WHEN:
Saturday, May 11, 2019 @ 7pm
WHERE:
Hunnewell Chapel, Arlington Street Church
351 Boylston St, Boston 02116
TICKETS: $10-$20
*Tickets at the door will be cash or check only
Jennifer Soloway, soprano
Ann Fogler, mezzo-soprano
Jean Anderson Collier, piano and Music Director
Patricia-Maria Weinmann, Stage Director
Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Gene Scheer
Jake Heggie’s, one-act opera, To Hell and Back, is a sensitive and beautiful contemporary exploration of abuse, redemption, and empowerment told through the lens of the Ancient Greek myth of the Rape of Persephone. The performance will be followed by a talk-back featuring speakers from the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry’s domestic violence safehouse, which will provide resources about how to identity and combat domestic violence for people and relationships within any demographic. 20% of all ticket proceeds will be donated to UUUM’s domestic violence safehouse.
In order to help you best prepare for the opera, please note that “To Hell and Back” contains sensitive material referencing intimate partner violence.
Lyric coloratura soprano, Jennifer Soloway, is a native of Marietta, Georgia (just outside Atlanta) and has performed with The Boston Conservatory, Oklahoma City University Bass School of Music, University of Miami Frost School of Music in Salzburg, Taos Opera Institute, and the Harrower Opera Institute at Georgia State University.
Her past operatic roles include Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier (2015), Emily in Our Town (2014), Rose in Street Scene (2013), Lucy in The Telephone (2011), and Rapunzel in Into the Woods (2013). Her musical endeavors in 2016 included performing the roles of Annina in La Traviata, Susanna in Le Nozze de Figaro, Stephanie in Jake Heggie’s To Hell and Back, and Morgana in Handel's Alcina. Her most recent role was Cunegonda in Candide.
Ms. Soloway earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University and her Master of Music in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee under the tutelage of Rebecca Folsom.
Praised for having a “flexible, very warm, and crystalline” instrument, Ann Fogler, mezzo-soprano, is based out of Boston, MA. Ms. Fogler participated as a young artist in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation program at Central City Opera for the past two summers, where she performed the role of Announcer (Gallantry) in 2017, and in 2018 was featured as a soloist in Encore: A Musical Revue.
The start of her 2019 season included the Boston premiere of The Scarlet Ibis, with Boston Opera Collaborative, where Ms. Fogler “strongly [captured] Brother’s overflowing energy.” Most recently Ms. Fogler performed the role of Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) with MassOpera. Upcoming performances include Lepido (Silla) with The Cambridge Chamber Ensemble.
Ms. Fogler earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Dickinson College (‘15) and her Master of Music in Voice Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee ('17) under the tutelage of Marilyn Bulli.
Melanie Bacaling is actively involved in the opera industry as a stage manager and director. She is honored to be an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera for the 18/19 season. Ms. Bacaling has also assumed the role of Company Intimacy Advocate with Boston Lyric Opera for The Rape of Lucretia and The Handmaid’s Tale. Most recently with BLO, Ms. Bacaling was the Assistant Director for The Rape of Lucretia (director: Sarna Lapine) and The Barber of Seville (director: Rosetta Cucchi). This season she made her Opera Omaha debut as the Assistant Director for The Elixir of Love (director: Rosetta Cucchi). Upcoming engagements include The Handmaid’s Tale with BLO (Assistant Stage Manager), To Hell and Back with Boston Opera Collaborative (Assistant Director), and she will join the stage management team at Santa Fe Opera for the 2019 season. Also a vocalist, Ms. Bacaling is the Soprano Soloist at First Church Unitarian Universalist in Belmont and holds an M.M. in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance from the Boston Conservatory.
Sarah Zimmer is currently doing her Masters at Emerson College in Theatre for Community Engagement. She is an intern at Boston Lyric Opera as a community and education intern. Currently, she is working on the company's two Spring shows, The Rape of Lucretia and The Handmaids Tale, in which Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and Casa Myrna are partners. Sarah also serves as an Extended Day Teacher and Upper Camp Drama Director at The Chestnut Hill School, a teaching artist for Watertown Children's Teacher, and Benefit Night Manager at Flatbread Company Brighton. She received her 25-Hr Domestic Violence Counseling certificate from RESPONDInc in Somerville, MA and hopes to point her work in community-based theatre towards ending intimate partner and sexual violence. Sarah is incredibly grateful to serve a small part in this deeply impactful project.
Sasha Shapiro is a Ph.D candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia. She studies the intersection of medicine and literature, focusing particular on issues of end of life in Russian literature. She has been drawing and painting all her life and freelances on the side. Sasha enjoys collaborating with other artists and engaging in social justice projects.