Fidelio

Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Original libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner & Georg Friedrich Sonnleithner
Adapted & Directed by Ethan Heard
Arranged & Music Directed by Daniel Schlosberg
New English Dialogue Co-Written by Marcus Scott & Ethan Heard

A Black activist is wrongfully incarcerated. His wife, Leah, disguises herself to infiltrate the system and free him. But when injustice reigns, one woman's grit may not be enough to save her love. Featuring the voices of imprisoned people, this daring adaptation pits corruption against courage, hate against hope.

WATCH our 2022 production Now!
Filmed at the MEtropolitan Museum of Art
with METLIVEARTS.

Thank you to The Met Museum for producing this HD version of Fidelio, now free and viewable around the world.

February 2022 Tour Stops

Met Live Arts, NYC
Mondavi Center, UC Davis, CA
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, AZ
The Broad Stage, Santa Monica, CA

NPR Feature!

“Prison choirs sing in a reboot of Beethoven's opera about unjust incarceration”

Listen In

Critical praise for Heartbeat Opera's Fidelio

"Urgent, powerful, and poignant. I nearly missed Heartbeat Opera’s “Fidelio” — reorchestrated, reduced and reimagined for the era of Black Lives Matter — and I’m so glad I didn’t."

—Joshua Barone, The New York Times

“Stunning. Powerfully sung and revelatory. This Fidelio does not flinch at hard questions.”

—Mark Swed, The Los Angeles Times

"Imaginative, vital, and heartbreaking. I saw “Fidelio,” and was blindsided by its impact. Leading the cast were Nelson Ebo, grittily affecting as Stan, and Kelly Griffin, giving a confident, full-voiced performance as Leah. But the heartbreaking centerpiece of the production was the chorus “O welche Lust,” in which the prisoners are allowed to leave their cells."

—Alex Ross, The New Yorker

“laceratingly powerful.”

—Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

Watch

Photos

by Russ Rowland

Cast

Roc // Derrell Acon
Marcy // Victoria Lawal
Stan // Curtis Bannister
Leah/Lee // Kelly Griffin
Pizarro // Corey McKern

Also featuring the voices of more than 100 incarcerated singers and 70 volunteers from six prison choirs:

Oakdale Community Choir, KUJI Men’s Chorus, UBUNTU Men’s Chorus, HOPE Thru Harmony Women’s Choir, East Hill Singers, and Voices of Hope

Production

Director & Adaptor // Ethan Heard
Music Director & Arranger // Daniel Schlosberg
Co-Book Writer // Marcus Scott
Original Movement Director // Emma Jaster
Movement & Fight Director // Nigel Semaj
Set Designer // Reid Thompson
Co-Costume Designer // Valérie Thérèse Bart Co-Costume Designer // Kara Branch
Lighting Designer // Oliver Wason
Sound Designer // Kate Marvin
Projection Designer // Caite Hevner
Production Manager // Rob Signom
Stage Manager // Dustin Z West
Company Manager // David H. Harewood
Associate Director // Shadi Ghaheri
Associate Lighting Designer & Supervisor // Nyle Farmer
Audio Engineer // Nate Krogel
Assistant Stage Manager // Lucy Guillemette
Assistant Projection Designer // Sydney Dye

Band

Piano 1/Conductor // Daniel Schlosberg
Piano 2 // Euntaek Kim
Horn 1 // Nicolee Kuester
Horn 2 // Kyra Sims
Cello 1 // Clare Monfredo
Cello 2 // Nathaniel Taylor
Percussion // Brandon Ilaw

Letters from Incarcerated Singers

Cast

Derrell Acon (Rocco)

Bass-baritone Dr. Derrell Acon is a uniquely accomplished performer whose repertoire ranges from the comic to the tragic and the sensual. Recent roles include Escamillo in Opera Ithaca's Carmen, as Rocco in Heartbeat Opera's Fidelio, and as bass soloist for LA Master Chorale’s Messiah Sing-Along. In the 2019 season, Mr. Acon debuted with Chicago Opera Theater as Queequeg cover and Long Beach Opera as Antron McCray. A full-bright scholar, Dr. Derrell Acon holds degrees from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Lawrence University. He has also been seen as an opera lecturer at The Chautauqua Institution, Portland Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Des Moines Metro Opera.

Curtis Bannister (Stan)

Chronicled by Time Out as “radiating with slowly simmering energy” and described as a “quiet revelation” by the L.A. Times, Curtis Bannister is establishing himself as one of the most dynamic and multi-genre performing artists of his generation for his “magnificent voice and singing” (Chicago Classical Review).

