Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 Don Giovanni

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 23 Philadelphia), Don Pasquale (the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels), Mefistofele and Pelléas et Mélisande (Met). In addition to more than 25 Met productions, Schuler’s work has been seen at Glyndebourne, the Salzburg Festival, Dresden’s Semperoper, and the major opera houses of Barcelona, Paris, and Berlin as well as Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival, among many other companies. Schuler has also designed lighting for Broadway ( The Importance of Being Earnest ) and for American Ballet Theatre. He is a founding partner of Schuler Shook, a theater planning and architectural lighting design firm. Duane Schuler is supported by the Mary-Louise and James S. Aagard Lighting Director Endowed Chair. MICHAEL BLACK | CHORUS MASTER The Australian chorus master held this position in Sydney at Opera Australia from 2001 to 2013. Black 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, the Philharmonia Choir, Motet Choir, the Cantillation chamber choir, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Other activities include preparing the Damnation of Faust chorus at 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 served as chorus master on four continents, and his work has been recorded and|or aired on ABC, BBC, PBS, for many HD productions in movie theaters, and on television. Michael Black is the Howard A. Stotler Chorus Master Endowed Chair. AUGUST TYE | CHOREOGRAPHER Previously at Lyric: 40 productions since 1993|94 as dancer, choreographer, or ballet mistress, most recently Luisa Miller (2019|20); Cendrillon (2018|19). The American dancer-choreographer’s operatic credits include remounting the choreography of Lyric’s Iphigénie en Tauride at San Francisco Opera and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. A graduate of Western Michigan University, Tye performed with The Kalamazoo Ballet, dancing leading roles in Sleeping Beauty , Cinderella , and The Nutcracker . She is a past recipient of Regional Dance America’s Best Young Choreographer Award (at age 15) and a two-time recipient of the Monticello Young Choreographer’s Award: the latter garnered her invitations to choreograph throughout America. In addition to Lyric and Joel Hall Dancers, she has performed in Chicago with Salt Creek Ballet, Second City Ballet, and Chicago Folks Operetta. Tye is artistic director at the Hyde Park School of Dance, which she founded in 1993. Four years later she founded Tyego Dance Project, which has performed at Steppenwolf, the Athenaeum, and throughout America in a revival of Spike Jones’s Nutcracker . JODI GAGE | ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Previously at Lyric: as assistant director, Carmen , The Magic Flute (both 2016|17); Romeo and Juliet (2015|16). The director|actress was previously associate director of Robert Falls’s production of Don Giovanni for its 2018 presentation at The Dallas Opera. In addition to Lyric, she has assistant- directed productions at San Francisco Opera and The Santa Fe Opera. Those productions, as well as her extensive work in stage management, have enabled her to collaborate with such major directors as Francesca Zambello, Rob Ashford, Tim Albery, Bartlett Sher, and Neil Armfield. As an actress, Gage has been seen at Lyric ( La bohème ), Theatre Lumina (New Orleans), Pittsburgh Lyric Opera, Theatre Factory (Trafford, Pennsylvania), Pittsburgh Playhouse REP, Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre, and Mozawa (Chicago), among other companies. She has taught at North Park University, Wheaton College, and Point Park University. Gage is an alumna of Oberlin College and Point Park University (Pittsburgh). SARAH HATTEN | WIGMASTER & MAKEUP DESIGNER Lyric’s wigmaster and makeup designer has worked in a wide repertoire at Des Moines Metro Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre, 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 Theatre and, in Los Angeles, the Pantages Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse. Sarah Hatten is the Marlys Beider Wigmaster and Makeup Designer Endowed Chair . NICK SANDYS | FIGHT DIRECTOR Previously at Lyric: More than 40 productions, most recently West Side Story, Il trovatore (both 2018|19). A certified teacher and fight director with The Society of American Fight Directors, Nick Sandys has created fight choreography throughout the Chicago area, including for the Goodman (more than 25 productions), Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Northlight, First Folio, Shattered Globe, Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, Timeline, Light Opera Works, Silk Road Rising, and The Theatre School at DePaul University. His work outside Chicago includes the Metropolitan Opera, Portland Opera, Florentine Opera and Dallas Opera, as well as many major theater companies nationwide. Sandys’s fight choreography has received four Joseph Jefferson Award nominations, winning in 2008 (Requiem for a Heavyweight). He is also producing artistic director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. As an actor he has appeared with numerous Chicago theaters, receiving another nine Jeff nominations for acting and two for directing. He holds a 2011 Meier Foundation Award for Artistic Achievement.