GENERAL DIRECTOR MATTHEW BUCKMAN ANNOUNCES
TOWNSEND OPERA 2016/17 SEASON REPERTOIRE AND INITIATIVES
COMPANY ANNOUNCES TWO-YEAR PROGRAMMING ARC
FEATURING FOUR COMPANY AND CENTRAL VALLEY PREMIERES
MUSIC & VERSE SERIES CONTINUES THE EXPLORATION OF POETRY AND MUSIC
Modesto, California – May 2, 2016
Townsend Opera General Director Matthew Buckman today announces the Company’s 2016/17 season
repertoire and initiatives, featuring two main stage operas, a new Cabaret Series, a continued exploration of
the connections between poetry and music with the Music & Verse Series, and a season-opening gala. With
a continued emphasis on regular opportunities to engage with opera as an art form, the 2016/17 season
features one performance event every month of the season.
With a continued passion for telling timeless stories with transcendent music, the 2016/17 season marks the
beginning of a unique two-year programming arc that joins together the glorious tradition of opera with
amazing stories about the Central Valley. Townsend Opera will present three traditional operas by renowned
composers in the next two seasons that collectively tell the story of the people in our community, how our
community became what it is today, and the important role that agriculture has, and continues, to play in our
community.
General Director Matthew Buckman said: “I am very excited to announce this two-year programmatic
journey. This is a rare opportunity for opera to intersect with our community in many different ways, and we
look forward to celebrating our community through artistic experiences. The three works about the Central
Valley are all very traditional operas filled with the beautiful music we expect from the art form, with stories
that impact our lives still today, and have never been performed by Townsend Opera.”
In January 2017, Townsend Opera will present Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Ned Rorem’s elegant opera
Our Town, based on the famous Thornton Wilder play, which accentuates the little things in every day life
that define the American experience in small towns across the country. In May 2017, the company performs
Carlisle Floyd’s opera Of Mice and Men, based on the celebrated novel by Pulitzer and Nobel-Prize winning
author John Steinbeck, which tells the dramatic story of the life of migrant workers who helped to make the
Central Valley the agricultural hub of the world in the early 20th century. In January 2018, Townsend Opera
will present the West Coast premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, based on the John
Steinbeck novel about the mass migration that shaped the Central Valley as we know it today. Each
performance will include day-long exhibitions celebrating the history of Modseto and exploring the role that
agriculture has played in our community’s development.
The two-year programming arc will come full circle by celebrating the long history of opera by traveling
back in time for a very traditional performance of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in May 2018. With this
exciting performance, Townsend Opera will recreate the experience of going to a world premiere of an opera
in Mozart’s time, complete with a candlelit theatre, period costumes for performer and audience alike, and
extended intermissions for eating and drinking with friends. For traditional opera lovers, this will be a rare
opportunity to experience opera the way it was when the great works were written.
Subscriptions are now on sale. Single tickets will go on sale July 5, 2016.
TOWNSEND OPERA’S 2016/17 SEASON
Main Stage Series
Our Town
A traditional opera by
Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
Based on the play by
Thornton Wilder
Saturday, January 21, 2017 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, January 22, 2017 – 2:00 pm
Gallo Center for the Arts
Conducted by Ryan Murray
Director TBA
Sung in English with surtitles
Company and Central
Valley Premiere
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by
American playwright Thornton Wilder, the
opera is an intimate and touching look into everyday life in a small town.
Written in 2006 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem, the opera
utilizes pleasant melodies and tonal harmonies to honor a time when our lives
were simpler, and reminds us of the universality of being human and the
necessity of companionship.
A more intimate opera, this piece will be performed at the Gallo Center for the
Arts as part of a daylong exhibition celebrating the history of Modesto.
Of Mice and Men
A traditional opera by
Carlisle Floyd (b. 1926)
Based on the novel by
John Steinbeck
Friday, April 28, 2017 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 30, 2017 – 2:00 pm
Gallo Center for the Arts
Conducted by Ryan Murray
Director TBA
Sung in English with surtitles
Company and Central
Valley Premiere
Based on the novel by Pulitzer and NobelPrize-winning author John Steinbeck, the
opera tells the story of two migrant farm laborers moving from place to place in
California’s Central Valley looking for work during the Great Depression.
Written in 1969 by renowned American composer Carlisle Floyd, the opera
features folk song references, open harmonies and poignant melodies. Written at
a time when most composers were deeply entrenched in the experimentalism of
the avant garde, Floyd’s music bucks the trend and provides the listener with
such tonal and lyric music that the piece has been referred to as one of the first
American verismo operas in the repertoire.
The performance of this opera will accompany an exhibit exploring the history of
migrant workers and the growth of agriculture in the Central Valley during the
Great Depression of the 1930s.
Special Events!
Opening Night Gala!
Saturday, September 24, 2016 – 6:30 pm
Location TBD
Celebrate the opening of the 2016/17 season with a Roaring ‘20s theme party,
complete with champagne fountains, period cocktails, dinner, dancing and a
special cabaret performance by prominent opera composer Ricky Ian Gordon and
soprano Carrie Hennessey. Gentlemen – dust off your black ties. Ladies – pull
on your feathered headbands. And get ready to ring in the new season and party
it up!
6:30 pm Cocktails Ÿ 7:30 pm Dinner Ÿ 8:30 pm Performance Ÿ 9:00 pm
Partying!
Holiday Celebration
Thursday, December 8, 2016 – 6:30 pm
Location TBA
Celebrate the holiday season with your friends at Townsend Opera! Enjoy hearty
hors d'oeuvres, good wine and special performances by guests artists. Proceeds
from this event will support the educational activities of Townsend Opera.