The recipient of the 2021 Actors Equity Foundation Roger Sturtevant Award for outstanding talent in musical theater, Curtis performed with Heather Headley, for GOODMAN THEATER’s 2021 Gala, and debuted with the Cincinnati Symphony & Pops Orchestra for their 2021 Greenacres Celebration Concert. Additional projects include RAGTIME (Music Theatre Works - Chicago), his debut solo recital for The Festival of New American Music (Sacramento), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in the summer of 2022.

Kelly Griffin (Lee/Leah)

Kelly Griffin demonstrates her versatility by bringing life to roles in both classic repertoire and new music workshop showcase. She has appeared in Heartbeat Opera’s innovative visual album, Breathing Free and the dramatic new one-act opera in developmental presentation: The Extinctionist by Daniel Schlosberg and Amanda Quaid. She was also featured in Silas Farley’s ballet, Songs from the Spirit, commissioned by MetLiveArts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Her other appearances include Leonora in La Forza del Destino, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, the title role of Aida, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, and the title role of Tosca. A prominent concert performer, Kelly has been heard with symphonies across the United States.

Victoria Lawal (Marcy)

Nigerian-American Soprano Victoria Lawal’s 2021-2022 Season boasts an affinity for new works and familiar repertoire. Lawal presents a solo recital at the Pasadena Conservatory prior to debuting the role of Marzelline (Marcy) in Heartbeat Opera's critically acclaimed Fidelio. This season, Victoria stars in The Knock, a world premiere operatic film, commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival. Additional engagements at Glimmerglass include debuting the role of Erste Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and originating the role of Isabelle in the world premiere play The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson. Future engagements, yet to be announced, include notable house and role debuts.

Corey Mckern (Pizarro)

Award-winning baritone **Corey McKern** continuously earns critical acclaim and accolades in every appearance he makes. Of his performance as Figaro in *Il barbiere di Siviglia*, critics hailed: “Corey McKern… has all the goods to rise to star stature – timing, stamina, vocal heft and an easy-going stage presence – especially telling in Figaro’s signature aria, ‘Largo al factotum della citta.’”
Recent engagements include the Count in *Bliss* with Michigan Opera Theatre and Older Thompson in *Glory Denied* with Opera Birmingham. At Pensacola Opera, he performed Escamillo in *Carmen*, Captain Corcoran in *H.M.S. Pinafore,* and the title role in *Don Giovanni.*

band

Euntaek Kim (Piano 2)

Hailed by The New York Times as “nimble” and “colorful,” a Korean-American pianist and conductor **Euntaek Kim** is receiving worldwide recognition. Winner of international prizes, Mr. Kim has made solo appearances in venues across the globe. As a chamber musician, Mr. Kim has collaborated with Enso, Escher, Parker, and Ying quartets. Mr. Kim's exquisite performances can be heard in his solo album, “Debut - CME Presents Vol. 3: Russian Piano,” “Hertzberg: The Rose Elf” and “The Wake World.” Mr. Kim holds his Bachelor's and Master's from The Juilliard School, and the Artist Diploma from Yale University. Mr. Kim is a CME Artist.

Nicolee Kuester (Horn 1)

NYC-based horn player, writer, and performance artist **Nicolee Kuester** divides her time between experimental music and the older stuff, recently performing with Talea, the International Contemporary Ensemble, The Knights, and Wet Ink Ensemble in NYC; Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris; Alarm Will Sound in St Louis; and Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra in LA. She is co-founder of MEANINGLESS WORK, a performance series that happily meanders between sounds, performance art, text, and movement theater.
Nicolee holds Bachelors degrees in horn performance and creative writing from Oberlin College & Conservatory and graduate degrees in contemporary music performance from UC San Diego.

Kyra Sims (Horn 2)

**Kyra Sims** is a performing artist and writer living in NYC. She has worked as a backing French hornist for notable artists such as Lizzo, Jon Batiste, Carole King, and Frank Ocean, and has performed the world over as both a soloist and a collaborative musician. She works actively in the Broadway industry, having held chairs on Ratatouille: a Tik Tok Musical, and the Off-Broadway shows Carmen Jones, Superhero, and Soft Power. Kyra Sims also writes, directs, and performs regularly as a member of the experimental theatre company The New York Neo-Futurists in the East Village of NYC.

Clare Monfredo (Cello 1)

**Clare Monfredo** is a New York City-based cellist currently pursuing her DMA at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she is the recipient of the five-year graduate fellowship. She studied in Leipzig, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship with cellist Peter Bruns, and also holds a bachelor of arts in English from Yale University, as well as a masters of music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She has appeared in numerous festivals including Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, and Music Academy of the West.

