Thursday, June 19, 2008

Renaissance Research "Conservatory Project" Assignment On Contemporary Opera Composition: In The Footsteps Of 'Pacific Visions' And 'Animating Opera'

Renaissance Research "Conservatory Project" Assignment On Contemporary Opera Composition: In The Footsteps Of 'Pacific Visions' And 'Animating Opera'

Below are two excerpts from the History of the San Francisco Opera page of the San Francisco Opera web-site:


Pacific Visions

"In November of 1992, then General Director Lotfi Mansouri introduced Pacific Visions, an ambitious program designed to maintain the vitality of the opera repertoire through new commissions and the presentation of unusual repertoire. It was launched with the commissioning of the following operas:

The Dangerous Liaisons, composed by Conrad Susa to a libretto by Philip Littell. The work had its premiere during the 1994 Fall Season and was the subject of a nationwide TV broadcast.

Harvey Milk, a new opera by composer Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie. The work was performed in 1996 as a joint commission and co-production of the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and New York City Opera.

A Streetcar Named Desire, composed by André Previn to a libretto by Philip Littell, after the play by Tennessee Williams. The work had its premiere during the 1998-99 Fall Season, which was telecast and released on video.

Dead Man Walking, composed by Jake Heggie to a libretto by Terrence McNally, after the book by Sister Helen Prejean. The work had its premiere during the 2000-2001 Season and was recorded on CD."


Animating Opera

"In January of 2001, General Director Pamela Rosenberg announced her first artistic initiative for San Francisco Opera, Animating Opera, a multi-year plan of interwoven themes and series including: Seminal Works of Modern Times, The Faust Project, Composer Portrait: Janacek/Berlioz, Women Outside of Society: Laws Unto Themselves, Metamorphosis: From Fairy Tales to Nightmares, and Outsiders or Pioneers?: The Nature of the Human Condition. Incorporated within the production programming of Animating Opera was the American stage premiere of Messiaen’s St. François d’Assise, Thomson’s The Mother of Us All as well as the new work by John Adams and Peter Sellars, Doctor Atomic."

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Assignment: Write as essay giving your thoughts about the American/Western Opera thematic programming developed by General Directors Lotfi Mansouri and Pamela Rosenberg for the renowned San Francisco Opera Company.

If you were an artistic advisor to the current San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley, how might you advise him and his team on developing a new thematic and commissioning program for the company?
















Richard Diebenkorn
Untitled, 1951. Oil on canvas.
56 x 44 ¾ in. framed 57 x 46 1/8 inches.
Courtesy Greenberg Van Doren Gallery
via the Phillips Collection web-site.

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Diebenkorn in New Mexico
June 21 – September 7, 2008

Richard Diebenkorn
Untitled, 1951. Oil on canvas.
56 x 44 ¾ in. framed 57 x 46 1/8 inches. Courtesy Greenberg Van Doren Gallery

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Diebenkorn in New Mexico
June 21 – September 7, 2008
The Phillips Collection


"This exhibition will be the first to concentrate on the body of works created during Richard Diebenkorn’s formative and relatively little-known Albuquerque period of 1950-52, including paintings, works on paper and a rare sculpture made from welded scrap iron. As a student at the University of New Mexico, Diebenkorn developed a highly individual approach to his art, responding to the particular color and light of his surroundings and laying a foundation for all his future painting and drawing, whether representational or abstract. The exhibition will provide a context for the outstanding group of works by Diebenkorn that constitutes an essential unit of the Phillips’s permanent collection."

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Brett Weston, Yucca and Brush, White Sands 1946. Silver gelatin print.
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Gift of the Brett Weston Archive
from the Christian K. Keesee Collection, 2006

Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow
June 21 – September 7, 2008
The Phillips Collection


"This major retrospective exhibition will feature photographs taken by Brett Weston (1911–1993) from the 1920s through the 1980s. The son of famed photographer Edward Weston, Brett developed an understanding of form and composition at an early age. Throughout his career, Weston manipulated the technical qualities of the camera to frame objects close up and push subject matter toward abstraction. These experiments placed him at the forefront of non-objective fine-art photography. Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow will include landscape photographs of the West, views of New York City, and abstracted forms and textures from nature."

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Photo credits: (c) Estates of Richard Diebenkorn and Brett Weston and The Phillips Collection. 2008. All rights reserved. Via the Phillips Collection Website. With thanks.

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