The Dallas Opera 2021-2022 - Madame Butterfly/Flight

23 FLIGHT Jonathan Dove , Composer Jonathan Dove’s early musical experience came from playing the piano, organ, and viola; he later studied composition at Cambridge and worked as an accompanist, repetiteur, animateur, and arranger. This experience gave him a deep understanding of singers and the complex mechanics of the opera house. Since his breakthrough opera, Flight , Dove has written almost thirty operatic works, as well as two works for the Last Night of the Proms: A Song of Joys (2010) and Our Revels Now Are Ended (2016). Dove has maintained a serious commitment to community development through innovative projects such as Tobias and the Angel , which brings together children, community choirs, and professional singers; Life is a Dream , written for Birmingham Opera Company, which was performed by professionals and community choruses in a disused Birmingham warehouse; The Walk from The Garden —a church opera involving community singers—which was premiered at the 2012 Salisbury International Arts Festival; and T he Monster in the Maze , a community opera commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and performed under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Jonathan Dove was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music. April De Angelis , Librettist April De Angelis is an acclaimed writer whose extensive theatre work throughout the UK and beyond includes After Electra ; Rune Gastronauts , Jumpy ; an adaptation of Wuthering Height , A Laughing Matter , A Warwickshire Testimony , The Positive Hour , Playhouse Creatures , and The Life and Times of Fanny Hill . She’s currently under commission to the Rose Theatre, Kingston, the Royal Exchange, Manchester, and the National Theatre. De Angelis has also written the librettos for Flight (music by Jonathan Dove) and The Silent Twins , which was set to music by Errollyn Wallen. Her work for radio includes an adaptation of Life in the Tomb for BBC Radio 3 in 2014, a serialization of Peyton Place , Visitants for BBC Radio 4, and The Outlander for Radio 5, which won the Writer’s Guild Award in 1992. Kristine McIntyre , Director The Dallas Opera debut In productions of more than 90 operas nationwide, the American director has focused frequently on new, contemporary, and American works. In addition to Flight , career highlights include Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick and Dead Man Walking ; world premieres of Kirke Mechem’s John Brown , Ethan Gans-Morse’s The Canticle of the Black Madonna , and Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre ; new productions of Wozzeck , Billy Budd (regional Emmy award) and Peter Grimes , as well as Laura Kaminsky’s As One , Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied , and David T. Little’s Soldier Song ; Robert Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry ; Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men ; Kurt Weill’s Street Scene ; and Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land . Current projects include new productions of Dead Man Walking , Sweeney Todd , and Glory Denied , an adaptation of La voix humaine , and the world premiere of Celka Ojakangas and Amy Punt’s Mirror Game (winner of an OPERA America Female Composer Discovery Grant). R. Keith Brumley , Set Designer The Dallas Opera debut The designer maintains significant associations with many distinguished American opera companies. He has worked for more than 25 years at Des Moines Metro Opera, where he frequently collaborates with his Flight colleague, director Kristine McIntyre. Among his recent much-acclaimed productions there are works as varied as Flight , Dead Man Walking , Die Fledermaus , Billy Budd , Manon , Jen ů fa , La fanciulla del West , Le comte Ory , Peter Grimes , Elektra , Eugene Onegin , and La rondine . In 2021, Brumley returned to DMMO for Sweeney Todd . He was resident designer for more than 30 years at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, where his work has been seen in La bohème , Carmen , Don Giovanni , and Die Fledermaus . He has also designed for Kentucky Opera ( Romeo and Juliet ), Seattle Opera ( Carmen ), Opera Omaha ( Don Giovanni ), and Opera Carolina ( Otello ). His designs for Dead Man Walking have also been seen at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.