San Diego Opera won’t be announcing its next season until May, but two of the city’s smaller companies — Opera Neo and newly formed Opera a la Carte San Diego — have unveiled their upcoming plans, and Bodhi Tree Concerts is producing the San Diego premiere of a contemporary opera.
Here’s a preview of the three companies’ spring and summer plans.
A scene from Opera Neo’s 2023 outdoor production of “The Barber of Seville” at Spanish Art Village in Balboa Park.
(Courtsy of Gary Payne)
Opera Neo
San Diego’s Opera Neo has announced its 2024 season, which will run May through July and will include three opera productions, a gala concert and a cabaret show.
Founded in 2012 by artistic director Peter Kozma, Opera Neo specializes in performing rarely produced baroque operas and classical works at affordable prices. Its mission also includes providing training and performance opportunities for early-career opera singers.
This year’s season will begin with Handel’s “Rodelinda,” which will be presented at 7:30 p.m. May 17 and 18 at First Unitarian Unversalist Church at 298 W. Arbor Drive in Hillcrest. Written in London in 1725, “Rodelinda” the story of the wife of an exiled king who fakes his own death in a bid to secretly return and reclaim his throne. Sydney Roslin will direct the production and Kozma will conduct the period instrument orchestra.
Next up is Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” which will open the summer opera festival with outdoor performances at 8 p.m. July 12 and 13 at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park. “Cosi” is the story of two men who attempt to seduce each other’s girlfriends to test the women’s fidelity. Roslin will direct and Kozma will conduct.
The second production of the opera festival is the American premiere of Nicola Porpora’s 1735 opera “Polifemo.” Inspired by the poet Ovid’s “Metamorphosis,” “Polifemo” weaves together the Greek mythological stories of Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant son of the sea god Poseidon. Kozma said the story of Polyphemus was largely forgotten until it experienced a renaissance in movies and theater productions over the past 30 years. “Polifemo” will be presented at 8 p.m. July 19 and 20 at UC San Diego Park & Market, 1100 Market St., downtown. Daria Zholnerova will direct and Kozma will conduct.
“Our three productions this year speak to three aspects of Opera Neo’s mission to make opera accessible and relevant for today’s audience,” Kozma said, in a statement. “‘Rodelinda’ will be performed in an acoustically refined venue, and hones in on the intimate connections between characters — this is opera close up and personal. Our ‘Così fan tutte’ production in the Spanish Village is all about bringing opera directly into the community, meeting people where they are, with festivity, comraderie, joy and shared humanity. And finally, performing ‘Polifemo’ at Park & Market lets us build on the multimedia storytelling we experimented with last season in’Mitridate,’ bringing this ancient story vibrantly to life with the cutting edge visual language of today.”
The season will also include the aria gala, featuring young artists performing opera arias, at 6 p.m. June 22 at Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall, 5585 Morehouse Drive in Sorrento Mesa. There will also be cabaret evenings featuring opera, operetta and Broadway scenes at 7:30 p.m. July 5 and 6 at an as-yet unannounced location.
For tickets, visit operaneo.com.
Opera À la Carte San Diego
On May 16, a new opera company will debut in downtown San Diego. Opera À la Carte San Diego will premiere with a four-day run of Puccini’s “La bohème” at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center in East Village.
The company was founded by Abla Hamza, who serves as executive and artistic director. A local soprano and voice teacher, Hamza started the company to fill gaps in the opera industry as many larger companies reduce their seasons, and to provide more singing opportunities for local opera and classical vocal artists.
The new company has no relation to Opera a la Carte, a now-inactive Gilbert & Sullivan touring repertory company founded in Los Angeles in 1970 by Richard Sheldon, who passed away in 2016.
“I am committed to providing captivating performances that not only entertain but also educate and enrich our community,” Hamza said, in a statement. “‘La bohème’ holds a special place in our hearts as it embodies the essence of our vision — a celebration of passion, romance, and human connection. Through this production and others, we strive to demystify opera and classical singing, making them accessible to diverse communities. As a women-owned organization, we also recognize the importance of representation in the arts, championing inclusivity and diversity on and off the stage. Opera À la Carte San Diego is dedicated to promoting the performing arts and classical music, inspiring a love for opera among all.”
