Eastman Opera Theatre (EOT) presents Ainadamar (2003), a tragic one-act opera composed by Osvaldo Golijov with libretto by David Henry Hwang, inspired by the poetry and legacy of famed Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca. This opera will conclude the 2024-25 EOT season and takes place in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre from April 3-6, 2025. Directed by Assistant Professor of Opera Octavio Cardenas and conducted by Associate Music Director of EOT Wilson Southerland, it will be sung in Spanish with English supertitles. Rochester audiences will get to witness this moving performance in the same season as its Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City, which took place last fall.
This contemporary piece centers on three distinct images, each pertaining to the terrible fates of Mariana Pineda, Federico García Lorca, and Margarita Xirgu. This mythical story is set during times of political unrest in 1969 Uruguay and 1936 Spain, ultimately stressing the importance of leaning on courage and humanity to maneuver conflict. Ainadamar (meaning “Fountain of Tears”) is a work that deeply resonates with our contemporary era, where art continues to play a pivotal role in times of struggle.
“Even in the deepest sorrow, the spirit of art remains unbroken,” shares Cardenas. “As Garcia Lorca’s voice continues to echo through time, he passes the torch and teaches those who listen. Flowing like the ‘fountain of tears,’ his words remind us that we are never truly gone, for art endures beyond the pain of loss.”
Conductor Wilson Southerland states, “despite this being a modern piece, the music is very accessible.” Blending elements of classical, flamenco, and Latin American music, the pit features a traditional orchestra plus two guitarists and pre-recorded electronic sounds. Audiences can expect to hear horses breathing and galloping, water droplets, and other environmental cues. Ainadamar will also feature choreographed dance, such as cante jondo—a profound and serious form of flamenco—alongside improvisational moments. Though dance is not a typical medium for expression at Eastman, Lisa Piccione, a choreographer from The Hochstein School, is collaborating with EOT to instruct students through the movements.
This opera will be presented in the surrealist style, a la Dalí. Visually, audiences will be treated to the bright colors associated with toreadors and flamenco dancers. The set is abstract, with a rising and setting sun placed upstage, and other elements that evoke a sense of motion.
Eastman Opera Theatre’s performances of Ainadamar are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday 4/3, Friday 4/4, and Saturday 4/5, with a matinee at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday 4/6. This production is double-cast and runs for 80 minutes without intermission.
Tickets are $20.00 for general admission. Internally, students, faculty, and staff may present their URID to receive one free ticket. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main St., or online at EastmanTheatre.org. Please note that this opera uses strobe lighting and includes sensitive subject matter involving simulated smoking and gunshots.
Visit esm.rochester.edu/events for more information about this performance and other Eastman events.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content, (585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About Eastman Opera Theatre:
Eastman Opera Theatre offers a comprehensive program of training and performance opportunities for the modern singer-actor. Each year, productions feature a wide range of musical styles, unusual lyric forms, and both traditional and contemporary repertoire that prepare the motivated student for the professional lyric theater world of tomorrow.
Most productions have two complete principal casts (given an equal number of performances), are fully designed, performed in the original language, and depending on the venue, use full orchestral accompaniment. Studio productions, scenes programs, and outreach events are also offered to further enhance the variety of performance opportunities. Eastman Opera Theatre utilizes both undergraduate and graduate students in all roles for all productions.
Recent and past productions include Davis’ Lear on the 2nd Floor; Sondheim’s Into the Woods; Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea; Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox and Les Enfants Terribles; Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza; Gordon’s The Tibetan Book of the Dead; Mozart’s Don Giovanni; and Puts’ Elizabeth Cree. EOT is committed to working with living composers and librettists. Recent production collaborators have included Anthony Davis, Adam Guettel, Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, Ricky Ian Gordon, Kevin Puts, and Mark Campbell.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprising more than 170 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, GRAMMY winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.