ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾

NEA chairman to attend opera premiere at ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾

An audience including Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, is expected at ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾ tomorrow night for the world premiere of The Scarlet Letter opera.

Acclaimed American composer Lori Laitman has teamed up with award-winning American poet David Mason to create the opera, an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary masterpiece, which was commissioned by ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾.

“ ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾ will be one of the few universities — maybe the only one — in America during 2008 to have a first performance of a newly composed opera,” said Dr. Rollin Potter, dean of ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾’s College of Fine Arts and Communication. “This is a major artistic accomplishment, not only for our campus, but for the State of Arkansas as well.”

The premiere will take place on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾. An educational presentation of selected scenes along with a composer’s talk by Laitman is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, also at Reynolds. The second full performance will be at Reynolds at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9.

Tickets for the full performances are $20 for the general public, $10 for ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾ faculty and staff, $5 for non- ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾ students and free to ÿÈÕ´óÈüÍøÕ¾ students with I.D. as part of the University