Opera Lafayette and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) present Une Éducation Manquée (An Incomplete Education) on Friday, February 5 and Saturday, February 6 at FIAF’s Florence Gould Hall

French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and Opera Lafayette

present Chabrier’s

Une Éducation Manquée

(An Incomplete Education)

Music by Emmanuel Chabrier

Libretto by Eugène Letterier and Albert Vanloo

Opera sung in French with English supertitles

Friday, February 5 at 7:30pm & Saturday, February 6 at 7:30pm

FIAF • Florence Gould Hall; 55 East 59th Street, NYC

New York, NY, January 27, 2016— Opera Lafayette and the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) present Une Éducation Manquée (An Incomplete Education) on Friday, February 5 and Saturday, February 6 at FIAF’s Florence Gould Hall. Both performances begin at 7:30 pm. Composed by Emmanuel Chabrier with a libretto by Eugène Letterier and Albert Vanloo, this 19th-century opéra-comique tells the charming tale of newlyweds woefully ill-prepared for the finer points of their wedding night. A one-act opera, Une Éducation Manquée will be preceded by rarely performed songs by Chabrier which reflect the young couple each growing up from childhood through their teen years.

Une Éducation Manquée’s young lovers, Hélène and Gontran, will be performed by Belgian soprano Sophie Junker, returning to Opera Lafayette after her acclaimed performances of Grétry’s L’Épreuve Villageoise, and French Algerian soprano Amel Brahim-Djelloul, making her company debut in the trouser role. Québécois baritone Dominique Côté sings the role of the tutor.  Artistic Director Ryan Brown conducts the performances featuring pianist Jeffery Watson. Local children Bella Deocares Brandenburg, Sophia Brunetti, and Franco Cabanas as well as Sami Sidi-Boumedine, the son of Brahim-Djelloul, will be featured as young Hélène and Gontran. Bernard Deletré returns to Opera Lafayette as director, award-winning Patricia Forelle is the production’s costume designer, and Colin K. Bills lights the opera.

A free pre-performance discussion will take place an hour before production performances at 6:30pm.

Following the performance on Friday, February 5, 2016, Opera Lafayette will host a Candlelight Benefit Dinner at the Colony Club. Tickets begin at $600 person. Benefit tickets, which include front orchestra tickets, can be purchased by contacting Opera Lafayette at (202) 546-9332.
This production will also be presented at the Terrace Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, February 2 and Wednesday, February 3 at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased through the Kennedy Center: kennedy-center.org or (202) 467-4600.

Cast:

Amel Brahim-Djelloul – Gontran                     Ryan Brown – Conductor

Sophie Junker – Hélène                                 Bernard Deletré – Director

Dominique Côté – Pausanias                       Patricia Forelle – Costumes            

Jeffery Watson – Piano                                  Colin K. Bills – Lighting

The performance will be presented in French with English supertitles.

