Acclaimed opera singer Richard Ollarsaba returns to The Mac this New Year’s Eve for a series of concerts with New Philharmonic.
New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, presents concerts at 1:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. The 1:30 p.m. performance is sold out.
The program will feature works ranging from classical to opera to pops, music director/conductor Kirk Muspratt said. Plus, there will be a champagne toast and a few surprises along the way, he said.
“We’re going to start with some Viennese music, then we’re going to go into some Russian music, we’re going to do some French music, we’re going to Broadway music, movie music and then we’ll do the traditional ‘Auld Lang Syne,’” he said. “That’s the plan we’ve had for the past many years. People seem to like it and the diversity of music.”
The program includes Johann Strauss Jr.’s “Furioso Polka” and “Roses from the South Waltz, op. 388,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s processional “Polonaise” from the lyric opera “Eugene Onegin,” Jules Massenet’s “Navarraise” from “Le Cid,” Elmer Bernstein’s “The Magnificent Seven Suite” and Johann Strauss Sr.’s “Radetzky March.”
“There are 14 pieces on the program and eight of them are pieces we’ve never played for New Year’s Eve,” Muspratt said. “I try to make sure people who are coming to our concerts aren’t hearing the same-old, same-old by any means. There’s a huge diversity. I can’t tell you the three encores because they are unbelievably secret.”
Muspratt hopes that people are moved by the program and experience a range of emotions.
“I want there to be a great variety and many levels of emotions with the audience,” he said. “Music is the spider’s web that draws us all in together.”
Ollarsaba, a bass-baritone, will be featured in “Le tambour major” from Thomas Savage’s comedic opera “Le Caïd,” and John Kander’s “Maybe This Time” from the Tony Award-winning musical “Cabaret.”
Ollarsaba is a decorated vocalist who was a member of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago for three seasons and represented the U.S. in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World international vocal competition. He also won the American Opera Society of Chicago 2015 Best Vocalist Award.
Recent credits include singing title role in “Don Giovanni” with Opera Hong Kong, Opera Grand Rapids and Opera Carolina; and the role of Figaro in “Le nozze di Figaro” with New Zealand Opera and Minnesota Opera.
He is a much-requested repeat performer, Muspratt said.
“They said, ‘You have to have him back.’ Have you heard him and have you seen his stage presence, how he comes across the footlights and gets right inside you and convinces you?” he said. “He is so prepared. He is loaded for bear when he comes on that stage.”
Ollarsaba will additionally sing a piece from “Carmen” and follow it up with “Edelweiss” from “The Sound of Music,” he said.
“I can promise (the audience) will have a wonderful time,” he said. “There are many people from our region who come to this concert and have a total blast. People will have a great time being together.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Muspratt said he is excited about “The Elixir of Love” planned for Jan. 25-26. The opera is sung in Italian with English subtitles.
“In this little Italian town, Nemorino is the guy who nobody pays attention to and no girls take him seriously. He’s very nice and everybody likes him but he’s like your brother,” he said.
“He’s in love with Adina, who is the most beautiful and sweet girl in the village. He can’t even hold her hand. One day a guy comes to town — he’s like the (shady) salesman from ‘The Music Man.’ And on his wagon, he has this elixir of love. If you buy this bottle from him and you drink it, no woman can resist you. It’s a comedy (and) it’s very sweet.”
Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony “Butterfly Lovers Concerto” performances April 12-13 is another highlight of the coming spring, he said.
“It’s this ancient Chinese legend about these two people who are in love but are not allowed to be,” he said. “A magician comes to them and says if you turn yourselves into butterflies, you can live in the heavens forever. They give up their humanness and become butterflies.”
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
New Philharmonic New Year’s Eve Concerts
When: 1:30 (sold out), 5 and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31
Where: McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
Tickets: $68-$70
Information: 630-942-4000; atthemac.org
