For the first time in its 53-year history, Palm Beach Opera next season will present a world premiere of an American opera.
Enemies, A Love Story, with music by Ben Moore and a libretto by Nahma Sandrow, and based on the novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer, was seen in abridged workshop form in the company’s One Opera in One Hour series last season. Set in New York in 1948, it concerns a Jewish intellectual who escaped Nazi persecution and finds himself involved with three different women at the same time.
It will star Daniel Okulitch as Herman, Caitlin Lynch as Yadwiga, Leann Sandel-Pantaleo as Tamata and Danielle Pastin as Masha. David Stern, who made his Palm Beach Opera debut last month as conductor for Verdi’s Macbeth, returns for Enemies; the stage director will be Sam Helfrich. The opera will be performed Feb. 20-22 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.
During a launch event Feb. 11 at the company’s production center, officials also announced the rest of the 2014-15 season, which will begin with a free waterfront concert in downtown West Palm Beach on Dec. 13 at the Meyer Amphitheatre.
The first mainstage production of the season will be Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, perhaps the most popular opera in the world, from Jan. 16-18. The Slovenian soprano Sabina Cvilak, who was Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello and Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte for Palm Beach Opera, returns to sing Mimi. Her Rodolfo will be the American tenor Dimitri Pittas; Ellie Dehn will sing Musetta, and Luis Ledesma will take the role of Marcello. The South African bass-baritone Musa Ngqungwana is Colline, and Thomas Hammons sings the comic relief roles of Benoit and Alcindoro. The Italian conductor Daniele Callegari makes his company debut.
After Enemies in February, the season closes March 20-22 with Gaetano Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, a lighthearted work that is one of the Italian bel canto master’s many operas in French. The four principals, all Americans, and all making their company debuts, include soprano Erin Morley as Marie, tenor Taylor Stayton as Tonio, mezzo Judith Christin as the Marquise, and bass-baritone Peter Strummer as Sulpice. Italian conductor Antonino Fogliani makes his company debut in the pit, and the veteran stage director Dona D. Vaughn returns to the company as stage director.
In addition, the company will welcome Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov as special guest at the company’s annual gala on Feb. 5, and there will be two One Opera in One Hour performances in January and February, though repertory has not yet been chosen.
For more information about Palm Beach Opera, visit the company website at www.pbopera.org.
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Boca Museum director Maklansky resigns
Steven Maklansky, the director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art, resigned Jan. 31 after only two-and-a-half years in the job.
The museum declined in its official release to say what led to Maklansky’s departure, but credited him with attracting “new audiences to the museum with diverse and stimulating exhibitions and programs that helped to raise the prominence, standing, and engagement of the institution by stressing the importance of community involvement and the museum’s essential role in arts education.”
“The museum is filled with wonderful art and interesting people and is now positioned for continued success,” Maklansky said in a prepared statement. “Working with the Board of Trustees and the museum’s dedicated staff, we have made significant improvements in all phases of its operations.”
Maklansky came to the museum in July 2011, replacing George Bolge, who had run the museum for 16 years. Maklansky took the Boca position after being director of the Brevard Art Museum (now the Foosaner Art Museum) in Melbourne. Before that, he was director of curatorial services at the Louisiana State Museum and photography curator for the New Orleans Museum of Art.
For more information about the museum, call 561.392.2500 or visit www.bocamuseum.org.
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Sculpture Gardens hires first horticulture chief
The Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach has named its first director of horticulture.
Paul Milsom, a native of Bristol, England, who was trained at the University of Wales, joined the Gardens in late January after work as a head landscape manager for a Palm Beach estate and two smaller properties.
Milsom will be in charge of upkeep of all plantings at the Sculpture Gardens on Barcelona Road and Flagler Drive. The 1.7-acre grounds include more than 300 rare palm species, cycads and native plants. He will also be responsible for expanding the community outreach of the Gardens, developing educational programs in tandem with the Gardens Conservancy, a newly formed group of patrons.
“It will be a great privilege to honor the important history of this very special garden and its storied past, all while exploring opportunities for its future with the help of community-minded patrons in the Conservancy,” Milsom said in a prepared statement.
Milson, a marine biologist and triathlete, also said he hoping to improve the Gardens’ water features and aesthetics.
Jeff Blakely, secretary of the Sculpture Gardens’ Board of Trustees, said the board decided to hire a horticulture director after it became apparent a point person was needed to expand the Gardens’ offerings and exhibitions. In a prepared statement, Blakely said Milsom’s “eager vigor, work ethic and passion for the Gardens is infectious, and we look forward to unleashing his energy in a long and uninterrupted union.”
The Gardens are located at 2051 S. Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. The rare palm and sculpture gardens, exhibition galleries and artist studio are currently open Wednesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.ansg.org or call 561-832-5238.