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Los Angeles plays host to the otaku event of the year...
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Anime Expo is one of the premiere genre conventions in the Los Angeles area each year, drawing crowds of tens of thousands during the July 4th weekend. For the last few years its been operating out of the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown, and more and more its taking advantage of the nearby theatres and accommodations. Anime Expo is the place to be for fans of animation, manga, toys, cosplay, and just about anything else from Japan including the culture. Ive been going for years, and every time I find cool stuff Ive never seen before and meet interesting people who have traveled from around the world to be there! So whats there to do at Anime Expo? Glad you asked!
The economic downturn of the last few years hasnt been kind to the anime industry, just like everything else. Once upon a time the major anime companies and distributors came to AX with huge booths and offered tons of giveaways. In the span of one year, though, several of those companies went out of business, and all of a sudden the exhibit hall of Anime Expo seemed downright bare. Now that some time has passed, the convention has really reached a new equilibrium. While there may not be as many big companies in attendance, dozens of smaller retailers and artisans have filled the gap theyve left behind to create something new.
Though its not exactly the hub of activity in the LA area, there is stuff to do in downtown. Thankfully the convention center is huge, and once youre there its pretty easy to find the registration area and get everything sorted out. Vast improvements over the last few years mean the staff actually knows whats going on and can answer your questions. Once youve picked up your badge, its time to head toward the exhibit hall, the hub of all Anime Expo activity! Actually, dont rush, because once youve stepped foot in a two block radius of AX youre going to start seeing the cosplayers. Guys and gals come to the convention dressed to be seen, so dont be afraid to offer compliments and ask them to pose for pictures.
The central area of the convention center leads into the exhibit hall, and here AX offers its official merchandise. This year there was also a Toyota display with two Corollas decked out in Hatsune Miku decoration (more on her later). Throughout the central areas there were also giant projections of the AX schedule, just in case you lost yours and needed to find out when and where the Naruto screenings were! Head on through the welcoming archway, a portal into another world. The first row of booths inside the exhibit hall belongs to the larger companies. This year, that meant Crunchyroll, Yes Anime, Copic (great markers and pens), FUNimation, NIS, Bandai, Bluefin, Kinokuniya Bookstores, Nico Nico, and Bang Zoom! Entertainment. FUNimation is always a big hit with its photo ops and great deals on their full catalogue. NIS brought their A game as well, and newcomer Nico Nico previewed their new social media site that combines YouTube and Twitter in an interesting mix.
Bandai and importer Bluefin partnered on a huge double booth. As the only major toy company in attendance, they could have phoned it in but instead went all the way with an incredible display of products. Most of it was devoted to Gundams, naturally, in both model and figure lines. Also mixed in was some of their other products like One Piece, Dragonball Z, Kamen Rider, Gurren Lagann, Super Robot Wars, Mazinger, Saint Seiya, Mega Man, Ultraman, Virtual-On, and more. On display were a couple of brand new items like the Kamen Rider Putotyra Combo S.H.Figuarts figure and from One Piece Dracule Mihawk (pictured above) and the Strong World versions of Shanks and Portgas.
Past the big guys, theres plenty more to see and do. Didnt get your costume together in time? No problem! Just check out one of the many booths devoted to costuming from goth style to fancy maid wear, hats, ears, and more. You can also get armed to the teeth with swords and airsoft guns. Into specific anime or manga? Internet retailers and local stores offer tons of wares including bootlegs, fan subs, and items you wont find anywhere else. Techies can check out new programs for 3D modeling, creating comics, or photo manipulation. For those with a sweet tooth there was Pocky and Hi-Chew offering prizes for a scavenger hunt and free samples respectively.
Plenty of booths were selling toys and collectibles of all kinds, with cool robots and sexy ladies. Personally, I got a great deal on a box of Bandais Macross Fighter Collection 4! Some of the other interesting attendees included Geek Chic (amazing collector/gamer furniture), Warner Bros. advertising Final Destination 5, tribbletoys.com, Cat **** One for sale on Blu-ray, AAA Anime Distribution, and the lightsaber guys of Saber Forge.
Meanwhile, the back area of the exhibit hall was given over to the Artist Alley. More so than at any other convention, the Alley at AX has a really interesting mix of artists, and there youll find everything from Deviant Art guys to boutique miniatures, crafters, clothing, stickers, cards, and everything in between. Its a great place to commission a piece of your favorite character (or yourself!), or to support the arts by picking up a print or two.
And thats just the exhibit hall. When it comes to programming and live events, Anime Expo ranks behind only SDCC. AX has four days of things to do broken down into Live Programming, Workshops, Video, and more. In the LP rooms youll find panels and Q&As with special guests from the anime and manga worlds and panels on everything from the latest studio releases to specific series, games, toys, and more. Other events will offer tips on becoming an artist or voice actor with pros giving their expert advice. Workshops teach dance techniques, cosplaying, and lots of art styles. Video rooms have screenings of anime, live action movies, and other media around the clock, and it ranges all the way from kid stuff to strictly 18+. And if thats not enough for you, there are even more rooms with console and tabletop gaming, dances, and karaoke.
As I noted earlier, the convention has expanded to include the nearby Club Nokia and Nokia Theatre. Here AX offered concerts and special events like a Battle of the Bands, AX Idol, and a costume Masquerade. The biggest event this year was Saturday night, Mikunopolis! A major concert event at Nokia, this was the North America premiere of Hatsune Miku, the worlds first fully holographic live performer. Tickets for this premium event sold early and quickly.
With dozens more fan meetups, panels, photo gatherings, etc., theres always at least three things going on at Anime Expo; the trouble is figuring out which to do! Here are a couple of the most noteworthy events I was able to attend on Saturday. The Production I.G. panel is always a hit, and not even just for its announcements and previews. No, its the hostess Maki who really draws the crowds. Blunt and hilariously funny, the mistress of I.G. tells it like it is with nothing held back. She talked about Avi Arad, now the Chairperson of Production I.G. and one of the people behind the Ghost in the Shell live action film. 2011 will see a bunch of new properties including Solid State Society 3D, Basara: The Last Party, Blood C(lamp), Appleseed XIII, Usagi Drop, Cyborg 009, and Letter to Momo. As Maki put it, I.G. is embarking on more cutesy stuff than they usually do, but theres still plenty of action and blood. Along those lines is another new release, Oblivion Island.
At Bandais panel the audience had to wait through some frustrating technical difficulties, but once all was said and done we got to see some cool previews and were given tons of info:
* 5 Centimeters Per Second a new anthology of love stories, the title refers to the rate at which cherry blossoms fall.
* The Girl Who Leapt Through Space a sci-fi series featuring girls piloting mecha in space.
* The Girl Who Leapt Through Time the film about a girl who learns to manipulate time is now available on Blu-ray!
* Tales of the Abyss based on the hit video game, this new series is full of cool medieval action.
* Gundam oo the Movie the first all new, all original Gundam movie in 19 years. Available now on DVD and Blu-ray. To coincide with this and other Gundam properties Bandai hosted multiple events at Anime Expo for the fans. Also shown were previews for the third Gundam Unicorn volume, newly remastered Mobile Suit Gundam (the original series that started it all), and Turn A Gundam.
On the softer side of things were The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya and the musical K-ON!
The Tekken film series returns with Blood Vengeance, the latest CG feature. This action extravaganza features two new characters (Ganryu and Lee Chaolan) and will debut in theatres one night only on July 26th.
Right Stuf/Nozomi had a preview event showing the entire first episode of their remastered Revolutionary Girl Utena series. The anime that first premiered in 1997 is back in limited edition box sets available through the companys website with new boxes, art, etc. The first two are on sale now, with the third coming soon. If you order all three together online you get a bonus signet ring! Also shown at the panel was Sound of the Sky.
FUNimation always packs the house when they show previews, and it was no different Saturday night. On tap was a wide variety of shows and movies, but first the presenter announced upcoming titles: Cat Planet Cuties, Steins;Gate, Deadman Wonderland, and more. Then the previews (all titles currently available) began:
* Chobits a re-release of the now classic series
* Ga-Rei-Zero a cool paranormal detective story involving friends who grow apart, one turning evil
* TO sci-fi drama that takes place on a space station where scientists are studying spores that kill people. The government wants to blow it up and its up to the scientists to find a cure first.
* Hero Tales from the producers of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, a Japanese legend about families tied to constellations, each holding power when theirs is in the sky. But what happens when two appear at once?
* Goemon live action re-telling of a Japanese legend thats part Robin Hood, part ninja. Stylistically similar to 300 with lots of CG blood.
* Eden of the East the Jason Bourne of anime. Set in modern Japan its the story of people chosen to save the country. Theyre given cell phones and money and can make calls to have anything happen... for a price. If they dont save Japan, theyre killed. If someone else saves Japan, theyre killed. If they run out of money, theyre killed...
* Rideback after dedicating her life to ballet and then getting injured, a girl comes across a special Rideback (a sort of motorcycle/mecha). Something about it is different, and everyone from the government to terrorists tries to get their hands on it.
* Dance in the Vampire Bund True Blood for the anime crowd, this series features an 800 year old vampire queen (who happens to look like a 12 year old girl) trying to bring her species into the open. Facing opposition from all sides, her main ally is her bodyguard/werewolf/boyfriend.
* Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts in Japan a test is administered to determine placement in the following years classes, so when two otherwise smart kids flunk theirs they find themselves in a rough neighborhood. A silly and fun classroom comedy, this one features an interesting group of characters and their trials and tribulations in school.
Check out FUNimation.com for free episodes all summer long.
Despite its size (this year AX racked up 47,000 unique attendees), the convention really does have the feeling of community. Its anime and manga fans from around the world, all eager to see what the studios and distributors have coming next and looking to spend some money on cool stuff. Whether youre a casual fan watching some anime on Cartoon Network or SyFy, or a hardcore otaku with a basement full of subtitled DVDs, Anime Expo is the place for you. Next years event will take place once again at the Los Angeles Convention Center, June 29th July 2nd. Hope to see you there!
