PR - Trial by Jury & Scalia/Ginsburg radio broadcast on Nov 7, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - OCTOBER 30, 2020

WILMINGTON, Del. — OperaDelaware’s 2019 Festival performance of Trial by Jury & Scalia/Ginsburg, will be broadcast nationally on Nov. 7, 2020 as part of the WFMT Radio Network Opera Series (Chicago). Local listeners can tune in via Philadelphia’s WRTI 90.1 FM on Nov. 7 beginning at 1 pm, or stream online at operade.org/radio, wfmt.com, or wrti.org.

Hailed as “a double-feature triumph”, the double bill pairs Gilbert & Sullivan’s courtroom romp about a scorned bride who sues her former fiancé with Derrick Wang’s comedy about the unlikely friendship between the late Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Wang’s one-act opera imagines what would happen if the justices — ideological opposites who enjoyed a deep friendship rooted in a shared love of opera and the law — had to defend their choices in front of a higher power. Scalia/Ginsburg features actual lines from the justices’ opinions and speeches and is inspired by the “operatic precedent” of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, Offenbach, Bizet, Puccini, and more.

The late justices were reportedly big fans of Wang’s opera, with Ginsburg deeming it “a dream come true” (The Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts). The Broad Street Review called OD’s production “a fiercely entertaining crash course on the U.S. Constitution and the people who uphold it... Who knew that an opera audience could holler and cheer like it was the Super Bowl?”

The performance, part of OD’s legal-themed 2019 Festival, was recorded live at Wilmington’s Grand Opera House. The broadcast features soprano (and Delaware native) Jennifer Zetlan as Ginsburg, tenor Brian Cheney as Scalia, bass-baritone Ben Wager as the Commentator, and artists from OD’s 2019 Young Artist Training Program. Conductor Sara Jobin led the OperaDelaware Orchestra and Chorus.

“Our 2019 production of Trial by Jury & Scalia/Ginsburg was the best-selling show in our company's 75-year history, and we're delighted to share this performance with a national audience through the WFMT Radio Network broadcast," says OperaDelaware's General Director, Brendan Cooke. "We are so proud to highlight the work of our 2019 Young Artists in Trial by Jury, and we couldn't be more excited to share Derrick Wang's amazing story of bipartisan friendship with the world, especially so close to election day."

For more information, visit operade.org/radio, radionetwork.wfmt.com, or email bcooke@operade.org.

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The 11th oldest professional opera company in the nation, OperaDelaware opens the door to bold, vibrant and creative operatic programming that enriches the community, transforms audiences, and encourages dialogue. OD recently celebrated its 75 anniversary in October 2020.

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