Let’s celebrate together the return of full-scale opera
at The Cleveland Opera in collaboration
with Cleveland Women’s Orchestra
and Duffy Liturgical Ensemble!
Please don’t miss
Highway 1, USA
by William Grant Still
- Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 3:00 pm
Free valet parking sponsored by The Cleveland Opera.
Free chocolates and candy sponsored by The Cleveland Opera.
Wine and beverages for cash purchase from Tudor Arms.
The expected duration of the entire event,
including intermission, is approximately two hours.
The opera will be sung in English.
Tickets
- $55 Reserved Sponsor Seating
- $25 General Admission
- $10 Student
Tickets are available online here: Buy Tickets
or by calling 216 816 1411.
Tickets will also be available at the door, cash or check.
About
The seventeen-year-long collaboration of The Cleveland Opera and Cleveland Women’s Orchestra, joined by the Duffy Liturgical Ensemble, will once again blossom in the astounding new full production of the opera Highway 1, USA by William Grant Still, led by
- Maestro Eric Benjamin, conductor, Music Director of Cleveland Women’s Orchestra
- Dorota Sobieska, stage director, Executive Artistic Director of The Cleveland Opera
- Soloists
- Brian Keith Johnson, baritone, Bob
- Lauren Harris, soprano, Mary
- Governor Harris, tenor, Nate
- Angeleina Valentine-Grant, mezzo-soprano, Aunt Lou
- Jonathan Stuckey, bass, Sheriff
- Frederick Taylor, tenor, choral leadership
- Chorus
The production celebrates the composer William Grant Still, hailed as “the Dean of African-American Composers,” whose talent and brilliant contribution to the classical music landscape deserve a special place. The New York Times calls Still’s opera a “stunner,” while adding “Though stylish, the music is unabashedly approachable. If played more widely, Still’s aesthetic might attract modern-opera skeptics who have rejected works from the modernist or Minimalist camps that dominate the 20th-century repertoire currently performed in America.”
The Cleveland Opera and Cleveland Women’s Orchestra are presenting this fabulous piece right before its California premiere at Los Angeles Opera, which is offering six performances of it in early March, 2024.
Still’s gorgeously orchestrated music tells us the story of the hardworking Black couple Bob and Mary fulfilling the deathbed wish of Bob’s mother to educate his talented brother Nate for better future. Their years of sacrifice turn out to be a huge mistake. Nate squanders every opportunity granted to him. Read the story
The first half of the program will include music by George Gershwin, Julia Perry, and Aaron Copland.
The splendid Crystal Ballroom at Tudor Arms is waiting for YOU and for the curtain to rise!