The Metropolitan Opera National Company (MONC) was a short lived American opera company that operated from 1965 to 1967 as a second touring company of the Metropolitan Opera that featured American and Canadian artists in their early stages of career development. While operationally part of the Metropolitan Opera's budget, it was co-sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts . Led by mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens , the company's roster of artists included many prominent opera singers of the second half of the 20th century in the early part of their careers.
19-580: MONC or Monc can refer to: Metropolitan Opera National Company , an American opera company from 1965 to 1967 Men of North Country , an Israeli soul band Monchio delle Corti (called "Monc" in Parmigiano), a commune in Italy Misspelling of monk , or a person who practices religious ascetism Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
38-1048: A Rockefeller Award, Voketaitis made his professional opera debut as Vanuzzi in Richard Strauss 's Die schweigsame Frau at the New York City Opera (NYCO) in 1958. The following year he returned to the NYCO to portray "The Stage Manager" in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall 's Six Characters in Search of an Author . Voketaitis remained a regular performer with the NYCO up through 1981, singing such roles as Creon in Igor Stravinsky 's Oedipus rex , Olin Blitch in Carlisle Floyd 's Susannah , and Theseus in Benjamin Britten 's A Midsummer Night's Dream among others. He notably sang
57-680: A cars salesman, jazz trumpeter, and a radio announcer. He studied voice under Elda Ercole , Leila Edward and Kurt Saffir in New York City . Voketaitis began his singing career touring as soloist with the United States Army Band ("Pershing's Own") in 1956. With the Army Band, Voketaitis had the opportunity to perform for President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the White House . After winning several singing competitions in 1957 along with
76-562: A particularly successful partnership with the New York City Opera and has performed with most of the major opera companies in North America. Born in Connecticut , Voketaitis is from a Lithuanian family. He graduated from Quinnipiac University where he earned a degree in business administration. He then studied at the Yale School of Drama . Before his singing career, Voketaitis worked as
95-584: A prominent New York lawyer and president of the Metropolitan Opera Association, support of the MONC's formation was spearheaded by President John F. Kennedy who announced the project in 1963. Responding to the president's call for support of the company, philanthropist and publisher Lila Acheson Wallace donated the bulk of the company's finances during it operational history. While Metropolitan Opera director Rudolf Bing publicly expressed support for
114-859: A staging by Louis Ducreux and designs by Bernard Daydé. The company made its debut on September 29, 1965 at the Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University in Indianapolis with Maralin Niska as Floyd's Susannah. The second season of the MONC ran from September 1966 through May 1967 with performances of Giuseppe Verdi 's La traviata , Puccini's La bohème , Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Benjamin Britten 's The Rape of Lucretia . A planned third season in 1967-1968 of performances of Tosca , Rigoletto and The Barber of Seville , never occurred as Rudolf Bing successfully worked to undermine support for
133-923: The Miami Opera . He has also performed in concert the solo bass role in the Shostakovich 13th Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1979), Minnesota (1980) and Dallas (1985) Symphonies, as well as the solo bass in Beethoven 's 9th Symphony with the Pittsburgh Symphony . Other appearances include performing with the New York Philharmonic , the Philadelphia Orchestra , the Cleveland Orchestra , Detroit Symphony Orchestra and
152-473: The San Francisco Symphony among many others, under such conductors as Maxim Shostakovich , Leonard Bernstein , JoAnn Falletta , Leonard Slatkin , James Levine , Leopold Stokowski , and André Previn . Leonard Bernstein has said of Voketaitis, "From every point of view - vocal musicianship, intelligence, personal qualities - he is certainly a musical asset." Voketaitis has performed with many of
171-714: The Vancouver Opera among others. In 1964 he made his debut with the San Francisco Opera as Mephistophélès in Charles Gounod 's Faust . In 1965 he sang Don Magnifico with the Metropolitan Opera National Company . He sang regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago between 1968 and 1989, portraying such roles as Bonze ( Le rossignol and Madama Butterfly ), Zuniga, Loredano ( I due Foscari ),
