The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School present an "Evening of Verdi" in their seventh collaboration on Friday, February 23, 2018, at 8pm in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Evan Rogister, an alumnus of Juilliard and guest conductor at the Met this season, conducts scenes from Verdi's operas with singers from the Met Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the Juilliard Orchestra. Stephen Wadsworth provides concert stage direction for excerpts from I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Stiffelio, Falstaff, and Rigoletto.

The singers are sopranos Michelle Bradley, Hyesang Park, and Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez; mezzo-sopranos Rihab Chaieb, Sara Couden, and Emily D'Angelo; tenors Ian Koziara, Petr Nekoranec, Gerard Schneider, Charles Sy, and Kang Wang; baritones Kidon Choi and Adrian Timpau; and bass David Leigh. Juilliard violinist Brian Hong performs the solo for violin in I Lombardi.

Tickets at $30 will be available beginning Tuesday, January 23, 2018 online through juilliard.edu/calendar at 10am. Juilliard Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11am-6pm.

Past Met+Juilliard collaborations have included a concert performance of Bellini's La sonnambula; a concert performance of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide; an evening of opera scenes and Stravinsky's one-act Mavra; a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte; a semi-staged concert performance of Gluck's Armide; and a fully staged production of Smetana's Bartered Bride.

About Evan Rogister (Conductor): Evan Rogister, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Germany, is rapidly emerging as one of the most dynamic conductors of his generation. Highlights of his 2017-18 season include his Met Opera debut leading Mozart's The Magic Flute, a return to the Kennedy Center to conduct Francesca Zambello's season-opening production of Verdi's Aida, performances of Richard Strauss' Salome at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Royal Swedish Opera. Mr. Rogister was recently named by the Göteborg Opera to conduct its first ever Ring Cycle. Beginning in 2018, the project culminates in 2021, the 400th anniversary of the city of Gothenburg, with Wagner's Götterdämmerung. These are the latest in an impressive series of engagements for Mr. Rogister that include three other works by Wagner - Tannhäuser (Deutsche Oper Berlin), Rienzi (Deutsche Oper Berlin), and Lohengrin (Royal Swedish Opera), a collaboration with Peter Stein on a new production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (Malmö Opera), debuts at Spoleto Festival USA conducting Eugene Onegin and the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse leading Verdi's Ernani, a double bill of Bartók's Bluebeard Castle and Schoenberg's Erwartung (Göteburg Opera and Seattle Opera); Szymanowski's King Roger (Santa Fe Opera), Verdi's Otello (Berlin and Luxembourg), André Previn's Streetcar Named Desire (Chicago Lyric Opera and L.A. Opera), and Bizet's Carmen for the opening of the Washington National Opera's 60th anniversary season at the Kennedy Center.

Equally at home on the concert platform, Mr. Rogister in 2017-18 conducts the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra. Recent appearances include the National Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony, l'Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Bochum Symphoniker, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. His debut recording with Deutsche Grammophon, Follow, Poet, was released in 2015. The album features new works by the composer Mohammed Fairouz, with Rogister conducting the Ensemble LPR. Mr. Rogister began his classical training as a trombonist and then an operatic baritone at Indiana University. He then pursued graduate studies in voice and conducting at Juilliard, where he frequently returns to lead projects with the Juilliard Orchestra.

About Stephen Wadsworth (Director): Stephen Wadsworth is the James S. Marcus Faculty Fellow and director of the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program at Juilliard and head of dramatic studies in the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. He has directed opera at the Met, La Scala, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Netherlands Opera, Edinburgh Festival, San Francisco Opera, and many others, and plays on and off Broadway, in London's West End, and in U.S. regional theater. He wrote A Quiet Place with Leonard Bernstein and is the author of Marivaux: Three Plays and Moliere/Wadsworth: Don Juan (published B. Smith and Kraus). He recently translated and directed the first two Beaumarchais Figaro plays-Le Barbier de Séville and Le Mariage de Figaro. He was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government and is creative advisor for The Sundance Institute Theatre Program.

About the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program: Michael Heaston, Executive Director and Acting Artistic Director Founded in 1980, the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program's goal is to nurture the most talented young artists through training and performance opportunities. The Lindemann Young Artists Development Program uses the Met's unique resources to identify and educate young singers and coach/pianists for major careers in opera. To meet the individual needs of each young artist, the program provides specialized training in music, language, dramatic coaching, and movement from the Met's own artistic staff and invited master teachers. Along with an annual stipend for living expenses, the program also funds private lessons with approved teachers from outside the Met staff. In addition, program participants have access to rehearsals for all Metropolitan Opera productions. Participants are offered a position with the program for a period of two to three years for singers, and two years for pianists. During this period, the young artists' engagements in and outside of the Met are at the consent of the artistic and executive directors.

About the Juilliard Orchestra: Juilliard's largest and most visible student performing ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, is known for delivering polished and passionate performances of works spanning the repertoire. Comprising more than 350 students in the bachelor's and master's degree programs, the orchestra appears throughout the season in concerts on the stages of Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater, and Carnegie Hall. The orchestra is a strong partner to Juilliard's other divisions, appearing in opera and dance productions as well as presenting an annual concert of world premieres by Juilliard student composers. Under the musical leadership of Alan Gilbert, the director of conducting and orchestral studies, the Juilliard Orchestra welcomes an impressive roster of world renowned conductors this season, including Mr. Gilbert, Chen Lin, Jeffrey Milarsky, David Robertson, and Speranza Scappucci. The Juilliard Orchestra has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe, South America, and Asia, where it was the first Western conservatory ensemble allowed to visit and perform following the opening of the People's Republic of China in 1987, returning two decades later, in 2008. Other ensembles under the Juilliard Orchestra umbrella include the conductorless Juilliard Chamber Orchestra, the Juilliard Wind Orchestra, and the new-music groups AXIOM and New Juilliard Ensemble.

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