2025 “La traviata” Tickets go on sale on Nov 16!
The Seiji Ozawa Music Academy is happy to announce its opera performances and tickets information for the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project XXI Verdi: La Traviata, for March 2025 in Kyoto and Tokyo.
For its 21st Opera Project, the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy presents Verdi’s timeless masterpiece, La Traviata. Set in the glamorous society of 19th century Paris, it tells the unrequited love and sad fate of Violetta and Alfredo. With iconic pieces such as the “Brindisi / A Drinking Song”, “Libiamo / Let’s Drink from The Joyful Cups,” and “Sempre Libera / Always Free,” it stands truly a shining masterpiece in the history of opera.
La Traviata will be conducted by Maestro Diego Matheuz, Principal Conductor of the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, who has extensive experience conducting this opera, having previously served as Principal Conductor at the Teatro La Fenice in Italy, where La Traviata was first performed. The Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra comprised of young musicians selected through competitive auditions from Japan and other Asian countries, will perform under the dedicated guidance of Associate Director Sadao Harada and members of the Saito Kinen Orchestra, fostering significant growth in their artistry.
The production will be newly directed by David Kneuss, Artistic Director of the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, with set and costume design by Robert Perdziola. Both Kneuss and Perdziola studied under the legendary Franco Zeffirelli and have worked together on many successful productions.
The cast includes Nina Minasyan, a renowned Armenian soprano highly praised for her portrayal of Violetta in theaters across Europe, and Kang Wang, a rising Australian-Chinese tenor in the role of Alfredo. The role of Germont will be sung by the distinguished Verdi baritone Quinn Kelsey, whose performances in The Cunning Little Vixen (2008) and Falstaff (2014) at the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto are fondly remembered by many. Megan Marino will appear as Flora, and Martin Bakari as Gastone. In addition, Mayumi Makino, Soshiro Ide, Hidekazu Machi, and Teppei Kono, who have previously participated in the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project as soloists and cover cast members, will also join the ensemble.
For the first time, the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy is inviting Donald Palumbo, the long-time chorus master of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, to enhance the educational aspects of the project, focusing on choral performance.
We invite you to look forward to this new production of La traviata, presented by the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project.
The tickets for the Kyoto and Tokyo performances will be on sale starting Saturday November 16, 2024. We offer a range of tickets from S to C categories. In addition to the popular U25 tickets (for those under 25 years old: ¥3,000) and U39 tickets (for those under 39 years old: ¥10,000), we are introducing the new “Adult + Child Special Opera Ticket,” which allows an adult and a child (elementary school or junior high school student) to sit together at a discounted rate. These special tickets are designed to encourage a wider range of ages to experience the art of opera. All ticket types will be sold in limited quantities.
Aditionally, we will also offer “Opera for Children” performances (free admission, not open to the public) both in Kyoto, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, and in Tokyo, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan.