Press Contact: Emilie Whelan | Director of Advancement | emilie@westedgeopera.org
WEST EDGE OPERA ANNOUNCES JACQUELINE, BY LUNA PEARL WOOLF AND ROYCE VAVREK AND STARRING MARNIE BRECKENRIDGE AND MATT HAIMOWITZ, AS A PART OF THE SUMMER FESTIVAL 2024 AT THE OAKLAND SCOTTISH RITE CENTER
Jacqueline completes the 2024 season, presented alongside the world premiere of Nathaniel Stookey and Eisa Davis’ Bulrusher, and an action-packed single evening of Wagner’s Legend of The Ring
2024 West Edge Opera Summer Festival
The Oakland Scottish Rite Center August 3rd – 18th
BERKELEY, CA (January 15, 2024) – Today, West Edge Opera announces that the award-winning contemporary opera about cellist Jaqueline du Pré will be presented in its summer festival this August. Jacqueline originally premiered with Tapestry Opera in Toronto in February 2020 to popular reception and critical acclaim, with soprano Marnie Breckenridge receiving the DORA award for “Outstanding Performance by an Individual in an Opera” and Global Mail describing it as “an extraordinary piece that deserves an unquestioned place in the 21st-century canon.”
Jacqueline dives into the real-life struggle between celebrity virtuosic cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the multiple sclerosis that ravaged her body, mind, and talent, robbing her of her identity, her breathtaking musical gift, and her life. This intimate piece for soprano and cello brings two contemporary virtuosi to the stage: celebrated soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Jacqueline, and renowned cellist (and former du Pré protégé) Matt Haimovitz as du Pré’s only constant companion, her cello.
Inspired by the structure and emotional landscape of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, composer Luna Pearl Woolf and Pulitzer Prize winning librettist Royce Vavrek chart the development of great prodigy and ultimately, great tragedy. Jacqueline references Haimovitz’s personal recollections of du Pré herself, from when he was a young prodigy under her wing. Colorful and at times fractured, the form of the work echoes du Pré’s iconic interpretation of the Elgar, using the concerto’s four-movement structure to navigate a prismatic and passionate, if all too short, life in music.
West Edge Opera has delayed its production of Charpentier’s David & Jonathan to 2025 and instead presents Jacqueline at the 2024 summer festival this August at The Oakland Scottish Rite Center, continuing its tradition of presenting a second production of a contemporary opera to Bay Area audiences (Coraline, Elizabeth Cree, Breaking the Waves…for a complete list of previous productions visit https://www.westedgeopera.org/expanding-the-canon). Says West Edge Opera General Director Mark Streshinsky:
“I was at the premiere of the Jacqueline in Toronto in 2020 and was blown away by the epic nature of the piece especially considering there are only two performers on stage. Presenting Jacqueline fulfills our careful planning for sustainability. Next year David & Jonathan will be presented alongside the world premiere of Dolores and an early 20th century piece that we will be announcing soon. It also means that West Edge will be around and strong as a leader in new and rare opera for many years to come.”
About cellist Matt Haimowitz: Renowned as a musical pioneer, multi-Grammy-nominated cellist Hamowitz is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as a “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in a predictable performance.” Haimovitz made his debut in 1984, at the age of 13, as soloist with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic. He has gone on to perform on the world’s most esteemed stages, with such orchestras and conductors as the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, the English Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Kent Nagano. His latest endeavor, THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, encompasses 81 new commissions from a diverse intersection of North American communities and has been featured in the most recent 59th Venice Biennale Arte. His honors include the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Grand Prix du Disque, and the Premio Internazionale “Accademia Musicale Chigiana.”
About soprano Marnie Breckenridge:Breckenridge is no stranger to the Bay Area. Credits include Susannah in Laura Schwendinger’s ARTEMISIA (Left Coast Ensemble), La Princesse in Philip Glass’ ORPHÉE, title role in Milhaud’s MÉDÉE, and Margarita Xirgu in Golijov’s AINADAMAR (Opera Parallèle), Jake Heggie’s TO HELL AND BACK (Philharmonia Baroque, co-staring Patti LuPone), and Nathaniel Stookey’s monodrama Ivonne (West Edge Opera, Snapshot Showcase). She has performed in three special SOUND BOX performances with San Francisco Symphony, EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM, CARMINA BURANA, and David Lang’s TEACH YOUR CHILDREN with SF Choral Society at Davies Symphony Hall. Marnie is the 2013 recipient of the Fanfare Award for “Alumni of the Year” at the San Francisco Conservatory and returns to teach and coach students there when her schedule allows.
The production’s original director and Artistic Director of Tapestry, Michael Hidetoshi Mori, will remount the production with West Edge Opera, music directed by Jonathan Khuner. Jacqueline is made possible by The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts. Tickets on sale April 1st
West Edge Opera Summer Festival 2024
August 3rd – 18th
The Oakland Scottish Rite Center
Series Tickets Available April 1st
Single Tickets Available June 1st
Visit http://www.westedgeopera.org for more information
Read the original press release here.
Luna Pearl Woolf 