Alexander the Great in Egypt

Egypt – In front of the Great Pyramids

In 332 BCE, in Egypt, the most dazzling and spectacular celebration of any kind to the known world is taking place. Countless royal ships are crossing the Nile and they are approaching the Great Pyramids. Alexander is named Pharaoh in front of a cheering crowd that names him liberator. The Egyptian Priests adorn Alexander with two golden horns and the crowd celebrates him as the son of Ammon Zeus. Alexander has reached the peak of his glory.

Egyptians: Here comes Alexander; Alexander, liberator of Egypt, welcome.

Mazakes: King Alexander, I bestow Egypt to you.

Alexander: And because the gods brought me here, I will build a great city here.

Mazakes: And where are you going to build this city, Alexander?

Alexander: At the delta of the Nile River; Alexandria… did you here Dinocratus?

Dinocratus: It will be the brightest harbor across the Mediterranean.

Ptolemy: Alexander, king of Egypt, let me stay here.

Alexander: Ptolemy, I need you with me, but as soon as this campaign is over, Egypt will be yours.

Ptolemy: I thank you, my king.

Psammon: Alexander, son of Ammon Zeus, the Emerald Board of the Glorious Hermes. Whoever is looking for it, must not stop before he finds it; and when he finds it, he will be stunned; and when he is stunned, he will be astounded and he will rule the universe.

Alexander: I will send this knowledge to my teacher Aristotle, along with the secrets of the peoples of Atlantis.

Psammon: The people of Egypt christen you Pharaoh Alexander.

Egyptians: Glory to Egypt’s Pharaoh Alexander.....

ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN NEW YORK

Music Festival 2009 at the Stathakion Center

SUNDAY, JUNE 28th 2009
THE EPIC OPERA “ALEXANDER THE GREAT” OF PANAYOTI KAROUSOS

Astoria Symphony Orchestra conducted by Grant Gilman
Elspeth Davis mezzo soprano: OlympiasNathan Baer bass: King Philip, AristotleMary Mackenzie soprano: Cleopatra, Roxana

The long anticipated epic of Greek-Canadian neo-classical composer Panayoti Karousos opens with the famous enthronement scene of Alexander the Great and introduces his famous parents, King Phillip II of Macedonia and Queen Olympias of Epirus. Under the baton of conductor Grant Gilman, all the famous events of this Greek era will come alive with the larger than life personalities of Aristotle, Isokrates and Demosthenes. During the production, events and battles of Alexander’s extraordinary battle against the Persians will unfold. There are the grand scenes of the crowning of Alexander as Pharaoh in Egypt, the battles of Gaugamela, the Indian campaigns, the royal weddings at Susa and finally the death of the Great Macedonian general.

This presentation of visionary composer Panayoti Karousos is destined to be a new opera classic. Parts and highlights of the opera will be presented at the Stathakion Center in Astoria, Queens as a preview, for the full opera is anticipated to debut next year in Carnegie Hall. (http://www.karousosonline.com/ )

The opera will be performed by the Astoria Symphony Orchestra and soloists conducted by Grant Gilman: It will also feature special guests, Phoenix Reign, who will perform their two epics, The Odyssey and The Legend of Alexander with the symphony. Stage costumes and re-enactors will be provided courtesy of Peter Giakoumis and The Alexander The Great Living History Society.

Event will be co-hosted by Byzantine Crown Productions with a special multimedia presentation featuring Greek artist, Iannis Nikou. Mr. Nikou’s Alexander the Great paintings will be gracing the concert program. (http://www.iannisnikou.gr/ )

Music Festival 2009 live at the Stathakion Center is brought to you by
The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York Inc
22-51 29th St
Astoria, NY 11105
http://www.hellenicsocieties.org/

STATHAKION CENTER 22-51 29th Street Astoria, NY 11105 Tel: (718) 204-6500 E-mail: hellenicfedny@yahoo.com Web: http://www.hellenicsocieties.org/

