Grace Heldridge
Schedule
Recent Highlights
Description
With music by Matthew Peterson and libretto by Jason Zencka, Voir Dire is adapted from various court cases witnessed by the librettist during his time as a crime reporter in hidden, small-town America. This chamber opera, directed by Associate Professor David Gately and guest conducted by Viswa Subbaraman, takes place in a courtroom and plays out in a series of colorful and provocative vignettes that give audiences an insider’s look into the dark, uncomfortable, and often bizarre world of legal drama. Drug abuse, fractured families, economic precarity, and sexual violence collide with a justice system unequipped to account for the human element.
Grace Heldridge
Performer
Dates
Description
Come to the forest and be magically swept away in a midsummer’s night. Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears adapted this opera’s libretto from Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, telling its story of dreams and desires. A quartet of young lovers find themselves lost in the magical woods, a land ruled by the fairies. Puck, the mischievous fairy, makes two men fall in love with the same woman. The lovers explore the forest, pursuing each other while Puck helps his master, Oberon, play a trick on the fairy queen, Titania. Conductor Andrew Bisantz and director David Gately transform the recently renovated Huntington stage into the woods of a midsummer’s night.
Grace Heldridge
Hermia
Dates
Description
The 2024 Studio Artist Program will present two performances of Rappahannock County which pairs the outstanding and celebrated talents of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Mark Campbell. Rappahannock County is a theatrical song cycle that captures key emotional, sociological, and historical moments in the Civil War. Much of the text was inspired by actual events and drawn from diaries, letters, and other accounts. The narrative follows the lines of history, from secession in 1861 to defeat in 1865, and is in five parts. Although the story is centered geographically in Virginia, its themes are universal to the Civil War. It is described as such by Wes Blomster of Opera Today: “The piece has the sense of a lens closing in on a spectrum of individuals and their feelings around slavery and morality in a profound and poignant way…’ Opera Maine’s production will premiere a special score composed for two pianos.
Grace Heldridge
Performer
Dates
Biography
Grace Heldridge
Grace Heldridge, a mezzo-soprano from Omaha, NE and recent graduate of Boston Conservatory at Berklee (MM OP ‘23) returns to BCB as a PSC candidate. Credits include Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), L’étoile (Lazuli), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), As One (Hannah), Albert Herring (Nancy), La Clemenza di Tito (Annio) and Voir Dire (Judge). Recent concerts include Ravel’s Shéhérazade — Brookline Symphony Orchestra, and Bach’s Cantata 140 — Trinity Choir. In May, she performs as the Alto Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem — Glens Falls Symphony & premieres a new work with Catalyst New Music in Boston. This summer, Grace joins Opera Maine’s season as a Studio Artist, performing the mezzo role in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Rappahannock County. Last summer, as an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, Grace covered Lois Lane (Kiss Me, Kate) and performed in the chorus of Romeo et Juliette, Otello & Kiss Me, Kate. She spent two summers at Seagle Festival, performing in Hello, Dolly! (Dolly), The Fantasticks (Bellomy), and Cendrillon (Dorothee) as well as Orlofsky & Dorabella in scenes. Grace graduated from University of Kansas in 2021, where she performed in Giulio Cesare (Sesto) and won the Haven Preyer Award for voice. She received the Cady Young Artist Award at Central City Opera, and was a 2021 MONC Tulsa Encouragement Award.
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Press Quotes