Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 6 Il Travatore

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 26 | December 1, 2018 - January 20, 2019 ANTONIO LUIS MONTALVO Lyric debut For three seasons the dancer was a member of New Dialect, a contempo- rary company in Nashville, Tennessee, where his appearances included five world premieres. He has also been seen with Joffrey Ballet Chicago (highlighted by the world premiere of Gerald Arpino’s IDNA ), Nashville Ballet ( e Ben Folds Project world premiere, Peter Pan world premiere, Ballet Ball, Peter and the Wolf, Anne Frank ), Chicago Opera eater, and Civic Ballet of Chicago. His choreography (for Bacardi Halloween 2017 and the Millennium Dance Complex ) has been seen in Beijing and Shanghai. A Young Arts Merit win- ner, Montalvo graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he was a scholarship recipient. JIMI LOC NGUYEN Previously at Lyric: e Pearl Fishers (2017/18). e Michigan native began his training at the University of Michigan. Prior to graduating with a B.F.A. in dance, he performed in works of Bill T. Jones, Lucinda Childs, Jessica Fogel, and Robin Wilson. He represented UM Dance in the 2014 “Promising Artist Concert” in Costa Rica. at summer, Nguyen was honored to appear in the “Spirit of the Fringe” award-win- ning presentation of e Warriors: A Love Story in Edinburgh, Scotland, with Austin-based ARCOS Dance. He performed with DanceWorks Chicago from 2015 to 2017 and toured nationally and internationally with the company. Nguyen has also been seen with Bundesjugendballett in Hamburg. ELA OLARTE Lyric debut e dancer has been seen with Jessica Miller Tomlinson Choreography, Hanna Brictson and Dancers, Cocodaco Dance Project, odos Dance Chicago's New Dances, Alexis Crump Dance Films, and Visceral Dance Chicago's Within. She has created her own choreogra- phy for performances with Cocodaco Dance Project, the College of DuPage Choreography Competition (first place award for Nocturnal Detail, also seen at DanceWorks Chicago's Dance Chance), the Chicago History Museum, and Detroit Dance City Festival, among other venues. In Chicago, Olarte trained on scholarship at Visceral Dance Center and earned a B. F. A. in dance/choreography at Columbia College. ANDREA PUGLIESE Lyric debut e dancer was previously seen in Laura Scozzi’s choreography for Laurent Pelly’s production of Cendrillon for the work’s company premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. She also danced in Seán Curran’s cho- reography for Ned Canty’s production of Die Fledermaus in 2017 at e Santa Fe Opera. Other New York credits include performances for Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival 2015, the JCC Manhattan, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ Second Avenue Dance Company (B.F.A, summa cum laude , 2017). She also trained at Adelphi University, the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (Salzburg), and at ImPulsTanz Festival (Vienna). JACQUELINE STEWART Previously at Lyric: Four productions since 2016/17, most recently e Pearl Fishers (2017/18); My Fair Lady, Eugene Onegin (both 2016/17). e dancer, who debuted at Lyric in Les Troyens (2016/17), has been seen locally as a full-company member of Chicago Repertory Ballet (2012/18); with odosDance Chicago, e Seldoms, Dance Chicago, and Dance for Life; and in Anastasia (pre-Broadway) and perfor- mance with New York’s Artisan Dance Company ( e Nutcracker ). Stewart has choreographed for numerous compa- nies and special events, such as Joffrey Studios’ “RedDress Event” and e Dance Gallery New York. Company commis- sions include Madison Ballet and Chicago Repertory Ballet. Stewart is the founder/artistic director of Jaxon Movement Arts and Grand Prize recipient of the choreographic award from Joyce eatre Foundation’s A.W.A.R.D. Show. LUIS VAZQUEZ Lyric debut e dancer, who earned a B.F.A. degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is currently a company member of Chicago Repertory Ballet. He has previously been seen with odos Dance Chicago, where he performed a varied repertoire by numerous impor- tant choreographers, among them Bella Lewitzky, Bob Fosse, and Melissa odos. He trained with Hubbard Street Dance, Visceral Dance Chicago, DanceWorks Chicago, Deeply Rooted Dance eatre, and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet Summer Intensive. Vazquez has created his own choreography for the Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works ( Sea of Comets , 2018) and odos Dance Chicago New Dances ( Siren , 2017). SIR ANDREW DAVIS (Conductor) Previously at Lyric: 58 operas since 1987, most recently Siegfried , Idomeneo (both 2018/19); Turandot (2017/18). Lyric Opera of Chicago’s renowned music director began this season conducting the Last Night of the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall and concerts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 2018/19 highlights include a Mozart/Duruflé program with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Act