NEW YORK CAST - Alexander the Great

Tytus Abrahamson, tenor (Alexander the Great)
Tenor Tytus Abrahamson has performed with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Palm Beach Opera where he was a member of the Resident Artist Program. Most recently his credits include The Father in Encompass Opera’s World Premier of I Tre Compagni. His performance credits also include the role of Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with the Liederkranz Opera Theatre, Von Asterberg in The Student Prince with Gold Coast opera, Vašek in The Bartered Bride with the University of Kansas Opera, Oliver Hix (Barbershop Quartet member) in The Music Man! with the New Theatre (Overland Park, KS) and Will Parker in the Central Missouri Repertory Theatre’s (Warrensburg, MO) production of Oklahoma!
A graduate in voice from the University of Kansas, Mr. Abrahamson is also a trained ballet dancer with eight years of training at the American School of Dance and the University of Kansas. While at the University, he danced the role of Dream Curly in their production of Oklahoma!
Mr. Abrahamson has worked with artists such as Joyce Castle, Kamal Khan and Ward Holmquist.
Elspeth Davis, mezzo (High Priestess Queen Olympias)Mezzo-soprano Elspeth Davis was born in the town of Seneca, South Carolina. She graduated with a Masters of Music degree in the studio of Stanley Cornett at the Peabody Institute, where she was a Peabody Merit Scholarship recipient. At Peabody, Ms. Davis has performed the role of Mme. de la Haltiere in Massenet's Cendrillon, of which Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun wrote " [she is] a deliciously wicked stepmother…her singing was as colorful as her acting." With the Baltimore Theatre Project she performed the role of the Second Nurse in Henry Mollicone's Hotel Eden. She also starred in Peabody Opera's premiere production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt. In March of 2007, she returned to the school as a guest artist in the role of Nicklausse/La Muse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
She is a founding member of the Harbor Opera Company, for which she has sung the roles of The Announcer in Gallantry, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, and The Faithful Seductress in the new chamber opera Ophelia Forever. Recent engagements include the role of Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict by Hector Berlioz, an artist-in-residency with The Canton Symphony in Ohio, Praskowia/Clo-Clo in The Merry Widow for The Liederkranz Foundation, and Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon. Upcoming engagements include Nancy (cover) at The Liederkranz as well as Britten's Phaedra with The Astoria Symphony. No stranger to the stage, Ms. Davis has also performed the roles of Papagena, Suor Genovieffa, Cookie (in Milton Granger's Talk Opera), Percy Talbot (in The Spitfire Grill, for which she received an Irene Ryan nomination), and Gianetta in the Operafestival di Roma's production of L'Elisir d'Amore. In 2002, Ms. Davis was a member of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center. In 2004 she was a member of College Light Opera Company in Cape Cod, where she performed the roles of The Fairy Queen (Iolanthe), Virginella (La Perichole), Dame Carruthers (Yeomen of the Guard), Nettie Fowler (Carousel), Mme. Matroppo (Very Good Eddie), and The Witch (Into the Woods). As an actor Ms. Davis has appeared as Mariane (Tartuffe), Dunyasha (The Cherry Orchard), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Billie (Haiku), and The Girl in Veronica's Room, as well as readings of new works for the New Play Festival in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Mary Mackenzie, soprano (Roxana – Cleopatra)Equally comfortable with classical and contemporary repertoire, soprano Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie has captured the attention of audiences in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Wisconsin. She has won praise for her clear and flexible voice, as well as her extraordinary musicianship and fearless interpretation of contemporary music.Mary attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where she appeared as Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), and Beth (Little Women). She was the first singer in 14 years to win the school's concerto competition, which resulted in a performance of Mozart's Exultate Jubilate with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. In 2005, Mary moved to New York City to pursue a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. While in New York, she appeared as Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), and concert appearances included Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and Faure's Requiem. She also appeared as The Youth in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, and as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.Recent awards include second place in Manhattan School of Music's Eisenberg-Fried Vocal Concerto Competition with Britten's Les Illuminations and co-winner of Wisconsin Public Radio's Neale-Silva Young Artists' Competition.A passionate performer of contemporary music, Ms. Mackenzie has worked closely with composers Richard Danielpour and John Harbison. In 2007, she was invited by John Harbison to perform at his Token Creek Music Festival, and performed Three Sacred Songs by James Primosch, and premiered selections from Harbison's new anthology of pop songs, Songs after Hours. She was also the featured performer in a special concert at Manhattan School of Music, Compositional Mentors, Students, and Performers: Exploring the Legacy of Music, which showcased Richard Danielpour's Sonnets to Orpheus, Book I, as well as two new song cycles written by his students for Ms. Mackenzie. Mary also enjoys collaborating with young, up-and-coming composers, and has premiered works by Christopher Cerrone (Averno, Drei Rilke Lieder), Michael DiGiacinto (Songs on Living), Nathan Hetherington (Insensibility), John Frantzen (Four Frost Songs), and Wang Jie (Nannan, Swamp's Shore, The Animal Carnival). She recently appeared in A Day of South African Music performing the U.S. premiere of works by Robert Fokkens and Hendrik Hofmeyr, and also made her Carnegie Hall debut in New Music, New Ireland, New York: A Showcase of Contemporary Irish Composers.In 2008, Mary will appear with the Red Light New Music Ensemble, performing Luciano Berio's O King, and the U.S. premiere of Tiziano Manca's Deux epigrammes amoureuse et une intimation. She will also appear at The Kimmel Center, in Philadelphia, PA, performing a program of songs by James Primosch. This summer, Mary will attend the Ravinia Steans Institute for Young Artists in Chicago, Il.
Eric Keller, bass-baritone (King Philip - Ptolemy - High Priest)
A native of Florida, Bass-baritone Eric Keller attended Florida Southern College for his undergraduate degree in Music Education, and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Music in St. Petersburg, Russia for his graduate degree in Vocal Performance. Mr. Keller then became a member of the Internationales Opernstudio at Opernhaus Zürich where he sang the roles of Mr. Budd in Albert Herring, Masetto in Don Giovanni and Angelotti in Tosca. Other roles include Luther in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto and Hans Foltz in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Staatstheater Nürnberg, and Zuniga in Carmen at the Bad Hersfeld Open Air Opera Festival in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. He has also performed concerts in Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Holland, Ireland and the UK.

Grant Gilman, conductor
Grant Gilman is enjoying a successful beginning to a very promising career as a conductor. In addition to his positions as Music Director with the Harbor Opera Company and Resident Conductor with the Astoria Symphony in New York City, Mr. Gilman was recently appointed Director of Orchestral studies at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. These positions have and will continue to give Mr. Gilman an outlet to share his highly moving and inspiring performances with audiences all along the east coast.
Mr. Gilman began his conducting studies while growing up in San Antonio, and continued when he gained acceptance into the studio of Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar at the prestigious Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
In addition to his conducting, Mr. Gilman is a highly regarded educator. Mr. Gilman has not only spent time teaching with the Virginia Youth Symphony Orchestra, Hampton Roads Chamber Players (VA), and the Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (NJ) , but his summers allow him to work with the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio Summer String Camp, where he continues to receive high acclaim for his unique and in-depth teaching style that produces exceptional concerts from young musicians.
Living in Norfolk, VA, with his wife, Kim, who is currently 4th horn with the Virginia Symphony, Mr. Gilman enjoys his non-musical free-time jogging, reading philosophy, and developing web design.

Alexander the Great in Acropolis of Athens

Alexander the Great in Acropolis of Athens

Libretto by Panayoti Karousos

ACT 1
Scene 1
The Athens Acropolis; in front of the Parthenon temple

The Athenians are meeting to discuss the future of their city-state after their defeat from the Macedonians in the battle of Chaeronea in 339 BCE. King Philip II of Macedon has created the strongest city-state of that time and one by one the rest of the city-states succumb to the Macedonian Dynasty’s superiority which expands throughout the Balkans to the Danube River. Behind his political ideas of expansion, King Philip II underlining plan calls for the unification of all Greek city-states against the Persians and ultimately the freeing of all Greek city-states and colonies in Asia Minor. The Athenians, who up to that point were dominating the Hellenistic world, are afraid that Philip II’s plan will lead to the loss of control of the colonies, their freedom and eventually the end of democracy of which they are so proud. Demosthenes, the orator, is futilely trying to instill an anti-Macedonian approach to the events, but he has to face a strong pro-Macedonian opposition.

Demosthenes: Oh! Men of Athens, we are in great danger from Philip II and the barbarians Macedonians who worst than the Centaurs and the Laestrygones are coming to demolish our democracy. And what are you doing for this? You are honoring them by sculpting busts! Death to the monarchs, death to the kings! Long live the democracy.

Isocrates: Oh! Men of Athens, the war against the barbarians and the Persian Empire will establish peace and unity within all the Greek city-states. I call for Philip II to imitate the Labors of Heracles and I assure you that he will be honored as a God.

Aeschines: Oh! Men of Athens, we need Philip II and the Macedonians to unite the Greeks against the Persians.

Demosthenes: Unity of the Greeks, yes, but under the Athenian and not the Macedonian terms.

Aeschines: Philip II is Greek and like another Pericles he is building in Pella.

Demosthenes: Philip will never be able to make ‘another’ Athens because we are the ideal city-state that Plato described.

Isocrates: Will we wait for the king’s messengers to arrive and ask for earth and water like when they were thrown off the cliff thus uniting Sparta and Athens? The most qualified man now is Philip and only with Philip the war against the Great King will look more like a triumph.

Demosthenes: If Philip will be the army’s general, only under the Athenian supremacy which hopes for a peaceful existence with the Persians. Let us stop this Ixion-like vertigo.

Aeschines: It is from that vertigo that Centaur was born.

Isocrates: How can the Greeks put up with the barbarians Persians pretending to be the guardians of peace in Greece and of the powerless Athens and Sparta while Greece can independently perform miracles the likes of which are the answers of prayers to Gods?

