OMATS

"FISHING" from THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea is an opera by Paola Prestini, Royce Vavrekand Karmina Silec that presents a dual track of storytelling by combining the Hemingway text with original portraits of quotidian life to create a look at aging, legacy, and our relationship to oceans. The work includes long time collaborators/muses of Prestini's, including Jeffrey Zeigler as the featured cellist. The cast includes a choir, and brings to life the seminal characters: Santiago, Manolin, and the wife, recast as La Virgen del Cobre, a goddess in Santería, the Afro-Caribbean faith, who was found floating on a wooden board off the coast of eastern Cuba in 1628. Themes of baseball, ecology, religion, and economy paint a conflict between progress and tradition, craft passion and exploitation, ultimately shedding contemporary perspectives on this timeless tale.

SUPPORT

Commissioned, developed, and produced by Beth Morrison Projects. Produced in association with Arizona State University Gammage and VisionIntoArt. Co-developed with VisionIntoArt. Developmental residencies for The Old Man and the Sea provided by Arizona State University Gammage and MASS MoCA. Lead commissioning support for The Old Man and the Sea was provided by Arizona State University Gammage in association with Joan Cremin. Co-commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, VisionIntoArt, and Jill & Bill Steinberg. The commissioning of Paola Prestini for The Old Man and the Sea received funding from OPERA America's Opera Grants for Women Composers program supported by Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Additional support provided by New York State Council on the Arts with the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Katie Adams Schaeffer, and Helen Little.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

MassMoCA (2023-workshop), Arizona State University Gammage (2023), The University ofNorth Carolina Chapel Hill (2024), Opera Columbus and The Wexner Center for the Performing Arts (2025), LAOpera and The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (2027).

CREATIVE TEAM

PAOLA PRESTINI

Creator & Composer

ROYCE VAVREK

Librettist

Opera/Music Theater libretti include David T. Little’s Dog Days (Zankel Hall, New York City Opera VOX) and Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera (Bard Conservatory); Jeff Myers’ The Hunger Art (American Lyric Theater, Center City Opera Theater, Burning Bayreuth); Jay Anthony Gach’s Nora at the Altar-Rail (A.L.T.); andKristin Hevner’s Bully Pulpit (Metropolis Opera Project).A founding member of The New Ensemble, he contributed lyrics ton on play: shadows of a dream and Black Snow in collaboration with composer Andrew Gerle. As a filmmaker, Royce wrote and directed From Sky and Soil (Corus Young Filmmakers Initiative), I Will Not Be Sad Anymore (Quebec Cooperative Filmmakers Initiative), Pig and Bear(Frigid Fest NY) and Good Woman, a collaboration with American fashion designer Marc Bouwer. Upcoming projects include collaborations with Missy Mazzoli, Du Yun, Nick Martin, Rachel Peters, Mark Baechle and Matt Marks. Artistic Director of opera-theater company The Coterie, founded with soprano Lauren Worsham. B.F.A: Concordia University, Montreal; M.F.A: NYU.

ARMANDO CONTRERAS

BARITONE

Praised for “the easy caramel syrup of his voice” (Opera Today), Mexican-American baritone Armando Contreras is quickly becoming a standout in the world of opera. In recent seasons, here turned to Pacific Opera Project in the title role of Antonio Cagnoni’s Don Bucefalo, lauded by the Los Angeles Times as “one of the performances of the year.” He appeared as Figaro with Opera Las Vegas and sang the baritone soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Larimer Chorale. He also joined Central City Opera as Lt. Roberto Gonzalez and appeared at the Crested Butte Center for the Arts in concerts as Guglielmo. In the 2025–2026 season, Contreras joins Opera Columbus to reprise Hemingway/Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea, and joinsArizona Opera and Pacific Opera Project for Zorro, singing Sergeant José María Gomez and covering Moncada. Heal so returns to Kentucky Opera to sing Don Andres in Songbird.

OMATSOMATS