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About Amel Brahim-Djelloul

Recognized as an exceptional musical personality, appreciated for the rich and bright color of her voice, the soprano Amel Brahim-Djelloul will appear this season in many French and European stages, in opera productions as well as in recitals. She interprets Zanetta in Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde at the Opéra de Limoges and Gontran in Chabrier’s Une Éducation Manquée at New York, NY and Washington, DC with Opera Lafayette. She also sings in a new creation of Zad Multaka, in the Te Deum of Lully and Charpentier with Le Poème Harmonique at the Auditorium de Lyon and also at Budapest, gives a concert at Algiers with the Algerian National Symphonic Orchestra and at Kiev with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. Her career already gave her the opportunity to play several major roles from her repertoire, such as: Servilia in La clemenza di Tito (Opéra national de Paris, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), the title role in Messager’s Véronique (Théâtre du Châtelet), Nannetta in Falstaff (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Angers-Nantes Opera, Lausanne Opera), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Despina in Così fan tutte (Nice Opera), Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Avignon Opera), Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande, Drusilla, Amore and Valletto in L’incoronazione di Poppea (Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Berliner Staatsoper, Brussel’s Théâtre de la Monnaie, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra National de Paris, Lille and Dijon Operas). Ms. Brahim-Djelloul performed on some of the major stages, in France (Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Comique, Nice Opera, Avignon Opera, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau, Théâtre Musical de Besançon, and Chorégies d’Orange) and abroad (Lausanne Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, Monnaie de Bruxelles, Kennedy Center in Washington, London’s Barbican, Madrid ‘s Auditorium, Théâtre national Algérien in Alger, and New York’s Lincoln Center). She has been invited by several orchestras (Orchestre national de France, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre Symphonique Pasdeloup, Orchestre Symphonique National Algérien, Orchestre national d’Ile-de-France) and musical formations (Le Poème Harmonique, Les Arts Florissants, and 2E2M). Proud of her origins and cautious about defending them if necessary, she wished to develop the program of her first record, edited by Ame Son, on the theme of the 1001 nights. It was well-received by the press. Her second record, Amel chante la Méditerranée offers pieces from the Arab-Andalusian heritage, adapted by her brother, Rachid Brahim-Djelloul, and interpreted with the Amedyez Ensemble. Her last recording, with Nicolas Jouve, is the program Populaires (Eloquentia), which celebrates the alliance of the folk tradition and composers such as Brahms, Ravel, Canteloube, Collet, Respighi, Guridi or Hahn.

About Sophie Junker

Belgian soprano Sophie Junker studied at the IMEP (Institut Supérieur de Musique et de Pédagogie) in Namur, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Ms. Junker is a Samling Scholar and winner of the first prize in the 2010 London Handel Competition and the 2012 International Cesti Competition. Her operatic repertoire includes Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Marzelline (Fidelio), Serpetta (La finta giardiniera), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Atalanta (Xerxes), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Zdenka (Arabella), and Sophie (Werther).  In concert she has appeared in Bach’s Cantata BWV 201 at King’s College Chapel (Cambridge), Handel and Scarlatti Cantatas for the Innsbruck Festival, Mass in B minor with The King’s Consort, St. Matthew Passion with Wiener Akademie, and Bach’s Hunting Cantata with Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki), Schumann and Schubert’s recitals for the Oxford Lieder Festival and in Versailles with Jordi Savall. Ms. Junker’s discography includes a recording of Charpentier and Carissimi with La Nuova Musica for Harmonia Mundi, Handel’s Esther with Laurence Cummings at the Göttingen Festival (NDR Kultur), and Bach’s Secular Cantatas (Vol. 2) with Bach Collegium Japan under Masaaki Suzuki (BIS). Further engagements include a tour with Concerto Copenhagen, Rameau’s Castor and Pollux with Christian Curnyn, Viardot’s Cendrillon at Liège Opera, B Minor Mass, St. Matthew Passion with McCreesh, Aspasia in Handel’s Alexander Balus (London Handel Festival), Bach’s Cantatas with Concerto Copenhagen, and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) with David Bates and La Nuova Musica. She previously performed in Opera Lafayette’s L’Épreuve Villageoise and will return to sing Cleis in Martini’s Sapho in both New York and Washington.

About Dominique Côté

Québec baritone Dominique Côté maintains a flourishing career in North America and in France. Praised for his warm tone, stage presence, and skill as an actor, he has won several first prizes including the Concours International de chant de Canari and for operetta at the Concours International de chant de Marmande. Trained as an actor at L’école de théâtre de St-Hyacinthe and then as a singer with Lucette Tremblay in Montreal, he completed his training at the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal in 2010, where he worked under the direction of Gerald Martin-Moore. Mr. Côté recently starred in the Feydeau play Feu le mère de Madame at Theatre Lac Brome, and sang the role of Frédéric in Lakmé at l’Opéra de Montréal, and the role of Dr. Falke in Le Chauve Souris for le Grand Théâtre Genève. In the 2015-2016 season he debuts at the Wexford Festival in Herold’s Le pré aux clercs and debuts with Opera Lafayette in this production of Une Éducation Manquée. Other recent engagements include Morales in Carmen for Pacific Opera Victoria, Dr. Falke in Le Chauve Souris for Opéra de Montréal, a production of Titanic at Opéra-Théâtre de Rimouski, a recital for La Société Musicale Alain Marinaro in southern France, Bach’s St. John Passion, Carmina Burana for l’Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke, and Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor for I Musici de Montréal and le Grand Choeur de Montréal. Mr. Côté is regularly invited to sing with orchestras and has been heard with l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Ottawa, Longueuil, Sherbrooke, Québec, Lanaudière, and Paris under the direction of such conductors as Jacques Lacombe, Stéphane Laforest, Marc David, and Simon Leclerc in works ranging from Carmina Burana to Les Misérables. Appreciated for his comedic talent, he has been seen as the character Renaud on the Radio-Canada show Virginie, Eric Gaudry on Jean-Duceppe for Télé-Québec, and as Étienne Bernard on Emma on the TVA network. Children will also recognize his voice from the many cartoon characters he has played including the Lion in Le Lion d’Oz.