Demosthenes: Athenians, do not listen to what they say; they have been paid by Philip to say these things.

Aeschines: You are the one who received payment from the Persians and while a short time ago you cowardly bowed in front of Alexander in Chaeronea, now, Demosthenes you speak against Philip.

Isocrates: Alexander and the Macedonians are coming.

Demosthenes: The Margites[1].

Aeschines: Be careful not to kneel again in front of him as a slave and not as a free supporter of the Athenian Democracy.

Demosthenes: You are going to pay for this, Aeschines.

Isocrates: Let us all be quiet. Alexander has arrived.

Athenians: Alexander of Macedon! Like Themistocles, like Leonidas, now the Macedonians bring glory to the Greeks.

Alexander: Oh! Men of Athens, I bring you the ashes of the Athenians who fall in the battle of Chaeronea.

Demosthenes: Honor to the dead Athenian heroes.

Athenians: Honor to all Athenians.

Isocrates: Alexander, we thank you and your father Philip II for bringing the ashes of our citizens and also for respecting Athens.

Alexander: As long as I am alive, no mortal will come against Athens, the city of Plato and Socrates and of my dearest teacher Aristotle. I am Greek, too, and for the rights of Greeks I am fighting.

Athenians: Like Themistocles, like Leonidas, now the Macedonians bring glory to the Greeks.

Alexander: Demosthenes, when you left the battle, you forgot your shield behind.

Athenians: (they laugh)

Isocrates: All the Athenians next to the Macedonians they are.

Alexander: All the Greeks who come together and these, who stay apart, will be dedicated to Apollo.

Athenians: All the Greeks who come together and these, who stay apart, will be dedicated to the Delphi King; all these who are against the fight for freedom.

Alexander: Oh! Goddess Athena, may your temple’s columns strengthen us during our fight! Goddess Athena, help us.
Athenians: Like Themistocles, like Leonidas, now the Macedonians bring glory to the Greeks.
Translator’s note: Name of a person; here is used metaphorically to indicate a stupid person who does not know who his parents are.

Panayoti Karousos

Paean of Alexander the Great

Paean of Alexander the Great

Of the Macedonians, great hero
Of everyone, supreme bravery
With the Grecian torch, you brought
Glory in Asia

And in front of the Olympian god
Discarded and silent
She gave you her pure white breasts
Welcoming you as a liberator

In the heart of the paradise
In the secret altar of memory
You lit the flame that will always stay lit
Of brotherhood and peace

And the tragic humanity calls
From the Parthenon to the entire world
We stand thunderstruck, Alexander the Great
Immortal in dreams and in soul

Panayoti Karousos

'Alexander, King of the Hellenes' Monastery, Mt. Athos, Greece

Alexander The Great in Montreal

Alexander the Great by Panayoti Karousos

Donald Lavergne ténor: Alexandre le Grand

Sophie Laganière dramatic-mezzo: Olympias

Aldéo Jean ténor: Hephaistion

Chantal Parent soprano: Roxane, Cleopatra

Johanne Patry Alto: Sisygambis, Thessalonique, Barsine

Jacques Corman basse : Antipatros, Isocrate, Psamon

Réal Robitaille baryton: Philippe, Démosthène, Ptolémée, Aristote

Pierre Dufourd basse: Aeschine, Jadduas, Porus

Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunes Laval-Laurentides diriger par André Gauthier

Sung in French

Montreal Notre Dame Basilica 20 October 2007 - Canada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI_mRPyzvys

CONNECTICUT CAST

MidWest Symphony Orchestra conducted by Madeline Tsai

Madeline Tsai, conductor
Conductor, percussionist and organist, Ms. Tsai has served as director of music at Six Mile Run Reformed Church in Franklin Park, New Jersey since 2006. A native of Taiwan, Ms. Tsai earned her FBA from Taipei National University of the Arts. She graduated from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in 2008, where she majored in Conducting and Sacred Music, with organ as her primary instrument. In 2001 and 2002, she represented Taiwan as the main percussionist and soloist for the World Youth Choir performing in North and South America. She has also worked with the National Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Choir, Ju Percussion Group, Chinsui Choir, and Yinqi Orchestra and Choir. While at Westminster, she was invited to the Spoleto music Festival in USA in 2005 and 2006.Ms. Tsai won numbers awards including the GuanDu Music Competition and Second Prize for A Cappella in Asia in 2003. Previously she conducted the Scout Children Choir and Linnan Church Choir, and taught piano and percussion at the Fu-Shing private middle school in Taiwan. She has studied conducting with Maestro Ken Kiesler, Mr. Timothy Brown, Dr. Joe Miller, Dr. Andrew Megill, Dr. James Jordan among the others, and is an organ pupil of Ken Cowan. Madeline served as accompanist for Westminster’s Bach Festival (summer 2007). She was accompanist for Princeton Girlchoir Cantores and Grace Notes in 2006. Ms. Tsai was invitied to Conductors Retreat at Medomak with Maestro. Ken Kiesler in 2008.

Lance Keizer, tenor
Lance Keizer (Chaplain), a native of Montreal, Québec, Canada, is a second year graduate student earning a Master of Music in Voice Pedagogy and Performance (performance) at Westminster Choir College, where he currently studies with Dr. Scott McCoy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in voice performance from McGill University in Montreal, Québec. Mr. Keizer has performed the roles of Franz and Cochenille in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann with Summer Opera Lyric Theater in Toronto, Ontario (2006), La Théière and Le Petit Vieillard in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, Anatol in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa and Le Brazillien in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne with Opera McGill (2007). Mr. Keizer reprised the role of Le Petit Vieillard in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (November, 2007) with Westminster Opera Theater and performed in the opera chorus for Westminster Opera Theater’s production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (April, 2008). He made his debut performance last year with the Princeton Musical Amateurs Society performing the tenor solo for Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor. Lance Keizer recently made his debut as L’Aumônier in Westminster Opera Theater’s production of Poulenc Dialogues des Carmelites. (April 2009)

Crystal A. Charles, mezzo
Crystal A. Charles is from Jersey City, New Jersey and is a senior voice performance major at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. She performed with the Westminster Opera Theater chorus in La Clemenza di Tito. She was also cast as Captive Girl in Amistad at Spoleto Festival USA, and Ada in the musical Hosea! with the Salvation Army. Crystal also performed in William Shakespeare's Pericles Prince of Tyre as Bawd. She has also performed as Mère Marie in the Poulenc Opera, Dialogues des Carmelites. She is currently a student of Dr. Lindsey Christiansen.

