“A Journey of the Human Spirit”

In a landmark collaboration, five of Colorado’s leading arts and cultural organizations are coming together in a production that represents what they believe is the true spirit behind the arts: community.

“A Journey of the Human Spirit,” to be performed at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 16 and 17 at the University of Denver’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts, is an evening of instrumental music, opera and dance. The program offers two new works: the regional premiere of Viktor Ullmann’s opera, “The Emperor… Show more of Atlantis,” and Garrett Ammon’s world premiere dance to set to “From Darkness to Light,” an original composition by Colorado College Music Professor Ofer Ben-Amots.

Ben-Amots is an internationally acclaimed, Israeli-born composer whose work is performed regularly in concert halls and festivals worldwide. His “From Darkness to Light” is a complex celebration of the best of humanity, and fittingly concludes “A Journey of the Human Spirit” on a note of light and hope.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to create a new contemporary ballet around the world premiere arrangement of this wonderful work,” said Garrett Ammon, artistic director, Ballet Nouveau Colorado.

The collaborative production began as a conversation between Colorado Public Radio classical music host Monika Vischer, and Mizel Arts and Culture Center /JCC chief executive officer Stuart Raynor, both of whom were committed to presenting music of the Holocaust era and ensuring that these voices and lessons would be heard.

During the three-part evening of music and dance, attendees follow the human journey from the pre-Holocaust era, through the struggle against adversity and suffering, to an era of rebalancing and hope. The journey is undertaken through dance, opera and klezmer music, an Eastern European tradition celebrating life and happier times. This klezmer music leads the audience into the opera and is heard throughout the evening, specifically in “From Darkness to Light.”

The opera portion of the evening features “The Emperor of Atlantis,” a thinly-veiled satirical opera about Hitler. The piece was written by composer Viktor Ullmann and librettist Peter Kien while they were imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp/ghetto in 1943. The opera, which exposes the darkest underbelly of humanity and demonstrates humanity’s struggle and suffering during the Holocaust, will be directed by Ted Huffman with choreography by Zack Winokur and music by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Yaacov Bergman with mandolin soloist Avi Avital.

A new work of dance, seamlessly integrated at the end of the opera, rounds out the experience. Choreographed by BNC’s Ammon and set to original music by Ben-Amots, the piece combines eastern European Jewish folk themes with an uplifting modern dynamic. Ben-Amots’ “From Darkness to Light” is a perfect juxtaposition to the “Emperor of Atlantis.”

“This timely project provides an opportunity to honor those who have endured great struggles before us. Even in the darkest of times they were able to create community through art; this is truly something to celebrate,” Ammon said.

This unprecedented collaboration is presented by Central City Opera, The Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Mizel Arts and Culture Center (MACC) and Newman Center Presents.

Event details
WHAT: “A Journey of the Human Spirit”
WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 16-17, 2013
WHERE: The June Swaner Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, University of Denver, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver
TICKETS: $33-$78; available at www.newmantix.com; at the Newman Center Box Office, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver, CO 80210; or via phone (303) 871-7715. Student and senior citizen discounts available.
RADIO: Colorado Public Radio will broadcast the “The Emperor of Atlantis” live at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 16 and online at cpr.org


About Colorado College
Colorado College is a nationally prominent, four-year liberal arts college that was founded in Colorado Springs in 1874. The college operates on the innovative Block Plan, in which its approximately 2,000 undergraduate students study one course at a time in intensive 3½-week segments. The college also offers a master of arts in teaching degree. For more information, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu <http://www.ColoradoCollege.edu>.

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