Opera Cd'A announces its 2015 season

Opera Coeur d'Alene will bring internationally acclaimed talent to three shows planned for the 2015 season.

Performing for the first time at Spokane's Fox Theater, Opera Coeur d'Alene and the Spokane Symphony will co-produce "La Boheme" on Nov. 21 and 22.

Mozart's "The Magic Flute" will be fully staged in a family-friendly epic-high-fantasy or "Harry-Potter-esque" motif at North Idaho College's Schuler Auditorium on Sept. 11 and 13.

The season will begin, July 12, with a concert version of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Mikado" at sunset on Lake Coeur d'Alene. A pair of Resort party boats will be lashed side-by-side for a slow, fresh-air, musical experience around the lake.

Dawn Wolski, who will sing the role of Yum Yum in "Mikado," has been acclaimed from China to Europe for her "crystal-clear high D." Other singers will include Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre's Jadd Davis, Opera Coeur d'Alene's Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, Jay Buhny, Kent Kimball, Kala Mort and Susan Windham.

The September showing of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" will feature two-time Grammy winner Vale Rideout as Tamino. Rideout sings lead operatic roles around the world and frequently collaborates on recording projects with famed conductor Lorin Maazel. Local fans will remember him in the title role in Opera Coeur d'Alene's 2011 production of "Faust." Other cast will include Anne-Carolyn Bird as Pamina, the same role for which she recently won critics' commendations in a production at the University of Georgia. Ms. Bird's real life husband, Matt Burns, will be Papageno here. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Burns has a "cavernous voice and droll earthiness." Both have many accolades including multiple reviews in "Washington Post" and "Opera News." Other singers will include Dawn Wolski, Daniel Sumegi and Jadd Davis.

The Magic Flute is a singspiel - German for "sing-play." The story is told in both song and spoken words. Jay Buhny will do that narration in English. Director Aaron Nicholson is planning sets and costumes reminiscent of fantasy novels like "The Chronicles of Narnia" or "Lord of the Rings." With a regionally-hired orchestra, the music will be under the baton of Spokane Symphony's Maestro Eckart Preu.

The season will end as Opera Coeur d'Alene takes to the stage in Spokane, again with Maestro Preu, but this time joining the Spokane Symphony for Puccini's La bohme. Distinguished Metropolitan and Berlin Opera artist Leah Partridge will sing the role of Mimi. Partridge is a particular favorite of Florida Grand Opera. Other celebrated artists will include Elizabeth Caballero, Eric Margiore, Ryan Bede and Matthew Trevino.

Spokane Symphony's Eckart Preu has conducted major symphonies in Germany and Paris and is also music director for Stamford Symphony in Connecticut.

All productions for the season will be under the artistic direction of Coeur d'Alene resident and Opera Coeur d'Alene General Director Aaron St. Clair Nicholson.

Besides the three major shows, other events will include an opera bash on Sept. 14 where audience and friends can meet some of Opera Coeur d'Alene's singers and enjoy their music in a closer, more personal setting. Continuing its 16-year tradition of educational work, the company will mobilize fresh local talent to produce "The Wonderful Wizard of Opera" in local and regional schools throughout North Idaho in May and June.

Season tickets and tickets for individual events may be purchased through www.operacda.com or by calling (800) 418-1485. Members get earlier notice as well as opportunities for early purchase of some events. According to Nicholson, these are all "dynamite, incredible programs, with quality as fine as a person would hear anywhere in the world, at a fraction of most ticket prices, with the convenience of local venues." Nicholson invites audiences to "experience some of the best artists in the world, much closer and more intensely than you could ever hear them anyplace else," adding "This is opera as it should be - opera for the people."