Pensacola Opera Tours With New Work – “The Widow’s Lantern”
The Pensacola Opera is bringing David Ott’s The Widow’s Lantern to the Panama City Marina Civic Center on Sunday, October 4th as part of a tour of Northwest Florida . The Widow’s Lantern is the company’s first commissioned opera, and will premiere in Pensacola the week prior, then tour to Ft. Walton Beach before its final performance in Panama City .
The Widow’s Lantern will be presented at the Marina Civic Center in a matinee performance Sunday, October 4th, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for active duty military, and $7 for students, general admission. Tickets will be on sale at the Marina Civic Center ’s box office.
The Widow’s Lantern is presented as part of the celebration of the 450th Anniversary of the first landing at Pensacola , and the tour is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Opera America.
Drawn from Northwest Florida area myths and legends, the opera tells a tale of doomed love between Hattie, the slave daughter of Marrero, a wealthy Key West plantation owner, and Maxwell, a ship’s captain. Hattie’s father, Marrero , has one legitimate daughter – Marguerite. Upon his death, Marrero leaves his entire estate to his “daughter in possession of the family lantern,” a lantern that Maxwell gave to Hattie. Marguerite, consumed by greed, sets off for Pensacola to retrieve the lantern and claim her inheritance – and nothing good can come from it.
“I think that Widow’s Lantern is a great first opera for people who may have never seen an opera,” says Timothy Kennedy, Pensacola Opera’s Director of Education and Outreach, who is serving as stage director for the premiere. “It is in English, features young, vibrant singers who can really show off their acting chops in this piece, and showcases musicians and a composer from our backdoor! The story is exciting and reaches to the core of humanity… the search for love that goes deeper than hardship or
death.”
The Widow’s Lantern was commissioned by Pensacola Opera from David Ott, a Northwest Florida composer and conductor with a national and international reputation. Ott was born in Michigan and educated at the University of Wisconsin Platteville , Indiana University and the University of Kentucky .
He has served on the faculties of Houghton College (NY), Pfeiffer College (NC) and Depauw University (IN.) From 1991 to 1997 he served as Composer in Residence of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; in 2002 he was appointed Pace Eminent Scholar and Composer in Residence at the University of West Florida . He now serves as Director of Music and Organist of the First United Methodist Church in Ft. Walton beach. The music of David Ott has been performed on four continents and recorded by some of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras, including the London Symphony and Czech Radio Orchestra. Though he has composed more than 200 works, The Widow’s Lantern is his first opera.
The Widow’s Lantern began five years ago with a brainstorming session at the Pensacola Opera Center between David Ott and the opera staff. The title came from a local Pensacola ghost story about a widow whose husband was lost at sea; each new moon, she would search for him with a lantern casting its light into the sea. That story became the emotional center of a story that combines pieces from Florida ’s nineteenth century history – tobacco trade with Cuba through Key West , a murder at the Pensacola
Lighthouse, and a textile mill in Milton worked by female slaves.
A main focus of the opera’s development was in engaging and reaching out to a broader audience across Northwest Florida . By drawing from area history and creating an engaging story sung in English, Pensacola Opera hopes to create a piece that will bring new faces to an art form that has thrilled audiences for over 400 years. The tour of the production to Ft. Walton Beach and to Panama City will also help fulfill the opera’s regional mission to enrich the culture of the entire Northwest Florida region through its programming.
“The Widow’s Lantern gives us a great opportunity for Pensacola Opera to continue its mission s through our partnership with Bay Arts Alliance,” said Kennedy. “We are thrilled to be performing in the beautiful Marina Civic Center Theater. We are also so excited to be premiering an opera by local composer David Ott who is well known to Panama City audiences already! “
The opera also allows the company to continue its commitment to developing the careers of local artists. The role of Hattie will be sung by Marcía Porter, a soprano who sits on the faculty of Florida State University ’s School of Music . Patrick Jacobs, a baritone from Mobile who teaches at the University of Mobile and was one of Pensacola Opera’s first Artists in Residence, will sing the roles of Marrero and Forsythe. Two Pensacola singers, Ann Ferguson and Kristoffer Pfeiffer, play the young lovers to whom Hattie tells her tale.
The sets for The Widow’s Lantern are designed by Charles Houghton, the Chair of the Theatre Department at the University of West Florida , and built in the University’s scene shop. Costumes will be designed by Glenn Avery Breed, a professor at UWF. As designers for the Opera, Houghton and Breed last helped bring Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte to life in the Opera’s 2009 Seurat inspired production.
“We are so proud,” said Kyle Marrero, the Opera’s General and Artistic Director, “of how The Widow’s Lantern truly shows the talent that lies in the region, and demonstrates Pensacola Opera’s regional reach. The production and the tour allow us to bring a truly unique experience to the entire Northwest Florida Region. We’re especially excited to be bringing this new work to Panama City .”
The Widow’s Lantern, a first in many ways for Pensacola Opera, should be a delight for audiences of all ages, whether opera aficionados or brand new opera goers. For more information on The Widow’s Lantern, contact Pensacola Opera at (850) 433-6737 or visit its website, www.pensacolaopera.com.
Tickets to the Panama City performance are available at the Marina Civic Center Box Office window, by phone at 850-763-4696 or online at www.marinaciviccenter.com.
Jennifer Jones
Executive Director
Bay Arts Alliance
“We Orchestrate Applause”
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