Out of Darkness Premiere, San Francisco
May 26, 2016 - 12:00 pm
Join us in San Francisco for the world premiere of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s compelling new opera Out of Darkness.
Tickets are available online through Brown Paper Tickets. Tickets available online until 4:00 p.m. on the day of each concert - after that tickets will only be available at the door (payable with check or credit card).
Concert ticket prices: $60-$75
Don't miss the closing night cast party!
The closing night cast party will directly follow the May 26 performance. Cast party tickets are $100 per person. The party will take place at the San Francisco Conservatory's Osher Salon. A portion of your ticket represents a tax deductible contribution to MOR.
Please note that there are no physical tickets for the party - your name will be added to a RSVP list at the door. Cast party tickets are available to purchase online until 4:00 pm on May 26. After that, tickets can be purchased at the door.
Music of Remembrance brings the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s path-breaking new opera Out of Darkness to the Bay Area for performances on May 25 and 26, 2016 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall.
Audiences in the Bay Area, and around the world, know Heggie’s operatic breakthroughs like Dead Man Walking and Moby-Dick. For Out of Darkness, Heggie has teamed again with the brilliant librettist Gene Scheer. The two-act opera is a powerful portrait of survival that probes the Holocaust’s vast scope through emotionally rich depictions of those caught in its grasp. The first act, titled “Krystyna,” tells the true story of Krystyna Zywulska, whose daring poems became anthems of defiance among her fellow prisoners in Auschwitz. Act Two, “Gad,” explores the fate of homosexuals during the Holocaust through the experience of Gad Beck and Manfred Lewin, two idealistic young lovers in 1930s Berlin whose lives and love were torn apart under Nazi rule.
Heggie and Scheer tell these stories with uncompromising emotional honesty, and with deep compassion that never descends to pathos or sentimentality. Their richly textured music conveys an understanding of those touched by the Holocaust, in all their complicated humanity. Heggie describes what moved him to address this compelling topic: “I’m particularly inspired by stories of social justice and the inequities of life, and how we are all connected as human beings despite those inequities.”
Out of Darkness will feature a stellar cast. Soprano Caitlin Lynch, applauded by the New York Times as “luminous,” appears as the mature Krystyna, joined by soprano Ava Pine, who portrays Krystyna in flashbacks to her youth. Catherine Cook, who has performed more than 50 roles with San Francisco Opera, sings the role of Zosha, Krystyna’s friend and fellow prisoner in Auschwitz. Veteran baritone Robert Orth, for whom Heggie created roles in Dead Man Walking and Moby Dick, portrays Gad. Baritone Michael Mayes, who sings the role of Manfred, is recognized for his powerful voice and arresting stage presence. The imaginative production is directed by Erich Parce and conducted by Joseph Mechavich.
Out of Darkness was commissioned by Music of Remembrance, a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by artistic director Mina Miller to remember the Holocaust through music. In addition to rediscovering and performing music from that time, MOR has commissioned and premiered over 20 new Holocaust-inspired works by some of today’s leading composers, telling new stories that need to be heard and challenging audiences to question their own thinking.
"Mr. Heggie may well be the richest, most accessible, most captivating opera composer since Benjamin Britten...He reduces major universal issues to credible personal stories, to which a listener can connect."
- The Wall Street Journal (2015)
Click here for sponsorship information for the San Francisco production of Out of Darkness
Questions? Contact MOR at 206-365-7770 or info@musicofremembrance.org
Thank you to our Community Partner The GLBT Historical Society!