About Jeffery Watson

Pianist Jeffery Watson has appeared as soloist with the Honduran National Symphony, the Pan American Symphony, the Rosario (Argentina) Chamber Orchestra, The Alexandria Symphony, and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra with the Kirov Ballet. Dr. Watson is pianist with the internationally acclaimed tango quintet, QuinTango, including performances with the Wichita Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de las Artes (Mexico) as well as at Lincoln Center, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Buenos Aires, the Amalfi Coast Festival, and at the International Tango Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. In 2009 he performed along with soprano Susan Bender in Croatia for the International Conference of the College Music Society and was guest artist at the Fairbanks (Alaska) summer music festival. In March of 2011, he was soloist and clinician at the 3rd International Piano Festival in Lima, Peru. In June 2013, he taught and performed in Dutch Harbor, Alaska under the auspices of the Aleutian Arts Council. Last season he toured Wyoming, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Argentina with QuinTango, conducted Ravel’s opera L’Enfant et les Sortilèges at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and along with colleagues from the Washington Conservatory, performed for a TEDMED talk that was simulcast to 80 countries around the world and then live in Istanbul. Dr. Watson is a Visiting Professor at the George Washington University and on the faculty of the Washington Conservatory of Music.

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About Ryan Brown

Ryan Brown is the Founder, Conductor, and Artistic Director of Opera Lafayette. Through his work with Opera Lafayette, Mr. Brown has gained an international reputation for his interpretations of French opera and for his role in the revival of significant works from the 18th and 19th centuries. Mr. Brown’s repertoire and discography of 11 recordings for Naxos include operas by well-known 18th-century composers (Gluck and Rameau) as well as rediscoveries of their contemporaries (Sacchini and Rebel/Francœur), works which exemplify traditions established in the 17th century (Lully and Charpentier), and those which point the way toward the music of the 19th century (Monsigny and Grétry).  He was most recently and widely lauded for the modern premiere and recording of Félicien David’s 1862 Lalla Roukh, a seminal work of musical Orientalism.  Mr. Brown’s frequent performances of Italian works by Haydn, Mozart, Paisiello, and Cimarosa have also met with great acclaim.  Mr. Brown was raised in a musical family in California, and performed extensively as a violinist and chamber musician before turning his attentions to conducting. His teachers included Dorothy DeLay and Gustav Meier. In 2014, Mr. Brown returned to the Opéra Royal in Versailles, leading Opera Lafayette in Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées and Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. In 2015, he conducted Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica at the Glimmerglass Festival. Mr. Brown is a recipient of La Médaille d’Or du Rayonnement Culturel from La Renaissance Française.

