LA Opera Commissions Alexander Prior and Velina Hasu Houston’s Jonah and the Whale

LA Opera has commissioned a new opera, Jonah and the Whale, by composer Alexander Prior and librettist Velina Hasu Houston. The work will be performed at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17, 2012. The production will be directed by Eli Villanueva, and James Conlon will conduct.

Jonah and the Whale will dramatize the Old Testament story, in which God asks Jonah to prophesy against the sinful people of Nineveh. Jonah refuses and attempts to flee by sea and is swallowed by a great fish.

Prior’s works include his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2, Northern Dances, was performed. Other works include his Triple Concerto, that which must forever remain unspoken; his opera-ballet The Jungle Book; the symphonic poem Stalin’s March; and his choral cycle Sounds of the Homeland.

Houston is an award-winning playwright whose works include Asa Ga Kimashita (Morning Has Broken), American Dreams, and Tea.

Tickets to Jonah and the Whale will be free to the public and become available at the beginning of the year.

For more information, call 213-972-8001 or click here