-Scott Rubin


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Alpha CEO promises 'great things' (Video)
here and in the Coal Tattoo blog.JULIAN, W.Va. -- Hours after Massey Energy and Alpha Natural Resources shareholders approved the $8.5 billion deal for Alpha to acquire Massey, Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield said his company was committed to "running right.""We'll be doing great things for safety, the environment and the communities where we operate," Crutchfield said in a prepared statement at Massey's regional headquarters in Boone County.Crutchfield, Senate president and Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, and a slew of state and local officials attended the unveiling of an Alpha sign outside the building on Wednesday. The name of the road leading up to the building was changed from Morgan Massey Drive -- for the longtime Massey president -- to Running Right Way, in honor of Alpha's safety program.Later, Crutchfield offered a more concrete example of how Alpha would distance itself from Massey, saying that Massey vice president of operations Chris Adkins would not be continuing with Alpha after the merger.Alpha spokesman Ted Pile confirmed that announcement, initially reported by National Public Radio. Crutchfield told NPR, "Chris [Adkins] will not be joining Alpha. I'm not going to say anything more about it."The independent investigation into the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster led by longtime mine safety advocate Davitt McAteer, had criticized Alpha's plan to place Adkins as co-director of Running Right after the acquisition.According to McAteer's report, Crutchfield said he "Can't think of two better individuals to lead this effort," of Adkins and the Alpha executive who was to share the responsibility of Running Right with him.Other Massey officials, including Shane Harvey, Chris Blanchard and Jason Whitehead, have been previously announced to be joining Alpha. All three were also involved with Upper Big Branch. When asked if he had any concerns about Alpha putting Massey officials who were in charge of Upper Big Branch into positions of authority, Tomblin said, "I think that is one of those things that Alpha will have to determine if the people are doing the jobs they are supposed to be doing.""We're all very excited that Alpha Natural Resources is once again re-establishing itself as a domestic industry leader right here in West Virginia," Tomblin said at the press conference. "I know that Alpha understands our obligation to take care of the men and women who work every day to provide energy mining coal for us."More than 10 state and local officials attended the ceremony, including Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, Keith White, D-Mingo, and Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy, who has represented Massey in court."We do have a lot of officials here and I think it shows the support, not only at the state level but at the county level, what we feel about coal mining and coal miners' jobs in Southern West Virginia," Tomblin said."We are absolutely committed to Running Right. In all aspects of our business it's the right thing to do by our employees, our business and the communities where we operate. It's also good for all of our stakeholders. Together we will set and achieve high standards for safety and the environment," Crutchfield said. "And we are going to involve everyone in this process. Everyone is going to have a voice." After the ceremony Crutchfield avoided questions from local reporters, walking directly into the building with the politicians and leaving reporters outside.When asked why he wouldn't answer questions, a spokesman said, "He doesn't have time." But Crutchfield gave several interviews to the national media, including NPR and The Wall Street Journal.The Massey deal gives Alpha the second largest private coal reserve in America, with about 5 billion tons. The company will become one of the top suppliers of steel-making coal in the world.Combined with Massey, Alpha will operate about 150 coal mines and 40 preparation plants, more than any other U.S. coal company. The company would employ 14,000 people, including about 7,000 in West Virginia.Last year, Alpha produced about 82 million tons of coal, with more than half of it coming from the company's two huge surface mines in Wyoming. Massey produced about 37 million tons of coal in 2010, with two-thirds of that being mined in West Virginia.Under the terms of the agreement, Massey stockholders will receive 1.025 shares of Alpha stock and $10 in cash for each share of Massey stock. Alpha will own 54 percent of the combined company and Massey will own 46 percent.Alpha's successful bid valued Massey stock at $69.33 a share, or more than 20 percent over Massey's closing price the day before the deal was announced in late January.The transaction has a total value of about $8.5 billion, with Alpha paying $7.1 billion in cash and stock and also assuming about $1.4 billion in debt, company officials have said.The shareholder meetings were held just one day after courts in West Virginia and Delaware declined requests from some ownership groups to block the sale over allegations the deal undervalues Massey and was pushed through by Massey management to insulate themselves from liability for the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster."Admittedly, there is a basis to conclude that the Massey board perceived that the company's ability to prosper independently was impaired by its questionable reputation for worker and environmental safety, and that the best way to secure value was to sell the company at a premium to an industry rival with a better reputation in those areas," Vice Chancellor Leo Strine Jr., a judge in Delaware's business court, wrote in a 79-page ruling issued Tuesday. "But the record does not suggest that it is likely that the merger was inspired solely, or even in any material way, by a desire of the Massey directors ... to insulate themselves from liability."One study, by an analyst working for families of the miners who died at Upper Big Branch, said that Massey insiders -- including now-retired CEO Don Blankenship -- would pocket $196 million in payouts and other committed benefits if the transaction is approved.While Alpha has avoided a huge disaster like Upper Big Branch, the company narrowly avoided such an incident in May 2009, when seven workers were trapped underground for more than 24 hours by a mine flood in Mingo County. Federal regulators cited the company for improper maintenance of outside drainage systems that allowed heavy rain to inundate the underground tunnels.And in January 2007, Alpha's Brooks Run subsidiary was cited for major safety violations following a roof collapse that killed two workers at an underground mine in McDowell County. More recently, an Alpha contractor admitted lying to federal investigators about training practices at that same operation, the Cucumber Mine. And earlier this year, another man pleaded guilty to lying about having a foreman's license when performing safety examinations at Alpha's Poplar Ridge Mine in Webster County.Like Massey, Alpha boasts that most of its coal production comes from "union free" operations. But two unionized underground mines in Pennsylvania, purchased in July 2009 from Foundation Coal, are Alpha's largest producers outside of Wyoming's Powder River Basin.Reach Gary Harki at firstname.lastname@example.com or 304-348-5163.


text: · #1 May 24, 2012 · Report post So Auralflea (Kevin) contacted me about restoring this Accuphase E-202 and i thought it would make a good thread about restorating a pretty fucked up amp back to its former glory. Properly restoring an amplifier isn't just a case of recapping it and setting the offset and bias its much more involved:- A complete recap All zener diodes replaced Any out of spec transistors or any that have known problems replaced Any out of spec or stressed resistors replaced Adjustment pots replaced with sealed multiturns All boards defluxed and cleaned All switches and pots cleaned with deoxit All solder joints inspected anf resoldered if needed Probably a couple more i can't think of at the mo. This amp had been with another tech for around six months with an apparent switch fault, which he could'nt rectify. Seems that it had been with a 'tech' for a while i thought the rest (not the switch) would be in tiptop shape, how wrong was I, after further inspection i have found dozens of resistors with cracked insulation only a handful of original transistors and a couple of bodged amutuer repairs. heres some pic's and comments..... At first glance nothing looks to off, standard japanese layout and component choices, grey Elna caps etc. Starting to see things that arn't original, the most obvious being the RS rectifier which has replaced the original rectifier pcb. As you can see its been installed in a pain in the arse place and the pins on the big psu cap underneath have been bent to accomadate it, pretty shoddy soldering as well. More worring soldering (Just tagged on the pins) on the circuit breaker. Psu circuit board The irreplacable STV diodes have been moved to the back of the board. Poweramp board Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Purleigh: History brought to life
6:00pm Wednesday 6th February 2013
6:00pm Wednesday 6th February 2013
History was brought to life when a school turned back time to the Tudor period.
With the help of a firm called History off the Page, Purleigh Primary School pulled out all the stops to give pupils a taste of the 16th century.
The role play day saw the school hall transformed into a market place with different stalls where the children made beeswax candles, scent bags and wrote with quills and ink in Latin.
The day was rounded off with a Tudor banquet in the afternoon.
See the MBS for a picture special.
© Copyright 2001-2017 Newsquest Media Group


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Last week we posted part one of two videos from composer Ray Lustig in advance of the world premiere performance of his Latency Canons by American Composers Orchestra on April 5.
Here, continuing a short video series leading up to the concert, the composer concludes his discussion of the piece—one of five world premieres that will take place in Zankel Hall that night—revealing some of the technical difficulties experienced when developing the piece, and soliciting advice from pioneering electronic music composer Morton Subotnick.
Ray Lustig discusses his Latency Canons—Part 2: Finding Guidance.
Related: April 5, American Composers Orchestra: coLABoratory: Playing It UNsafe


text: Here are five things that Fort Wayne-area prep basketball fans will learn this weekend:Whether the head coach is Wayne Kreiger, Scott Kreiger or Scott Baio (Am I showing my age here?), it seems nothing can slow down the Class A North juggernaut that is the Canterbury girls' basketball program. The top-ranked Cavaliers will attempt to win its sixth consecutive regional crown on Saturday at Caston. Barring a major upset, the top two teams in Class A will collide in the regional final in Canterbury and No. 2 Oregon-Davis. That matchup could very well be the game to decide the state championship.The talk all season has been how the Knights have had an un-Bishop Luers like season in terms of wins and losses. Yet, here we are examining the chances of a fourth-straight regional championship. Those chances are pretty good, despite the Knights being the only Class 2A team remaining with double-digit losses on the season. According to the Sagarin Ratings, Bishop Luers has played the 59th toughest schedule in the state, while regional semifinal opponent Westview has played the 275th toughest slate. Potential regional final opponents Whiting (377th toughest schedule) and Boone Grove (220th), and you have three teams that have not seen the caliber of teams the Knights have this season. Bet on Bishop Luers to bring home another regional crown.Norwell and Concordia Lutheran may be on a collision course to meet up Saturday night in the regional final, a rematch from the Knights' 60-53 victory over the Cadets last November. Both squads have tough opponents in the semis however, with Concordia facing No. 3 NorthWood and Norwell taking on No. 2 Hamilton Heights. A lot of eyes will be on Norwell, a program that last won a regional championship in 1977. One thing is for sure, the team that emerges out of Bellmont will have earned it.In terms of losses, there is only one other regional (Bedford, 8) with less total defeats amongst its field than at Kokomo, with South Side, Snider, Logansport and Westfield combining for nine losses all season. If Snider and South Side are each going to win its semifinal matchups and meet in the finals, it is going to have to win in similar. Westfield and Logansport each hold opponents below 40 points per game on average, which will lead to Snider and South Side having to value each possession offensively. In my opinion, the magic number for the Panthers and Archers is 60. If they score 60-plus points in the semifinal games, they will advance and play on Saturday night.When are the Bulldogs going to stop flying under the radar? If Coach Al Gooden had his way, he would keep it that way for as long as possible, but it is hard to ignore New Haven's 10-game winning streak that includes victories over Norwell (12-5), Columbia City (16-3) and Homestead (15-4). At 15-3, Concordia Lutheran represents another huge challenge to the Bulldogs tonight. The Cadets are well-rested, having not played since a victory over Northrop on Feb. 1. New Haven has passed every test it has faced since a one-point loss to DeKalb in early January. It will attempt to keep that going against the Cadets.


