The Yale Baroque Opera Project presents, Dido and Aeneas

Yale Baroque Opera Project
Dido and Aeneas

This spring Yale Baroque Opera Project returns to present Henry Purcell’s, Dido and Aeneas in a new production!

In an opera first performed at an English girl’s school in 1689 (and maybe earlier at Charles II’s court), composer Henry Purcell and librettist Nahum Tate retell Virgil’s love story of Dido, queen of Carthage, and the Trojan hero Aeneas. A new prologue by directors Grant Herreid and Toni Dorfman, with music by Purcell and Francesco Cavalli, recounts Aeneas’ escape from the ruins of Troy, the Trojans’ sea voyage across the Mediterranean toward Italy, their shipwreck on the Carthaginian coast, and their gracious, poignant welcome by Dido and her ladies. 

Seventeen undergraduate singers, accompanied by a band of period instruments led by Herreid, bring the extraordinary music of Dido and Aeneas to life. Two performances only. Admission is free.


Friday, April 26 at 7:30PM
Sunday, April 28 at 3 PM

The opera will be performed in English with English supertitles. 

Music Director: Grant Herreid
Stage Director: Toni Dorfman

Ellen Rosand, Executive Director  |  Grant Herreid, Artistic Director

The Yale Baroque Opera Project (YBOP) was founded in 2007 to introduce Yale students to historical and aesthetic studies related to Italian opera from the 17th and early 18th centuries. Each year, Yale undergraduates audition and enroll in a course that culminates in a fully staged production of a baroque opera. After months of music coaching and staging rehearsals, students have the unique opportunity to perform in a professionally directed and designed production at the University Theater in New Haven, Connecticut.

YBOP was originally funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through a Distinguished Achievement Award granted to Ellen Rosand, George A. Saden Professor Emeritus of Music at Yale University.

For all inquiries, please contact: 

Performance Dates & Times

April 26, 2024 - 7:30pm

April 28, 2024 - 3:00pm

Location

University Theatre

Venue Accessibility: 
Lobby, orchestra level seating, and facilities are accessible via a ramp at the front of the building. Balcony level seating requires the use of stairs.

Performers

Aeneas
Weston Kerekes
Iloneus
Sailor
Sorcress
4th Trojan
3rd Trojan
Logan Foy
2nd Witch
1st Trojan
2rd Woman
Spirit
Alistair Lam
4th Woman
Belinda
1st Witch
2nd Woman

Production Team

Musical Director
Set Designer
Marcelo Martinez Garcia
Costume Designer
Herin Kaputkin
Lighting Designer
David DeCarolis
Projections Designer
Benji Arrigo