Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at 8PM

Wednesday, June 12, 2019, at 8PM

Friday, June 14, 2018, at 8PM 

Sponsored by Meyer Sound

Los Angeles – June 6, 2019 – In his final project as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Artist-Collaborator, MacArthur Grant-winning opera director Yuval Sharon reimagines fellow MacArthur winner Meredith Monk’s landmark work ATLAS: an opera in three parts at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Tuesday, June 11, with additional performances June 12 and 14. Conducted by Paolo Bortolameolli and performed by the LA Phil New Music Group, the landmark three-act opera from one of modern music’s most influential composers uses as inspiration the life of explorer Alexandra David-Néel to explore the loss and rediscovery of our inherent wonder. Monk herself serves as artistic advisor for the work in its first major production since the 1991 premiere at Houston Grand Opera. Joining from the original production, as well as the 1993 recording, are music coach Katie Geissinger and music advisor Wayne Hankin. Additional production team members are designer Es Devlin, costume designer Emma Kingsbury, lighting designer John Torres, projection designer Luke Halls, sound designer Mark Grey, and choreographer Danielle Agami. The ensemble cast of 19 was selected by Sharon and Monk.

In Sharon’s re-telling of ATLAS, the character of Alexandra takes a metaphorical journey through her imagination and is drawn into a quest through inner space, uncovering truths about herself and the world. The centerpiece of the production is a large sphere designed by Devlin that functions as a projection screen as well as a vessel for the performers to interact within.

During his residency with the LA Phil, Sharon has curated multiple projects using his experience in developing new works and reinterpreting established works. His productions have included a fully staged multimedia presentation of Mahler’s Song of the Earth and the world premiere of Annie Gosfield’s War of the Worlds, which incorporated the use of refurbished World War II-era sirens in downtown Los Angeles to tell the story out on the streets as it unfolded inside on the Walt Disney Concert Hall stage. In the installation Thought Experiments in F# Minor, a Janet Cardiff and George Miller “video walk” that takes viewers on a journey throughout Walt Disney Concert Hall as they follow a film recorded in the past along the same route they are traversing in the present, Sharon rethinks the space of the Concert Hall itself.

ATLAS is Sharon’s final project as the LA Phil’s Artist-Collaborator.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at 8PM
Wednesday, June 12, 2019, at 8PM
Friday, June 14, 2019, at 8PM
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

Meredith MONK  ATLAS: an opera in three parts (West Coast premiere)

LA Phil New Music Group
Paolo Bortolameolli, conductor
Yuval Sharon, director
Es Devlin, designer
Luke Halls, projection designer
Danielle Agami, choreographer
Emma Kingsbury, costume designer
John Torres, lighting designer

Meredith Monk, composer/artistic advisor
Katie Geissinger, music coach
Wayne Hankin, music advisor
Diana Wyenn, associate director
Jeannette LoVetri, vocal consultant
Mark Grey, sound designer
Amalie White, associate designer
Allison Sniffin, score preparation
Stefanie Cytron, costume supervisor
Dan Gower, audio engineer
Julie Chin, assistant stage manager
Lindsay Lowy, assistant stage manager

Milena Manocchia, Young Alexandra
Joanna Lynn-Jacobs, Alexandra from 25-45
Ann Carlson, Older Alexandra
Kathryn Shuman, Mother/Master Ice Demon/Ensemble
Jimmy Traum, Father/Ensemble
Yi Li, Cheng Quing
Miguel Zazueta, Guide (Male)
Kelci Hahn, Guide (Female)
Dylan Gentile, Franco Hartmann
John Brancy, Erik Magnussen
Kamala Sankaram, Gwen St. Clair
Juecheng Chen, Lonely Spirit/Ensemble
Sharon Kim, Hungry Ghost/Out of Body Soprano Solo/Ensemble
Tariq Al-Sabir, Agricultural Community Male Leader/Ensemble
Paul An, Out of Body Bass Solo/Airport Attendant/Ancient Man/Ensemble
Eliza Bagg, Traveler/Ensemble
Sarah Beaty, Out of Body Soprano Solo/Ice Demon/Ensemble
Jessica Beebe, Traveler/Ice Demon/Ensemble
Catherine Brookman, Agricultural Community Female Leader/Ensemble

Described by The New York Times as “opera’s disrupter in residence,” director Yuval Sharon has been creating an unconventional body of work that seeks to expand the operatic form. He founded and serves as Artistic Director of The Industry in Los Angeles, an acclaimed company devoted to new and experimental opera that has brought opera into moving vehicles, operating train stations, and various “non-spaces,” such as warehouses, parking lots, and escalator corridors. Sharon conceived, directed, and produced the company’s acclaimed world premieres of Hopscotch, Invisible Cities, and Crescent City. Sharon was honored with a 2017 MacArthur Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Art grant for theater.

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director, choreographer, filmmaker, and creator of new opera, music-theater works, films, and installations. Considered one of the most influential and unique artists of our time, she is a pioneer of what is now called “extended vocal technique” and “interdisciplinary performance.” Over the last six decades, Monk has received numerous awards and honors, including the MacArthur “genius” award and being named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Republic of France. Recently, Monk received three of the highest honors bestowed on a living artist in the United States – induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2019), the 2017 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2015. In conjunction with her 50th season of performing and creating work, she was named Carnegie Hall’s 2014/15 Debs Composer’s Chair. Celebrated internationally, Monk’s work has been presented at major venues throughout the world.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music from all genres – orchestral, chamber, and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music, and pop – at two of L.A.’s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (laphil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (hollywoodbowl.com). The LA Phil’s season at Walt Disney Concert Hall extends from September through June, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education, and community programs.

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