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Mozart's masterpiece and the latest creation of famed Omaha artist, Jun Kaneko, is sure to be a sell out! Presently the most performed opera worldwide, The Magic Flute is a lighthearted tale of love and adventure, perfect for the entire family. Kaneko's talent in opera design is recognized coast-to-coast: Opera Omaha shares this production with San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center.
Production by Harry Silverstein.
By Conductor, Nicholas Cleobury
Mozart rose to the new challenges set by Schikaneder's commission, producing a truly modern work, a genuine musical and dramatic hybrid, Shakespearean in its ability to move from the serious to the comic, a mix of opera seria and buffa, songs and church music, and his return to German Singspiel.
Magic operas were popular in Vienna at the time, and Mozart and Schikaneder drew from a number for the MAGIC FLUTE. A book of oriental fairy tales called Dschinnistan, contained a story called "Lulu or The Magic Flute". Wranitzky's opera Oberon and The Philosopher's Stone by Schack (Mozart's first Tamino and himself a flautist) written a little earlier, were particular sources. Schikaneder was an expert actor, particularly famous for his Hamlet and Lear, also a singer, and his troupe were well known for a wide range of repertoire and brilliant productions. They played at the large Theater auf der Wieden where the MAGIC FLUTE was first given on September 30th 1791, Mozart conducting the first two performances and Schikaneder playing Papageno.
Schikaneder's detailed dramatic sense was tailormade for Mozart. As another opera, Kaspar the Bassoonist on the same story, opened in Vienna in June, they may have changed and added to their story, but certainly Mozart wanted to add serious themes, as he and da Ponte had done in Don Giovanni. Certainly the opera takes a weightier turn with the entry of the 3 boys in the Act 1 Finale. He wrote much of it in his rented summerhouse in the Theater grounds Helped by Schikaneder's plentiful wine and oysters he produced a work of great charm, humanity and depth.
The Overture starts in the solemn Masonic world with the 3 trial chords, the Masonic number, in the key of E flat (3 flats), the majestic main key of the opera. The Masons helped Mozart, and after his death Constanze, and 3s dominate the opera. (3 Ladies, 3 Boys, 3 instruments on stage, 3 visits to the altar etc). The main part of the Overture is livelier and more varied, the whole mirroring the serious and lighter themes of the opera.
Mozart's use of keys, setting the emotional and dramatic terrain, his colours of the canvas, is central to his technique, alongside his word setting, ranging from syllabic for the simpler Papageno, to virtuoso coloratura for the enraged Queen of the Night to lyrical for the love music of Tamino and Pamina. Immediately Tamino enters in c minor, darker and more menacing, the Ladies enter back in E flat, more solemn but optimistic, they go to Papageno's key of G major when they are more playful, ending in bright, ceremonial C major. Vocal line also does this, and immediately he is alone Tamino has a ravishing rising interval (major 6th) to depict his wonder at Pamina's portrait, developed throughout the aria, in the solemn, warm key of E flat. This will be the interval for their coming together at the end of the opera.
Much of the harmonic world of the MAGIC FLUTE is quite simple, so that when more tortured harmonies are used they really tell, such as in the bitter music of the Queen of the Night, whereas the Quintet which begins with Papageno's comical padlock music remains wonderfully simple. The Pamina/Papageno duet (E flat) is Mozart at his multilayered best. A love song not between lovers, Pamina upset, Papageno just wanting a girl!
Mozart's orchestration is exquisite throughout, but nowhere more potent than in the opening of the Act 1 Finale. Separated brass and drums, solemn but somehow eerie. The following scene with the Speaker, arioso or elevated recitative, influenced Verdi and Wagner, Mozart breaking new ground, the orchestra really giving a running commentary on the dialogue. We are then introduced to the stage magic flute in glistening C major, (actually wooden with gold gilt, it has special protective powers and can change sadness into joy.) A contrast to Papageno's more basic pipes and the clanging Glockenspiel which will tame the slaves.
The family of Clarinets was quite new, used wonderfully by Mozart, and the basset horn colouring of the Priest 's music is particularly telling. The emotional heart of Act 2 comes with Pamina's aria "Ach ich fuhl's". The unhappy, tortured key of g minor, the slow heartbeats of the orchestra, the sparing but painful use of the woodwind, and her agonised vocal line, make it a summation of all Mozart's arias for women. In his depicting of the Masonic world, Mozart often goes back to older music, note Sarastro's solemn arias, and most notably in the Bach Chorale and fugal style used for the Armed Men.
So by use of many styles and techniques, he draws together a work of great diversity, makes simple things as important as weightier matters, never taking sides, illuminating the myths and messages which abound in the piece, and with Schikander producing a work of complex simplicity which speaks to us at all levels.
By Director, Harry Silverstein
An opera production is a journey: a few travelers set out, they are joined by many more, arriving at the destination that is the performance. It may be begun by an impresario, who trusts an artist to make a thrilling design of one of the greatest operas ever written. They might be joined by a director, conductor, and a staff of theater artists who continue to build a concept based on how the project will look and how the story will be told. The journey certainly would be continued by a brilliant cast, orchestra, and stage crew, all of whom will collaborate to interpret a 221-year-old work of art in a fashion that is vitally interesting for a contemporary audience. As you have no doubt imagined, this is our journey.
My part in it was a marvelous challenge. As a director I hope to understand what the composer and librettist wish to communicate with their original work and then interpret it in a way that is at once vital and clear, as well as exciting and entertaining to the public who come to experience it.
On this project I worked with a spectacularly talented fine artist, Jun Kaneko, and I had two responsibilities-to help inform the design process and its transfer to the stage, and to make certain that the story and music are one with that design. Jun has created a series of fantastic abstract animations, based on his elegant painting style and reflecting the emotions of the music, to create a thrilling setting using the most current projection technology. These animations are truly an innovative way of operatic storytelling, and we have aspired to create staging that is not in contrast or concurrent with the animations, but in concert with them. The goal of each aspect of this production has been inspired by, and, hopefully, in service of the music.
The Magic Flute is also a journey and has a number of stories to tell. A young man is on his quest for maturity, sent by his father to a magical land. He is led and misled, excited by his first experience of love and brushes with death, monsters, and magicians. Mozart and Schikaneder have marvelously imbued all the characters with such humanity. I asked Jun to consider that none of the people in Mozart's world are either simply good or bad. Rather, their lives and needs have driven them to do what they feel is necessary and correct: Sarastro has committed an abduction, the Queen requires a murder of her daughter, the initiates are old and their order may not endure and they send a young couple through their dangerous trials. In the face of all this, Tamino and Pamina are able to survive their quest for enlightenment and lead humanity to its new future. And as always, Mozart specially loves his peasant couple, Papageno and Papagena, who probably have the best chance of happiness through family, work, and a good glass of wine.
Storytelling exists for a reason. Theater adds the opportunity for us to come together and experience emotion. Jun has captured the humanity, truth, sublime beauty, and comedy of Mozart's creation in his animations, costumes, and props. It is up to us, his fellow travelers, to build on this very special foundation and create an evolving life on stage that interprets these lessons and humor of the eighteenth century for our modern public, giving us all a journey to take together.
Happy travels!
A young prince named Tamino is being chased by a serpent through a valley. After he falls unconscious, three ladies emerge from a temple and kill the snake. Tamino awakens and assumes the snake was killed by a good-natured bird catcher named Papageno who has just arrived on the scene. When Papageno accepts the credit, the three ladies reappear and place a padlock on his lips. They then show Tamino a picture of Pamina, the beautiful daughter of their mistress, the Queen of the Night. He immediately falls in love with her. They then tell him she has been kidnapped by the evil magician Sarastro. The Queen appears and asks Tamino to rescue Pamina, which he agrees to do. The ladies free Papageno and give him a magic set of chimes. They also give Tamino a magic flute and send the two off on their mission.
Pamina is being guarded by a villain named Monostatos, who is attempting to seduce her when Papageno wanders in. Frightened, Monostatos runs off, leaving Papageno to tell Pamina that her rescuer is close by.
Tamino is being led through Sarastro's realm by three boys. He tries to enter the three temple doors, but is turned away from two. At the third, he is greeted by a priest, who tells him the Queen is really the evil one and the good Sarastro was merely trying to get Pamina away from her mother's dark influence. Tamino rushes off to find Pamina; a moment later, she and Papageno enter, pursued by Monostatos. Papageno plays his magic bells, rendering the villain and his henchmen harmless. Sarastro enters and tells Pamina she is free to marry but not to return to her mother. Tamino is brought in by Monostatos, who demands a reward from Sarastro but instead gets punished.
