Posted September 13, 2019
CONTACT: ANGELA WHITEHEAD
Communications & Media Manager
Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
Phone 937-224-3521 x1138
awhitehead@daytonperformingarts.org
DAYTON, OH (August 30, 2019) – On Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. in the Mead Theatre of the Schuster Center, the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) proudly presents the 2019–2020 Season Opening Spectacular, Haydn’s Creation. This original event is a brilliant collaboration of Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, and Dayton Philharmonic, showcasing all three art forms. Dayton Opera Artistic Director Thomas Bankston, Dayton Philharmonic Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman, and Dayton Ballet Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke together present a moving evening of vocal and orchestral music and dance.
This program officially opens the season for Dayton Opera and for Dayton Ballet, and this presentation is the first concert in the 2019-2020 Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association Masterworks Series of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Leadership Sponsor for this production is Premier Health, and Principal Sponsor is Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts. DPAA’s Innovation Partner for the 2019-2020 Titans Season is the DP&L Foundation: Powering Innovation in the Performing Arts.
Inspired by Handel’s Messiah, Joseph Haydn composed The Creation as a musical rendition of one of the greatest stories ever written. The work is considered by many to be Haydn’s true masterpiece. With its libretto delineated in both German and English, the oratorio was the first original bilingual composition ever written. The Creation quickly became more popular than any other work throughout Europe and was accessible to all levels of listeners, from the aristocrats to the bourgeoisie.
The libretto of this famous oratorio, written into three distinct parts, depicts the biblical creation of the world. The first part begins with “Representation of Chaos”, and the six days of the creation story fill parts one and two of this work. Each of the days of the creation are introduced by one of the three archangels, sung by the three soloists: Raphael by the bass, Uriel by the tenor, and Gabriel by the soprano. Part three tells the beginning of the story of Adam and Eve, with the roles of Adam sung by the bass and the Eve sung by the soprano.
Dayton Opera Artistic Director Thomas Bankston, producing director of this production, has selected three exciting and talented vocalists to perform this demanding oratorio. Taking the stage to sing these challenging roles are three rising young singers who each were former Dayton Opera Artists-in-Residence. Dayton Opera is thrilled to welcome back to the stage soprano Olivia Yokers, tenor Jacob Ryan Wright, and bass Vincent Grana. Ms. Yokers and Mr. Wright appeared as Mabel and Frederic in last season’s The Pirates of Penzance, and Mr. Grana last appeared with Dayton Opera as Zuniga in the 2017 Carmen.
The full complement of the Dayton Opera Chorus, under the direction of Chorus Master Jeffrey Powell, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Director Hank Dahlman, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Wright State University, provide the beautiful choral richness that makes this work so spectacular.
The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of DPO Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman, opens its Masterworks season with this masterpiece which Haydn himself conducted at its premiere at the Schwarzenberg Palace in Vienna in 1798. The full company of nineteen dancers of Dayton Ballet, choreographed by Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke, add captivating dance, interspersed throughout the solo and choral sections, providing an additional dimension to this typically orchestral and choral concert work.
Haydn’s glorious Creation is the perfect way to officially kick off the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance’s 2019–2020 Titans Season. Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, and Dayton Philharmonic proudly present this musical titan in a collaboration that showcases the strength and beauty of each art form under a single guiding vision, giving this massive oratorio the performance it deserves.
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance invites all of Dayton to this magnificent demonstration of the power of three art forms under one roof and the continuing development of what has almost become an entirely new art form, in and of itself.
Tickets for Haydn’s Creation: Season Opening Spectacular range from $28 to $98 and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. Senior, teacher and student discounts are available at the box office. For more information or to order subscriptions, including flexible subscription types for the full 2019-20120 Titans Season for Dayton Opera, Dayton Ballet, or Dayton Philharmonic, please visit www.daytonperformingarts.org.
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About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the community, offering a tremendous variety of performance and education programs and setting a new standard for artistic excellence. Dayton Performing Arts Alliance performances are made possible in part by Montgomery County and Culture Works, the single largest source of community funds for the arts and culture in the Miami Valley. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance also receives partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency created to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to preserve Ohio’s cultural heritage. Funding from the Ohio Arts Council is an investment of state tax dollars that promotes economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohio residents. In 2013, The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was thrilled to be one of five performing arts organizations in the country selected to receive a three-year “Music Alive” grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance is the proud recipient of a 2017-2018 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.