Ashley Yin-Hsuan Chen, cellist
Born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Miss Chen started to play piano at the age of 5 and cello at the age of 10. She was cello principal both in the Taipei university of the arts symphony orchestra and string orchestra, Hunter college symphony orchestra, Voice of spring symphony orchestra, member of Evergreen symphony orchestra and Taipei Sinfonietta & Philharmonic orchestra and performed in St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia with conductor Alexander Rudin in 2004. She joined the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in the summer of 2006 and toured in Europe with conductors Christoph Eschenbach and Christoph von Dohnanyi. She performed in orchestra and chamber music all over the world, including Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, USA and Taiwan. She studied with Prof. Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos at Manhattan school of music for master degree. Now she is pursuing her doctoral degree in Rutgers University, under the instruction of Prof. Jonathan Spitz.
The Greek Warriors, is the premier Ancient Greek Hoplite re-enactment group on the East Coast and was established in 2004. The group is currently commanded by both George Marcinek and Peter S. Giakoumis of NY. The Greek Warriors is a dedicated living history group, recreating the ancient Greek Hoplite Warrior. Their arms and armor portray the classic Greek Warrior in full panoply. Most of the equipment and arms are hand made, some of which is created by the members themselves in a similar fashion as the ancients did. The group has appeared on television, film and print media throughout the world.

Alexander the Great in Connecticut

Alexander the Great by Panayoti Karousos

MidWest Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Madeline Tsai

Olympias: Crystal Charles, mezzo
Alexander the Great: Lance Keizer, tenor
Cellist: Ashley Chen


3 May 2009 at 4 pm
Bristol Eastern High School Auditorium
632 King Street. Bristol, CT 06010
CONNECTICUT - U.S.A.

THE CENTER FOR HELLENIC STUDIES PAIDEIA
& THE BRISTOL EASTERN HIGH SCHOOL
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE PAN-MACEDONIAN ASSOCIATION USA THE WORLD COUNCIL OF HELLENES ABROAD (SAE U.S.A.) AND THE HELLENIC AMERICAN NATIONAL COUNCIL

Grand Opening of the Small Greek Museum
The New England Carousel Museum
95 Riverside Avenue, Rt. 72. Bristol, CT 06010

Alexander the Great in Chicago

American Symphony Orchestra of Chicago conducting by David Stech

Heath Harris, tenor: Alexander the Great
Francesca Lunghi, mezzo: Olympias
Brad Jungwirth, baritone: King Philip, Ptolemeus, Apelis
Michael Cavalieri, bass: Parmenion, Aristotle, High Priest
Micah Dingler, tenor: Hephaistion
Kristina Pappademos, contralto: Sisygambis, Queen Ada
Susan Nelson, soprano: Cleopatra, Roxane

Morton Grove, Illinois
17 May 2008

GREENSBORO CAST

The artists

Byron Singelton, tenor (Alexander the Great)
Tenor Byron Singelton has performed throughout the United States and Europe.While attending graduate school he performed Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, Titiro in Il café D’amore, and Don Ottavio (cover) in Don Giovanni as well as other supporting roles. In 1998 he was a participant in The Daniel Ferro Vocal Program in Greve, Italy, where he performed operas and concerts in various venues in the Tuscan countryside. He was also a finalist in the 1998 Richard Tauber Tenor Competition. In 1999 he performed the role of Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with Opera on the Lake in Maine. From 2000-2001 Mr. Singleton was a resident artist at DiCapo Opera Theater, where he performed the roles of Schmidt, Borsa, and the messenger in Werther, Rigoletto, and Il Trovatore, respectively. During the summer of 2001 Mr. Singleton was a resident artist at Caramoor Opera, where he sang the role of Rodolfo in excerpts from Luisa Miller under the baton of Will Crutchfield, as well as covering the role of the King in Rossini’s Otello. In 2002 he sang the title role in the Metropolitan Opera Guild production Where’s a Tenor when you need One, a show designed to introduce children to opera. Recordings include the world premier of James Hagerty’s The Peace Opera. An avid recitalist, Mr. Singleton performed a lieder recital in 2002 at a showing of the Dallas artist, Rufino Jiminez. He also sang a concert of sacred songs with the Dallas Brass ensemble at First Lane Baptist Church, as well as performing as soloist in a concert of Spanish Christmas Music at the Caramoor Festival. From 2002-2003 Mr. Singleton performed the role of Floriville in the Metropolitan Opera Outreach production of Il Signor Bruschino. In 2003 he performed the title role in an abridged version of Faust with The Opera Company of Astoria. In 2004 he was the tenor soloist in the Mozart Requiem and M. Vogelsang in a concert version of Mozart’s Opera Der Schauspieldirektor with the Astoria Symphony. He performed the title role in George Quincy’s new comic opera The Mummy. In 2005 Mr. Singleton was the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Hudson Symphony. He was also the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Chorale Fantasy with the Astoria Symphony. Most recently he sang the role of Rodolfo in La Boheme with Cantiamo Opera and Count Belfiore in La Finta Giardiniera. In 2007 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut singing in the chorus of Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg. Most recently he sang Rodolfo in a concert version of La Boheme with the Crotan Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, and was a finalist in the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition. In 2008 Mr. Singleton will be a featured performer in Diamond Opera Theater’s recital series Art Song Deconstructed where he will perform a recital of German lieder including Schumann’s Dichterliebe. He is currently in the process of recording a CD of Sanskrit and Tamil chants and kirtans. Mr. Singleton holds a B.M. in voice from Northwestern University and an M.M. from Mannes College of Music.

Nathan Baer, bass (King Philip II)
Nathan Baer (bass) studied with Antoine Cordahi for eight years. Nathan's first, large-work, solo opportunities were under Antoine and with the Aiken Choral Society in Haydn's Mass in Time of War, Rossini's Petite Messe Solonelle, and Dvořák's Te Deum.
Mr. Baer's first operatic role was Crespel in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann under the baton of David Effron with the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.
Some others since include: Eric in Sandstrom's Jeppe, Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto, Colline in Puccini's La Boheme, Victor in Jorge Martin's Stronger than Darkness, Quince in Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Gremin in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, All Four Villains in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Offmann, and the Iceman in Eric Salzman's The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz.
Nathan's musical theatre credits include: Sondheim's Into the Woods as Narrator/Mysterious Man, the National Tour of Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar as Caiaphas, and Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado as Mikado. He is equally at home in straight theatre and such a role of note was Death in Hugo Distler's Toten Tanz.
To round out the great, concert standards, Nathan Baer has soloed in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth, and Berlioz's Romeo and Juliette as Friar Laurence under David Bowden with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.
Mr. Baer has worked with Martina Arroyo, Giorgio Tozzi and Atarah Hazzan. And, in masterclass settings, has earned high regard from Paul Plishka and Nico Castel, among others.
Two exciting, operatic roles written for and premiered by Nathan Baer are: Barabbas in Robert Samel's Pilatus, and Cassander in Matthew Pittsinger's Alexander.
In November of 2007, Mr. Baer was chosen as one of the winners on the Eastern/New York City District of the Metropolitan National Council competition.
Nathan wishes to thank most gratefully the world for it's many miracles and all of those who have made anything that he has ever done possible.

