…for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s presentation this week of Howard Hanson’s rarely performed opera (in fact, his only opera), Merry Mount. This three-act piece was written when Hanson was director of the Eastman School of Music, and premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1934. The Rochester Philharmonic’s concert performance, conducted by Michael Christie, previews a presentation in May as part of Carnegie Hall’s Spring for Music Festival. Besides the RPO, it features the Eastman Rochester Chorus (prepared by William Weinert) and several soloists with Eastman credentials: Ashley Hibbard (MM ’11), Samuel Krall (BM ’10), current doctoral student Matt Valverde, master’s degree students Joshua Ooms and Nicholas Kilkenny, and undergraduate students David Gleichman, Anna Bekker, Trevor Cook, and Migle Zaliukaite.