MANNES OPERA PRESENTS PUCCINI'S LA BOHÈME

TWO FULLY-STAGED PERFORMANCES ON
SATURDAY, MAY 10 AND SUNDAY, MAY 11. 2003

With The Mannes Orchestra conducted by Joseph Colaneri

(New York, NY – April 3, 2003) Mannes Opera at Mannes College of Music, a division of New School University, will be presenting two fully-staged performances of Puccini's popular opera, La Bohème, on Saturday, May 10, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 11, 2003 (Mother's Day) at 3:00 p.m. at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The Kaye Playhouse is located at 68th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, in Manhattan.Tickets are available at $20 for general admission; $10 for students (with an ID) and seniors. To purchase tickets, call (212) 772-4448. For further information on the Mannes Opera Program, call (212) 712-1973.

The performance will feature young artists of the Mannes Opera and The Mannes Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Colaneri, Artistic Director of the Mannes Opera.

LA BOHÈME
Casting
Mimi: Anya Fidelia/Daena Mireau
Musetta: Sheri Hammerstein/Stephanie Weiss
Rodolfo: Yong Hoon Lee/Sung Chun Park
Marcello: Byung Woo Kim/Nathan Myers
Schaunard: Eric Margiore/Jin Heo
Colline: Judd Ernster/Tae-Suk Suh
Benoit: Ivan Amaro
Alcindoro: Ivan Amaro
Ensemble and Supporting Cast: Students of the Mannes Opera
Orchestra: Mannes Orchestra

Production Staff
Conductor: Joseph Colaneri
Stage Director: Jay Lesenger
Lighting Designer: Jeff Davis
Costume Designer: Helen E. Rodgers
Set Designer: Peter Harrison
Wig & Make-Up Design: Glenna Williamson

Joseph Colaneri is in his sixth season as a member of the conducting roster of the Metropolitan Opera where he has led performances of Puccini's La Bohème and Verdi's Luisa Miller. Next summer he will conduct Turandot with the MET in the Parks series. He also concurrently serves as Director of the Opera Program at Mannes College of Music. As a guest conductor, Maestro Colaneri recently led a concert of arias with Renée Fleming and the Tokyo Philharmonic, which was telecast by the NHK. This past summer, he conducted Verdi's Macbeth and an all-Puccini concert with the Chautauqua Symphony and the Chautauqua Opera. Prior to joining the Metropolitan Opera, Maestro Colaneri was associated with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center for fifteen years, culminating in his appointment in 1995 as Acting Music Director. At the City Opera, he led over 60 performances of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Carmen, Rigoletto, Tosca, La Traviata, The New Moon and The Merry Widow. Special highlights of his New York City Opera conducting career include the highly acclaimed 1993 world premiere of Hugo Weisgall's Esther and the 1995 American Premiere of Toshiro Mayuzumi's opera Kinkakuji: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Maestro Colaneri also served as Music Director of the New York City Opera National Company from 1991-1998, conducting national touring productions of La Fille du Régiment, Tosca, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, and La Bohème.

Maestro Colaneri is also active as a conductor of the choral and symphonic repertory. A frequent speaker on opera, Maestro Colaneri serves as guest lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Los Angeles Opera League. Also this season, he continues his annual series of Saturday Opera Seminars at New York University where he was recently awarded the Certificate for Teaching Excellence.

This performance is made possible by a generous gift from Banc of America Securities.

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Mannes Opera trains aspiring, young professionals. Mannes College of Music features a superb artist faculty and offers small, intimate classes to ensure close interaction among the faculty and students. Students in the Mannes Opera Program have the opportunity to appear in fully staged opera productions and in workshop performances during the year. Regina Resnik and Renata Scotto are Master Artists in Residence in the Mannes Opera Program. For further information on Mannes College of Music, call (212) 580-0210 or visit the Web site at www.mannes.edu.

New School University, with 7,000 matriculated students and 25,000 continuing education students, is a New York City university committed to critical scholarship, artistic integrity, and ethical responsibility in the social sciences, humanities, the arts and design. It is comprised of a liberal arts foundation of three schools: The New School, Eugene Lang College and the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, and five professional schools: Parsons School of Design, Mannes College of Music, Actors Studio Drama School, Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, and the Jazz & Contemporary Music Program. New School Online University offers one of the largest selections of online courses in the nation. For further information about admission to New School University, call (877) 5Ave-321 or go to the Web site at www.newschool.edu.