Elspeth Davis, mezzo (High Priestess Queen Olympias)

Mezzo-soprano Elspeth Davis was born in the town of Seneca, South Carolina. She graduated with a Masters of Music degree in the studio of Stanley Cornett at the Peabody Institute, where she was a Peabody Merit Scholarship recipient. At Peabody, Ms. Davis has performed the role of Mme. de la Haltiere in Massenet's Cendrillon, of which Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun wrote " [she is] a deliciously wicked stepmother…her singing was as colorful as her acting." With the Baltimore Theatre Project she performed the role of the Second Nurse in Henry Mollicone's Hotel Eden. She also starred in Peabody Opera's premiere production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt. In March of 2007, she returned to the school as a guest artist in the role of Nicklausse/La Muse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
She is a founding member of the Harbor Opera Company, for which she has sung the roles of The Announcer in Gallantry, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, and The Faithful Seductress in the new chamber opera Ophelia Forever. Recent engagements include the role of Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict by Hector Berlioz, an artist-in-residency with The Canton Symphony in Ohio, Praskowia/Clo-Clo in The Merry Widow for The Liederkranz Foundation, and Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon. Upcoming engagements include Nancy (cover) at The Liederkranz as well as Britten's Phaedra with The Astoria Symphony. No stranger to the stage, Ms. Davis has also performed the roles of Papagena, Suor Genovieffa, Cookie (in Milton Granger's Talk Opera), Percy Talbot (in The Spitfire Grill, for which she received an Irene Ryan nomination), and Gianetta in the Operafestival di Roma's production of L'Elisir d'Amore. In 2002, Ms. Davis was a member of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center. In 2004 she was a member of College Light Opera Company in Cape Cod, where she performed the roles of The Fairy Queen (Iolanthe), Virginella (La Perichole), Dame Carruthers (Yeomen of the Guard), Nettie Fowler (Carousel), Mme. Matroppo (Very Good Eddie), and The Witch (Into the Woods). As an actor Ms. Davis has appeared as Mariane (Tartuffe), Dunyasha (The Cherry Orchard), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Billie (Haiku), and The Girl in Veronica's Room, as well as readings of new works for the New Play Festival in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Mary Mackenzie, soprano (Roxana – Cleopatra)

Equally comfortable with classical and contemporary repertoire, soprano Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie has captured the attention of audiences in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Wisconsin. She has won praise for her clear and flexible voice, as well as her extraordinary musicianship and fearless interpretation of contemporary music.Mary attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where she appeared as Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), and Beth (Little Women). She was the first singer in 14 years to win the school's concerto competition, which resulted in a performance of Mozart's Exultate Jubilate with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. In 2005, Mary moved to New York City to pursue a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. While in New York, she appeared as Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), and concert appearances included Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and Faure's Requiem. She also appeared as The Youth in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, and as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.Recent awards include second place in Manhattan School of Music's Eisenberg-Fried Vocal Concerto Competition with Britten's Les Illuminations and co-winner of Wisconsin Public Radio's Neale-Silva Young Artists' Competition.A passionate performer of contemporary music, Ms. Mackenzie has worked closely with composers Richard Danielpour and John Harbison. In 2007, she was invited by John Harbison to perform at his Token Creek Music Festival, and performed Three Sacred Songs by James Primosch, and premiered selections from Harbison's new anthology of pop songs, Songs after Hours. She was also the featured performer in a special concert at Manhattan School of Music, Compositional Mentors, Students, and Performers: Exploring the Legacy of Music, which showcased Richard Danielpour's Sonnets to Orpheus, Book I, as well as two new song cycles written by his students for Ms. Mackenzie. Mary also enjoys collaborating with young, up-and-coming composers, and has premiered works by Christopher Cerrone (Averno, Drei Rilke Lieder), Michael DiGiacinto (Songs on Living), Nathan Hetherington (Insensibility), John Frantzen (Four Frost Songs), and Wang Jie (Nannan, Swamp's Shore, The Animal Carnival). She recently appeared in A Day of South African Music performing the U.S. premiere of works by Robert Fokkens and Hendrik Hofmeyr, and also made her Carnegie Hall debut in New Music, New Ireland, New York: A Showcase of Contemporary Irish Composers.In 2008, Mary will appear with the Red Light New Music Ensemble, performing Luciano Berio's O King, and the U.S. premiere of Tiziano Manca's Deux epigrammes amoureuse et une intimation. She will also appear at The Kimmel Center, in Philadelphia, PA, performing a program of songs by James Primosch. This summer, Mary will attend the Ravinia Steans Institute for Young Artists in Chicago, Il.

Grant Gilman, conductor (East Coast Philharmonic Orchestra)

Grant Gilman is enjoying a successful beginning to a very promisingcareer as a conductor. In addition to his positions as Music Directorwith the Harbor Opera Company and Resident Conductor with the AstoriaSymphony in New York City, Mr. Gilman just completed his debutperformance with the Moscow Ballet conducting Tchaikovsky's"Nutcracker" at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore.As Music Director with the Harbor Opera Company Mr. Gilman'sdedication to the art of opera has led to productions of standardclassics, such as Berlioz' "Beatrice et Benedict" and Massenet's"Cinderella," and new operas, including "Ophelia Forever" by Amy BethKirsten and "Prometheus" by Panayoti Karousos.Mr. Gilman began his conducting studies while growing up in SanAntonio, and continued when he gained acceptance into the studio ofGustav Meier and Markand Thakar at the prestigious Peabody Instituteof Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.In addition to his conducting, Mr. Gilman is a highly regardededucator. Mr. Gilman has not only spent his yearly time teaching withthe Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Newark CommunitySchool for the Arts, but his summers as well with the Youth Orchestrasof San Antonio Summer String Camp, where he continues to receive highacclaim for his unique and in-depth teaching style that producesexceptional concerts from young musicians.Living in Norfolk, Virginia, with his wife, Kim, currently 4th hornwith the Virginia Symphony, Mr. Gilman enjoys his non-musicalfree-time jogging, reading philosophy, and developing web design.

Alexander the Great in Greensboro

THE NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART AND THE FRIENDS OF GREEK ART PRESENTS

PANAYOTI KAROUSOS' ALEXANDER THE GREAT

EAST COAST PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA & SOLOISTS CONDUCTED BY GRANT GILMAN

Alexander the Great - Byron Singelton, tenor
Queen Olympias - Elspeth Davis, mezzo
King Philip II of Macedon: Nathan Baer, bass
Roxana: Mary Mackenzie, soprano

AN EPIC MASTERPIECE WORK FOR THE GREATEST LEGEND OPERA IN CONCERT VERSION, SUNG IN ENGLISH

Sunday, January 25, 2009 at
THE CAROLINA THEATER
310 S. Greene Street, Greensboro, NC, 27401 USA

TORONTO CAST

The Sneak Peek Symphony Orchestra
The Sneak Peek Symphony Orchestra is an ensemble comprised of young musicians and emerging professionals. Founded and run by conductor Victor Cheng and composer-in-residence Kevin Lau, the orchestra is committed to raising the level of musical and cultural awareness in the greater Toronto community through the promotion and advancement of young musical talent. Since its inception in the fall of 2007, the Sneak Peek Orchestra has held two full orchestral concerts at theCalvin Presbyterian Church. Both concerts have featured selections from standard repertoire (including Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet ballet suite and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5) as well as new works by Kevin Lau, including his Violin Concerto. The Sneak Peek Orchestra has been slated to perform in a number of venues in 2009, including the Chinese Cultural Centre (for a performance of Peter Karoussos's Alexander the Great) and the George Weston Recital Hall at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts (for Music for Change, a fundraising event.) By establishing itself as a prominent ensemble of professional calibre and musical vitality, the orchestra hopes to offer a 'sneak peek' into an exciting new generation of performers, composers, and conductors, all deeply committed to celebrating one of our oldest music traditions: the concert hall.

