Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 11 Ariodante

P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 24 | March 2 - 17, 2019 HARRY BICKET (Conductor) Previously at Lyric: Six productions since 2002, most recently Orphée et Eurydice (2017/18); Carmen (2016/17); Rinaldo (2011/12). Among the British conductor’s many prestigious engagements this season have been return visits to the Metropolitan Opera ( e Magic Flute ), the Cleveland Orchestra (an all-Mozart program), and – with his own ensemble, e English Concert – Handel’s Semele in Paris, London, and at Carnegie Hall. Greatly celebrated for the Baroque and Classical repertoire in which he established himself internationally, Bicket has led acclaimed perfor- mances of Ariodante in Paris, Vienna, and at Carnegie Hall. In 2018 he was appointed music director at e Santa Fe Opera, having been chief conductor since 2013. His successes over the past four summers in Santa Fe have included Candide , Romeo and Juliet , La finta giardiniera , Fidelio , and Alcina . Other recent highlights in North America include productions in Houston ( e Marriage of Figaro , Rusalka ), Toronto ( Maometto secondo , Hercules ), Atlanta ( Orfeo ), and guest-conducting with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the major orchestras of Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, Houston, Seattle, St. Paul, Ottawa, and Indianapolis. Bicket has collaborated on recordings with artists including Renée Fleming, Lucy Crowe, Alice Coote, and David Daniels. DVD releases include Rodelinda (Met), Rinaldo ( Munich), A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and Martin y Soler’s e Tree of Diana (both from Barcelona). RICHARD JONES (Original Director) Previously at Lyric: La bohème (2018/19); Hansel and Gretel (2012/13, 2001/02); Jenůfa (2000/01). The British director debuted at London’s Royal Opera House directing an award-winning 1994 production of the Ring cycle. He has returned for eight productions, among them Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk , Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole (world premiere), and most recently La bohème (2017/18). Jones’s production of Ariodante was previously seen at the Festival d’Aix-en- Provence, the Dutch National Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company. Other productions have included Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , La fanciulla del West , Wozzeck , and Hansel and Gretel (Welsh National Opera, Metropolitan Opera); Don Giovanni , Rodelinda , Cavalleria rusticana , Pagliacci , Lulu , e Trojans , and Julietta (English National Opera); Falstaff , Macbeth , and Flight (Glyndebourne); Pelléas et Mélisande and Lohengrin (Bavarian State Opera); Billy Budd (Frankfurt Opera and Netherlands Opera); Peter Grimes (La Scala); and La bohème (Bregenz Festival). Jones’s work in theater includes e Hairy Ape (Old Vic and New York – nominated for six Drama Desk Awards); e Trial , Public Enemy , e Government Inspector , Annie Get Your Gun , and e Good Soul of Szechuan (all for the Young Vic); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company); Tales from the Vienna Woods (National Theatre); and Into the Woods (West End). He has directed on Broadway three times. Jones is the winner of five Olivier Awards, and a Tony nominee. He was appointed a CBE in 2015. BENJAMIN DAVIS (Revival Director) Lyric debut e British director began his career as a staff director at Welsh National Opera from 2001-2011. Since 2006 he has directed productions international- ly. Among his major achievements have been his own new productions of Il trittico (Opera Zuid in the Netherlands), Così fan tutte (WNO), La rondine and Sir John in Love (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); directing a semi-staging of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin (two European tours with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, also featured at the Beijing Music Festival with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra); and revival-directing pro- ductions of Ariodante (Dutch National Opera, Canadian Opera Company), Gianni Schicchi (London’s Royal Opera), Khovanshchina , Wozzeck, Tosca , e Magic Flute (WNO), Hansel and Gretel (WNO, Portland Opera, Bavarian State Opera), e Queen of Spades (WNO, Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera), and Carmen (Scottish Opera); and associate-directing Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore (Salzburg Festival) and the world premieres of Orest (DNO) and Written On Skin (Aix-en-Provence Festival). Davis is a member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Opera and Drama at Cardiff University, where he is studying for his doctorate. ULTZ (Set and Costume Designer) Lyric debut The British designer has created sets and costumes for many remarkable opera productions internationally, among them Ariodante (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Dutch National Opera, Canadian Opera Company); Parsifal (Opéra National de Paris); Gloriana (Royal Opera, Hamburg State Opera); Macbeth , Falstaff (Glyndebourne Festival) and productions for the Bavarian State Opera and English National Opera. His work in theater includes designing for Broadway, Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company, Manhattan Theater Club, Stratford Ontario, the West End, the National Theatre, the Young Vic, 20 productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, 18 world premières for the Royal Court Theatre. ULTZ began his career as an actor and drama teacher and has also worked as a director in Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and the UK where his production Pied Piper – A Hip Hop Dance Revolution , with Boy Blue Entertainment, won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. ULTZ won an Opernwelt Critics Award for designs for Xerxes (Munich), a Tony Award nomination and an Olivier Award for Jerusalem (Royal Court Theatre, West End, Broadway), and an Off-West End Award for The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic). ULTZ is supported by the Richard P. and Susan Kiphart Costume Designer Endowed Chair. MIMI JORDAN SHERIN (Lighting Designer) Previously at Lyric: La bohème (2018/19); Tristan und Isolde (1999/00). In addition to Ariodante , the distinguished American lighting designer has collaborated with Richard Jones for seven productions at London's Royal Opera House. Her designs for Boris Godunov will be seen there later this season. Sherin’s other work with Jones includes Lohengrin and Les contes d’Hoffmann , The Midsummer Marriage (Bavarian State Opera), The Makropulos Case (Frankfurt Opera), Billy Budd , Ariodante (Netherlands Opera), Peter Grimes (La Scala, Milan), Flight , Falstaff , Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne), Rusalka (Royal Danish Opera), Rodelinda , Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , La fanciulla del West , From Morning to Midnight , Cavalleria rusticana , Pagliacci , Don Giovanni (English National Opera), Anna Nicole Smith (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and many others. Sherin has worked extensively in theater, including Annie Get Your Gun , Public Enemy , e Government Inspector , and e Trial (Young Vic), e Hairy Ape (Old Vic and New York Armory), Jerusalem (Royal Court, West End and Broadway), e Glass Menagerie, Julius Caesar, and Our Country’s Good (all on Broadway), and 35 years of productions for America’s regional theaters. Awards include the American eatre Wing Award, two Obies, an Eddy Award, a Tony nomination, and six Drama Desk nominations. Mimi Jordan Sherin is supported by the Mary-Lou- ise and James S. Aargard Lighting Director Endowed Chair.