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URL:http://www.russianmix.com/events/viewevent/5326-beyond-the-consul-with-the-chicago-opera-theater/ 
DTSTART:20171025T173000
DTEND:20171025T193000
SUMMARY:Beyond The Consul with the Chicago Opera Theater
DESCRIPTION:Carlo Menotti’s 1950 opera about political refugees. Don’t miss this chance to learn more about the true stories that intersect with Menotti’s inspirations and story. Light refreshments and a performance by a quartet from the Refugee Orchestra Project will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Consul director Andreas Mitisek and Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya.
Program

Welcome from the Newberry and COT
Yeraz (“The Dream”) by Alan Hovhaness
Vocalise by Sergey Rachmaninoff
“Sola, perduta, abbandonata” from Manon Lescaut, by Giacomo Puccini
“O patria mia” from Aida, by Giuseppe Verdi
“Ya Ghazali,” traditional Syrian song
Irving Berlin Medley

Panel Discussion: The History and Future of Immigration and Refugees in ChicagoBiographies

Lubana Al Quntar, soprano, is known as “Syria’s first opera singer.” She was the first graduate of the conservatory in Damascus, and after studying in Europe, returned to teach there. She was lucky to escape at the start of the recent civil war and now lives in Washington DC. She will sing “Sola, perduta, abbandonata” from Puccini’s Manon and “O patria mia” from Verdi’s Aida, along with some traditional Syrian music.
Maria Gorkun, violin, is from Ukraine. She moved to the United States recently, during the civil war there. In addition to being a violinist, she is a master bow-maker, a profession she could not freely pursue as a woman in Ukraine. She will perform music by Irving Berlin and Barók’s Romanian Folk Dances.
Andreas Mitisek, a native of Vienna, served as Artistic and General Director of the Chicago Opera Theater from 2012-2017 and is currently in the same position at Long Beach Opera (since 2003). He has been a conductor, stage director and designer of over 100 productions throughout the world, including COT’s upcoming The Consul.
Lidiya Yankovskaya, piano, a Russian-born symphonic and opera conductor, is Music Director of the Chicago Opera Theater and a resident artists at National Sawdust with the Refugee Orchestra Project. She has guest conducted with Wolftrap Opera, Flagstaff Symphony, Beth Morrison Projects, American Lyric Theater, Opera Saratoga, Brookline Symphony, and Stamford Symphony.

Cosponsored with Chicago Opera Theater.
LOCATION:Newberry Library, 60 West Walton St., Chicago, IL, 60610
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