Dramaturg
Cori Ellison, as full-time staff Dramaturg at New York City Opera from 1997-2010, was responsible for the company’s production dramaturgy, supertitles, and program book, as well as its adult outreach programs, curating both its pre-performance event series and creating its acclaimed Opera Matters series of collaborations with other noted New York cultural institutions.
She has also served as dramaturg for Francesca Zambello’s production of the Ring Cycle at Washington National Opera, Opera Boston’s production of Shostakovich’s The Nose, for a triple bill of Offenbach operettas at the Bard Summerscape Festival, and was guest dramaturg for Operamission’s Così fan tutte: Some Assembly Required. She co-curated and narrated soprano Elizabeth Futral’s program “Handel at Home”, the closing event of the annual Chicago Humanities Festival, and she curated an all-Beethoven gala for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ms. Ellison began her intense involvement in the development of contemporary American opera through New York City Opera’s annual VOX American Opera Showcase, where she was part of the selection team and worked with individual composers and librettists. For four consecutive season, she has served on the faculty of American Lyric Theatre’s Composer Librettist Development Program, where she teaches operatic dramaturgy. At City Opera, she co-founded and led Words First, a program for the development of opera librettists. In June 2009, she was the first opera dramaturg invited to participate in the inaugural Yale Institute for Music Theatre. In addition, she is a sought-after private consultant to numerous composers and librettists.
Ms. Ellison’s English singing translation of Hansel and Gretel, commissioned andpremiered by New York City Opera, has also been performed (in a general-use adaptation recently published by Schott) by companies including Houston Grand Opera, Atlanta Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Kentucky Opera, Berkshire Opera, and Opera Roanoke. Her singing translation of Shostakovich’s musical comedy Cheryomushki (Cherry Tree Towers)premiered at the Bard Summerscape Festival in August 2004, and her singing translation of Spontini’s La vestale, commissioned by English National Opera, premiered there in April 2002.
Pursuing her interest in nurturing young American singers, Ms. Ellison has taught dramaturgically-based master classes at venues including Mannes The New School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory, Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program, DePaul University, and Underworld Productions. She has also led seminars for the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Program, has served as judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and coaches singers privately.
Ms. Ellison has presented talks and moderated panels for New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the San Francisco Opera Guild, Carnegie Hall, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Boston, Glimmerglass Opera, Bard Summerscape Festival, Opera Orchestra of New York, Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart Festival, Berkshire Choral Festival, American Opera Projects, Schomburg Center for Black Culture, Paley Center for Media, Harvard’s American Repertory Theatre, the New School, Opera Index, the Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process series, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Japan Societies of New York and Boston, and the Wagner Societies of New York, Chicago, Washington, and Northern California, as well as at The Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, the Covent Garden Festival, Ireland’s Wexford Festival, and Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, She has been guest lecturer for Celebrity Cruises, under the auspices of the Smithsonian, and on Cunard’s Queen Mary II, under the auspices of Oxford University. She has also served on the faculty of The Juilliard School’s Evening Division, was Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at New York University’s School of Continuing Education, and has often taught for the Explore New York Elderhostel program.
Ms. Ellison is part of the team that launched the Metropolitan Opera’s pioneering simultaneous translation system, Met Titles, and has also authored opera supertitles for companies including New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York, Florida Grand Opera, Virginia Opera, Berkshire Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Opera, Eos Orchestra, The Juilliard School, Midamerica Productions, Boston Baroque, Center For Contemporary Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Marilyn Horne Foundation, PBS, and WGBH-TV.
Ms. Ellison regularly appears as a commentator and Opera Quiz panelist on the Metropolitan Opera’s radio broadcasts, and has been guest commentator on WNYC’s “Soundcheck” and “The Tristan Mysteries”, WQXR’s “First Hearing”, and other radio programs. She has contributed articles to publications including the New York Times, Opera News, Gramophone, BBC Music, and Ms, and to books including The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, The Compleat Mozart, and the Metropolitan Opera Guide to Opera on Video. She has also been a contributing writer for PBS’s Metropolitan Opera Presents TV series.
(July 2011)
Links
VIDEO - Julius Rudel: Cori Ellison talks about the remarkable career of Julius Rudel.
VIDEO - Martina Arroyo: Cori Ellison talks about the career and influence of soprano Martina Arroyo, 2010 NEA Opera Honors recipient.
TRANSCRIPT: Met Opera Broadcast Intermission Feature: The Valkyries - "Those Ill-Mannered Girls"