Lewis and Clark opera on stage at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center

While Lewis and Clark’s adventures took them from the east to the west, a University of Missouri-Columbia commissioned musical drama will take an artistic interpretation of the team’s expedition from west to east. In honor of the national bicentennial of that expedition, MU’s Show-Me Opera will perform a concert version of Act 1 from Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey, at 5:30 p.m., March 23, 2002, at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City and at 6 p.m., March 26, 2002, on the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Before being performed at Carnegie Hall, excerpts from the musical drama will be performed at the Missouri Governor’s Mansion in March 2002. On Jan. 16, 2003, the MU company will perform excerpts from the musical drama in concert at Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville as a Lewis and Clark bicentennial Signature Event. MU Show-Me Opera will present the world premiere of Corps of Discovery, A Musical Journey, May 2, 3 and 4, 2003, at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia. This premiere will be a collaboration between MU’s School of Music and the Department of Theatre.

"Not only do the MU students get to work with a composer and librettist, learn an original work and perform the premiere in Columbia, they also will have exciting opportunities to present this musical drama at prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia-Charlottesville," said Pamela Legendre, assistant professor of Music and director of Show-Me Opera.

In the fall of 2003, the musical drama also will be available in shortened form for smaller venues, particularly for schools. The 45-minute version will feature four to six characters. Curriculum guides and other educational material including a CD-ROM also will be available. After the premiere performance, universities and professional opera and theatre companies will be able to rent MU’s sets and costumes for their own productions. Vocal and orchestral scores will be available by arrangement through MU and the composer.

The general public is invited to attend the musical drama’s upcoming performance at both Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. For Carnegie Hall, tickets for reserved seating are available through MU’s College of Arts and Science Advancement office at 800-430-2966. The Kennedy Center performance is free and open to the public.

Additional links:

School of Music
College of Arts and Science Advancement

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