Madison, Wis. – Madison Opera has announced the company’s 56th season, which will feature a Midwest premiere and two returning classics. It opens in November with Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet, followed in February by the Midwest premiere of Daniel Schnyder’s Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, and in April by Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

“I am so proud of this season,” says Kathryn Smith, Madison Opera’s General Director. “These operas span 224 years and two continents. We have a classic tragedy, the story of a modern jazz master, and one of the most famous operas in history. What they have in common is that they are enthralling stories set to glorious music, which is exactly what makes us fall in love with opera.”

Charles Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet starts the season in November in Overture Hall. The operatic telling of Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers premiered in 1867 in Paris and features soaring arias, impassioned love scenes, and plenty of sword fights. Returning to Madison Opera are Emily Birsan (La Bohème) as Juliet, John Irvin (The Barber of Seville) as Romeo, and Liam Moran (La Bohème) as Frère Laurent. In their debuts are Sidney Outlaw as Mercutio and Stephanie Lauricella as Stephano. Doug Scholz-Carlson (The Barber of the Seville) directs this traditional production, with John DeMain conducting.

The season continues in February with the Midwest premiere of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird by Daniel Schnyder in the Capitol Theater. As his body lies unclaimed in the morgue, saxophone great Charlie Parker returns in spirit to the jazz club Birdland, determined to compose a final masterpiece. Family and friends blend in and out of his memories in an acclaimed new opera that tells of his tortured, brilliant life “with a pulsing, jazz-infused score” (The New York Times). Charlie Parker’s Yardbird premiered in 2015 in Philadelphia to wide acclaim; Madison Opera will be only the second opera company to present this opera and will be partnering with other entities to present an array of related activities in the months leading up to the production.

The cast features both debuts and returning artists, including many who were involved in the world premiere of the opera. Debuting with Madison Opera is Joshua Stewart as Charlie Parker; Angela Brown as his mother, Addie Parker; Rachel Sterrenberg as Chan Parker, his third wife; Krysty Swann as Rachel Parker, his first wife; and Julie Miller as the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter (“Nica”), in whose hotel room Parker died. Returning to Madison Opera in roles they sang in the premiere are Will Liverman (The Barber of Seville) as Dizzy Gillespie and Angela Mortellaro (Acis & Galatea) as Doris Parker, Charlie’s second wife. Ron Daniels makes his debut directing the production he premiered in Philadelphia; John DeMain conducts.