Opera Hispánica presents The New York Staged Premiere of KLARA: What It Means To Be Human, A Chamber Opera in Four Haikus

Presented by Opera Hispánica, the premier opera company in the US focused exclusively in the Hispanic perspective, and in collaboration with National Sawdust, Divaria Productions, CUNY City Tech and New York City Opera, and with partial support from the Spanish government through Acción Cultural Española, and from OPERA America’s NYC Opera Grants: Support for Small-Budget Companies made possible with the generous support of the Howard Gilman Foundation, this production will be directed by acclaimed Broadway director and choreographer Richard Stafford. With lyrics and music written by internationally renowned Spanish composer and conductor Pedro Halffter, KLARA will immerse the audience in an immediate and current reflection on the development of artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. These performances, part of National Sawdust’s banner 10th anniversary season, will feature soprano Ashley Galvani Bell as Klara, dancers Laura Henning, Jordana Rosenberg, and Amanda LaMotte, with pianist Silvia Santinelli and Pedro Halffter himself at the piano. Immediately following the performance, there will be a panel discussion exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on our society, featuring the composer and celebrated professor Panos Mavromatis (NYU); Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Ludovic Righetti (NYU); and religious leader Swami Sarvapriyananda, who regularly speaks around the world on the relationship between artificial intelligence and consciousness.

KLARA, which had only had its world premiere in 2023, has already been performed at Harvard University and throughout Spain, including at Teatro Perez Galdós in Gran Canaria, Teatro Escorial, Ponferrada’s Museo de Energia, and Madrid’s Universidad de Complutense, among others.

KLARA furthers the National Sawdust’s crucial support of new experimental, contemporary opera works—with recent presentations of Paola Prestini and Royce Vavrek’s Silent Light, Sokio’s Paraíso, Niloufar Nourbakhsh’s We, The Innumerable, and JOJO ABOT and Esperanza Spalding’s A GOD OF HER OWN MAKING, and through partnerships including Beth Morrison Projects, Aix en Provence, and others—and discourse that expands the operatic canon.

About the Artists

Born in Madrid, Pedro Halffter Caro (composer) is a conductor and composer. From 2001 to 2004 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Nürnberger Symphoniker, and Principal Conductor of the Bayreuth Festival Youth Orchestra. Other distinguished positions have included Principal and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria from 2004-2015, Artistic Director of the Real Orquesta Sinfónica of Seville from 2004 to 2014, and Artistic Director of the Teatro de la Maestranza of Sevilla from 2004 to 2018. Maestro Halffter has worked in Vienna, Berlin, London, Paris, Madrid, Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo, Shanghai, Salzburg, Munich, Barcelona, Essen, Mannheim and Toulouse conducting orchestras such as London Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, New Japan Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Dresdner Philharmonie, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra Strasbourg Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, among others. Highlights of his successes as composer include the 2016 premiere at Teatro Real of his new orchestration of Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis and his symphonic versions of Wagner's Tannhäuser, Gotterdämmerung, Parsifal & Siegfried, which have been performed by top orchestras in Spain, Italy & France. He has made recordings with labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Music and Warner Classics. 2022-2023 highlights include Madame Butterfly with Opera de Montréal, Tosca at ABAO, Florencia in Tenerife & La traviata at Teatro de la Maestranza. 2024 includes conducting La bohème at ABAO and Dialogues at Teatro Cervantes Malaga. He is a member of Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría of Seville.

Richard Stafford (director/choreographer) made his New York City Opera debut in 2017 as director and choreographer of the American premiere of Antonio Literes’s Los Elementos. He was immediately re-engaged and directed and choreographed the company’s critically acclaimed 2018 double bill of Rameau's Pigmalion and the American premiere of Donizetti’s Pigmalione. Additional NYCO credits include direction for The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and All Is Calm, choreography for Turandot (2018 with Opera Hong Kong) and, in 2019, choreography for Dear Erich and Stonewall. His Broadway credits include choreographer for In My Life at the Music Box Theatre, associate choreographer for Aspects of Love at the Broadhurst Theatre, and dance supervisor for Cats at the Winter Garden Theatre. Off-Broadway, he was choreographer for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn at St. Clements and director/choreographer for Castle Walk for the New York Musical Festival. Internationally he was director/choreographer for The Full Monty and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Mexico City; Catsin Copenhagen, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro; choreographer for Jesus Christ Superstar in Mexico City; Evita in Sydney; and Cats in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. He has been choreographer for national tours of Cats, My Fair Lady, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Mr. Stafford won the Barrymore Award for outstanding choreography for La Cage aux Folles at the Walnut Street Theatre and the NYMF “Outstanding Choreography” award for Castle Walk.