Victor Cheng, conductor Victor Cheng, jazz/classical pianist, conductor, vocalist, organist, is now studying conducting with David Briskin (National Ballet of Canada) and Ivars Taurins (Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Calgary Philharmonic). In 2007, Victor, along with Kevin Lau (UofT Doctoral candidate, composition), founded Sneak Peek Orchestra, showcasing young talent and premiering new works by young Canadian composers. Victor's conductin

g experience is vastly growing. This past year he directed string ensembles in performances of concertos by Haydn and Mendelssohn, as well as a graduating performance of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. His conducting interest stemmed from his piano lessons with renowned conductor/composer An-Lun Huang since the age of 6, as well as his early education as a choir boy at St. Michael's Choir School, where he studied voice and organ. Victor is also a member of Vocal Horizons Chamber Choir and the newly formed Toronto Philharmonia Chorus. He is Associate Organist of Our Lady of Annunciation Church and is Director of the OLA Youth Choir.

Victor recently graduated from University of Toronto with a B.Mus in Jazz Piano Performance.

He studied with Gary Williamson, Dave Restivo, performed with Dave Young and Terry Clarke, and has had the opportunity to work with Lee Konitz and Renee Rosnes. In 2006, Victor was invited to perform in Kenny Barron's clinic as part of Musicfest Canada at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Apart from jazz piano, Victor is also an active classical pianist and accompanist. He performed Eric Whitacre's “Ghost Train” with the University of Toronto Wind Symphony. He played celeste with members of the Madawasaka String Quartet under the baton of Gary Kulesha in the contemporary showcase of Christopher Pierce's music. He is currently orchestral pianist for the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Victor was also invited by world famous concert pianist Haiou Zhang to perform a set of solo improvisations in Bremen, Germany in 2010.

Jennifer Rasor, Soprano (Roxana – Thessaloniki – Cleopatra)
Jennifer’s training was with l’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opera de Montreal where she performed several Menotti operas, and studied Adele in die Fledermaus & sang “The Voice from the Heaven” in Don Carlo for the main stage.

In Montreal she also worked with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Iwan Edwards and Charles Dutoit.
Jennifer participated in a concert version of Puccini’s Il Tabarro with Atelier S in Santiago di Queretaro, Mexico. Other stage roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere de Seviglia and Gilda in Rigoletto with Zwei-Groschen-Oper in Germany, Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflote, and Noye’s Fludde with Toronto’s Britten Celebrations (for CBC television) under the late Nicholas Goldschmidt.

Andrew Love, baritone (King Philip)
Andrew Love, a native of Calgary, is currently enrolled in the Opera Diploma program at the University of Toronto, studying in the studio of J Patrick Raftery. Most recent engagements include performing the role of Papageno in Opera NUOVA’s production of Die Zauberflöte, Politician in Calgary Opera’s Canadian Premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Stephen Wagman in the Banff Summer Arts Festival production of Frobisher. In 2006, Mr. love was an inaugural member of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Development Program which included highlights such as, performing in a school tour of The Brothers Grimm, and touring Canada’s North with excerpts from the new Canadian opera Frobisher. He has had the pleasure of being able to work and study with such international talents as Sherrill Milnes, Judith Forst, John Fanning, Tracy Dahl, and directors Kelly Robinson and Lotfi Mansourri.

Alastair Smyth, bass (High Priest)Alastair Smyth is in the third year of a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Toronto. He studies voice with mezzo-soprano JoAnne Bentley, and in the Opera Division under Sandra Horst. Originally from Vancouver, Alastair has taken part in master classes there as well as here in Toronto. These master classes have been led by such illustrious artists as Sherrill Milnes, Francois le Roux, and Paul Sperry. He has also performed with the UBC Opera Ensemble, and took part in the University of Toronto's fall production of Cimarosa's “Il Matrimonio Segreto”. He is excited to perform this new work by composer Panayiotis Karousos.

Dolores Tjart, soprano (Queen

Olympias)
Soprano Dolores Tjart was heard this past year performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in a benefit concert for the St. Francis of Assissi Parish in Toronto. Dolores also toured in Mexico last summer singing the role of Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro. Dolores also performed Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares with local classical guitar favourite Hilario Yáñez.

Canadian composer Dr. Paul McIntyre, Professor Emeritus at University of Windsor’s Music Department, describes Dolores’ voice as a “glowing spinto voice with a natural theatrical instinct which she invests in every note and phrase.” Dolores gave a “stunning performance” of the world premiere of a selection of McIntyre’s Macbeth.
Dolores is well known on the Toronto music scene having been heard as a featured artist with Opera York (Die Zauberflöte), Tryptych Productions (Der Corregidor, Falstaff) and Toronto Opera Repertoire (Die Fledermaus, La Forza del Destino, Carmen, La Traviata) as well as an ensemble member with Opera Mississauga. Dolores brings to her performance a rich and thrilling dramatic-spinto soprano that commands her audience.

Stewart Granger, tenor (Alexander the Great)
Stewart Granger based in Toronto he has performed numerous opera roles in Canada. With Opera by Request of Toronto performances have included: Idomeneo by Mozart with A Recital with Erika Reimann at Redeemer United and various concerts with Tafelmusik. Other appearances have included his exciting interpretations of the following roles: Mozart’s Idomeneo with the Royal Conservatory of Music, Tanzmeister in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne Auf Naxos with the Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Pluton in Orphee Aux Enfers with the Opera NUOVA and Offenbach’s Raoul in La Vie Parisienne. A fine recitalist Mr. Granger gave successful concerts in Brandon University (Manitoba), and Brock University, St Catherines. Also he appeared in La Messe de Minuit de Noel with the Apollo Ensemble. Alexander the Great by Panayoti Karousos is a big pleasant challenge for Mr. Granger to create a modern opera and incarnate the conqueror’s difficult and dramatic role. In May Mr. Granger will sing Tito in La Clemenza di Tito by Mozart with Opera by Request.

