Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 8 Elektra

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 February 2 - 22, 2019 | 27 Giulio Cesare, Il trovatore , Tosca , and Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci . His international career has also encompassed other works of Handel ( Agrippina , Barcelona, Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt; Semele , Paris; Giulio Cesare , Glyndebourne, Chicago; Alcina, English National Opera/London) and Mozart ( Così fan tutte, Strasbourg, Scottish Opera; La clemenza di Tito , Aix-en-Provence; e Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Sydney), as well as Cherubini ( Medea , ENO); Verdi ( Macbeth , St. Petersburg; Don Carlo , Tokyo; Falstaff , Vienna); Wagner ( Ring cycle, Strasbourg; Tristan und Isolde , Tokyo, Vienna; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Glyndebourne, Chicago); Offenbach ( Les contes d’Hoffmann , Salzburg); Strauss ( Der Rosenkavalier , Scottish Opera, Opera North, ENO); and Britten ( Billy Budd , Lyric; e Turn of the Screw, ENO). In 2012 McVicar received a knighthood and was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. NICK SANDYS (Revival Director) Lyric directorial debut Previously at Lyric: Fight choreographer for 48 productions since 1995/96, most recently Il trovatore (2018/19, 2014/15); Jesus Christ Superstar , Faust (both 2017/18). A resident fight director at Lyric for over 20 years, Sandys directed the McVicar Elektra production in Houston last January, having worked on the violence and movement for the Lyric premiere. Sandys has been an artistic associate at Chicago’s Remy Bumppo eatre Company since 2002 and artistic director since 2012. For Remy Bumppo, he has directed Puff: Believe It Or Not (world- premiere adaptation), Great Expectations (U. S. premiere), Pirandello’s Henry IV, Life of Galileo, Travesties (2015 Jeff Award nominations for direction, production), Our Class (2014 Jeff nominations for direction, production, ensemble), Seascape , and Fiction , among others. He has performed in many shows for the company, most recently Frankenstein and Pygmalion . Sandys has also directed for First Folio, Eclipse eatre, Chamber Opera Chicago, Fort Worth Shakespeare in the Park, and Stage West, among others. His Jeff-winning fight direction has been seen throughout Chicagoland, on Broadway, and at the Metropolitan Opera ( Il trovatore, Giulio Cesare, Prince Igor ). Adjunct faculty at e eatre School at DePaul University since 1995, Sandys has received 15 Jeff nominations (winning once for combat choreography), an After Dark Award, a Dallas Critics Circle Award, and a 2011 Achievement Award from e Meier Foundation for the Arts. JOHN MACFARLANE (Set and Costume Designer) Previously at Lyric: Rusalka (2013/14); Hansel and Gretel (2012/13, 2001/02); Elektra (2012/13). e Scottish designer, who studied at the Glasgow School of Art, works extensively in opera and dance. His frequent collaborators in opera include directors Sir David McVicar, Willy Decker, Richard Jones, and Francesca Zambello. Among his opera credits internationally are Tosca (Metropolitan Opera), Benvenuto Cellini (Geneva), Hansel and Gretel (Welsh National Opera, Met), e Queen of Spades (WNO), War and Peace and La clemenza di Tito (Paris), Agrippina (Brussels), Boris Godunov (Amsterdam), Euryanthe (Glyndebourne), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Cologne), Les Troyens (English National Opera), Don Giovanni (Brussels, San Francisco), Idomeneo (Vienna), and Maria Stuarda (Met). Macfarlane made his Royal Ballet debut in 1985 with Giselle. He has since returned regularly to the Royal Opera House, designing Glen Tetley’s La Ronde and Liam Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows , Sweet Violets, e Age of Anxiety, Frankenstein , and Swan Lake for e Royal Ballet, and Erwartung/Bluebeard’s Castle, Peter Grimes, e Magic Flute, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Gianni Schicchi, and L’heure espagnole . His many other designs include e Nutcracker, Le Baiser de la fée and Cinderella for Birmingham Royal Ballet. Macfarlane’s painting and printmaking are widely exhibited across the U.K. and Europe. He was created a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2006. John Macfarlane is supported by the Richard P. and Susan Kiphart Costume Designer Endowed Chair. JENNIFER TIPTON (Lighting Designer) Previously at Lyric: Eight productions since 1988/89, most recently Il trovatore (2018/19, 2014/15, 2006/07); Romeo and Juliet (2015/16); La clemenza di Tito (2013/14). e American lighting designer is well known for her work in theater, dance, and opera. Her designs for La traviata were seen in seven cities throughout Britain earlier this season in Welsh National Opera’s production. Other projects this season include David Lang’s e Loser at LA Opera. Tipton’s most recent opera productions include L’elisir d’amore and Maria Stuarda (the latter in its company premiere) at the Metropolitan Opera, David Lang’s Love Fail at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Bartlett Sher’s production of Romeo and Juliet at both the Met and La Scala. Her recent work in dance includes e Age of Anxiety for the Royal Ballet, and, in theater, Harold Pinter's e Room for the Wooster Group. Tipton teaches lighting at the Yale School of Drama. She received the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 2001, the Jerome Robbins Prize in 2003, and in April 2004 the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture in New York City. In 2008 she was made a United States Artists “Gracie” Fellow and a MacArthur Fellow. Jennifer Tipton is supported by the Mary-Louise and James S. Aagard Lighting Director Endowed Chair. MICHAEL BLACK (Chorus Master) Chorus master since 2013/14; interim chorus master, 2011/12. Chorus master from to 2001 to 2013 at Opera Australia in Sydney, Black prepared the OA chorus for more than 90 operas and many concert works. He has served in this capacity for such distinguished organizations as the Edinburgh International Festival, Opera Holland Park (London), and, in Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (including Rachmaninoff’s e Bells , led by Vladimir Ashkenazy), the Philharmonia Choir, Motet Choir, and Cantillation chamber choir. Black has also worked with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia with Sir Andrew Davis. His recent activities include preparing the Damnation of Faust chorus, continuing his association with the Grant Park Music Festival, where he has worked for two seasons. As one of Australia’s most prominent vocal accompanists, Black has regularly performed for broadcasts and recordings (he has been heard numerous times in Australian Broadcast Corporation programs). He has served as chorus master on four continents, and his work has been recorded and/or aired on ABC, BBC, PBS, and for many HD productions in movie theaters as well as on television. He has also been a lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, of which he is an alumnus. Black holds a master’s degree in musicology from the University of New South Wales. Michael Black is the Howard A. Stotler Chorus Master Endowed Chair. SARAH HATTEN (Wigmaster and Makeup Designer) Wigmaster and makeup designer since 2011/12. Lyric’s wigmaster and makeup designer has worked in a wide repertoire at Des Moines Metro Opera and Michigan Opera eatre, as well as Columbus Opera, Toledo Opera, the Cabrillo Music Festival, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has also worked at the Glimmerglass Festival and the major opera companies of Los Angeles, Omaha, Cleveland, Sarasota, and Central City, as well as Wisconsin’s American Players eatre and, in Los Angeles, the Pantages eatre and the Geffen Playhouse. Hatten earned a B.A. in music at Simpson College. Sarah Hatten is the Marlys Beider Wigmaster and Makeup Designer Endowed Chair