About Bernard Deletré

Born in northern France, Bernard Deletré won a first prize in voice from the Conservatoire National Supérieur of Music in Paris. He began his career performing the standard repertory, contemporary music, and musical theater, and was engaged by William Christie in 1987 for the production of Lully’s Atys with Les Arts Florissants. Since then, he has participated in many important productions of baroque operas in France and abroad, in particular in North America where he is regularly invited (New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Lafayette, Boston Early Music Festival, and Montreal Baroque, among others). For the past few years he has made a concerted effort in broadening his activities to include works from the standard repertory (Bellini’s I Puritani, Janáček’s Katya Kabanova and The Cunning Little Vixen, and Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman), which he has performed in France as well as in Geneva, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. Equally gifted as a comedic actor and a stage director, he was highly praised for his portrayal of Jean de La Fontaine in Daniel Soulier’s play La Veuve et le grillon, performed at the Péniche Opéra, and has staged several spectacles of musical theater and opera while helping to train young professional singers. Mr. Deletré can be heard on over forty recordings for labels including Adda, Opus 111, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, and Naxos.

About Patricia Forelle

Patricia Forelle is a costume designer with a particular interest in 17th and 18th century French culture, manners, and theater.  She has designed costumes many times for the Brooklyn Ballet, including a re-examination of Les Sylphides for the Company’s 10th anniversary season.  Her work brought New York City Dance Awards (the “Bessies”) nominations in 2011 and 2014 for Outstanding Visual Design. In 2014 she presented Dressing for the Dance, a theater piece she wrote, directed, and costumed, intimately depicting the origins of ballet and the importance of courtiers’ dance as an integral part of the court of Louis XIV with historical dance, witty and informative dialogue and sumptuous costumes. It was presented at the Tony Bennett Concert Hall – Frank Sinatra School of Performing Arts in Queens, and at the Grolier Club in Manhattan to enthusiastic response. In 2015 Ms. Forelle adapted Dressing for the Dance as part of the 43rd season of Aston Magna, the New England early and baroque music summer festival.  Elaborately costumed dancers performed Lully’s Courantes and Sarabande and La Coste’s Gigue, with Ms. Forelle as narrator. She holds a B.A. in Studio Art from Newton College of the Sacred Heart (Boston College) and an M.A. from NYU in French Language and Civilization. She lectures on court dance and its effect on the development of French fashion and theater. She is a pianist with a particular interest in the music of Debussy and Chabrier, and is an avid reader of period and contemporary French literature. She divides her time between New York and France.

About Colin K. Bills

Lighting designer Colin K. Bills is pleased to be working with Opera Lafayette again, after previously designing Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, Così fan tutte, Les Femmes Vengées, Lalla Roukh, Actéon, and Le Roi et le Fermier.  He is a Company Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company where he has designed over forty productions, including Stupid Fucking Bird, Clybourne Park, and The Convert.  As a Conspirator with the devising company dog & pony dc, he has collaborated in the writing, direction, and design of A Killing Game and Beertown. His designs have been seen at Arena Stage, The Berkshire Theater Festival, Center Stage, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Everyman Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Forum Theatre, Imagination Stage, Intiman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Marin Theatre Company, Metro Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, The Smithsonian, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre, Synetic Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Theater J, The Washington Revels, The Wilma Theater, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Mr. Bills has won three Helen Hayes Awards and is a recipient of a Princess Grace Fellowship in Theater. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

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About Opera Lafayette

Opera Lafayette is an American period-instrument ensemble specializing in French repertoire, rediscovers masterpieces, and creates a recorded legacy of its work. Founded in 1995 in Washington, DC by Conductor and Artistic Director Ryan Brown, Opera Lafayette has earned critical acclaim and a loyal following for its performances and recordings with international singers renowned for their interpretations of Baroque and classical operas.

Opera Lafayette returned from Versailles for five sold-out performances in January and February 2014. The company’s discography on the NAXOS label has expanded to eleven releases, including the recent release of Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées. www.operalafayette.org

About FIAF

The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is New York’s premiere French cultural and language center. FIAF’s mission is to create and offer New Yorkers innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression. www.fiaf.org

Merci!

FIAF Winter 2016 Season Sponsors: Air France and Delta Air Lines, the official airlines of FIAF; Altour; BNP Paribas; Cultural Services of the French Embassy; The American Society of French Legion of Honor; Office Tourisme de Boulogne-Billancourt; Enoch Foundation; Florence Gould Foundation; FACE (French American Cultural Exchange); Institut français; New York State Council on the Arts; and New York State Regional Economic Development Council.

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