One of Die Walküre with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (where Sir Andrew is currently chief conductor). e complete Walküre was a triumph for Sir Andrew at the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival. He has also earned acclaim for recent appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Detroit and Frankfurt Radio symphony orchestras. Former music director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Davis is also conductor laureate of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (of which he is currently interim artistic director). Operatic successes include productions at many major international companies, from the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and La Scala to the Bayreuth Festival and the leading houses of San Francisco, Munich, and Santa Fe. Davis has appeared with virtually every internationally prominent orchestra, including those of Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. A vast discography documents his artistry, with recent releases including programs of Berlioz and Ives, as well as Handel’s Messiah in Sir Andrew’s recent orchestration. Sir Andrew's recording of Elgar’s Falstaff/Songs with the BBC Philharmonic is a winner of France's highly prestigious Diapason d’Or award for 2018. Sir Andrew Davis is the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Music Director Endowed Chair . FRANCESCO MILIOTO (Conductor – January 11) Lyric conducting debut Previously at Lyric: Assistant conductor since 2013/14. e Italian-Canadian conductor enjoys relationships with a wide variety of ensembles. He has recently debuted with Opera San Antonio ( La traviata ), Arizona Opera ( e Barber of Seville ), and e Dallas Opera (Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne ). During his 16 years in the Chicago area, he was music director of the Highland Park Strings, Skokie Valley Symphony, New Millennium Orchestra (which he co-founded in 2005), the Chicago Cultural Center Summer Opera and was also artistic director/conductor of Access Contemporary Music. As a guest conductor he has led several critically acclaimed productions with Chicago Opera eater (most recently last season’s Donizetti double bill), and has collaborated with many local professional orchestras, including the Illinois Philharmonic. His work with both the New Millennium Orchestra and Chicago Opera eater has been cited among the “10 Best Performances of the Year” by the Chicago Sun- Times . He has also led productions with Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Southwest, Elgin Opera, and Opera on the James. In addition to Lyric, Milioto currently serves on the music staffs of e Santa Fe Opera, and Dallas Opera. He has also worked with the Ravinia Festival (ten seasons), LA Opera, Portland Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company. LAURENT PELLY (Director and Costume Designer) Lyric debut e French director’s Cendrillon pro- duction has triumphed in Santa Fe (premiere), London, Brussels, Lille, Barcelona, and most recently at the Metropolitan Opera. Pelly is particu- larly renowned for French repertoire and regarded as a special- ist in the works of Offenbach. irteen Pelly productions will be seen this season, among them new productions of Lucia di Lammermoor (Philadelphia, Vienna), Falstaff (Madrid), and Barbe Bleue (Lyon). Named Best Director at the 2016 International Opera Awards, Pelly also won in the Best Rediscovered Work category for Offenbach’s Le Roi Carotte (Opéra de Lyon). In 2016/17 Le Coq d’Or (Brussels, Madrid, Nancy) was awarded the French Critics Prix de l’Europe Francophone. New productions last season included e Barber of Seville (Paris) and Candide (Santa Fe). Other recent successes include Viva la mamma! (Lyon), Béatrice et Bénédict (Glyndebourne), Le médecin malgré lui (Geneva), Don Pasquale (Santa Fe, San Francisco, Brussels), L’elisir d’amore (London, Paris, St. Petersburg), and La fille du régiment (London, Vienna, New York, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona). As director of éâtre National de Toulouse (2008-18), Pelly directed and designed Gozzi’s L’oiseau vert (French critics’ 2015 Best Scenic Elements award, which transferred last spring to Paris’s éâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin), as well as works by Aristophanes, Ionesco, Shakespeare, and Hugo. Laurent Pelly is supported by the Richard P. and Susan Kiphart Costume Designer Endowed Chair. BARBARA DE LIMBURG (Set Designer) Lyric debut e Brussels native studied set design at La Cambre, cole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels in Brussels, and initially worked in theater and dance, before expanding into opera. Laurent Pelly’s production of Cendrillon at Santa Fe in 2006, de Limburg’s debut operatic set design, later triumphed in London, Brussels, Barcelona, Lille, and most recently at the Metropolitan Opera. e designer’s ongoing collaboration with Pelly include this season’s new Falstaff at the Teatro Rreal in Madrid (coproduc-