Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Grant Winner Conducts Opening Night of The Bronx Opera’s Spring Productions

Major League Baseball VP Elizabeth Scott wields the baton for modernized versions of The Impresario and Pagliacci –
two great classics presented in ENGLISH. Opening May 9 at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theatre.

In The Bronx:
8:00 p.m., Friday & Saturday, May 9 & 10
The Lovinger Theatre @ Lehman College (718) 960-8833

In Hempstead, Long Island:
Friday & Saturday, May 16 & 17
Friday @ 8:00 p.m. Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
John Cranford Adams Playhouse @ Hofstra University
(516) 463-6644. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.tickets.com

Productions directed by Benjamin Spierman
Michael Spierman & Elizabeth Scott, conductors
Log on to http://www.BronxOpera.org for further information

Elizabeth Scott, newest recipient of the prestigious Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Assistant Conductor Grant will open the final productions of The Bronx Opera’s 40th season on May 9, 2008 at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theatre. Another Bronx Opera assistant conductor, Eric Kramer, is also a recipient this year, a rare occurrence. An interesting note is that Ms. Scott is a vice president for Major League Baseball, so when she is not at the Bronx music halls dealing with scores; she is at Yankee Stadium doing the same.

The productions under Ms. Scott’s baton will be Mozart’s The Impresario and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. The season opened at the top of 2008 with Orpheus in the Underworld.

Making classical opera accessible by performing them in English has been a trademark of The Bronx Opera for 40 years. The two opera-world favorites at Lehman College in The Bronx (May 9 & 10) and Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island (May 16 & 17)

The assistant conductors will be known for the 2008-09 season as holding the Bruno Walter Conductor’s Chair. This is the sixth year of awarding Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Emerging Conductor Chair awards. The purpose of this annual program is to highlight the importance of assistant conductor positions as essential mentoring and learning experiences for emerging conductors. In this time when potential opportunities for emerging conductors may be diminishing, the Foundation believes it is important to take a leadership role in assisting institutions and assistant conductors by highlighting the importance of these positions to the training and careers of our future orchestral leadership. The Foundation also wishes to encourage the development of training and mentoring programs for assistant conductors. These grants are intended to remind musicians and the general public of the invaluable contribution Maestro Walter made during his lifetime to opera, symphonic music and the training of young conductors.

Mozart’s The Impresario, Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. In The Bronx: Friday, May 9, 2008 @ 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, May 10, 2008 @ 8:00 p.m. at The Lovinger Theatre @ Lehman College. In Hempstead, Long Island: Friday, May 16, 2008 @ 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 2:00 p.m. at The John Cranford Adams Playhouse of Hofstra University.