COMING THIS SEPTEMBER

WAGNER YEAR 2013 SPECTACULAR!!

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Richard Wagner's Birth

THE

MINI-RING

Sponsored by: THE RICHARD WAGNER SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MIDWEST

SEPTEMBER 13 & SEPTEMBER 15 

TICKET SALES BEGIN APRIL 13, 2013 

Presale tickets for MCO Patrons April 8

Click Here to Order Tickets

THE COWLES CENTER BOX OFFICE

612.206.3600

WAGNER'S RING CYCLE, THE ABBREVIATED FOUR-HOUR VERSION BY DAVID SEAMAN

IN CONCERT WITH ORCHESTRA
and English Supertitles

MCO Sponsor

Schmitt Music has been a Minnesota Concert Opera (MCO) sponsor since November, 2011. They provide MCO with a 6 ft. Boston grand piano and advertisement support for all of our Mainstage, Bravo Singers and MCO/Schmitt Music Series productions. We want to thank Schmitt Music for their support and acknowlege their dedication to bringing quality musical instruments and education to the people of Minnesota.

Hugo Vera, tenor (Manrico/Il Trovatore)

SCENES FROM OUR JANUARY 2013 TROVATORE

Jeffrey Beruan, bass/Ferrando; Craig Fields, conductor; Lara Bolton, piano; and men from the Minnesota Concert Opera Chorus

Left to right: Hugo Vera, tenor/Manrico; Kirsten Hoiseth Thayer, soprano/Leonora; Nathan Herfindahl, baritone/Count di Luna

WELCOME TO MINNESOTA CONCERT OPERA

Concert Opera is a hot ticket in the United States. Exciting companies such as Washington Concert Opera, ConcertOPERA Philadelphia, Connecticut Concert Opera, Concert Opera Boston, Baltimore Concert Opera, Candid Concert Opera in Chicago, Cascadia Concert Opera in the Pacific Northwest, and Eve Queller’s acclaimed Opera Orchestra of New York, are bringing world-class, affordable productions to opera lovers in their communities, just as the festivals and small companies do in Europe.

As critic Mark Berry noted last summer in Opera Today about the concert opera performance of Berlioz’ Les Troyens at the BBC Proms, sometimes opera masterpieces beg for a scaled-down production to let the music shine first and foremost: “I was clearly not the only person to have found conductor and soloists liberated by the concert hall.” Concert Opera has a unique and respected place in the opera world.

Minnesota Concert Opera's (MCO) 2012-2013 Debut season was a great success with Bellini's I Puritani last September and Verdi's Il Trovatore in January. Our MCO/Schmitt Music Recital series provided six recitals and workshops in Schmitt Music stores around the cities, and our BRAVO SINGERS have performed in-school educational outreach programs in nine elementary schools in the Twin Cities (with a generous grant by the Twin Cities Opera Guild) and have started to perform at fundraisers, banquets, private parties and special events all over Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minnesota Concert Opera (MCO) is thrilled about the spectacular centerpiece of our next season. For Wagner Year 2013, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Wagner’s birth, MCO is teaming up with the Richard Wagner Society of the Upper Midwest to produce a once-in-a-lifetime Mini Ring, a four-hour adaptation of the Ring Cycle featuring the world’s top Wagnerian stars, including Jane Eaglen, Jay Hunter Morris, and Richard Paul Fink. This stellar production will bring fans from around the world to the Twin Cities.

We are delighted to invite you to support this important musical organization that is committed to highlighting our extraordinary local talent, making opera available to a wide audience, and bringing much-needed arts outreach to the schools.

We look forward to seeing you at our next performance!

Stanford Felix - Executive/Artistic Director

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"Concert Opera is a form that invites imagination, and I have always been a fan of letting the audience create the picture themselves. Over many years at VocalEssence I have produced a number of productions that evoke this idea -- and they have always been successful for the audience. Never underestimate the audience!"

PHILIP BRUNELLE
Artistic Director and Founder,
VocalEssence

MCO

performs full-length operas in concert format using local and guest artists, piano or small orchestra, and an opera chorus, and is sung in the original language with English surtitles. Produced with minimal sets, costumes or staging, this unique and portable performance style allows MCO to bring world-class opera to Minnesota’s communities, introducing a large variety of opera (and occasionally musical theater) repertoire to all age groups and demographics.

Featuring professional casts drawn from Minnesota, the region, and the nation, MCO is committed to bringing the highest quality performances at remarkably affordable ticket prices. 

MCO’s home at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in downtown Minneapolis allows us to perform in the 505-seat, state-of-the-art Goodale Theater, which encompasses the ideal size and acoustics for concert opera. When on tour, MCO will perform in theatres of a similar size to maintain the ambience and acoustical criteria that bring out the best in the intimate and dramatic concert opera experience.

Launched in September 2011, MCO debuted its 2012-2013 season in September 2012.