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Douglas J. Cuomo's Doubt Premieres at Minnesota Opera

Jan. 04, 2013

Douglas J. Cuomo's <em>Doubt</em> Premieres at Minnesota Opera

The Minnesota Opera presents the world premiere of Douglas J. Cuomo’s Doubt on January 26, 2013. With a libretto by John Patrick Shanley based on his Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a battle of wills ignited at a Bronx Catholic School in 1964, the opera was commissioned by Minnesota Opera as part of the company’s New Works Initiative, a landmark program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an infusion of contemporary works. Cuomo writes:

Set at a Catholic school in the Bronx in Autumn of 1964, shortly after Vatican II, the story is taut and exacting and reflects the changes and dislocations of the times through four distinctly wrought, complex but absolutely recognizable characters who are each grappling with their own uneasy feelings that come as the cultural and moral ground beneath them begins to give way. Gender politics, race relations and the role of the church; questions about personal responsibility, doubt, right and wrong; each of these issues is brought to bear here – questions that are no less vital today than they were 45 years ago. So much in Doubt is about what is unsaid, what is continually running beneath the surface, which I see as an invitation to music.

The opera’s development was assisted by workshops produced by the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music’s Opera Fusion: New Works program. A collaboration between Minnesota Opera, Cincinnati Opera and CCM supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Opera Fusion: New Works was created to offer composer/librettist teams the opportunity to workshop new American operas. Doubt marked the first selection of Opera Fusion, chosen from a pool of 50 entrants.

Minnesota Opera's world premiere production of Doubt features Matthew Worth as Father Flynn, Christine Brewer as Sister Aloysius, Adriana Zabala as Sister James, and Denyce Graves as Mrs. Miller.  The performance run at the Ordway Center in St. Paul, conducted by Christopher Franklin and directed by Kevin Newbury, continues on January 29, 31, February 2 and 3, 2013.

The New York Times will publish a feature on Douglas J. Cuomo and his creation of the new opera, in collaboration with librettist John Patrick Shanley, in the Arts and Leisure section on Sunday, January 20. Watch clips of the Guggenheim Museum's Works and Process preview and discussion on Doubthere.

Visit www.mnopera.org to learn more on the opera.

For more information on Douglas J. Cuomo and his music, please visit www.schott-music.com and www.douglasjcuomo.com.

Douglas J. Cuomo
Doubt (2013)
an opera in two acts
libretto (En) by John Patrick Shanley based on his play Doubt: A Parable
for baritone, dramatic soprano, 2 mezzo-sopranos, children’s chorus (12) and SATB chorus (12)
1(pic).1(ca).4(2.bcl).1(cbsn)-2.2.0.0-2perc-hp.pno-6vn.2va.2vc.db
120’

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