Sarastro informs the priests of Isis and Osiris about what is going on and explains that Tamino and Papageno are about to undergo the rites of initiation to determine if they are worthy to enter the Temple of Light. Tamino, who is brave, and Papageno, who is not, receive contradictory counsel from the priests and the Queen of the Night's three ladies, but they decide to follow the priests, who take away the flute and bells from the pair. Monostatos attempts one last seduction of Pamina, but he is interrupted by the Queen who comes to her daughter and demands that she murder Sarastro. Instead, Pamina goes to Sarastro and begs forgiveness for her mother; he agrees, declaring that only love, not vengeance, will lead to peace and happiness. As part of their tests, both Tamino and Papageno are sworn to silence. An old woman approaches Papageno declaring that she is really eighteen years old and in love with him. She runs away, but three boys appear and give back to Tamino and Papageno the magic flute and bells. Pamina arrives, but she misunderstands Tamino's silence and is heartbroken. Sarastro reassures her, but she is not comforted. Papageno says that he wants a sweetheart, and the old woman returns and reveals herself to be a young woman in disguise. Her name: Papagena. As soon as she reveals herself, however, a priest orders her away.
Meanwhile, Pamina is about to commit suicide using the dagger her mother gave her to kill Sarastro. The three boys stop her and take her to Tamino, who is about to undergo the final trial. Pamina and Tamino go through the ordeal together, emerging unscathed thanks to the magic flute. Papageno rather reluctantly attempts to hang himself. Seeing this, the three boys suggest he play his magic bells. He does and Papagena appears; the two declare their intent to raise a large family. Meanwhile, Monostatos has joined forces with the Queen of the Night, but their plan to kill Sarastro is foiled by an earthquake. The opera ends with Sarastro, Tamino, and Pamina celebrating the victory of light over darkness.
Nicholas Cleobury, Conductor*
Nicholas Cleobury is Artistic Director of Mid-Wales Opera, Principal Conductor of John Armitage Memorial (JAM), Principal Conductor and Founder Director of Sounds New, Principal Conductor of the Oxford Bach Choir and Founder Laureate of the Britten Sinfonia.
Nicholas Cleobury has conducted all the major UK orchestras and widely conducts in Europe, Hong Kong, Scandinavia, Singapore, South Africa and beyond. He works regularly for the BBC and Classicfm, has appeared at most British Music Festivals, often at the Proms, and has made many recordings.
He has conducted numerous opera companies from ENO, Glyndebourne and Opera North to Canadian Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, the Royal Opera Stockholm and extensively for Zurich Opera. He has been Principal Opera Conductor at the Royal Academy of Music and Music Director of Broomhill Opera.
Nicholas Cleobury has made an enormous contribution to the performance and fostering of contemporary music, having worked with many leading ensembles and composers, most notably Sir Michael Tippett, given countless premieres and promoted many young composers.
He is also a specialist choral conductor, having been Assistant Director at the BBC Singers. He has worked with choirs all over the world, from the Swedish and Danish Radio Choirs, to the Berkshire Choral Festival (UK and USA) and Die Konzertisten in Hong Kong and numerous major choirs in the UK, including the Royal and Huddersfield Choral Societies.
He has a particular gift and flair for working with young people and students, as conductor, lecturer and teacher, at most of the UK music colleges, and with British Youth Opera, Jette Parker (ROH), the National Opera Studio, Oxford University Music Faculty and the Southbank Sinfonia.
He is an Honorary RAM and Fellow of Christ Church University Canterbury, MA (Oxon), FRCO and a Trustee of Britten in Oxford, Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Sounds New and Youth Music.
"Among this country's most dynamic and versatile conductors" - The Independent
Leah Wool, Second Lady
Mezzo-soprano Leah Wool has been hailed by Opera News as "among the more distinctive and accomplished artists of her generation," with "a voice of truly beautiful timbre."
Ms. Wool's 2012-2013 season includes appearances with both Nashville Opera and Knoxville Opera as the title role in La Cenerentola; Sacramento Opera, as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia; and Opera Omaha as Second Lady in The Magic Flute. The 2013-2014 season will feature a return to Boston Baroque.
Sought after on the concert stage, she has appeared as mezzo-soprano soloist for works including Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor with Gloria Musicae, Haydn's Theresienmesse with the New Jersey Symphony, Handel's Messiah with the Utah Symphony, Duruflé's Requiem with the Greenwich Choral Society, Vivaldi's Gloria with the New Haven Symphony, Bruckner's Missa Solemnis with the Manchester Symphony, and Bach's Magnificat, Stravinsky's Les Noces, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at Yale University.
Ms. Wool has been a Young Artist at Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Utah Symphony & Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera North, and the Caramoor Festival. She holds an Artist Diploma and Master of Music from Yale University and received her Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from Westminster Choir College. Ms. Wool is a native of Long Island, New York.
Past Productions
In the 2011-2012 season, Leah Wool returned to the San Francisco Symphony as the second mezzo-soprano in Debussy's Le Martyre de St. Sébastien, bowed in Glass' Kepler and in recital at Spoleto Festival USA, appeared with Gloria Musicae for Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ, appearanced with Portland's prestigious Chamber Music Northwest, and sang Handel's Messiah with both the Kansas City Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony.
Her 2010-2011 season included returns to Gotham Chamber Opera as the title role in Montsalvatge's El gato con botas and Utah Opera as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opéra Louisiane , and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with The Little Orchestra Society at Avery Fisher Hall. Additionally, she returned to Avery Fisher Hall in Copland's In the Beginning and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, debuted with the San Francisco Symphony for the Duruflé Requiem, and sang the roles of Dido and also the Sorceress in concert performances of Dido and Aeneas with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Oregon Bach Festival.
In previous seasons, she sang Hänsel with Kentucky Opera, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Knoxville Opera, and added three roles to her repertoire: the title role in Handel's Amadigi di Gaula with Boston Baroque, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri with Utah Opera, and Betty in Flora at the Spoleto Festival USA. On the concert stage, she performed Händel's Messiah with the Utah Symphony and the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, and Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle with the Gloria Musicae, the title role in La Cenerentola with Orlando Opera, Meg in Little Women with Syracuse Opera, and Amastre in Xerxes with Boston Baroque. In the summer of 2009, Ms. Wool made her debut with Glimmerglass Opera as the Secretary in Menotti's The Consul.
Notable past performances also include the Second Novice in Suor Angelica at the Metropolitan Opera (company début) as well as Marshal Murat's Adjutant in War and Peace at the famed company; the title role in La Cenerentola with both Opera New Jersey (role début) and Opera Fairbanks, and an alumni concert at Weill Recital Hall as part of the inaugural "Yale at Carnegie" series. Ms. Wool sang the title role in Massenet's Cendrillon and Erika in Vanessa with Central City Opera, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette with Toledo Opera, Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims at New York City Opera, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Utah Opera, and Léoena in La Belle Hélène with Santa Fe Opera. Ms. Wool was one of a select group of Yale Opera alumni invited to record the complete song collection of Charles Ives, which was released in 2008 by Naxos Records.
A two-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she is also a 2008 Winner and a 2004 Encouragement Grant recipient of the Sullivan Foundation Awards. Ms. Wool was a Second Place Winner in the 2005 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition and subsequently made her Alice Tully Hall debut in the Foundation's gala concert, receiving praise from Opera News as "the afternoon's most arresting voice." Other honors include a 2008 Encouragement Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, a 2007 Grant from the Giulio Gari Foundation, and the 2003 Judith Raskin Memorial Award from Santa Fe Opera. She was also the 2002 recipient of the Presser Award, a prestigious study grant from The Presser Foundation and the Yale School of Music.
Garnett Bruce, Stage Director
Born in Washington, DC, Mr. Bruce was a choirboy at Washington National Cathedral where he made his operatic debut in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He holds degrees in English and Drama from Tufts University and has also guest directed on the faculty of Yale University and Westminster Choir College. Initial internships with Harold Prince (Faust, Metropolitan Opera) and Leonard Bernstein (performances and recording of Candide) led to stage management positions at The Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera and Opera Colorado and assistant director assignments at The Dallas Opera and Houston Grand Opera, where he assisted (among others) Francesca Zambello, John Copley, Bruce Beresford, David Alden, Michael Blakemore, Harry Silverstein and Anne-Margret Pettersson.
Bruce currently serves on the directing faculties of the Aspen Music Festival and Peabody Conservatory as well as the board of directors for FBN Productions (Opera for Kids).
Garnett Bruce stages Turandot for the opening of the San Francisco Opera's 2011/2012 season as well as for the inaugural production for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City's Kaufmann Performing Arts Center. He will return to the Dallas Opera to stage Lucia di Lammermoor, followed by The Rake's Progress for Peabody Opera Theater, Don Pasquale for Opera Memphis, and his production of La Cenerentola for Madison Opera.
Past Productions
Last season he directed La Traviata for Austin Lyric Opera and Madison Opera, and continued his Da Ponte Cycle with Don Giovanni for Opera Omaha and continued his work as teacher and director at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University with a double bill of Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tiresias and Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges. Mr. Bruce's rich body of work includes companies across the country such as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Cincinnati Opera and Utah Symphony & Opera and his European opera debut staging Turandot for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He was the Artistic Adviser and Principal Stage Director for Opera Omaha from 2008-2011.
Elisabeth Bieber, Third Lady
Mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Bieber returns to Opera Omaha for her second production designed by Jun Kaneko, having performed the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in the spring of 2011. Later that year, Ms. Bieber was the alto soloist in the Omaha Symphony's Choral Collaborative Concert of Mendelssohn's Elijah. Ms. Bieber's operatic stage experience includes the roles of Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, and the title roles in The Rape of Lucretia and La Cenerentola. On the concert stage, she has performed with the symphonies of Omaha, Waterloo-Cedar Falls, and Orchestra Iowa. Elisabeth has served apprenticeships with Des Moines Metro Opera, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Opera Santa Barbara and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. Ms. Bieber currently lives near Cedar Falls, IA and is an adjunct voice professor at Wartburg College.
