On October 2, Christina Scheppelmann was awarded the Leadership in Opera Award at the 2024 International Opera Awards in Munich, Germany. With over three decades of leadership experience, this award recognizes Scheppelmann’s many career achievements across three continents. Her award recognizes that “Christina has truly transformed the world of opera, navigating challenges and breaking barriers along the way.”
In the 1920s, Seattle was in the midst of a transformation. No longer a bustling wartime city, tensions were high between employers and labor unions. The wartime population grew while accommodations became scarce. Trauma from the outgoing Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 (Spanish flu) fostered a culture of social distancing and isolation. And the Red Scare, as well as the re-emergence of the KKK, further exacerbated and codified racial animosities against minorities in the majority white town. Despite these adversities, Seattle still advanced. It became a cultural hub, attracting all manner of artists and musicians. It is in this context that the Fisk Jubilee Singers made their first appearance in Seattle.
On October 12, Seattle Opera will present the world premiere of Jubilee, a new opera which highlights the early years of the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. Created and directed by Tazewell Thompson, this new opera follows the unique journey of the Jubilee Singers as they shared African American spirituals around the world, ultimately changing music forever.
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| A map of the Underground Railroad, a network of routes used by enslaved African Americans seeking freedom. |
In October 2024, Seattle Opera presents the world premiere of Jubilee, a new opera telling the story of how the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University popularized African American spirituals in the years following the Civil War. These traditional songs, created, refined, and shared anonymously by enslaved Americans, are the foundation on which all American music has been built. The music is wild and intense; beautiful and painful; full of despair, hope, and uplift. African American opera singers have long championed the spirituals, often concluding concerts and recitals with these beloved songs. Jubilee makes of the spirituals a full evening’s entertainment.
James Robinson is Seattle Opera’s next General and Artistic Director, beginning September 4, 2024. Learn more about our dynamic new leader in this short Q&A interview, where he discusses why he’s eager to come to Seattle Opera, his philosophy for creating new works and his approach to the standard repertory, his drive for artistic excellence, and what he enjoys doing in his free time.
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| Seattle Opera's next General and Artistic Director, James Robinson. © David Jaewon Oh |
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| Seattle Opera's next General and Artistic Director, James Robinson. © David Jaewon Oh |
James Robinson is the next General and Artistic Director of Seattle Opera, and the fifth person to lead the company in its 61-year history. Robinson begins his tenure on September 4, 2024, replacing Christina Scheppelmann, who takes over as General and Artistic Director of Brussels’ La Monnaie/De Munt in January 2025 following the completion of her contract with Seattle Opera.
Pagliacci has been one of the world’s favorite operas since its 1892 premiere. Here at Seattle Opera we’ve given it five times now (1966, 1974, 1983, 2008, and now 2024), sometimes on its own, sometimes as part of a double-bill with operas such as Cavalleria rusticana or Gianni Schicchi. But among the opera “classics” performed repeatedly in Seattle there’s something unique about Pagliacci: this opera’s creator once visited our fair city.
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| Initially collaborators, Puccini (left) and Leoncavallo (right) became arch-rivals when both made operas about La bohème. |
In honor of Seattle Opera’s newest production of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s masterpiece and to celebrate Pagliacci Pizza’s 45th Anniversary, the Seattle-based pizza maker has created a signature pizza box featuring Sasquatch as the clown.
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| © Pagliacci Pizza |
Pagliacci climaxes in a show-within-a-show: a performance (which goes completely haywire) of traditional Italian comedy, commedia dell’arte. This ancient theatrical form is perhaps best understood as live-action Looney Tunes. Commedia shows didn’t have much by way of plot. They didn’t use scripts. Instead, stock characters and situations provide a framework for improvised jokes, buffoonery, and rampant silliness. The name commedia dell’arte best translates as “artisanal comedy,” i.e. a bespoke performance, like the kind of cheese sold at a farmer’s market. Yes, they followed a recipe, but it comes out differently each time, that’s half the fun.
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| Canio (Diego Torre) and Nedda (Gabriella Reyes) from the 2023 Lyric Opera of Kansas City production of Pagliacci. © Ken Howard |
Monica Conesa, the American Cuban soprano, and Diego Torre, the Mexican Australian tenor are making their Seattle Opera debuts as Nedda and Canio. Discover how they started, their artistic influences, and favorite pastimes.
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