Nathaniel Taylor (Cello 2)

**Nathaniel Taylor**, an African-American/Filipino cellist, is establishing himself as a passionate and charismatic performer with a variety of solo, chamber, and orchestral music engagements. Nathaniel is the Grand Prize winner of the 2016 ASTA Masters Competition and the 2017 Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition, and has received fellowships at Tanglewood Music Center and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Nathaniel made his solo debut in 2016 with Jonathan McPhee and the Boston Conservatory Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Nathaniel has received chamber music coaching from Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, and the Juilliard Quartet. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. Nathaniel received his Artist Diploma from Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he studied with Rhonda Rider and Patrice Jackson.

Brandon Ilaw (Percussion)

**Brandon Ilaw** is a versatile multi-instrumentalist who was recently on tour with the Broadway production of *Les Misérables* as percussionist. After winning 2nd prize in the 2014 TROMP International Percussion Competition, he completed a two-year fellowship with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. His band, Empire Wild, won the Ambassador Prize at the 2020 Concert Artist Guild Competition and frequently tours across the country. As a resident of Manhattan, Brandon enjoys an eclectic performance schedule in the classical, theater, and dance worlds, and serves as accompanist at The Ailey School and AMDA. Brandon holds degrees from Boston Conservatory and Juilliard.

Team

Ethan Heard

(Director, Adaptor, Co-Book Writer)

Ethan Heard is Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera, "a categorically imaginative company, which has made its name with vital reshapings of repertory operas" (The New Yorker). With Heartbeat, he has directed Breathing Free: a visual album and Lady M: an online fantasia of Verdi’s Macbeth (created during quarantine), La Susanna (Kennedy Center and BAM), Fidelio, Butterfly, Dido & Aeneas, Kafka-Fragments, six drag extravaganzas, and a performance on the High Line. These productions have been called "urgent and powerful" (The New York Times), "relevant and heartbreaking" (The New Yorker), and "incisive and inspired" (Opera News). Other opera includes Truth & Reconciliation (Opera America), Desire|Divinity (Judson), Empty the House (Curtis), Sisyphus (Experiments in Opera), L’Orfeo (Yale), and Poppea (Princeton). Musical theater includes Little Shop of Horrors and A Little Night Music (Berkshire Theatre Group), Sunday in the Park with George (Yale), and Into the Woods (Princeton). He received his BA and MFA from Yale, and he now teaches at Yale School of Drama and Yale Institute of Sacred Music. ethanheard.com

Daniel Schlosberg

(Music Director & New Arrangement, Piano 1)

Brooklyn-based composer-pianist Daniel Schlosberg’s music has been performed by the Dover Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and Lorelei Ensemble, at venues including Carnegie Hall, (le) poisson rouge, and David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption. Daniel received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. Current projects include composition and music direction for Jeremy O. Harris’s A Boy’s Company Presents, music direction and arrangements for Quando, and associate music direction and arrangements for Anthony Roth Costanzo and Justin Vivian Bond’s Only an Octave Apart at St. Ann’s Warehouse. As a performer, Daniel has collaborated with Angel Blue, David Shifrin, and the Imani Winds, and was the pianist for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. His work has been described as “richly detailed yet delicate” (New York Times) and “ingenious” (Wall Street Journal). www.danschlosberg.com

Marcus Scott (Co-Book Writer)

Marcus Scott is a playwright & journalist. Selected works: Fidelio (Libretto; Heartbeat Opera at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 2018; called "poignant" by NY Times), Tumbleweed (Finalist for the 2017 BAPF; semi-finalist for the 2017 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award), Sibling Rivalries (Finalist for the 2021 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and the 2021 ATHE-KCACTF Judith Royer Excellence In Playwriting Award; semi-finalist for 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award and the 2021 New Dramatists Princess Grace Fellowship Award) and Cherry Bomb (recipient of the 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence). Scott is a 2021 NYSAF Founders’ Award finalist and a 2021 Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award semi-finalist. His articles appeared in Architectural Digest, Time Out New York, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, among others. MFA: NYU Tisch.

Emma Jaster
(Original Movement Director)

Emma Jaster is a maker, director and choreographer. Hailed a “splendid mover” (The Washington Post) and “a master of her craft” (Baratunde Thurston), she has worked her entire life in theater, dance, opera, and immersive live events. She is an Associate Artist of Heartbeat Opera, and has served as Movement Director for 9 productions with them since 2016. She is currently a core member of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University, serving as a teacher, program manager, and resident movement artist. www.emmajaster.com