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The Nickel City Opera ('NCO) was an American opera company based in Buffalo, New York. [1] The Nickel City Opera collaborated with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. [2] [3] [4]
The opera company [5] was founded in 2004, and produced Rossini's The Barber of Seville , its first opera, in June 2009 at the Riviera Theatre. The following year, 2010, saw a production of Rigoletto . [6]
Further productions include Il trovatore , [7] La Bohème , [8] Don Pasquale , [9] La fille du régiment , Rigoletto , [10] Tosca , [11] Carmen , [12] I Pagliacci , [13] Il tabarro , [14] Der Schauspieldirektor , [15] [16] Le Nozze di Figaro , [17] [18] La Traviata , [19] The Barber of Seville , [20] Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti [21] and The Music Shop by Richard Wargo. [22]
In 2010 and for the subsequent four years, the NCO presented Gian Carlo Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Riviera Theatre and in the Westminster Presbyterian Church (Buffalo, New York). [23]
In 2011, it presented a production of Il tabarro by Giacomo Puccini, directed by Henry Akina on board the United States Navy warship USS The Sullivans (DD-537), a decommissioned Fletcher-class destroyer and one of Buffalo's landmarks, which serves as a museum ship and is anchored at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York. [24] The USS The Sullivans (DD-537) served as an integral part of the staging. [25]
In 2017, Matthias Manasi conducted a production of Der Schauspieldirektor by Mozart, with particular attention to historically informed performance practice which was appreciated by critics. [26]
Several well known opera singers performed with the Nickel City Opera, including Adam Klein, [27] Victoria Livengood, [28] Valerian Ruminski, [29] Eric Fenell, [30] Eduardo Villa, [31] Michele Capalbo, [32] Marc Freiman, [33] Ray Chenez, [34] Zulimar López-Hernández, [35] [36] Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs, [37] James Wright, [38] and Marieterese Magisano. [39] [40]
The opera company ended its operations in 2024.
In May 2017 Opera America awarded Valerian Ruminski, artistic director of Nickel City Opera, its annual Service Award which recognizes those who "promote opera in their communities and work tirelessly to ensure the highest possible artistic quality and community service." [41] The ceremony took place in Dallas with a speech by Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of Opera America. [42]
In June 2016, the NCO produced the world premiere of SHOT! composed by Persis Vehar with libretto by Gabrielle Vehar, about the assassination of President McKinley, produced at Shea's Performing Arts Center, [43] [44] [45] [46]
In June 2021, Nickel City Opera collaborated with Sotto Voce Vocal Collective to present the world premiere of the opera The Second Sight by composer Jessie Downs, fully staged in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo. [47] [48]
Michael Ching was music director of Nickel City Opera from 2012 to 2017. [49] He was succeeded by Matthias Manasi as music director from 2017 to 2021. [50] [51] [52]
Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canadian border. With a population of 278,349 according to the 2020 census, Buffalo is the second-most populous city in New York State after New York City, and the 81st-most populous city in the U.S. Buffalo is the primary city of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1.1 million in 2020, making it the 49th-largest metro area in the U.S.
Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico – three one-act operas with contrasting themes, originally written to be presented together. Although it continues to be performed with one or both of the other trittico operas, Gianni Schicchi is now more frequently staged either alone or with short operas by other composers. The aria "O mio babbino caro" is one of Puccini's best known, and one of the most popular arias in opera.
Valerian Ruminski is an American operatic bass.
Sir David McVicar is a Scottish opera and theatre director.
Cornell MacNeil was an American operatic baritone known for his exceptional voice and long career with the Metropolitan Opera, which spanned 642 performances in twenty-six roles. Opera News opined he "was a great baritone in era of great baritones — Warren, Gobbi, Merrill, Milnes — and in the contemporary press, comparisons to his colleagues were frequent. But MacNeil's performances had singular musical richness, and moral and intellectual complexity that were his alone. MacNeil may have had rivals, but he had no equals."
Joan Pons Álvarez is a Spanish operatic baritone, known internationally as Juan Pons. He is most famous for his Verdi roles.
Rosemary Kuhlmann was an American operatic mezzo-soprano and Broadway musical actress best known for originating the role of the Mother in Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera commissioned for television. Kuhlmann portrayed the role on the annual live NBC broadcast of the production from 1951 through 1962.
Peter Glossop was an English baritone who was the only Englishman to have sung Verdi's great tragic baritone roles at La Scala, Milan. He rose from humble beginnings in Yorkshire to become a leading performer in London and in the major opera houses of Europe and America.
Adam Charles Josef Klein is an American opera singer who has sung leading tenor roles with many North American opera companies including, the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Edmonton Opera, and New York City Opera.
William B. Murray was an American opera baritone, who performed in Europe from 1960 to 1990. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Opera he was "a stylish singer and a fine actor" who "excels in dramatic and character roles."
Ambrogio Maestri is an Italian operatic baritone. He is especially known for his portrayal of the title character in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff. He studied piano and singing in his home town, Pavia. In Italy he has performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Regio in Parma, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Verdi in Trieste and the Arena di Verona. Abroad he has performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, San Francisco Opera House, the Konzerthaus and the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and others.
Victoria Livengood is an American mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. She is most renown for her extensive and prestigious international operatic career spanning over 35 years and counting. Her past and current career sees her regularly in the top opera houses around the world. She has sung over 100 different operatic roles throughout her career and over 120 separate performances at the Metropolitan Opera. In her early years, she was most known for her portrayal of the title role of Carmen which she has performed over 250 times worldwide. In addition to her continued performance career, she also teaches voice privately in Concord, North Carolina.
Vasile Moldoveanu is a Romanian tenor.
Mid-Ohio Opera is an opera production company based in Mansfield, Ohio. Mid-Ohio Opera was incorporated in 2014. The company uses contemporary stagings of classic repertory. Mid-Ohio Opera tries to use non-traditional venues in a "pop-up" fashion. A registered 501c3, they rely on community support, corporate sponsorship, and grants.
Virgilio Lazzari was an Italian operatic bass who had an active international performance career from 1908 to 1953. He had lengthy associations with the Chicago Civic Opera (1918–1932) and the Metropolitan Opera (1933–1950), and frequently performed at the Salzburg Festival during the 1930s. He appeared as a guest artist with opera houses internationally, including the Royal Opera House, the Teatro Colón, and the Teatro Carlo Felice among others.
Louis Albert "Ramblin' Lou" Schriver was an American country musician and radio broadcaster who lived in western New York State.
Really Spicy Opera (RSO) is a non-profit performing arts organization that produces live opera and musicals in Minneapolis, Minnesota. RSO is a professional opera company that operated in Boston from 2006 to 2013; it has been based in the Twin Cities since 2014. Its programming includes a mix of new musicals and new operas, with occasional classic musicals and operas. It is a member of Opera America and the only opera company in Minnesota with a primary focus on new operas and musicals.
George Gagnidze is a Georgian operatic baritone specializing in the Italian dramatic repertoire. He has performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera every season since 2008/09, including playing Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto.
Quinn Kamakanalani Kelsey is a Hawaiian baritone, who is particularly noted for his performances in operas by Verdi. He has been featured in leading roles by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, as well as other major opera companies in America and Europe.
Elza van den Heever is a South African soprano in opera and concert, who began her career as a mezzo-soprano. She has appeared in leading roles at major houses and concert halls of the world. One of her signature roles is Elisabetta in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, which she performed for her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 and subsequently recorded live.
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