Alexander the Great in Toronto

The Sneak Peek Symphony Orchestra conducted by Victor Cheng

Alexander the Great ……………Stewart Granger, tenor

Queen Olympias ……………… Dolores Tjart, soprano

King Philip ………………………… Andrew Love, baritone

Roxana …………………………….. Catherine Marchant, soprano

High Priest ………………………… Alastair Smyth, bass

February 15, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
P.C. Ho Theatre
Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto

5183 Sheppard Ave. East, Toronto Ontario

Alexander the Great in Jerusalem

Alexander the Great in Jerusalem – Solomon’s Temple

After the Battle of Issus, Alexander arrived at the unconquerable city of Tyre. After a long siege, he demolishes the walls of the city and with the help of Greek and Cyprian ships, he conquers the Phoenician city. Alexander’s reprisals for the sixth-month long siege were harsh. After sacrifices to the temple of Tyre Heracles, Alexander departs for Jerusalem.

Hephaistion: What a beautiful Temple!

Army: The Temple of King Solomon!

Hephaistion: Looks like the Temple of Melkarth at Tyre

Samaritans: King Alexander, we are the peoples of Yahweh. Let us demolish the temple of Solomon.

Jews: Don’t listen to them King Alexander

Samaritans: Kill them, King Alexander.

Jews: Kill them, King Alexander.

Samaritans: The temple of Garizin.

Alexander: Be quiet; I do not demolish temples, I build them.

Jews: We hate them, kill them all like you killed the people of Tyre and Gaza.

Samaritans: Do not listen to them, king.

Hephaistion: Shut up all, Tyre and Gaza were enemies.

Alexander: From this day on, you will be free Jews, and you Samaritans you will obey them.

Jews: King of Hellenes, liberator of Israel; welcome Alexander.

Jadduas: Daniel’s prophesies tell about a Great King of the Greeks who will arrive. Jerusalem welcomes you, Alexander; liberator of the people, Yahweh’s dearest.

Alexander: Tell me about these prophesies, High Priest Jadduas.

Jadduas: Here they are, within our sacred texts.

Barsine: Alexander.

Alexander: What do you want Barsine?

Barsine: I love you Alexander… Priest Jadduas, marry us!

Jadduas: Whatever the king, says my child…

Alexander: I have no time for ceremonies right now.

Barsine: I want to have your child, Alexander. The child will be sent to us by Melqart[3] who helped you conquer Tyre.

Alexander: Go and sacrifice to Melqart and when the child comes, if it is a boy it will be named Heracles of Macedon.

Barsine: Heracles.

Alexander: And when Heracles is born, you will take him to my mother Olympias.

Barsine: I will return to Greece. To Olympias the Great, in Macedonia, where we met as children!

Jadduas: All our firstborn boys we will name after you Alexander!

Jews & Samaritans: Glory to Alexander and to Greece!

Alexander: O Jadduas, I have a message for the people of Yahweh.

Jadduas: O beloved of Yahweh, King Alexander.

Chorus: Glory to Yahwe; Glory to our Alexander.

Alexander: I bring a prophecy to Israel from my mother.

Jadduas: People of Jerusalem a great prophecy comes to us from the Great Priestess Olympias, the mother of Alexander.

Chorus: Your are above Semiramide and Hatshepsut Olympias!
We thank you Great Priestess Olympias.

Alexander: “The Temple of Solomon will be cut in two, the pillar of Jachin will fall in the west and the pillar of Boaz will fall to the east. You will be back to Israel one day but only when the Temple will be rebuild peace will come

Jadduas: We will be dispersed again, Jewish priesthood will be lost.
And then which will be the signs of the times.

Alexander: A child will be born from my people and in the sixth month of his life you will wage a six-day victorious war. When he is grown up he will instruct you to rebuild the temple

Jadduas: Our god never abandons his people.

Alexander: he will be born on the sixth day with a pyramid in his palm.
The Liberator of Jerusalem
He will sing my praises here with David’s lyre, in Israel’s Jerusalem for your temple to be built. Yahweh.

Chorus: You will return to earth like another David.
O king Alexander of the Greeks
To liberate New Jerusalem
To bring peace againTo renew all the nations like on

Panayoti Karousos on Alexander the Great

The Hellenic Tetralogy after Prometheus and The Olympic Flame continuous with Alexander the Great. It does not have there words to describe the pure splendor which of Alexander the Great’s personality since his birth. To write the booklet of my opera, I sought in the works of antiquity has today. Inaccessible, invisible, Alexander was everywhere, seeking his Homer, never satisfied by the writers who tried to approach him. Its size was underestimated in Plutarque and Arian because the proximity; it was idealized by the more contemporary philosophers - distant - as Droyzen. I sought the happy medium and found the most luminous destiny of all humanity, that of an attractive demigod. Because Alexander did not only carry Hellenic Civilization at the borders of the world; he was the cradle him even, and its star, among those of his/her father king Philippe, of the Demosthenes orator, the Aristotle philosopher, shines of a single glare in the sky of the History. By discovering the life of Alexander, one can only be upset by the force and the will relentless of his mother Olympias who was like the obscure face of the star. The High Priestess Olympias has the dark and diabolic beauty of a personality of extreme ritual cruelty, of a divine monster. As much one remains dumb of stupor in front of the colossal one and grotesque Olympias, as much one is seized amazement in front of the dream of Alexander the Great, his dream eternal, always current: fraternity, love, dignity, beauty, humanism and before any heroism. To describe the events binding Alexander his superhuman destiny has, I employed Wagnerian formulas by their leitmotifs melody reason. In addition, I used dissonant harmonies based on an arithmetisation Pythagorian to return the intellectuality of the Hellenistic Era founded by Alexander the Great. The epic atmosphere of the work is based on a dark lyricism. Alexander lived as a permanent nightmare the event tragedies of the war, which it carried out to reach his supreme goal... Quite to the contrary of Jesus, such as it will appear in my next opera, the Fire of the Catharsis or The Light of Christianity.

Synopsis of Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great by Panayoti Karousos
Opera in IV acts

Synopsis
1st act: Acropolis – Athens Greece
Alexander bring the aches of the Athenians killed in the Chaeronea battle between Greeks, after the request of his father King Phillip of Macedonia.
Demosthenes and the Athenians disagree for Phillip’s as commander for the Persian war.
At Aiges, Macedonia, during the wedding of Phillip’s daughter Cleopatra with Alexander Molossos, a guardian of his Pausanias kills the King Phillip with a sword.
Immediate entrance of Queen Olympias with great power. She nominates Alexandros King of Macedonia and Emperor of all Greeks.
She gives the armies to Alexander and sends him to the battles for the unification of Greeks and all Balkans. Olympias scarifies to the gods for the elimination of the rivals and ask extreme power.
Olympias kills relatives and others to establish Macedonia’s Kingdom.
Alexander succides to get the power over Greeks. All preparations are ready to go for the big war against Persian Empire. Alexander farewell Olympias,
Aristote and Greece for ever. Olympias claims the victory.

