With the fall semester underway, IU’s campus has been revitalized and opera and ballet rehearsals have begun at the Jacobs School of Music. With a full slate of performances planned for the coming months, the Musical Arts Center’s fall semester will have something for every interest.
The first performance at the Musical Arts Center will be a combined presentation of two one-act operas: Giacomo Puccini’s “Suor Angelica” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Trouble in Tahiti.” Both operas examine scenarios in which societal pressures become incompatible with happiness. The operas will be performed at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 27-28.
The first ballet performance of the semester will be “Fall Ballet.” The performance features four contrasting pieces showcasing distinctive choreography and the creative range of the ballet department. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 18, and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Oct. 19.
Shortly after “Fall Ballet,” the Jacobs School of Music will present a “Pop-Up Opera” at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 25-26 inside the Musical Arts Center. True to its billing, the opera is still in the curation process with details to be revealed later. Updates can be found on the Opera and Ballet Theater website.
Mid-November will bring the Opera and Ballet Theater’s semester centerpiece, a world premiere production of Mason Bates and Gene Scheer’s “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” developed in conjunction with the Metropolitan Opera. The opera melds the superhero genre with World War II historical fiction to explore themes of love, loss and humanity. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 15-16 and Nov. 21-22.
The fall semester will conclude with the Jacobs School of Music ballet department’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.” The reimagined production premiered December 2023 and is the creative vision of Sasha Janes, professor of music in the ballet department. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5-7 and 2 p.m., Dec. 7-8.