Jun Kaneko, Production Designer
Jun Kaneko was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1942 and by his teens was painting daily with instructor Satoshi Ogawa. This creative passion led him to California in 1963 to continue those studies when his interaction with contemporary sculptural ceramics intrigued him with the medium's possibilities and he proceeded to study with the pioneers of the movement.
When invited to Omaha in 1981 by his now wife Ree Kaneko to participate in an experimental workshop at a brick factory he created his first large scale Dangos. He later hand-built his largest works at terra cotta factories and continues to work in a variety of mediums at studios internationally. His prolific diverse work appears in numerous international solo and group exhibitions annually and is included in more than seventy museum collections. He has realized over fifty public art commissions around the world and is honored with national, state and organizational fellowships and doctorates.
Jun and Ree Kaneko formed the non-profit scholarly and presenting organization, KANEKO, dedicated to exploring creativity in the arts, sciences and philosophy.
Jun's production design of Mozart's Magic Flute is preceded by his design of Puccini's Madama Butterfly in 2006 and Beethoven's Fidelio in 2008.
Tom McNichols, Sarastro*
Described by the NY Times as an "oceanic bass" Tom McNichols continues to garner praise for work ranging from internationally acclaimed premiers to standard concert repertoire. In the last six years, his voice has been heard on five continents in live performance, live and recorded radio broadcasts and eight studio recordings in work ranging from the narration of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with the Boston Pops to world premieres of new operatic work.
Following the premier of Death and the Powers at Opera Monte Carlo in September of 2010 in which Musical America praised him for a "powerful sonorous bass." Tom covered the role of Bustamente in La Navarraise with the Opera Orchestra of NY at Carnegie Hall. 2011 begins with a revival of Death and the Powers by Tod Machover with The American Repertoire Theater and The Chicago Opera Theater and a recording of the opera for a 2012 release. Additionally, 2012 will see him as Sarastro in Die Zauberfloete with Opera Grand Rapids and with Trenton's Boheme Opera. He makes his Opera Omaha debut in 2013 also as Sarastro.
The 2010 season included the premier of the role of "Inquisitor Felletti" in Francisco Calluffo's Il Caso Mortara followed by "Bonze" in Madame Butterfly and the bass soloist in Donizetti's Requiem, all with The Di Capo Opera.
Tom is most at home with the Basso Profundo and Basso Cantante repertoire including Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Seneca in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Osmin in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Sparafucile in Rigoletto.
An appearance as a grand semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008 led Tom to resign his tenure with CANTUS, a position he held for four seasons. Among other engagements, those years included full time touring, live and studio recordings, live broadcasts via NPR, APM and the EBU and performances in all the nation's coveted concert halls including Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Spivey Hall and the Library of Congress.
Tom holds a MM from The Peabody Institute and currently studies with Michael Paul in NYC.
Shawn Mathey, Tamino*
Tenor Shawn Mathey performs in the most important and distinguished opera companies and music festivals in the world including the Paris Opera, the Opernhaus Zurich, the Salzburg Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Theater an der Wien, and the Frankfurt Opera, among many others.
This season marks Shawn Mathey's return to London for one of his signature roles, Tamino, at the English National Opera. He will reprise this role for further performances of Die Zauberflöte in Charlotte and Omaha. He will also be heard in an Opera Gala Concert at home in Toledo, OH. Further projects include returns to the Washington National Opera and the Cincinnati Opera, both in leading roles.
Last season, Mr. Mathey made auspicious debuts with the San Francisco Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, the Dallas Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, the Lisbon Opera as Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte and the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome as Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Bradley Smoak, The Speaker*
American bass Bradley Smoak has rapidly emerged as one of opera's most exciting and sought-after young talents. He returns to Opera Omaha after performing the role of Zuniga in the 2013 production of Carmen. In 2013 alone, Mr. Smoak maked principal debuts with New York City Opera in Alice in Wonderland (Mad Hatter/King of Hearts), Opera Omaha in The Magic Flute (Speaker), Opera Roanoke in The Pirates of Penzance (Pirate King) and Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice in Rigoletto (Sparafucile). He also returns to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance.
Principal credits for Mr. Smoak also include performances with Palm Beach Opera (Don Giovanni, Otello, Così fan tutte, Carmen); Boston Lyric Opera (Les Contes d'Hoffmann); Wexford Festival Opera (La Serva Padrona, Hubička, Maria Padilla, The Ghosts of Versailles); Sarasota Opera (La Bohème, The Crucible); Opera Charleston (Carmen); Opera North (Die Zauberflöte); as well as performances with Colorado Music Festival and DuPage Opera, among others.
Monica Yunus, Pamina
Equally at home in concert, recital or on the operatic stage, Monica Yunus is quickly establishing herself as one of America's most promising young sopranos. She has been called "especially winning" by The New York Times, and commended for her "rich and sensuous voice [that] was utterly captivating," by the Charleston City Paper. Her performance as Gilda in Rigoletto was applauded by Opera Online as "a performance that was quintessentially, Gilda. Her delivery was sweet, strong, smoothly evocative of the moment she was singing and most importantly, flexible and dynamic."
Ms. Yunus is the Co-Director of Sing for Hope (www.singforhope.org), a non-profit organization that mobilizes artists in volunteer service to benefit communities in need. For her contributions to the field of arts activism, Ms. Yunus has been honored to give special performances at The United Nations and the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, and received a 2009 DOHA 21st Century Leader Award in the category of Outstanding Humanitarian. Born in Chittagong, Bangladesh and raised in New Jersey, Ms. Yunus is the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Soprano Monic Yunus joins The Metropolitan Opera as Yvette in their production of La Rondine, Opera Omaha as Pamina in The Magic Flute, and The Wichita Symphony performances of Carmina Burana during the 2012-2013 season. Recent engagements include Norina in Don Pasquale with Opera Memphis, Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera with Washington National Opera, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Austin Lyric Opera, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Omaha, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Palm Beach Opera, and Adele in Die Fledermaus with Nashville Opera. She has joined The Metropolitan Opera for numerous productions including The Enchanted Island, Le Comte Ory, Die Zauberflöte, Manon, and Don Giovanni. Recent concert performances include engagements with Andrea Bocelli in Lajatico, Italy, with José Carerras at The Zouk Mikael International Festival in Lebanon, and with Plácido Domingo at The Jordan Festival in Amman, Jordan.
Past Productions
During the 2010 - 11 season the soprano joined The Metropolitan Opera, singing Alice in Le comte Ory and covering the role of Despina in Così fan tutte, and made her Washington National Opera debut as Oscar in Ballo in Maschera, where IonArts.com wrote that hers was the "standout performance of the evening" and that she made "an impressive WNO debut." Concert engagements during the season included performances with the Syracuse Symphony, New Choral Society, and Idaho State Civic Symphony, among others.
Ms. Yunus returned to The Metropolitan Opera during the 2009 – 10 season as Novizia in Suor Angelica and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, joined Opera East Texas as Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore, made her debut with Opera Omaha as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, and joined the Spoleto Festival USA singing Baucis in Hadyn's Philemon and Baucis, for which The New York Times praised her "vibrant soprano."
During the 2008 - 09 season, she joined The Metropolitan Opera for their 125th Anniversary Gala as Poussette in Manon, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Yvette in La Rondine. In addition, she sang in concert at the Tilles Center in New York as well as at the University of Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala City, and offered recitals throughout the United States and abroad.
The 2007 - 2008 season found Ms. Yunus performing with Plácido Domingo in concert at The Jordan Festival and returning to The Metropolitan Opera as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, as well as singing the role of Norina in Don Pasquale with the Syracuse Opera in a performance hailed by The Post Standard as a "superior vocal and comic performance. Her light, strong and flexible voice ascends to dizzying heights with security and a fine sense of sound, as well as a superb sense of character. Rarely has an ingenue received or deserved so many laughs for her playing of a demure young maid who instantly morphs into a spendthrift termagant." In addition, she opened The Al Bustan International Festival of Music and Arts in Beirut, Lebanon, with a gala performance, and offered recitals in Sarasota, Florida and at The River to River Festival in New York City.
In the 2006-2007 season Ms. Yunus was Papagena in Die Zauberflöte at The Metropolitan Opera, Zémire in Zémire et Azor with Arizona Opera, Lucia in the North American Premiere of Zandonai's La Farsa Amorosa with Teatro Grattacielo at Alice Tully Hall in New York, and returned to the Spoleto Festival USA as Argentine in the American Premiere of Gluck's L'Ile de Merlin and for a concert performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 4. She offered recitals in the Berkshires; in Little Rock, Arkansas, under the auspices of The Marilyn Horne Foundation; at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway; as well as at the Russian Consulate in New York City.
The soprano made her critically acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, conducted by James Levine, and joined the company as Poussette in Manon, as well as for performances in Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Le Rossignol, and The Queen of Spades. She debuted with both Austin Lyric Opera and Anchorage Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and reprised that role with the PORTopera as well as for a return engagement to the Spoleto Festival USA. She was Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with the Palm Beach Opera under the baton of Julius Rudel, Adele in Die Fledermaus and Gretel with the Nashville Opera, and made her role debut as Gilda in Rigoletto with Granite State Opera. She portrayed the role of Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito and Polly in Die Dreigroshenoper with the Pittsburgh Opera Center, was Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera with the Palm Beach Opera, and Fleurette in Offenbach's Bluebeard while a member of the Young American Artist Program at Glimmerglass Opera. Ms. Yunus made her European operatic debut as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, where she also appeared with one day's notice as Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice.