2nd act: Asia Minor
Alexander won the Granikos battle. Alexander cut the Gordio nock.
Queen Ada and all cities go with Alexander to get freedom.
Battle of Issos. Darius gone with his generals and left family and army.
Barsine want to marries Alexander and become pregnant to his son Heracles
Alexander welcomed to Jerusalem as a liberator in the Solomon’s Temple.
Alexander found the city of Alexandria in Egypt and proclaimed Pharaoh of Egypt and Son of Ammon – Ra in a triumphal coronation at Giza’s Pyramids

3rd act: Alexander the Great King of Kings
Gavgamela battle. Alexander gains a great victory and Darius killed by his generals that they want the throne of Persia. Alexander arrives too late.
Alexander goes very far to Central Asia, kills the generals of Darius and becomes the greatest conqueror of all time in bloody battles with Mongols, Chinese, Amazons and wild nations in central Asia. He kills some generals that they don’t agree with his divine proclamation of Lord of All, Son of God. Alexander marries Roxanne and goes to conquer India. He won the battle. His horse Bucephala dies. Indians proclaimed him King Krishna Alexander and the head of Brahmans follow him. After the request of his army Alexander decides to return to Babylon by Gedrosia desert.

4th act: Alexander’s return and death
After the worse experience in the Gedrosia desert Alexander fixes problems in Carmania and Persepolis. At Sousa organized marriages between Persian and Greeks. During festivities at Ecbatana Hephaestion dies by illness.
Alexander mourning Hephaestion in the funeral at Babylon.
Back in Greece, Olympias continuous to revenge against successors bringing her self in a power task-force war with everybody and the cruel Great Queen becomes a bloody monstrous persona frightening Greeks.
Finally she gives the water of immortality that Alexander sends her to daughter Cleopatra and for her self drunks the blood of Medusa.
Alexander in the throne of Navuhodonosor receives ambassadors from allover the world as the Lord of All.He becomes ill and dies between his soldiers and the beloved soldiers

PANAYOTI KAROUSOS

PANAYOTI KAROUSOS, composer
Greek-Canadian composer/singer Panayoti Karousos was born in the Greek Ionian island of Cephalonia, and started studying classical singing and piano in Athens. He came to Canada in 1990 and pursued his musical studies at the McGill University and Université de Montreal, where he studied, among others, composition with Barry Crago and Michel Gonville, also taking master classes with Pierre Boulez.
He started his career as a baritone accompanied by renowned pianist of the Opéra de Montréal, Claudette Denys. The composer even impressed Patriarch Bartholomew with his performance in his 1998’s Canadian farewell dinner at Palace, Montreal. As a singer and composer he collaborated with the Archbishop of Toronto Canada, Sotirios, in a 3-CD box named Greek Orthodox Catechism. His album Grèce Pays d’Amour got the award for Best Classical Recording in 2002/03 from the Toronto Radio Awards.
Although he had been composing even before the end of his university studies, and composition was important to him all along, in later years, he gradually put singing on second place and concentrated more and more on his composing work.
He structures his works around Pythagorean mathematical forms and infuses them with modern styles of minimalism and dodecaphonic atonality with a thick Wagnerian orchestration.
OPERAS and ORATORIOS
The opera Prometheus (1994), premiered in 1994 at Place des Arts in Montreal, in concert version, again in 1996 in theatrical version, at the same venue, and was performed twice again in 2008, in concert version, in New York with the Astoria Symphony and in Washington DC with the District of Columbia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Grant Gilman.
The oratorio The Song of the Nations (2003) premiered, in concert version, at the Basilique de Notre Dame of Montreal, in a concert also including the Olympic Symphony with the OSJL-L Symphony Orchestra and St-Eustache Choir under the direction of maestros André Gauthier and Pierre Turcotte.
The Olympic Flame (2005), premiered, in concert version, at the Basilique de Notre Dame of Montreal with the OSJL-L Symphony Orchestra and soloists from the Opera de Montreal under the direction of maestro André Gauthier. The opera represented in New York with the Astoria Symphony and soloists from the Met opera conducted by Grant Gilman. The chorus part from the opera was presented among other works with the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of Gunst wat'n Kunst at Hague, Holland, with maestro Rafael Pylarinos.
His grandiose opera Alexander the Great (2007) was premiered sung in French, at the Montreal Notre Dame Basilica with the OSJL-L Symphony Orchestra and soloists from the Opera de Montreal under the direction of maestro André Gauthier. This epic opera was presented again, in English this time, in 2008, in Chicago Illinois by the American Symphony Orchestra of Chicago and soloists from the conducted by David Stech.
In 2009 Alexander the Great represented in Greensboro, North Carolina with the East Coast Philharmonic Orchestra and soloists under the direction of maestro Grant Gilman, in Toronto Canada with the Toronto University Symphony Orchestra and soloists under the direction of maestro Victor Cheng, in Bristol Connecticut with the MidWest Symphony Orchestra and soloists conducted by Madeline Tsai and in New York with the Astoria Symphony Orchestra and soloists from the Metropolitan opera conducted by Grant Gilman.
The opera The Light of Christianity (2009) last part of the monumental Hellenic Tetralogy World Premiered in Montreal with the Montreal University Students Symphony Orchestra and soloists conducted by Philippe Menard.
SYMPHONIC WORK
The cascading sound of his work, The Spirit of Liberty (2000) caused some critics to acclaim it as a second national anthem of Greece. It was presented in Canada and New York with great success.
The Piano Concerto for Peace (2000) was presented with pianist Nathalie Joncas under UNESCOs auspices. This piece was highlighted by the Montreal Popular Concerts series in Montreal’s Maurice Richard Arena to an audience of 5000 people. The Piano Concerto became the soundtrack to filmmaker Jenna Constantine's movie If Aphrodite Had Arms, and featured in the Vassilios Chrissochos’ action-adventure-comedy film Attila Attacks!
The Suite Montréalaise (2000) was commended from the City of Montreal to mark the Millennium and was successfully presented in a celebration concert on October 1st, 2000
The symphonic poems Eternal Parthenon (2000), Time Melody (2000), and Democracy’s Feast (2003), were performed by the Astoria Symphony, the FACE Symphony Orchestra, the OSJL-L Symphony Orchestra and the Monteregie Symphony Orchestra under the direction of maestros André Gauthier, Theodora Stathopoulos, Luc Chaput and Silas Nathaniel Huff.
The Olympic Symphony (2003), comprised of 12 Homeric Hymns dedicated to the Gods of Olympus is sung in Ancient Greek.
The Violin Concerto and Bouzouki Concerto (2007) were presented at the Concert for Religious Freedom hosted by the Federation of Hellenic Societies in New York, under the direction of maestro Grant Gilman.
CHAMBER MUSIC
Panayoti Karousos chamber music is different from the romanticism of his operas and symphonic works. The Piano Trios (1997) and the Violin and Cello Sonatas (1997) presented in Beverly Hills City Hall and around Montreal surprised the public with their melancholy nature and strong harmonic complexity. In 2008 they were recorded in the CD “Karoussos – Chamber music”
Panayoti Karousos is a recipient of honors from the Federal Canadian Government, the Quebec Provincial Government and the City of Montreal.