Cabaret Series
An expansion of the popular recital series, the new Cabaret Series will feature funny and mature performances by
singers who have recently performed with the opera, all in the swanky old-school setting of a downtown Modesto
restaurant.
Christine Capsuto, soprano
Friday, November 18, 2016 – 7:30 pm
Urbano Bistro – 1016 H Street, Modesto
Christine seduced the audience last season at the Opera Remix: Opera Meets
Classic Rock concert with her performance of Musetta’s aria from La Bohème.
Enjoy a sexy and fun cabaret show like you’ve never experienced before!
Timur, tenor
Friday, February 24, 2017 – 7:30 pm
Urbano Bistro – 1016 H Street, Modesto
Timur made his Company debut as Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli in our recent
production of Sweeney Todd, and returns to Modesto with a unique cabaret
performance that pulls from his experiences with his glam opera rock band Timur
and the Dime Museum!
Carrie Hennessey, soprano
Friday, March 31, 2017 – 7:30 pm
Urbano Bistro – 1016 H Street, Modesto
Carrie wowed the audience with her portrayal of Blanche Dubois in our 2015
production of A Streetcar Named Desire, and returns with a quirky and
entertaining cabaret performance that is guaranteed to make you laugh!
Music & Verse Recital Series
A continuation of the popular recital series at Deva Café, the Recital Series will celebrate the glorious fusion of
music and poetry. The recitals will feature performances of the works of legendary poets such as Emily
Dickinson and Langston Hughes alongside performances of songs by distinguished composers who have set those
poems to music.
In a special concert, new music created by Modesto-based poets and student composers at Stanislaus State in the
Music & Verse Program will receive their premiere performance. Featuring professional singers and members of
the Opera Orchestra, the concert will include readings of the original poems and performances of the songs
written to their text.
Music & Verse Concert
Thursday, October 27, 2016 – 7:30 pm
Location TBA
Singers from the cast of
the opera Our Town
Thursday, January 5, 2017 – 7:30 pm
Deva Café, 1202 J Street, Modesto
Singers from the cast of
the opera Of Mice and Men
Thursday, April 13, 2017 – 7:30 pm
Deva Café, 1202 J Street, Modesto
Calendar View
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Friday, November 18, 2016
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Friday, April 28, 2017
Sunday, April 30, 2017
6:30 pm
7:30 pm
7:30 pm
6:30 pm
7:30 pm
7:30 pm
3:00 pm
7:30 pm
7:30 pm
7:30 pm
7:30 pm
2:00 pm
Special Event: Opening Night Gala
Music & Verse Concert
Cabaret Series: Christine Capsuto
Special Event: Holiday Party
Music & Verse Recital
Our Town by Ned Rorem
Our Town by Ned Rorem
Cabaret Series: Timur
Cabaret Series: Carrie Hennessey
Music & Verse Recital
Of Mice and Men by Carlisle Floyd
Of Mice and Men by Carlisle Floyd
Location TBA
Location TBA
Urbano Bistro
Location TBA
Deva Café
Gallo Center
Gallo Center
Urbano Bistro
Urbano Bistro
Deva Café
Gallo Center
Gallo Center
About Townsend Opera
Townsend Opera has thrived artistically under the leadership of Matthew Buckman, named the
company’s first Executive Director in February 2008 and General Director since July 2012, and Ryan
Murray, Principal Conductor in July 2008 and Music Director since July 2013. The company has
significantly increased its role in the community by establishing ground-breaking partnerships with CSU
Stanislaus and the Modesto Junior College, which allows students to participate actively in the artistic
activities of the company and expanding the company’s mission of providing performance opportunities
for the members of its community. A new artistic partnership has brought the resident singers of San
Francisco Opera to Modesto to perform with the company on a regular basis, giving residents of
Modesto and the surrounding region the opportunity to hear some of the best singers in the country in a
live performance.
A new artistic initiative called Opera Remix was launched in the 2011/12 season to reconnect opera with
the 21st century. Since that time, many events have explored new modes of presentation and
performance styles to great success, with attendance at these events surpassing past opera events. The
philosophies behind the Opera Remix initiative have been implemented throughout the organization,
including updating the standard repertoire to take place in modern times, performing new or little
performed American opera, bringing patrons behind the scenes like never before, and breaking down the
traditional social barriers commonly found in opera. This work culminated in the world premiere of an
African American folk opera in May 2014.
Townsend Opera was founded in 1983 by Modesto native Eric Buck Townsend, a graduate of Modesto
High School, who had a successful international career as an opera singer. Buck Townsend worked
tirelessly to lead the company for 25 years, often directing, conducting, or singing in performances,
building sets, and organizing costumes. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2007, Buck and thenBoard President Carl Bengston led an initiative to establish second-generation leadership to ensure the
company would continue beyond his lifetime and thrive in its new home at the Gallo Center for the Arts.
Matthew Buckman became the company’s first Executive Director in February 2008, and worked with
Buck until his passing in September 2008 to establish a long-term strategic plan that has led to new
artistic achievements for the company.
The company moved to the larger Mary Stuart Rogers Theater at the Gallo Center for the Arts, marking
the last step of a complete redesign of the company’s business model. This transition resulted in a 32%
growth in audience in the 2010/11 season and provided cost savings that have made possible an
unprecedented increase in artistic quality during a sustained period of economic difficulty.
Townsend Opera Contact:
Matthew Buckman
209.523.6426
[email protected]
PO Box 4519
Modesto, CA 95353
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