190-504: The MONC included 260 performances in 72 cities over a nine-month period from September 1965 through May 1966. This season included a production of Carlisle Floyd 's Susannah that was directed by José Quintero and used sets designed by Beni Montresor ; Rossini's La Cenerentola with a staging by Günther Rennert and Joy Davidson as Cinderella; Giacomo Puccini 's Madama Butterfly with designs by Yoshio Aoyama and Francesca Roberto as Cio-Cio San; and Georges Bizet 's Carmen with
209-557: The MONC, and he appointed Met mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens and Michael Manuel , a long time stage manager and director at the Met, as directors of the company in 1963. Stevens, who retired from the stage in 1961, was the Artistic Director and musical director of the company who exhibited a passion for mentoring the young artists in the company. Manuel took over the administrative duties of the company, served as stage manager and coordinator of
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#1732847572383228-875: The Magistrate ( Werther ) and Mr. Ratcliffe for the American stage première of Billy Budd (1970). In 1980, at Mexico's Bellas Artes, he triumphed in the title role of "Don Quichotte", repeating it in 1981 in Monterrey. In 1976 Voketaitis portrayed Rev. John Hale in Robert Ward 's The Crucible with the Florentine Opera . In 1989 he returned to Chicago as Abimelech in Camille Saint-Saëns 's Samson et Dalila . The following year he sang Basilio in The Barber of Seville at
247-466: The company with Metropolitan Opera's board of directors who voted to discontinue the company beyond the second season in December 1966. Arnold Voketaitis Arnold Voketaitis (born May 11, 1930, New Haven, Connecticut ) is an American bass-baritone of Lithuanian descent who had an active singing career performing in operas , concerts, and recitals from the late 1950s through the 1990s. He enjoyed
266-811: The physical aspects of the company's sets, costumes, and supportive staff. Stevens and Manuel spent a year auditioning singers before the MONC finally began rehearsals in the summer of 1965. Among the young singers contracted with the company, many in their first professional engagements, included sopranos Clarice Carson , Maralin Niska , Mary Beth Peil , Francesca Roberto , and Marilyn Zschau ; mezzo-sopranos Joy Davidson , Sylvia Friederich, Dorothy Krebill, and Huguette Tourangeau ; tenors Enrico Di Giuseppe , Chris Lachona, Nicholas di Virgilio, and Harry Theyard ; baritones Ron Bottcher , John Fiorito , Thomas Jamerson , Julian Patrick , and Vern Shinall; bass-baritones Andrij Dobriansky , Ronald Hedlund, and Arnold Voketaitis ; and bass Paul Plishka . The first season of
285-508: The project, privately he derided the idea and resented the board's actions in creating the company. In his 1972 autobiography, 5000 Nights at the Opera , Bing haughtily devalued the National Company as "an expression of the typical American weakness for doing something -- anything -- for education and the young." As director of the Met, Bing was responsible for establishing the leadership of
304-717: The role of the Father in the NYC premiere of Douglas Moore 's Carry Nation in 1968. During the 1960s through the 1990s, Voketaitis appeared as a guest artist at many important opera houses in North America , including the Houston Grand Opera , Milwaukee Opera Theatre , Opéra de Montréal , the Palacio de Bellas Artes , the Pittsburgh Opera , San Antonio Grand Opera Festival , and
323-491: The title MONC . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MONC&oldid=1209608072 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Metropolitan Opera National Company Envisioned by Anthony Bliss,
342-783: The word's foremost musicians, including Placido Domingo , Wynton Marsalis , and Rita Shane . Voketaitis's career has been mostly within North America. Aside from his many Mexico appearances, he has made a few other international appearances, including performing at the Liceu in Spain , the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica , and the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex in Venezuela . He has also made several recordings for television and CD, six of which have garnered Grammy Award nominations. He
361-827: Was notably awarded the Man of the Year Award from the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture , the Distinguished Alumni Medal from his alma mater ( Quinnipiac University ), as well as a Rockefeller Award. In 2009 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas , Lithuania's high cultural medal, in honour of his artistic achievement and support of Lithuanian culture. In academia, he
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