Ms. Yunus' many concert and recital appearances include recitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, New York's Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Spain's Manuel De Falla Hall, the Los Angeles Da Camera Society (under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation), and Madrid's Auditorio Nacional, with her majesty Queen Sofia in attendance. She sang Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with New York City's MetroChamber Orchestra, and the role of Laurie in the World Premiere recording of Copland's The Tender Land Suite on the KOCH International label.
Ms. Yunus, who earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School, has won The Florida Grand Opera Competition, Palm Beach Opera Competition, the Lee Schaenen Foundation Award, the Sullivan Foundation Award, and The Mirjam Helin International Competition in Helsinki, Finland, among many others.
Edwin Vega, Priest/Armored Man #1*
Tenor Edwin Vega recently made his debut with the English National Opera debut as Molqi in Death of Klinghoffer followed by his role debut of Goro in Madama Butterfly with Nevada Opera. This past summer Mr. Vega returned to the Santa Fe Opera as a Servant (Arabella) and King Edrisi understudy in Szymanowski's King Roger. Mr. Vega recently returned to the dell'Arte Opera Ensemble performing the roles of Tanzmeister and Brighella in new production of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, and to Chicago Opera Theater for the Chicago premiere of Charpentier's Medee. Last season he was featured as Rubens Barrichello (the title character's protégé) in the Metropolitan Opera's new opera workshop of Michael Torke's Senna. Mr. Vega made his Carnegie Hall debut in Jerry Springer - The Opera starring Harvey Keitel and sang Rinuccio in the summer of 2010 with the dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's new production of Gianni Schicchi.
Corey McKern, Papageno
Award-winning baritone Corey McKern is earning attention and acclaim in his young career. In his 10 performance run as Marcello in La Bohème at the Santa Fe Opera this past summer, the Santa Fe New Mexican said, "Corey McKern's resolute, robust-voiced and rambunctious Marcello, a perfect picture of a wannabe Parisian painter, was one of the best I've ever heard."
In the current season, engagements include the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro with Michigan Opera Theatre, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Tulsa Opera, The Shoes for the Santo Nino with the Santa Fe Opera, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Pensacola Opera and Syracuse Opera, his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen at Opera Birmingham, Slook in The Marriage Contract at Opera Omaha, and Marcello in La Boheme with Opera Grand Rapids. In the 2012-2013 Season engagements will include his debut with Austin Lyric Opera as Silvio in I Pagliacci, his role debut as Dandini in La Cenerentola with Nashville Opera, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Omaha.
Past Productions
Previous engagements include his Opera Hong Kong debut as Marcello in La Boheme, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro with Nashville Opera, Opera Cleveland and Opera Columbus, his role debut as Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with the Syracuse Opera, the Count/Rudolf in Schreker's Der Ferne Klang in his debut with BARD Summerscape, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with the Arizona Opera and Tulsa Opera, Silvio in I Pagliacci with Arizona Opera and Central City Opera, Pilot in The Little Prince with Tulsa Opera, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Indianapolis Opera, Valentin in Faust with Opera Carolina, Marcello in La Bohème with the Nashville Opera, and Pish-Tush in The Mikado with Arizona Opera.
With the Santa Fe Opera he has performed Marcello in La Bohéme, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Pallante in Agrippina, the 1st Shepherd in Daphne and has covered the title role of Wozzeck, Valentin in Faust, and Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore. As house favorite at Opera Birmingham he has performed there Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ping in Turandot, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, and with Opera Omaha, John Brooke in Little Women, Ping in Turandot, and Morales in Carmen.
An active concert performer, Mr. McKern made his Carnegie Hall debut in the Faure Requiem, and recently returned to the prestigious concert hall for John Rutter's Mass of the Children and Mozart's Requiem. Other recent concert engagements include Mahler's Ruckert Lieder with the Missoula Symphony, and performances with the New Choral Society in Handel's Messiah, Brahms' Requiem and Orff's Carmina Burana, which he also performed with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra and with the San Juan Symphony in Colorado. His oratorio credits include Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem and a concert of operetta highlights with the Indianapolis Symphony.
Mr. McKern is a former grant recipient from the Sullivan Foundation, as well as the first place winner of Opera Birmingham, Shreveport Opera, and Mobile Opera competitions of 2005. He holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, and Bachelor of Music Education from Mississippi State University. As former member of the Seattle Young Artist Program, Mr. McKern sang his first performances of Papageno and Marcello.
Darik Knutsen, Priest/Armored Man #2*
Darik Knutsen, baritone from McLean, VA, began singing as a boy soprano with the National Cathedral Boys' Choir when he was 9 years old. He is excited to make his Omaha Opera debut in the Magic Flute. Earlier this season Mr. Knutsen made his international debut singing Marcello in La Boheme under the baton of Lorin Maazel at the Royal Opera House of Muscat, Oman.
This past summer Mr. Knutsen was a part of the 2012 Castleton Music Festival. There he starred as Fredrik in Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Also at Castleton he understudied the role of Figaro in The Barber of Seville, and sing the role of Le Dancaïre in Carmen.
Previous operatic experience includes; Inquisitor Galileo Galilei with Madison Opera 2012, Wagner in Faust with The Santa Fe Opera 2011, Arcas in Médée with Chicago Opera Theater 2011, Schlemil in The Tales of Hoffmann SFO 2010, Charlie understudy in Three Decembers with COT 2010, and the title role of Eugene Onegin at the Chautauqua Institute of Music 2009.
Mr. Knutsen is the recipient of numerous awards including 2nd Place Winner in the Central Region Finals of the Metropolitan Council Auditions 2010, Winner of the American Opera Society Scholarship 2011, and 1st Place in the Bel Canto Foundation of Chicago 2011. He is a 2011 graduate of Roosevelt University's AD Program under David Holloway, and graduate of Northwestern University where he studied under Sherrill Milnes.
Emily Hindrichs, Queen of the Night*
Emily Hindrichs is emerging as one of the most important coloratura sopranos of our time. In the spring 2009, she made her English National Opera debut in Die Zauberflöte as Queen of the Night, and reprised the role this past season at the New Orleans Opera and Seattle Opera. Upcoming and recent performances include the Queen in her Oper Frankfurt debut, with Nashville Opera, the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and Opera Omaha; the role of Anne Trulove in The Rakes Progress with Opera de St. Etienne, her debut at Oper Köln as Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore, and her debut in the role of Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung au dem Serail with the Connecticut Early Music Festival. Concert performances include Wang Jie's From The Other Sky at Zankel Hall and Bach's B Minor Mass with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall. Last season, Ms. Hindrichs also joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago's roster to cover ten performances of the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte.
Tracy Wise, Monostatos*
Known for his versatility and comic timing, Tracy Wise possesses a powerful, lyrical voice and true sense of stagecraft.
In 2010-2011, he joined Arizona Opera for his role and company debut as Pedrillo in Die entführung aus dem Serail. Mr. Wise debuts at Hawaii Opera Theatre as Spoletta in Tosca, as well as Opera Omaha for Monastatos in The Magic Flute, in 2013.
Trained in Commedia dell'Arte with Scuola Internazionale dell'Attore Comico, Theatrical Clown with Dell'arte International, and Ballet with Boston Ballet, Mr. Wise continues to pursue his passion for the Physical Theater, Juggling, Acrobatics, Clown and Commedia Dell'Arte through character roles in opera. A graduate of Arizona State University, he did his graduate studies at Boston University and was a young artist with Opera North, and Chicago Opera Theater, performing Oratorio and Opera with such organizations as Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Providence, Boston Bel Canto, Arizona Opera, Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Seattle, The Melbourne Royal Philharmonic, and the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra.
Past Productions
Summer of 2009 found his return to Bard Summerscape to perform the role of Cossé in Les Huguenots. His 2009-2010 engagements included debuts with Nashville Opera as Spoletta in Tosca, and Boston Lyric Opera as Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Performances in 2008-2009 for Mr. Wise included Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus and Don Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro, both with Dallas Opera, as well as Gastone in La traviata and Pong in Turandot with Opera Birmingham.
Other recent performances include Gastone in La Traviata with Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Tanzmeister in Ariadne auf Naxos with both Utah Symphony and Opera and Dallas Opera, where he also sang the Four Servants in the school performances of Les contes d'Hoffmann, Peter Quint in Turn of the Screw with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte with Utah Symphony and Opera.
Mr. Wise has sung Punin and Zoschenko in Mel Marvin's Guest from the Future with Bard Summerscape, Pang in Turandot with Virginia Opera, Spoletta in Tosca and First Jew in Salome with Fort Worth Opera, Truffaldino in Love for Three Oranges with the Chicago Cultural Center also in Chicago, Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Chicago Opera Theater, where he also performed many other roles including Lucano and Primo Soldato in L'Incoronazione di Poppea, the Glass Maker while covering Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice, and Don Luigino while covering Belfiore in Il Viaggio a Reims. In New England, his roles include Iro in Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria with Boston Baroque, and Arnalta in L'Incoronazione di Poppea and Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Opera North. He has also performed Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream, High Priest in Idomeneo, and Smiley in The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County with the Boston Opera Institute, and Korczak in the premiere of Silverman's Korczak's Orphans.
Diana McVey, First Lady*
The versatile soprano is an artist whose consummate skills as both a singer and an actress have made her highly visible in opera, oratorio and as soloist with symphony orchestras. The beauty of her voice and intelligent artistry have also made her a much sought after artist for both the standard repertoire and new works. She has become known for her riveting and moving portrayals of Violetta in La Traviata and Lucia in Lucia Di Lammermoor. She has sung leading roles with Opera Tampa, Opera Columbus, Lake George Opera Festival, Jacksonville Lyric Opera, Treasure Coast Opera, Opera Naples, Light Opera Oklahoma, Ocean State Lyric Opera, the Salt Marsh Opera Company, Boston Academy of Music, Rhode Island Philharmonic and Opera Providence among others.
Past Productions
She was an apprentice artist with both the Sarasota Opera Company, where she covered the role of Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman, and the Lake George Opera Festival where she covered the role of Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio. She has appeared as a soloist with the Florida West Coast Symphony, the Pioneer Valley Symphony, the Longwood Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Albany Symphony, the New Bedford Symphony and the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, among others.
In June 2006 Ms. McVey made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass, and traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for a production of Carmen. Recent engagements include a full recital on the Plymouth State University Silver Center concert series, La Traviata at the Belleayre Music Festival, Cosi fan tutte with Opera Providence, La Traviata with the Pioneer Valley Symphony, Faure's Requiem at Carnegie Hall, productions of La Rondine and The Merry Widow with Opera Tampa and Maestro Anton Coppola, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra, as well as at Carnegie Hall, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor with Salt Marsh Opera and Treasure Coast Opera, a production of Die Fledermaus with Jacksonville Lyric Opera, productions of Candide and Pirates of Penzance with Light Opera Oklahoma, Opera Galas with the Hartford Festival Orchestra and Opera Naples, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 the New Bedford Symphony, productions of La Cenerentola and Turandot with Opera Columbus, Carmina Burana and Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 for soprano and eight cellos with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, a Gilbert & Sullivan Revue with Lake George Opera Festival, and the Four Last Songs of Strauss with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony. Upcoming engagements include Sir Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra, The Merry Widow with Opera Providence, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Helena Symphony, La Bohème with the Belleayre Music Festival, a concert appearance with the New Bedford Symphony, a production of Die Zauberflöte with Opera Omaha, and Le Nozze di Figaro with Florentine Opera.
In 2003, Ms. McVey was a finalist in the New England Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was heard on WGBH, Boston.
Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Papagena*
In the 2011-12 season, Jamie-Rose sang the role of Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann with Wolf Trap Opera Company, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with Austin Lyric Opera, Maria Celeste in Galileo Galilei with Madison Opera, Cis in Albert Herring with Los Angeles Opera, and Xanthe/Aphrodite in Lysistrata with Fort Worth Opera. She was a featured soloist in the 2011 Christmas Spectacular with Madison Symphony Orchestra, and Brahms' Requiem with the Santa Fe Orchestra. In the 2012-2013 season she reprises her Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for both Florentine Opera and Austin Lyric Opera. Engagements in the 2012-13 season included Papagena with Opera Omaha and her debut with Memphis Opera as Judy Atkins in Lee Hoiby's This is the Rill Speaking. With the Santa Fe Opera Ms. Guarrine has appeared as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte and Cis in Albert Herring. Additional recent highlights include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Kentucky Opera, Susanna in Utah Opera's Le nozze di Figaro, Nella in Gianni Schicchi and the roles of Fire, Nightingale and Princess in L'Enfant et les Sortileges with Opera Company of Philadelphia, and concert appearances with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica.
Riley Eddins*
Camilo Ferreira*
Joseph Klinker*
Matt Rynkiewicz*
Darin Anderson
Derek Anderson
Talea Bloch
Karina Brazas
Mary Carrick
Nicole Chapman
Tara Cowherd
John Dart
Evelyn Dillard
Ryan Eberhart
Elmer Ellefson
Brian M. Evans
Angie Heim
Brian Jay
Janeen Jensen
James C. Little
Megan McGuire
Keith Menter
Eric Micks
Eduardo Millan
Sharon North Jones
Edward Perini
Nora Ryan
Jon Ryba
Susan Seamands
David Shellenberger
Michael Shelton
Michael Thorfinnson
Lauren Henderson Turner
Jodi Vaccaro
Sara Wachter
Camellia Yvonne Watkins
Jacob Wilson
Erika Overturff, Artistic Director
Matthew Carter, Ballet Master
Jolie Koesters, Dance Administrator
Teresa Coulter
Vivi DiMarco
Brittane Hughes
Jessica Mariner
Taylor Ohman
Emma Raker
Katie van der Mars
Erin Alarcon
Claire Goodwillie
Natasha Grimm
Alberto Liberatoscioli
Bret Samson
Kelsey Schwenker
Denis Vezetiu
Sasha YorkKurogo
Emma Johnson
Lindsey Kader
Molly Kimmey
Michelle Miller
Aidan Shnayder
Sarah Tracy
Take a look at many more of Jun Kaneko's early designs on his website JunKaneko.com.
The world premiere took place in San Francisco in June-July of 2013 and the reviews were stunning!
Friday, February 22, 2013, 7:30PM
Download Calendar Event (.ics)
Sunday, February 24, 2013, 2:00PM
Download Calendar Event (.ics)
Orpheum Theater | Slosburg Hall
Map Location
Original Co-Production Director: Harry Silverstein
Original Co-Production Lighting Design: Paul Pyant
Chorus Master: J. Gawf
Principal Youth Music Director: Bea Hasselmann of Metropolitan Boys Choir*
Principal Accompanist: Eric Andries
Stage Manager: Angela Turner
Lighting Design: Michael Baumgarten
Makeup & Hair Design: Elsen Associates, Inc.
Digital Animation: Clark Creative Group
Flying Effects: ZFX, Inc.
Scenery Construction & Painting: San Francisco Opera Scenic
Costume Fabrication: San Francisco Opera Costume Shop
* Opera Omaha Debut


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I have often said that the S&P futures contract is "the tail that wags the dog known as the U.S. stock market." That is generally true, but sometimes it's more evident. Now is one of those times, so it behooves the short-term trader to keep close watch on the futures. For our purposes, I will highlight the March E-mini, as it's more widely followed and more widely traded than the larger S&P futures contract.
Another one of my favorite sayings is that "one gap begets another." That's what we saw on Monday when the market sold off sharply, in the process filling last Friday's gap in the futures from 1492.25 to 1500.00 (there was no equivalent gap in the cash). Then on Tuesday morning (here's the part about one gap begetting another), the futures shot back up, in the process creating another gap in pretty much the same spot as the one from last Friday that had been filled on Monday. That new gap in the futures was 1493.50-1498.75. Again, if you were looking for a gap in the SPX (cash index), you wouldn't have found one, because it didn't occur in the cash, just the futures.
Now, I'm sure that some of you are rolling your eyes right about now and saying, "So what? Who cares?" Well, if you are a trader of the market, you care, or at least you should.
The low in the E-mini, so far today, as of 12:30 Eastern, has been 1494.50. That's 1 point from that gap. And now the market is bouncing off that low. I have been buying SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) calls and even some SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) calls as the market has backed off into the bottom of that gap. I will add a bit more once the gap has been filled in its entirety and likely re-establish some bullish bets in my mutual fund positions at Rydex. I will be betting on a bounce from the bottom of that gap. Maybe the bounce has already begun. If so, that's fine. If it goes a bit lower to fill the gap, that would also be fine, though I wouldn't want to see Monday's low of 1490.25 in the E-mini broken by much.
I have highlighted the E-mini because it tends to lead the market. The other reason I highlight it is that, as noted many times before, the SPX cash often doesn't show the gaps that occur. So from that perspective, the SPX is not very helpful. However, the chart of the SPX does reveal a potential double top at the 1515 level. That's now serious resistance, and it represents the spot to sell against. If you are trading the futures, it's the spot to sell against with tight stops.
For my accounts, it's the area for cutting back in long positions and for writing out-of-the-money March and April calls (which I've been doing for the past couple of days). If that level gives way, then, once again, it puts the Nov. 1, 2007, gap back on the table at 1549, and above that the all-time highs at 1576.09.
Of course, the big story in the mainstream media has been the move up to Dow 14,000. CNBC put on party hats and popped the champagne last Friday when the Dow first closed back above 14,000, but the party didn't last long. Now, here we are, a few days later, and after repeated attempts to get back above 14,000, the Dow has pulled back about 170 points from its new multi-year high. It was also noteworthy that on Tuesday, when the SPX made a fractionally higher high, neither the Dow nor the Russell 2000 confirmed the higher high.
Speaking of the Russell 2000, it was also interesting that the RUT was having a tough time filling its gap from Monday's down opening. That actually happened in the last few minutes of yesterday's trading. Still no higher high here, but that gap at 911.19 was filled yesterday as the RUT topped out pennies above the gap at 911.45, and from there the RUT has backed off.
Then there is the Apple (AAPL) story. Recall in my column of Jan. 24, the day of that big gap-down opening in the stock, I explained that I liked writing the March 410 puts in a range of $4.75 to $5.55. The high in the puts that day was $5.80, which occurred as the stock tagged the $550 level. That seemed like a terrific plan until the next day, when the stock sold off another 15 points to $435. But note, now, a couple of weeks later, as of 1 p.m. Eastern time, the stock is essentially back to where it opened that day, Jan 24, at $558. So if you had bought the stock, you'd be back at break-even levels.
But how about writing the puts? The March 410 puts are now trading at $2.55. That's about half of what I sold them for that day with the stock at current levels. So the stock has gone nowhere in two weeks, while the March 410 puts have been cut in half. What was a better idea? Buying the stock or writing the puts?
Now, by the way, I am hedged in the March 410 puts, as I have purchased some March 425s or March 430s, which are now trading at the same price as the 410s were a couple of weeks ago, in the $5-$6 range. But I have now sold the distant January 2014 310 puts in the $6.50 area. Also sold some of the January 300 puts. Still don't own the stock.
Sentiment is another reason I am a bit cautious on the market here. Too many buyers of calls, and not enough worry about the next shoe to fall. The volatility index (VIX) is popping today, but I need to see it back above 16 before I get very excited about the long side. And that may not happen for a while.


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Hassan II Mosque and 1st Impressions of Morocco
We arrived today at about 9:30am Moroccan time (4:30am EST) safe and sound and slightly exhausted from traveling all night. We met our wonderful guide Jamal at the airport. Jamal is from Casablanca and was thrilled to provide us with a tour of his home city. As soon as we stepped outside we knew we were in for a week of complete sensory overload. Our regular certainties of Maine, USA were immediately swept away by the full technicolor of AFRICA!
