Toronto, ON – For the first time in the company’s history, Opera Atelier will embark on an important co-production with The Glimmerglass Festival. OA’s enthralling production of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Armide will first be produced in Toronto prior to making its debut at North America’s most prestigious opera festival.

The Muslim and Christian worlds collide in Lully’s Armide – the supreme operatic masterpiece of the 17^th century. The invincible Christian knight Renaud and the Muslim warrior princess Armide play out their doomed love affair against a backdrop of hopeless obsession, jealousy and magic.

“Glimmerglass has long had an association with baroque music, especially Handel and the Italian repertoire, but I very much wanted to present a French baroque work to our audiences,” said Francesca Zambello, Glimmerglass Festival Artistic & General Director. “However, I knew to produce Armide properly we would need collaborators who could bring us the right style, as well as an eye to historical craft. As I have long admired the work of Opera Atelier, under the artistic leadership of Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, I thought the company would be an ideal producing partner. I am excited for the opportunity to collaborate on this unique work that includes such a lavish visual language, as well as period dancers and performance practice. It will be a truly theatrical experience.”

According to OA Co-Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski, “Lully’s Armide is a seamless melding of opera and ballet into a unique form of storytelling. As such, it promises to be the perfect showcase for Opera Atelier’s Glimmerglass debut.”

The Glimmerglass Festival’s participation has enabled Opera Atelier to add major design elements to Armide making it the most sumptuous production in OA history.

Armide will star soprano Peggy Kriha Dye in the title role, tenor Colin Ainsworth as the Christian knight Renaud, and bass João Fernandes as Hidraot, with the full corps of Artists of Atelier Ballet. Opera Atelier’s Music Director David Fallis conducts the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir.

The creative team for Armide includes director Marshall Pynkoski, choreographer Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, designer Gerard Gauci, and lighting designer Bonnie Beecher. Armide runs April 14, 15, 17, 18, 20 and 21, 2012 and will be sung in French with English SURTITLES^TM. Armide will run at The Glimmerglass Festival July and August 2012.

The 2011-12 Season opens with Opera Atelier’s period production of Don Giovanni. This production of Mozart’s dark ironic comedy has captivated audiences throughout Japan, Korea and North America.
Opera Atelier’s Don Giovanni returns to Toronto in a glittering new period production designed by OA’s award-winning design team of Gerard Gauci and Martha Mann.

OA’s production of Don Giovanni features Canadian baritone Phillip Addis (who created a sensation as the Count in OA’s 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro) as the incorrigible Don Giovanni. The production features soprano Carla Huhtanen (Zerlina), baritone Vasil Garvanliev (Leporello), soprano Peggy Kriha Dye (Donna Elvira), soprano Meghan Lindsay (Donna Anna), baritone Curtis Sullivan (Masetto/Commendatore), tenor Lawrence Wiliford (Don Ottavio) and the full corps of the Artists of Atelier Ballet.

Italian conductor Stefano Montanari makes his Opera Atelier debut conducting Tafelmusik Orchestra. Don Giovanni will be directed and choreographed by OA’s Co-Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg respectively.

Don Giovanni runs October 29, 30, November 1, 2, 4 and 5, 2011 and will be sung in Italian with English SURTITLES^TM.

Performances for Opera Atelier’s 2011-12 Season will take place at the Elgin Theatre (189 Yonge Street) in Toronto with evening performances at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinee performances at 3:00 p.m. Subscriptions start at $90 and are on sale now by calling 416-703-3767 ext. 222. Single tickets for Don Giovanni go on sale on August 2, 2011. For more information visit www.operaatelier.com.

Opera Atelier also gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, and the Creative Trust.

Opera Atelier is Canada’s premier baroque opera/ballet company, producing opera, ballet and drama from the 17th and 18th centuries. While drawing upon the aesthetics and ideals of the period, Opera Atelier goes beyond “reconstruction” and infuses each production with an inventive theatricality that resonates with modern audiences. Over the past twenty-five years, lead by founding director Marshall Pynkoski and founding choreographer Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg, Opera Atelier has garnered acclaim for its performances at home as well as in the United States, Europe and Asia.

The Glimmerglass Festival is a professional, non-profit organization presenting four new productions in rotation every July and August. The company’s Alice Busch Opera Theater opened in 1987 and has been home to more than 85 productions, many of which have been world and professional premieres. Francesca Zambello was appointed Artistic & General Director in September 2010. The company continues is tradition of four new fully staged productions, now to include three operas and a piece of American musical theater performed as intended with full orchestra and no sound amplification. Main stage performances are supplemented by special performances, concerts, Q&As, a discussion series and more. Founded in 1975, the company continues to attract an international audience to the scenic Cooperstown area, where the talent of singers, directors, designers and staff from around the world converges to produce world-class opera and music theater.