This lecture series provides audiences with fresh insights from regional scholars and industry professionals to enrich appreciation and understanding of the operas in our season. Both established operagoers and curious newcomers alike are sure to make discoveries.
Opera Dives Deep is held at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, Brookside Room, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110.
The Barber of SEville
Beaumarchais as Figaro: Genius in a Nobody
Dr. Felicia Londré, speaker
- Monday, November 4, 2024, 7:00–8:00 pm
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the son of a humble watchmaker, rose through the eighteenth-century hierarchy by his genius. His youthful escapades in Spain captivated Europe but made powerful enemies who tarnished his reputation and legally classified him as a non-person. Beaumarchais used the power of laughter to sway public opinion through his brilliant plays The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. Discover the amazing life that spawned the plays that became beloved operas.
Felicia Hardison Londré, Curators' Distinguished Professor Emerita, taught theatre history at UMKC for forty four years and supervised ninety M.A. theses. She specializes in French and Russian theatre as well as Shakespeare production history. In 1993, she was Honorary Co-Founder of Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. In May, this year, she presented a paper in Dijon on the musical compositions of James Reese Europe. She is currently working on an article on Love's Labour's Lost in France.
Other highlights for Dr. Londré include: dramaturg for Missouri Repertory Theatre (1978-2000), a term as Dean of The College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center (2012-14), and president of the nonprofit KC MOlière: 400 in 2022 (2019-22). Publications comprise seventeen books, over sixty scholarly articles, and hundreds of reviews and journalistic pieces. Her 2007 book The Enchanted Years of the Stage: Kansas City at the Crossroads of American Theater, 1870-1930 won the Theatre Library Association’s George Freedley Memorial Award.
The Timeless Charm of The Barber of Seville
Dr. Martin Nedbal, speaker
- Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 7:00–8:00 pm
The Barber of Seville, Gioachino Rossini and Cesare Sterbini’s masterful comic opera, premiered in 1816. This beloved work captures the witty and vibrant spirit of its characters through Rossini's iconic musical style, reflecting the compositional trends and cultural atmosphere of early 19th-century Europe. Join us as we explore the rich plot, memorable music, and historical context that make this opera an enduring masterpiece.
Martin Nedbal, Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Kansas, is the author of Viennese Opera and Morality in the Age of Mozart and Beethoven (Routledge, 2017) and translator and editor of The Published Theoretical Works of Leoš Janáček (Editio Janáček, 2020). His articles on Mozart, Beethoven, and Czech music have also appeared in many journals and books.
Previous talks
A Journey Through Art and Music
Dr. Neal Long, speaker
- Monday, September 16, 2024, 7:00–8:00 pm
This presentation on The Brightness of Light will delve into the origins of the composition, offering a glimpse into what awaits you at the concert. We'll also explore the fascinating lives and correspondence of Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, whose remarkable careers and relationship inspired this work. Discover how their artistic legacy intertwines with composer Kevin Puts's creation in this unique blend of visual art and music.
Neal Long is the Director of Learning at Lyric Opera of Kansas City where he carries out the organization’s mission of education and community engagement with programs designed to promote artistic literacy in Kansas City and provide audiences the social-emotional tools needed to connect deeply with what they see on stage. An accomplished musician, Neal has performed leading operatic tenor roles throughout the United States and regularly serves as music director and director. A new music champion and enthusiast, Neal has premiered works by several composers and is responsible for overseeing the commission and production of three works for intergenerational audiences at Lyric Opera of Kansas City—Rachel J. Peters’ Sketchbook for Ollie, Rosabella Gregory and Dina Gregory’s The Haberdasher Prince, and Lori Laitman and Dana Gioia’s Maya and the Magic Ring. A passionate educator, Neal has taught at institutions including The University of Kansas and Missouri Western State University.
Illuminating Opera: The Art of Projection Design
Wendall K. Harrington, speaker
- Monday, September 23, 2024, 7:00–8:00 pm
Explore the fascinating world of modern projection design in this presentation led by Wendall K. Harrington, renowned as the godmother of the field. Dive into the intricacies of projection design and its transformative application in opera, gaining insights from Harrington's career. Attendees will also learn more about the visuals created for The Brightness of Light, enhancing the audience's experience through a marriage of art and technology.
Wendall K. Harrington’s career has embraced diverse disciplines including theater, publishing, and multi-image/video design and production. As a designer of scenic projections for the stage, her work has been seen on Broadway in Driving Miss Daisy, Gray Gardens, They’re Playing Our Song, My One and Only, The Heidi Chronicles, The Will Rogers Follies, Having Our Say, Company, Ragtime, The Capeman, and The Who’s Tommy. In opera, her work includes Werther at The Metropolitan Opera, A View from the Bridge, Die Gezeichneten, Nixon in China, The Photographer, Brundibar, Transatlantic, Grapes of Wrath, Rusalka, and Intelligence. Ms. Harrington is the recipient of many awards including a 2024 Tony Awards Honor for excellence in design, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the American Theatre Wing Award. Harrington is the head of the projection design concentration at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