We first headed to the hotel to checkin and freshen up for our day. Jamal then took us to the "beach" for lunch in an outdoor seaside restaurant. Thankfully they had some indoor seating too because it started to rain. Jamal translated the menu for us and we all had an enjoyable lunch. Then we were off to the Hassan II Mosque. The Mosque is the second largest religious building in the world. It is enormous! It's almost 1 million sq. ft. and two-thirds of it are built over the sea. Over 35,000 Moroccan craftsmen worked on it and it is incredibly ornate and beautiful. We learned that it has a prayer hall that can accomodate 25,000 and another 80,000 can gather outside for large religious celebrations such as Ramadan.
It was clear to all of us that Morocco is a land of vivid contrasts and this is very evident in Casablanca. Casablanca is the commercial and financial capital of Morocco and it is a baffling metropolis. None of us were quite prepared for the traffic jams and skyscrappers of Casablanca nor for the contradictions of the city with its well-kept parks, fountains and striking colonial architecture next to some huge shanty towns and obvious poverty. Here, we were also struck by the way that tradition and modernity co-exist. For every fashion conscious Moroccan woman wearing a name brand (Nike, Dior, Chanel) there was also a woman wearing the traditional Hijab. Or for every street-side donkey there was a cell-phone-wielding ten-year-old. Clearly, there is a broad spectrum of ideals among Moroccans.
Now for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow we head to Essaouira!


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AUSTRALIA'S 2013 Local Hero Shane Phillips plans to share his award with his indigenous community in Sydney's Redfern.
The 48-year-old father of three, who is a respected member of the Redfern community, received the honour at the Australian of the Year awards ceremony in Canberra on Friday.
Mr Phillips described himself as a "real Redfern boy".
"It's a community at work," he said.
"We're not being reactive, we're being proactive.
"This goes out to a lot of kids, and our elders, who have written themselves off or have been written off.
"Anything's possible! You are the answer."
Mr Phillips is regarded as a man of integrity and a community voice on issues such as juvenile justice and Aboriginal deaths in custody.
He still lives in Redfern, where he was born.
Mr Phillips said he wanted to embark on a journey with the rest of the nation on the mentoring program he operates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.
"I am going to teach our kids to be surrounded by people who are positive and constructive and strategic and to help them with their lives," he said.
Immigration and citizenship minister Chris Bowen said Local Heroes like Mr Phillips selflessly donated time and effort to make their communities a better place.
"He is a fantastic example of the impact one person can have on the lives of so many other Australians," Mr Bowen said in a statement.
Mr Phillips is chief executive of the Tribal Warriors Association, a non-profit organisation offering job training and emergency relief for struggling families.
Improvements in relationship between the Redfern local community and local police in Redfern has also been credited to Mr Phillips.
The number of robberies by local youth in Redfern has dropped by 80 per cent since 2009, following the introduction of a program called Clean Slate Without Prejudice, run in collaboration with police.
"It has helped each side understand and appreciate the other," he said.
A spokesman for Redfern community group Redwatch, Geoff Turnbull, said Mr Phillips' award was well deserved.
"Shane is one of the champions of this area. He's been very involved in working with Aboriginal youth in particular and basically providing a whole pile of hope for people," Mr Turnbull told AAP.
"If you go back about 10 years when things were quite dire in Redfern, Shane was one of the main people who worked to turn it around.
"He got men to take responsibility for some of the stuff that was happening around the place and then looking at how they could then do mentoring."
Originally published as Indigenous leader Australia's Local Hero


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Free Trade and Sailors' Rights: The Odyssey of the Essex
- When:
- Location:
- Off Campus
- http://www.ubalt.edu/about-ub/news-events/index.cfm?news_id=1663
- Description:
The University of Baltimore proudly hosts the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 Lecture Series.
These engaging public discussions explores the causes and effects of the War of 1812. From little-known facts about the war to the ways it impacted Americans of all kinds—including those who had families living on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the border—the series will shed light on a period of history worth revisiting for its politics, economics, color and message of reconciliation.
All events are free and open to the public.
"Free Trade and Sailors' Rights: The Odyssey of the Essex—Captain David Porter's Invasion of the Pacific in the War of 1812"
tentatively scheduled to take place at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Paul Gilje, George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma, has written extensively on early American history and has also served as the president of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. He is currently researching the question of sailors' rights and memory in the War of 1812, and his lecture will be based upon his forthcoming book of the same title as his lecture.
- Contact Name:
- Tom Carney
- Contact Email:
- firstname.lastname@example.com
If you need accommodations to participate in this event, please contact the person listed above at least 10 days prior to the event.


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Business News of Sunday, 27 January 2013
Source: citifmonline.com
Minister-designate for the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has promised to flush out all foreigners engaged in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey operations if his nomination is approved by Parliament.
Speaking at his vetting on Friday, he said a new policy will be put in place to monitor the activities of all galamsey operators in the country.
"The galamsey menace is one that everybody appears to be worried about and there is a cause to worry because they spoil the forest, pollute our water bodies and cause environmental challenges. They could be a catalyst to the resource curse and that is why government has said small scale mining must be the preserve of Ghanaians," he stated.
Hon Fuseini further disclosed, "It is important for us to embark on a vigorous information and education campaign to assure all Ghanaians who want to engage in small scale mining that there is an opportunity for them to do so within the laws of the country."
"We as a ministry responsible for that sector will be able to monitor the activities of galamsey operations. The system of registration less cumbersome for citizens who want to undertake the venture so they successfully do the small scale mining legally. Foreigners are not by law entitled to any piece within small scale mining," he added.


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Looking for a Christmas gift for your Baylor Bear? Ideas here.
Looking for the perfect gift for your favorite Baylor Bear? We're here to help; here are some suggestions:
* How about a book? The History of Baylor Sports is a beautiful, 350-page, coffee table book covering more than a century's worth of Baylor athletics; make sure you use the discount code at Baylor Press to get 33% off. Fans of biographies are in luck, as this year's releases included well-reviewed books on former Texas Governor Ann Richards, BA '54, football coach Art Briles, and NFL star Robert Griffin III (both here and here). And for your Little Bear, there's Star, Circle, Baylor, from the creators of 1,2,3 Baylor.
* Music? The Digital Age, a group of Baylor alums that formerly made up The David Crowder*Band, released their first full length album earlier this year. Baylor student Holly Tucker (who you might remember from The Voice finals) and alum Joseph Fuller, MM '04, each have new Christmas releases out.
* Sports fan? Get Fiesta Bowl tickets for your loved one, or choose from a wide variety of Baylor football Big 12 champs and Fiesta Bowl merchandise. You could get a replica NFL jersey for one of the many Bears in the NFL — stars like RG3, Josh Gordon, Phil Taylor, Terrance Williams and Kendall Wright. And then there's the lasting gift that also supports Baylor football — a Baylor Stadium Brick.
* Movie buff? Earlier this year, we ran down a long list of available DVDs and Blu Rays of films and TV series in which Baylor alumni played prominent roles either in front of or behind the camera, including new releases like Chicago Fire and the final season of The Office.
And if you want a particularly meaningful gift? Consider giving to Baylor — The President's Scholarship Initiative, the RG3 Quarterback Scholarship, or to any other area of the university — in honor (or memory) of your loved one.
Still need more ideas? Check out past suggestions from 2012, 2011 and 2009.
Sic 'em, Christmas gift-givers!
[Worth noting: The Baylor Bookstore will open a special "Baylor Bowl Store" location in the Ferrell Center parking lot next week. All Big 12 champs and Fiesta Bowl merchandise will be moved from the regular 5th Street bookstore to this 2,400-square-foot location, which will feature more than 40 different items. The Bowl Store will be open 7 days a week — Monday-Friday, 9-7; Saturday, 9-5; and Sunday, noon-5.]


text: I voted wrong. I thought the poll question was is Lance over rated, and I clicked no. I don't know if he's the answer at shooting guard. Hell I don't even know what the question is. But he makes this team better, no doubt about it. Based solely on the Roger Eye Test (Not Scientifically Approved), this team is at it's best not when Hibbert or West or PG is at their best, but when Lance is. It's more about energy than anything else, but he single-handedly can seem to increase the energy of the entire team.


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Miami Heat's Mike Miller on Overtime
Everything is square, the Heat and the Spurs sit tied at three games a piece as we enter a win or go home Game 7 on Thursday.
We wouldn't be here however, if it wasn't for a Game 6 for the ages.
South Dakota native Mike Miller added his imprint, just as he did in 2012 to another NBA Finals Game.
Granted this time around, the Heat guard didn't give us the same kind of stats as he did a year ago, he did give us a memorable moment once again.
Mike Miller joined Jeff Thurn on Overtime to talk about Game 6 and preview Game 7.
In the 4th quarter as the Heat were mounting a comeback, Miller lost his shoe. But instead of being eliminated from the play, Miller came down and knocked in a three with only one shoe on.
"I knew I was going to take the shot with or without the shoe. Didn't matter on or off. Had the chance and took it," responded Miller.
Clearly Miller's 3-pionter added to the effort in the 4th quarter, but if it wasn't for Lebron James, there wouldn't of been a Overtime, nor would be seeing a Game 7. Miller talked about the impact Lebron has on the floor.
"He demands so much attention defensively. Any time has the ball it gives everyone a chance to make plays. Best on planet."
So as the Heat try and add another Championship Banner to the rafter in Miami, they must first win Game 7 and Mike Miller also talked about the game plan entering that contest.
"We know exactly what we want to do and it will come down to the small things in the game."
Hopefully for us in the media, those who are fans and the teams involved, we get the same sort of Game 7 as we did in the epic Game 6 of this years NBA Finals.
Take a listen to the entire interview and enjoy!