Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts stages Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”

Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts presents Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” April 27-May 9, in Center City, the Main Line and Bucks County.

This is the final production of AVA’s 2022/23 opera season. “Don Giovanni” is considered to be one of Mozart’s most famous operas, and is a comic and tragic masterpiece. It is also widely regarded as the first grand opera ever performed in Philadelphia, debuting at The Chestnut Street Theater in 1818.

The devilish Don pursues women all over Europe, leaving a trail of broken hearts and shattered lives. A ghostly encounter ensures that this devil gets his due.

AVA first presented “Don Giovanni” in 1986-87 and continued with performances in 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2015, which featured many alumni who have gone on to significant professional careers. AVA’s last production in 2015 featured now-rising international opera stars André Courville, Meryl Dominquez, Jorge Espino, Jonas Hacker, Daniel Noyola, Anthony Schneider, Vanessa Vasquez, Ethan Vincent, and Allegra de Vita, among others.

This production features a special addition – alumnus Griffen Hogan Tracy (AVA ‘22) returns to the AVA stage to sing the role of the Commendatore. Griffen has been seen in previous AVA productions as Colline in “La bohème,” Gremin in “Eugene Onegin,” and Antonio in “Le nozze di Figaro.”

This production will also feature Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition National Semifinalists Yihan Duan and Sahel Salem.

Performances will take place:

·April 27 and 29, and May 2, at AVA’s Helen Corning Warden Theater, 1920 Spruce St., Philadelphia;

·May 4 (Young Professionals performance), at AVA’s Helen Corning Warden Theater;

·May 6, at Central Bucks South High School, 1100 Folly Road, Warrington; and

·May 9, at The Haverford School’s Centennial Hall, 450 Lancaster Ave., Haverford.

To purchase tickets, call 215-735-1685 or visit https://avaopera.org/event/don-giovanni-4.

All performances at are at 7:30 p.m., sung in Italian with English supertitles.

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