New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera Announces 2011-2012 Season. A Year of Love, Tragedy and Suicide; Tosca, Il Trovatore, Madama Butterfly to be Performed

FORT LEE, NJ, September 01, 2011

North Jersey's only professional grand opera company, New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera (Verismo Opera), proudly announces another season of grand opera with the new productions Tosca, Il Trovatore, and Madama Butterfly. Based in Fort Lee, the nonprofit, tax-exempt opera company launches the 2011-2012 season -- A Year of Love, Tragedy and Suicide -- with professional concerts, operalogues, master classes, educational programs, and the international 23rd annual Verismo Opera Vocal Competition. The company is under the direction of Lucine Amara, one of the Metropolitan Opera's finest dramatic sopranos.

2011


September 10. Verismo Opera Open House, Chorus Auditions & Call for Extras. 1:00 p.m. Bergen Family Center. 44 Armory Street, Englewood, New Jersey.

Adults, teens, and children are invited to attend and learn more about the exciting opportunities available to sing in the Verismo Opera Chorus and/or to play extras and act in various roles in the company's 2011-2012 productions. No experience required.

Contact Mary Ellen Rohon at (201) 886-0561 to schedule an appointment to audition for the chorus. For information about extra roles for adults and children, contact Rita Tonitto at (201) 224-2809. Light refreshments will be served.

September 10. Operas of Yesterday and Today. 3:00-4:00 p.m. Leonia Public Library. 312 Broad Avenue in Leonia, New Jersey. FREE.

Verismo Opera's stars sing excerpts from past productions, including the recently well-received performance of Aida at BergenPAC in Englewood, New Jersey, vignettes from the upcoming performance of Tosca, and some surprises, too. Featured singers are former Metropolitan Opera star Lucine Amara, Canada's Evelyn La Quaif, Patrick Blackwell, Galina Ivannikova of the Ukraine, Jasmine Thomas, and Allegra Durante.

September 14, 21. Verismo Opera Chorus Auditions & Call for Extras. 44 Armory Street, Englewood, New Jersey. 7:00 p.m.

Adults, teens, and children are invited to attend and learn more about the exciting opportunities available to sing in the Verismo Opera Chorus and/or to play extras and act in various roles in the company's productions. No experience required.

Auditions to sing in the chorus must be scheduled in advance. Contact Mary Ellen Rohon at (201) 886-0561 to schedule an appointment. For information about extra roles for adults and children, contact Rita Tonitto at (201) 224-2809.

September 17. Verismo Opera Master Class. 5:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Yeoryia Megremis Studios. 2109 Broadway (72nd Street and Broadway), #13-131, New York, New York.

Singers are invited to hear Metropolitan Opera star Lucine Amara discuss her performances of Aida and Tosca and Evelyn La Quaif, international artist and Stage Director of Verismo Opera. Eight singers will be accepted to sing and be critiqued. Fee: $80 for the 4-hour session. Auditors will be accepted at $10 each. For further information, contact (212) 362-6415.

October 16. Tosca. BergenPAC. 30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, New Jersey. 3:00 p.m.

Under Artistic Director Lucine Amara, one of the Metropolitan Opera's finest dramatic sopranos, Verismo Opera brings this tragic love story of jealousy, longing, murder and deception to the BergenPAC with traditional staging using New York City designed sets. A full orchestra and the Verismo Opera Chorus perform under the direction of Music Director/Principal Conductor Anthony Morss and Chorus Director Mara Waldman, respectively. Canadian soprano Evelyn La Quaif directs the production and plays the role of Floria Tosca, a celebrated singer.

Several New Jersey residents appear in this new production. Philip Alongi from Manalapan performs Cavaradossi, a role he presented with the Lyric Orchestra. Metropolitan Opera singer Ryan Allen of Edgewater, who performed the King of Egypt in Verismo Opera's triumphant spring 2011 production of Aida, returns to perform Sacristan. Bass Alan Gordon Smulen of Bayonne, who appeared in the Verismo Opera Chorus in Aida and sang Marullo in the company's production of Rigoletto in October 2010, will appear as Sciarrone, a gendarme.

Baritone Patrick Blackwell from Red Hook, New York joins the company to perform Baron Scarpia, the chief of police. He has appeared with several companies, including Fort Worth Opera singing Dr. Grenvil and New York City Opera performing Colline in Puccini's La Boheme.

Bass Joseph Baunoch, Assistant Professor of Voice at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a winner in the 2010 Classical Singer Magazine Convention Competition in the Professional Division, has performed in over 50 different operas. He joins Verismo Opera's cast of Tosca as Cesare Angelotti.

Tom Schubert, a bass baritone from New York City, is appearing in his first opera as the Jailer. His recent musical theater credits include Jekyll and Hyde (Westchester Broadway Theatre); Cinderella (PRTT/SEA - Best Actor in a Musical ACE Award Nomination); and Love Stinks (The Public Theater-SPF).

Brooklynite Allegra Durante, a coloratura soprano who debuted with Verismo Opera as the Page in Rigoletto last fall and sang with the company's chorus in Aida, returns to perform the Shepherd boy.

The performance is sung in Italian with English supertitles. The libretto is written by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa and based upon Victorien Sardou's drama, "La Tosca."

Tickets may be purchased by calling the BergenPAC box office at (201) 227-1030 or online at http://www.bergenpac.org. Ticket prices are $55, $45, $35, $25. Call (201) 224-2809 for information about discounts available for groups and students throughout the season.

November 4-14. 23rd Annual Verismo Opera Vocal Competition

Rising opera stars apply and compete in this international competition to receive cash awards totaling $3,500 ($2,000 First Prize; $1,000 Second Prize; $500 Third Prize), extensive personal coaching and a performing opportunity.

Preliminary auditions take place in New York City at the Otello Studio, Epic Security Building, 2067 Broadway, (between 71st and 72nd Streets) 2nd Floor, New York, New York.

Audition dates are as follows:
November 4 5 - 9:00 p.m.
November 5 2 - 6:00 p.m.
November 7 5 - 9:00 p.m.
November 9 5 - 9:00 p.m.
November 11 5 - 9:00 p.m.
November 12 2 - 6:00 p.m.
November 14 5 - 9:00 p.m.

The application deadline is October 31, 2011. The application fee is $75 and fully refundable if the cancellation notice is received before September 1, 2011. For additional details and to obtain an application, go to http://www.njavo.org.

2012

January 18. Verismo Opera Open House, Chorus Auditions & Casting Call for Extras.

6:30 p.m. Bergen Family Center. 44 Armory Street, Englewood, New Jersey.

New and current members are invited to join Verismo Opera's Music Director/Principal Conductor Anthony Morss, Chorus Director Mara Waldman, and Stage Director Evelyn La Quaif to discuss the opera company's mission, an overview of the new production, Il Trovatore, and their interpretations of this great work. Light refreshments will be served.

Adults, teens, and children are invited to attend and learn more about the exciting opportunities available to sing in the Verismo Opera Chorus and/or to play extras and act in various roles in the company's new production. No experience is required.

Contact Mary Ellen Rohon at (201) 886-0561 to schedule an appointment to audition for the chorus. For information about supernumerary role, contact Rita Tonitto at (201) 224-2809.

Second or Third Week of January. 23rd Annual Verismo Opera Vocal Competition Finals.
Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall. New York, New York.

Artists throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe compete for the first, second, and third prize awards. For further information, call (201) 886-0561.

April 22. Il Trovatore. BergenPAC. 30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, New Jersey.
3:00 p.m.

Verismo Opera brings Stage Director Evelyn La Quaif's powerful production of Giuseppe Verdi's passionate thriller, Il Trovatore, to the BergenPAC, formerly John Harms Theater. A cast of up and coming opera stars and the Verismo Opera Chorus performs under the direction of Mara Waldman with traditional staging and magnificent New York City designed sets. A full orchestra plays under the direction of Verismo Opera's Music Director/Principal Conductor Anthony Morss.

Presented in four acts, the performance is sung in Italian with English supertitles. The libretto is by Salvatore Cammarano and based upon the tragedy, El Trovador, by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the BergenPAC box office at (201) 227-1030 or online at http://www.bergenpac.org. Ticket prices are $55, $45, $35, $25. Call (201) 224-2809 for information about discounts available for groups and students.

October. Date to be announced. Madama Butterfly. BergenPAC. 30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, New Jersey. 3:00 p.m.

Funding

Support for NJAVO's programs are made possible, in part, with funds provided by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, through grand funds administered by the Bergen County Department of Parks, Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs. Other supporters include The Gerda Lissner Foundation, Inc., Vanguard Charitable Endowment Fund, Paul Weiss Matching Fund, Robert J. Campbell, MD, KSJ and Cesare L. Santeramo, KCSJ.

About Verismo Opera

The New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera has been a part of the New Jersey music scene since 1989. The opera company, a nonprofit organization based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, provides performing opportunities for young musicians and artists. Verismo Opera sponsors an annual vocal competition held in November with finals conducted in Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, drawing artists from all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company organizes opera workshops and offers affordable, highly professional operatic productions to the Bergen County, New Jersey community.

For more information about the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, visit its web site, http://www.njavo.org, view its Facebook page at http://bit.ly/9JXTP8, or call (201) 886-0561.