Boston University Opera Institute is thrilled to announce this season of projects and productions. Each fall, we put on the annual Fringe Festival, which is a collaboration between CFA School of Music’s Opera Institute and School of Theatre. Fringe features new and rarely performed significant works in the opera and theatre repertoire, bringing performances and audiences together in unique theatrical settings.
And in the spring, two mainstage operas invite the BU community and beyond to experience the exceptional talent of the students in the program, within incredible productions supported by the School of Theatre.
2023 – 2024 Season
Mainstage
La clemenza di Tito
Music W.A. Mozart • Libretto by Caterino Mazzolà
William Lumpkin, conductor • Fernando Gaggini, assistant conductor
Eve Summer, stage director
April 18 – 21, 2024
Tsai Performance Center
Mozart’s penultimate opera, La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) is driven by paranoia and manipulation which culminates in a conflicted ruler’s struggle to discover the greater power of mercy over revenge. A co-production between the College of Fine Arts School of Music: Opera Institute and School of Theatre. Sung in Italian with English supertitles; performed with orchestra.
Cendrillon
Music by Jules Massenet • Libretto by Henri Caïn
William Lumpkin, conductor • Brenna Corner, stage director
February 29 – March 3, 2024
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
Cendrillon (Cinderella) is the well-known fairy tale about a young girl wronged and her ultimate redemption through her discovery of true love. Massenet’s ethereal music carries the audience into a dreamlike world of enchantment. A co-production between the College of Fine Arts School of Music: Opera Institute and School of Theatre. Sung in French with English supertitles; performed with orchestra.
Fall 2023 Fringe Festival
Alice Tierney
Music by Melissa Dunphy • Libretto by Jacquleine Goldfinger
Allison Voth, music director • Fernando Gaggini, assistant conductor
Claire Choquette, stage director
October 13 – 15, 2023
Studio ONE
Hydrogen Jukebox
Music by Philip Glass • Libretto by Allen Ginsburg
Matthew Larson, music director • Sarah Dahnke, stage director
October 27 – 29, 2023
Studio ONE
Spring 2023 productions
Alcina
Music by Georg Friedrich Handel
Libretto by Antonio Fanzaglia
William Lumpkin, conductor
Fenlon Lamb, stage director
Be transported to a world of magic and mystery with Handel’s Alcina. Follow the story of the enchantress Alcina and her attempt to win the love of the brave warrior Ruggiero. But as Ruggiero begins to see through Alcina’s illusions and uncover her true nature, he must decide whether to succumb to her charms or follow his heart. Featuring the Boston University Chamber Orchestra. Sung in Italian with English supertitles.
Tsai Performance Center
685 Commonwealth Ave.
APRIL 27 – 28, 2023
4/27/23, 7:30pm
4/28/23, 7:30pm
Little Women
Music and Libretto by Mark Adamo
Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
William Lumpkin, conductor
Eve Summer, stage director
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
820 Commonwealth Ave.
FEBRUARY 23 – 26, 2023
Fall 2022 productions
Fringe Festival Operas
Co-produced with BU School of Theatre
La hija de Rappaccini
October 21 – 23, 2022
Studio ONE
Composed by Daniel Catán
Music Director • Allison Voth
Stage Director • Rose Freeman
Our Town
October 28 – 29, 2022
CFA Concert Hall
Composed by Ned Rorem
Music Director • William Lumpkin
Stage Director • Nathan Troup
Fringe Festival Plays
Little Row Boat or, Conjecture
November 4 – 6, 2022
Studio ONE
By Kirsten Greenidge
As the French Revolution brews outside, teenage slave Sally Hemings gets her first taste of freedom while serving in Thomas Jefferson’s Paris home. Inside, she becomes involved in one of the most speculated about and scandalous relationships in American history. With verve, humor, and music, playwright Kirsten Greenidge imagines how events unfolded in the Jefferson household for the family and “servants” alike. Little Row Boat is a visceral and intricate story of convictions, contradictions, and sacrifice in the pursuit of liberty. (Bret Adams)
Next Stage Workshops & Plays
Studios on 3
The School of Theatre New Play Initiative presents a series of Next Stage workshops, scenes, and plays. These Next Stage pieces will be directed by our Undergraduate Directors and will flower as the next step in the fruition of these new plays by BU students.
The nature of the presentation and the work is determined by the needs of the play. Curated by Kirsten Greenidge, this “on-its-feet” workshop or play experience focuses on different areas of the writing or specific parts of a project in the process of development.
Salome
September 24 – 25, 2022
By Trevor Turnbow
Director • Julian Simmons
Mother May I?
October 8 – 9, 2022
By Dylan Avillanoza
Director • Lila Heller
Against A Village
October 22 – 23, 2022
By Elliot Dupcak
Director: Matthew Swain
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