E. Loren Meeker & Garnett Bruce named OSA's Artistic Advisors
OPERA San Antonio today announced the appointment of Garnett Bruce and E. Loren Meeker as Artistic Advisors to the company. The company also announced that its September 2019 production will be Puccini’s Tosca, directed by E. Loren Meeker.
Garnett Bruce is a noted director who has previously directed Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Verdi’s La Traviata for OPERA San Antonio. He returns to direct Gounod’s Faust at the Tobin Center on May 9 and 11, 2019, a production that he will have recently revived at both Houston Grand Opera and Washington National Opera.
E. Loren Meeker is a distinguished director who has directed OSA’s productions of both Rossini’s La Bohème and The Barber of Seville. She will also direct Puccini’s Tosca in September 2019. This season she is directing Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers for Houston Grand Opera.
OPERA San Antonio Chairman of the Board Blair Labatt stated: “Loren Meeker and Garnett Bruce have been the most loyal friends of OPERA San Antonio. For the last year they have actively helped the company well beyond a consulting role. They have been key participants in our choice of repertoire, sets, casting and contracting, and selection of production personnel.”
Meeker and Bruce will consult with Labatt weekly, and are expected to spend significant time in San Antonio in connection with their directorial responsibilities. Labatt further stated, “Loren and Garnett have such deep ties to, and knowledge of, the opera community that they really make it possible for OPERA San Antonio to take its productions to a new level. Our production of La Traviata in September was an example, and our upcoming Faust and Tosca will be equally memorable.”
The company announced details of its production of Gounod’s Faust on May 9 and 11, 2019. The director will be Garnett Bruce. The conductor will be Robert Tweten, Director of the Music Staff for Santa Fe Opera. The sets were designed by the noted artist Earl Staley, whose work is on display at both SAMA and the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. The cast for Faust includes soprano Yunah Lee as Marguerite, tenor Josh Dennis in the title role of Faust, and baritone Kyle Albertson as the devil Mephistopheles.
The title sponsor for the production of Faust will be the Tobin Endowment. This will be the first time that OPERA San Antonio has had a named sponsor for a production. Blair Labatt said, “The Tobin Endowment has been a principal funder for OPERA San Antonio since its inception. We are extremely proud at this expression of additional support and confidence, and grateful to Bruce Bugg, Trustee of the Endowment. We look forward to saying ‘The Tobin Endowment Presents Faust.’” OPERA San Antonio further announced that its next full production will be Puccini’s Tosca, on September 12 and 14, 2019. Tosca will be directed by OPERA San Antonio’s Artistic Advisor Loren E. Meeker, and conducted by Francesco Milioto, who conducted the San Antonio Symphony in the recent La Traviata. The sets will come from the Seattle Opera. Casting is now underway.
Tosca will be OPERA San Antonio’s third Puccini opera, following Madame Butterfly in 2015 and La bohème in 2018. A perennial audience favorite, it is the story of a famous singer and actress, Tosca, who falls in love with Cavaradossi, a young artist and revolutionary. The head of the secret police, Scarpia, not only pursues Cavaradossi, but uses his power to try to make Tosca submit to his advances, with tragic consequences. OPERA San Antonio has announced that tickets for both operas will be on sale at the Tobin Center effective Monday, December 17, and that anyone buying tickets for both will receive a 20% discount. “We are treating the two operas as if they are a ‘season’ in May and September,” Labatt said. “It is important for us to be able to offer something like a season-ticket option to our audience.”
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OPERA San Antonio is the resident opera company for San Antonio’s Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. The company produces two operas each year in the Tobin Center. Its most recent production was La Traviata in September, 2018. The company’s funding supporters include The Tobin Endowment, The Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, the City of San Antonio, and Bexar County.
For further information please contact Mercy Polinati (mpolinati@operasa.org)