FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Ashley Mirakian 
Chief of Marketing and Audience Development
470-427-2236 
amirakian@atlantaopera.org

THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS ANNOUNCES THREE-CITY TOUR    

‘Insanely Great’ Grammy Winning Opera in a Brand-New Production Will Visit Atlanta, Austin and Kansas City in the Spring of 2021   

ATLANTA, AUSTIN, KANSAS CITY – February 20, 2020 – A brand new co-production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, the Grammy-winning opera about Steve Jobs as he faces his own mortality, will embark on a three-city tour in the spring of 2021 with stops in Austin, Atlanta and Kansas City.

In an innovative approach to producing and performing opera, the co-production will tour with the same principal cast appearing in each city on a compact schedule. The design of the entire production was conceived and created so that it could travel quickly and cost effectively from city to city, while maintaining very high artistic standards.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, by American composer Mason Bates with a libretto by Mark Campbell, premiered in 2017 at the Santa Fe Opera. Bates and Campbell won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition a year later. (R)evolution won a second Grammy in 2019, for Best Opera Recording, under the baton of conductor Michael Christie, along with the Sante Fe Orchestra.

Co-produced by all three opera companies, Tomer Zvulun will direct this all-new production, with sets and costumes by Jacob A. Climber and projections from S. Katy Tucker. This will be only the second production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. The first production, created by Santa Fe Opera, has been seen in several cities.

“This is one of the most exciting operas written in the past 10 years. The iconic character, his engrossing story, and the powerful and infectious score created waves when it premiered in 2017 at Santa Fe Opera,” said Tomer Zvulun, the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director at The Atlanta Opera. “It is critical that important new works like this get second productions, and third productions, so that they become a part of the operatic repertoire.”

“This partnership enables us to bring an extraordinary opera to Austin that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. We are thrilled to be part of this forward-thinking collaboration with the potential to significantly expand the life of new works,” said Annie Burridge, General Director and CEO of Austin Opera.

“Bringing The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs to Kansas City is a great opportunity to showcase Lyric Opera’s commitment to bringing groundbreaking works to our audiences. Like Steve Jobs’ aspirations of continual progress, we are proud to co-produce this opera about him in this innovative partnership,” said Deborah Sandler, Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s General Director and CEO.

In Atlanta, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs will be performed as a part of The Atlanta Opera’s Discoveries series. The Atlanta leg of the tour is also part of a collaboration with Georgia Tech Arts, with all four Atlanta performances set to take place in the Robert Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech. In Austin, the production will be performed at The Long Center for the Performing Arts and will feature several community partnerships to be announced at a later date. The production will be performed in Kansas City at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Conductors Timothy Myers (Austin) and Michael Christie (Atlanta and Kansas City) will lead the performances.

Internationally acclaimed for his eloquence, energy and command on the podium, Myers is driven by a wide breadth of repertoire and projects. Recognized for his ability to engage audiences through his in-depth and versatile artistic planning, Myers keeps a busy schedule of operatic and concert performances around the world. Myers also serves as Artistic Advisor to the Austin Opera and will conduct the opening production of The Atlanta Opera’s 2020-21 season: Puccini’s La bohème.

Christie, who last year won a Grammy for best opera recording of this opera, is a thoughtfully innovative conductor, equally at home in the symphonic and opera worlds, who is focused on making the audience experience at his performances entertaining, enlightening, and enriching. He is the newly appointed Music Director of the New West Symphony, serving the greater Los Angeles area in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, California.

Baritone John Moore will perform as Steve Jobs, a role he debuted with the Seattle Opera in 2019. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program and a frequent performer in both Europe and the United States, Moore has garnered praise for his energetic performances and burnished baritone in both operatic and concert repertoire. Moore was last seen at The Atlanta Opera in 2015’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Praised as “sizzling,” “riveting and passionate” and possessing a voice of “warm, organic liquidity,” mezzo-soprano Sarah Larsen will make her role debut as wife Laurene Powell Jobs. In the 2019-20 season, Larsen joins the Metropolitan Opera for productions of La traviata and Le nozze di Figaro as well as making her Seattle Symphony debut in Songfest.

In the role of partner Steve Wozniak, tenor Bille Bruley, known for his strength and versatility in operatic repertoire, has received special acclaim for his interpretation of the works of Benjamin Britten, including the title role in Peter Grimes, King Nebuchadnezzar in The Burning Fiery Furnace, The Tempter in The Prodigal Son, and as the tenor soloist in Britten’s War Requiem.

Soprano Madison Leonard, a 2018 winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, will sing the role of friend Chrisann Brennan, a role she last performed in 2019 with the Seattle Opera. Bass Wei Wu, who created the role of Zen priest Kobun for Santa Fe Opera in 2017 and was part of the Grammy-winning cast, rounds out the touring cast.

Tour Schedule

City: Austin
Dates: January 28, 30, 31, 2021
Venue: The Long Center for the Performing Arts 
Ticket Information: austinopera.org or by calling 512-472-5992 

City: Atlanta 
Dates: February 11, 12, 13 & 14, 2021 
Venue: The Robert Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech 
Ticket Information: atlantaopera.org or by calling 404-881-8885 

City: Kansas City 
Dates: February 27, March 3, 5 & 7, 2021 
Venue: The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts  
Ticket Information: kcopera.org or by calling 816-471-7344

About The Atlanta Opera

The Atlanta Opera’s mission is to build the major international opera company Atlanta deserves, with a vision to reimagine opera.

Founded in 1979, The Atlanta Opera celebrates its 40^th anniversary in the 2019-20 season. The Opera works with world-renowned singers, conductors, directors, and designers who seek to enhance the art form.

Under the leadership of internationally recognized stage director and Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera has expanded from three to four mainstage productions at Cobb Energy Centre and launched the acclaimed Discoveries series. In recent years, the company was recognized by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as part of its “Best of 2015” awards; it was nominated for an International Opera Award in 2016; and it won ArtsATL’s 2019 Luminary Award for Community Engagement, recognizing its successful Veterans Program in partnership with The Home Depot Foundation.

In addition, The Opera was featured in a 2018 Harvard Business School case study about successful organizational growth, and Zvulun presented a TEDx Talk at Emory University entitled “The Ambidextrous Opera Company, or Opera in the Age of iPhones.”

For more information, visit atlantaopera.org

About Austin Opera

Founded in 1986 as the city’s first professional opera company, Austin Opera employs hundreds of local and international artists each year to produce operatic productions designed to inspire, entertain, and instigate discussion among Austin audiences. Under the leadership of General Director & CEO Annie Burridge, the company is building a reputation for producing high quality opera across a wide range of repertoire that celebrates Austin’s diversity and contributes to its thriving arts and culture.

To learn more about Austin Opera, visit www.austinopera.org or follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter at @austinopera.    

About Lyric Opera of Kansas City

Founded in 1958 and now one of the nation’s premiere regional opera companies, Lyric Opera of Kansas City brings high-quality live operatic performances to the people of the Kansas City and a five-state region. Repertoire choices encompass original-language performances of standard repertory, as well as contemporary and American operas. The company’s productions enrich the community it serves while reflecting the highest artistic standards of the profession. Lyric Opera offers innovative, award-winning programs to further music and arts education in schools and in the community, and serves more than 18,000 students and educators each year.

Opera lovers can be fans of Lyric Opera of Kansas City on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @kcopera or on Instagram @kcopera.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City is a member of OPERA America. This season is made possible with funding from Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts, and the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation.