the intimate setting of the Herbst Theatre and concludes with the traditional Merola Grand Finale onstage in the War Memorial Opera House at 7:30 PM on August 21. For the fourth year in a row, the Merola Opera Program offers a special gift to the community at 2:00 PM on July 25 with a free performance of the Schwabacher Summer Concert at Yerba Buena Gardens.
Led by San Francisco Opera Center Director and internationally acclaimed soprano Sheri Greenawald, the Merola Opera Program is an independent nonprofit organization which operates in collaboration with the San Francisco Opera. Founded in 1957 and named for San Francisco Opera’s founder, Gaetano Merola, the program is recognized as one of the most prestigious operatic training programs in the world. The Merola Opera Program typically receives more than 600 applications with 25 positions for this coming summer. Throughout the summer, the Merola artists will participate in master classes and private coaching with such luminaries as Jane Eaglen, Chuck Hudson, Warren Jones and Bill Vendici, among others. Participants – which include singers, apprentice coaches and an apprentice stage director – will also receive training in operatic repertory, foreign languages, diction, acting and stage movement.
Tickets go on sale to Merola members on March 15, 2010. Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 29, 2010. Tickets for all performances may be purchased by calling San Francisco Opera Box Office at (415) 864-3330.
For information on how to become a Merola member, please call (415) 565-6427 or visit www.Merola.org
Full program details including artists and casting will be announced at a later date. Visit www.Merola.org for more information.
2010 Calendar of Performances
Merola Opera Program
Schwabacher Summer Concert
Friday, July 16, 7:30 PM
War Memorial Veterans Building, Herbst Theatre
Tickets: $40/$25
Merola Opera Program
Schwabacher Summer Concert
Sunday, July 25, 2:00 PM
Mission St. between 3rd and 4th Streets
FREE
Merola Opera Program
L’Elisir d’Amore
Gaetano Donizetti/Libretto by Felice Romani
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Thursday-Sunday, August 5, 6 and 7, 8:00 PM
Sunday, August 8, 2:00 PM
Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center
Tickets: $60/$40
Merola Grand Finale and Reception
Saturday, August 21, at 7:30 PM
War Memorial Opera House
Tickets: $45 Grand Tier & Orchestra Prime/$35 Orchestra/$25 Dress Circle
Reception begins at 10:00 PM in the War Memorial Veterans Building
(Reception tickets are an additional $50 each)
Tickets for all performances may be purchased by calling San Francisco Opera Box Office, Monday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Tuesday through Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM at (415) 864-3330. Merola member tickets go on sale March 15, 2010. Public tickets go on sale March 29, 2010.
For information on how to become a Merola member, please call
(415) 565-6427 or visit www.Merola.org.
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