NATIONAL HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD
In an effort to increase national awareness and support, the New Voices Opera staff has reached out to several members of the operatic community with both National and International acclaim. We are extremely pleased to announce our National Honorary Advisory Board members! These amazing artists help NVO gain traction in the contemporary opera community by guiding administrative, artistic, and development sta. We are so excited to have them on board!
Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas Moby-Dick, Dead Man Walking, Three Decembers, To Hell and Back, The End of the Affair, Out of Darkness, and the choral opera, The Radio Hour. He has also composed more than 250 songs, as well as chamber, choral and orchestral works. The operas – most created with writers Terrence McNally and Gene Scheer – have been produced on five continents. Moby-Dick (Scheer) was telecast throughout the United States in 2013 as part of Great Performances’ 40th Season and released on DVD (EuroArts). Dead Man Walking (McNally) has received more than 40 international productions and has been recorded twice (Atlantic Records and Virgin Classics). A Guggenheim Fellow, Heggie has served as a mentor for the Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, and is a frequent guest artist at universities, conservatories and festivals throughout the USA and Canada. Upcoming commissions include Great Scott (McNally) for The Dallas Opera, starring Joyce DiDonato; songs for mezzo Jamie Barton (Pittsburgh Symphony, Carnegie Hall); and a new work for Houston Grand Opera.
Ned Canty is a taller than average stage director with credits from companies such as Glimmerglass Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Santa Fe Opera, and New York City Opera. The New York Times has described his stage direction as having “a startling combination of sensitivity and panache,” though other critics have held widely divergent views. Mr. Canty’s career in opera reflects a commitment to introducing new audiences to opera, as well as working with emerging artists at major conservatories such as The Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He has collaborated with a number of composers and librettists on the development of new works through American Opera Projects, and he has directed world premieres in Memphis, New York and Tel Aviv. In 2011 he became general director of Opera Memphis, where he developed 30 Days of Opera, a month long festival of free performances throughout the city. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Canty was Director of the New York Television Festival. Over the course of five years, he helped grow the Festival into a nationally recognized forum for discovering new television talent and exploring digital and new media storytelling. Mr. Canty has also worked as an actor, director, and stuntman at Hartford Stage Company, The McCarter Theatre, and the New York Renaissance Festival, among others. He is a member of the Opera America Strategy Committee.