Silvia Santinelli (pianist), is known for her interpretations on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, including Carnegie Hall, as well as renowned festivals in Europe and Russia. Born in Mexico, she began performing at age seven in the United States and made her solo debut at twelve with the San Antonio Symphony, eventually garnering acclaim as a “musician of great depth.” In addition to her performances across the U.S. and Mexico, she has captivated audiences at the Chopin International Music Festival in the Czech Republic, the International Piano Festivals in Switzerland and Portugal, and the Rachmaninoff World Piano Festival in Russia receiving high accolades for her performance of Ravel’s La Valse. Notable chamber engagements include the duo appearance in Klara on the stage of New York City Opera; celebrated piano duo collaborations with her sister Silvana, including the San Antonio’s Tuesday Musical Club Artist Series; and powerful chamber performances at the Tobin Center with the Classical Music Institute, among them Wolf-Ferrari’s Sinfonia da Camera. As Co-Founder of the Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, (now CMI), she has pioneered initiatives to bring classical music to underserved communities, expanding access to exceptional live performances. Her early 20th-century concert repertoire has positioned her as a strong advocate for Spanish music, particularly the works of Manuel de Falla. Multiple television and radio broadcasts, notably National Public Radio (Performance Today), have featured her appearances, with highlights such as Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand, under the baton of Kevin Noe. Santinelli holds degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Texas at San Antonio under Valeri Grokhovski, interpretive training from Alexander Alexandrov from the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow, and a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin under Anton Nel as a recipient of the FONCA/CONACULTA Grant from the Mexican government.

Hailed by Opera News as “delightful,” Ashley Galvani Bell (Klara) recently made her debut with ABAO Bilbao Opera singing Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, sang Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly with both Bohème Opera New Jersey & Daytona Beach Symphony Society, was soprano soloist with Milan’s Orchestra UNIMI in Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, sang the title role in Penelope's Dream at Teatro Bretón in Logroño and Ateneo de Madrid, sang as Violetta in La Traviata, and was a soprano soloist in Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with the Festival of Villafranca del Bierzo, Spain. Other recent highlights include her debut with Seville’s Teatro Maestranza as Violetta in La Traviata, Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid, her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Hadyn’s “Nelson” Mass and Schubert’s Mass in C, her New York City Opera debut in L’Amore dei Tre Re, and Mimi in La bohème with California’s Opera Modesto, Mississippi Opera & Natchez Festival. Ms. Bell is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, is a recipient of Yale’s Browne Irish Performing Arts Award and speaks 5 languages fluently. She originated the role of Klara and has performed it in multiple international venues, including Harvard and most recently at Teatro Perez Galdos in Gran Canaria. Upcoming performances include Leonora in Trovatore with Boheme Opera New Jersey and debuts in Denmark and Germany.

John Farrell (set and stage designer) is currently the Director of Production for New York City Opera, overseeing all aspects of physical production and serving as the resident Scenic Designer since 2015. Previously, he was the resident designer for Dicapo Opera in New York, creating over ninety productions from 1992-2013. At Radio City Music Hall, he worked as scenic supervisor for the Spring Spectacular Easter Show and Christmas Show, and for Christmas productions in Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. From 1993-2015, John served as exclusive Set and Illusion Designer for magician Criss Angel, designing for three television specials, six seasons of Mindfreak on A&E, and the Mindfreak off-Broadway show. He was also Director of Illusions for “Criss Angel Believe” by Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor in Las Vegas, which ran for over seven years, followed by Mindfreak Live at Planet Hollywood. As Production Manager, he managed two live tours, a TV series, and a Vegas show simultaneously. John’s other television credits include Supervising Art Director for America’s Got Talent (seasons 7-10), Gossip Girl, The Tony Awards, and commercials for Toys “R” Us. In Mexico City, he designed Fiddler on the Roof, Sweet Charity, and Besame Mucho for Morris Gilbert. His regional theater credits in the U.S. include work with Walnut Street Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and touring productions for Theatreworks USA and National Lyric Opera.

General admission tickets are $40 and can be purchased at https://www.nationalsawdust.org/event/opera-hispanica-presents-klara-2-28-25. Students may purchase discounted tickets in advance with the code STUDENTSATNS.