Witchcraft, transformation, love-sick fools, magic rings – all taking place on an island. Alcina (1773) is one of Handel’s three operas based on Ludovico Ariosto’s epic work, Orlando Furioso (1516).

The opera is a wild, messy story of love and deception – a fairy tale with magic that accurately describes the pain and exaltation of falling in love. Mannes Opera is thrilled to work with director Sam Helfrich, and to welcome back esteemed Mannes alumnus Geoffrey McDonald as conductor with the Mannes Opera Orchestra.

March 7 & 8 at 7:00pm:

Mannes Opera presents Handel’s Alcina

The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 524 West 59th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues), New York, N.Y.

MANNES OPERA
Under the leadership of Managing Artistic Director Emma Griffin, Mannes Opera is a dynamic training program for operatic artists, marked by a curiosity for new and a devotion to craft. The program utilizes opera as a medium for exploration, improvisation, and creation, providing students with extensive performance opportunities and practice. Recent notable productions include Grace McLean’s In the Green, Cavall’s La Calisto, Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters, Die Zauberflöte, Rachel J. Peter’s Mermaid in the Jar, and Kate Soper’s Here Be Sirens.  With our commitment to developing and supporting new opera, we have workshopped Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s The Listeners, Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith’s The Righteous (in collaboration with Santa Fe Opera), and David T. Little’s Agamemnon (in collaboration with Theatre for a New Audience). Our mission is to empower students to become versatile and self-assured professional artists, equipped with the skills and agency to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of the performing arts. Mannes Opera is committed to fostering artistic excellence and innovation, guided by the rich traditions of the past and a bold vision for the future.

Mannes Opera’s 2024/25 Season opens with a jewel box production of Don Giovanni created by Griffin and Mannes faculty member Cris Frisco, presented in a crisp 100 minutes, on October 18 and 19. The Opera in Concert double bill on November 8 and 9 features works by Mannes faculty members and prolific composers, David T. Little (Vinkensport, or the Finch Opera, New York City premiere) and Kamala Sankaram (The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace), directed by New School Drama alum Alison Pogolrec. On March 7 and 8, Mannes Opera presents Handel’s Alcina at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, directed by Sam Helfrich and conducted by Mannes alumnus Geoffrey McDonald. On May 9, Mannes Opera gives a workshop presentation of Hildegard, a new opera by Sarah Kirkland Snider, in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.

We look forward to seeing you!