For its debut production, the company will present the world’s most popular opera, “La bohème,” the heartbreaking story of a group of starving artists in 1830s Paris. It will be sung in Italian with English supertitles projected above the stage.
The production will be directed by San Diego soprano Angelina Réaux, whose decades-long international opera, theater and classical music career including playing Mimi, the consumptive seamstress in “La Bohème,” under the baton of Leonard Bernstein. Réaux plans to re-set the opera in war-torn Paris in 1941. The show’s conductor will be Yewon Lee and the pianist will be Susie Shick of San Diego. Réaux is designing costumes and sets, Jason Chody is the lighting designer and Michael Sokol will serve as chorus master.
Because opera singers performing demanding principal roles need a day of rest between performances, two casts will alternate in the production.
The role of Mimi will be split between Mexican American soprano Amanda Olea (May 16,18) and artistic director Hamza (May 17, 19). The role of poet Rodolfo, Mimi’s lover, will be split between San Diego tenors Adam Caughey and James Young. The role of singing teacher Musetta will be split between sopranos Amelia Andrade and Michelle Gallardo-Arias. And Musetta’s lover, the painter Marcello, will be played by baritones Søren Pedersen and Michael Segura. Also featured in all performances are singers Travis Sherwood, Shelby Condray and Michael Sokol.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. May 16, 17 and 18, and at 2 p.m. May 19 at 930 Tenth Ave., San Diego. Tickets are $45, with $25 tickets available for students. There will also be a VIP ticket package for $100, which includes a rooftop cast party, on May 16 and 17.
For details, visit operalacartesandiego.
Army Sgt. Benjamin Hilgert will perform in Bodhi Tree Concerts’ San Diego premiere of “The Falling and the Rising,” May 10-12 in Point Loma. Hilgert conceived the opera about a woman soldier injured by a roadside bomb.
(Courtesy of Bodhi Tree Concerts)
Bodhi Tree Concerts: ‘The Falling and the Rising’
When San Diego Opera canceled its planned San Diego premiere of the contemporary opera “The Falling and the Rising” last year, Bodhi Tree Concerts came to its rescue.
Founded in 2012 by Diana and Walter DuMelle, Bodhi Tree presents an annual season of concerts and contemporary operas that benefit local charitable organizations.
“As a native San Diegan, the daughter of a veteran and having grown up in Point Loma just blocks away from the military bases, servicemen and servicewomen were and are an everyday and inspirational fact of life,” says Diana DuMelle, who serves as Bodhi Tree’s co-artistic director with her husband, Walter. “I saw first-hand the sacrifice of not only those who served but also of their families. ‘The Falling and the Rising’ is special in several ways — first because it is told through the perspective of a woman — a soldier, mother and wife.
“Second because the characters in the opera are based on real soldiers and their real experiences. The creators spent hundreds of hours interviewing recovering soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center. We feel a responsibility but mostly honored to bring ‘The Falling and the Rising’ to this military town for the first time.”
“The Falling and the Rising” is about a female soldier who is wounded by a roadside bomb and placed in an induced coma. Deep in sedation, the soldier must embark upon an imagined journey home. In her dreamscape, she encounters fellow service members who, like her, find themselves in search of connection, consciousness and hope. The opera was written by composer Zach Redler and librettist Jerre Dye and conceived in 2015 by Sgt. Benjamin Hilgert, a tenor in the Army Field Band’s Soldiers’ Chorus, who performed in the opera’s 2018 world premiere.
Hilgert will join the Bodhi Tree cast, which includes Christine Taylor-Price, Emily Weinberg, DeAndre Simmons, and Walter DuMelle. The production will be directed by Kym Pappas with music direction by Karen Keltner. The opera will be presented at 7 p.m. May 10, 11 and 12 at Point Loma Assembly, 3035 Talbot St., Point Loma.
Tickets are $25-$60, with all proceeds will benefit Veterans Village San Diego. Visit bodhitreeconcerts.org.