Opera Colorado announces premiere of Lori Laitman's opera The Scarlet Letter

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Greg Carpenter, General Director of Opera Colorado, will announce that Opera Colorado will produce the professional world premiere of the opera The Scarlet Letter created by composer Lori Laitman and librettist David Mason. The new production of the opera will debut in May of 2013 as part of Opera Colorado's thirtieth anniversary season.

"The opera first came to our attention last year," Carpenter said. "I was struck by the lyrical beauty of this work and how it dramatically reflects the piece of classic American literature it is based upon." The full-length opera in two acts was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 romantic novel set in 17th century Puritan Boston. "The opportunity to work with a composer of Lori Laitman's stature, as well as with Colorado's Poet Laureate, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Opera Colorado. We are excited to bring this new opera to life," Carpenter continued.

"I am thrilled that Opera Colorado will be presenting the professional world premiere of The Scarlet Letter in 2013," Laitman said. "Opera Colorado's dedication to excellence and education, under Greg Carpenter's visionary leadership, is truly inspiring. I cannot imagine a more perfect home for my opera than at the beautiful Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver."

Mason agreed, commenting, "I have admired Opera Colorado for years and to have these extraordinary people and this great theatre for the first professional production of our opera is simply marvelous. I can't wait for my fellow Coloradoans to discover just how great Lori Laitman's music is, and of course the drama of The Scarlet Letter is perennially important to America at large."

Laitman is one of America's most prolific and widely performed composers of vocal music, with over 200 songs to her credit as well as two operas and an oratorio. Laitman and Mason's recent composition, Vedem, an oratorio based on writings by children from the Terezin concentration camp, received its world premiere in 2010 and was released on the Naxos label in May, 2011. Laitman's works are performed frequently in the U.S. and abroad, including in such venues as Seattle's Benaroya Hall, The Kennedy Center and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

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