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Home › People › Directory › Cynthia S Stokes

Cynthia S Stokes

Assistant Professor, Music

Music Bldg, Room 229
520-626-0322

M.F.A. University of California at San Diego

Stage and opera director Cynthia Stokes has devoted her professional career to creating provocative and thrilling productions across America. Her work has been praised for, “clear story-telling, theatrical sensibility and ashaving existential depths and evoking mythical resonance,” by the Philadelphia Inquirer; and, “funny and moving…The depiction of love and infidelity amid a troupe of traveling players was nimbly done, as was the fatal confluence of illusion and reality…” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Up next for Ms. Stokes is a site-specific installation of the late Mexican composr Daniel Catán's  La Hija de Rappaccini  which will be presented on the campus of The University of Arizona in the outslide lobby of ENR2.  Other upcoming projects include a collaboration with composer Michael Ching for Amarillo Opera's production of Speed Dating. Recent productions include:  her new translation of Thamos, King of Egypt(Mozart)for Mainly Mozart, Orpheus in the Underworld for The University of Arizona and St. Francis de los Barrios for San Diego CITY Opera. 

Ms. Stokes is the Artistic Director of San Diego CITY Opera, San Diego’s newest opera company dedicated to encourage San Diegans to see their community in new positive ways by presenting opera in site-specific locations throughout the city.  CITY Opera’s first production, Queen of Carthage,a contemporary retelling of Dido and Aeneaswas part of La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival in October 2015.  Music critic Jim Chute said,” they got to the beating, beautiful, timeless heart of Purcell’s 1688 masterpiece. Their 45-minute reduction of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” was an inspiration.  In the spring of 2016 she staged Dominick Argento’s song cycle The Andrée Expedition with three singers in an abandoned factory. Music critic Pam Kragen said, “ Stokes ends the engrossing piece with a surprising and moving theatrical flourish that features a soulful and stylish reunion of the dead and dying. Opera is at its best when it’s visceral, and City Opera’s imaginative conception of the tragic, true story of the Andrée Expedition has proven to be a natural.”

Directing highlights include: Silent Night for Piedmont Opera this fall; The Rape of Lucretia for University of Arizona’s Opera Workshop; Rigoletto for Opera Las Vegas, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn) for Mainly Mozart; La Hija de Rappaccini for Alamo City Opera; Coping Mechanisms for New York’s Rhymes with Opera, and a new production ofThe Andrée Expedition for The Vermont Opera Project.South Pacific, Madama Butterfly and The Crucible for Piedmont Opera; Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus & Euridice, Robert Xavier Rodriguez La Curandera for San Antonio’s Opera Piccola;The Italian Straw Hat for Amarillo Opera; Le nozze di Figaro for San Antonio Opera; Pagliacci for Opera San Jose. While at Glimmerglass Opera, she directed Le nozze di Figaro (cover cast) and staged members of The Young American Artists Program in Killer B’s, a cabaret-style celebration of American composers whose last names begin with the letter ‘B’; Roméo et Juliette for San Diego Opera; Madama Butterfly for Opera Company of Philadelphia; Homies and Popz (tour)for Los Angeles Opera; Margaret Garner for Cincinnati Opera and Opera Carolina. 

Ms. Stokes has collaborated with some of America’s most exciting composers and librettists including: Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison on Margaret Garner for Cincinnati Opera and Opera Carolina, For Los Angeles Opera she co-wrote and directed Murder at the Opera with composer Edward Barnes. Schirmer Music publishes the opera.  Ms. Stokes background of collaborating with writers, composers and visual artists led to Music and Art of Fin-De-Siècle Vienna for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  

An accomplished theatre director her work has been seen at American Conservatory Theatre, The Old Globe, The Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theatre and North Coast Rep. Ms. Stokes has also been on the directing staff at Dallas Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Pacific and The Florentine Opera. 

Grants for Ms. Stokes include: A Qualcomm Ideas Grant for a workshop of St. Francis de los Barrios in 2017, New York Foundation for the Arts Artist in Residence Grant, Opera America Travel Grant,  The Lotta Crabtree Foundation Grant, Minnesota Opera’s New Music Theatre Ensemble Grant and A Quinn Martin Directing Grant.

Deeply committed to encouraging the next generation of artists and audiences, Ms. Stokes started La Jolla Playhouse’s Summer Conservatory and San Diego Opera’s Summer Opera Institute. Ms. Stokes is currently on faculty at The Taos Opera Institute and served as an NEA panelist for opera. She has also been a panelist for San Diego’s Commission for Arts and Culture. She holds a B.A. in Theater from Colorado State University and an M.FA., in Directing from the University of California at San Diego.

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The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

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The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

Friday Night at Fred Fox is LIVE on YouTube!
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I don't listen to enough percussion music, this was amazing!

Mesmerizing performance! Congratulations to UARIZONA Percussion and Morris Palter!

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

1 day ago

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

River Town Duo releases a debut album featuring original works by six contemporary composers Including pulitzer prize-winning Caroline Shaw.

River Town Duo features Philip Alejo (double bass) and Claire Happel Ashe (harp). Bassist Philip Alejo currently teaches at University of Arizona in Tucson (Associate Professor of Music, Double Bass).

Online Streaming:

Composers: Caroline Shaw (b.1982), Whitney Ashe (b.1971), Derick Evans (b.1991), Hannah Lash (b.1981), Evan Premo (b.1985), Stephen Andrew Taylor (b.1965)

Works: 1. "For Claire & Philip" (2014) by Caroline Shaw, 2. "The Circuitous Six" (2016) by Whitney Ashe, 3. "On Lotusland" (2015) by Derick Evans, 4-5. "Leaves, Space" (2015) by Hannah Lash, 6-7. "Two Meditations on Poems of Mary Oliver" (2017) by Evan Premo, 8-12. "Oxygen" (2017) by Stephen Andrew Taylor

About River Town Duo
Founded in 2012, River Town Duo has presented dozens of recitals at venues including the University of Arizona, University of Illinois, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Mackinac Island Music Festival, University of Notre Dame, and the University of Wisconsin, among others. River Town Duo has also performed recitals as invited artists at the International Society of Bassists Convention and the American Harp Society Summer Institute. Although there are only a handful of double bass and harp duos in the world, over 20 composers have written works for this instrumentation. River Town Duo is committed to commissioning new works from influential composers and adding to the growing repertoire of pieces for double bass and harp. River Town Duo comprises double bassist Philip Alejo and harpist Claire Happel Ashe.

Philip Alejo is the Associate Professor of Music, Double Bass at the University of Arizona and Artist Faculty at the Bay View Music Festival. Previously he served as Associate Principal Bass of the Quad City Symphony and Visiting Professor of Bass at the University of Michigan. A former member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Philip has additionally performed with the Tucson Symphony, Arizona Opera, Ensemble Dal Niente, Flint Symphony, and Ann Arbor Symphony. His numerous music festivals and residencies include Spoleto Festival USA, Lucerne Festival, Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival, Mackinac Island Music Festival, Oaxaca Instrumenta, Aldeburgh Festival, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. Philip teaches at the Arizona ASTA Bass Jams and the Richard Davis Bass Conference at the University of Wisconsin. He was recently named Guest Professor at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music and MusAid Teaching Artist at El Sistema, El Salvador. Philip holds degrees from Oberlin College (BA, BM), Yale University (MM), and the University of Michigan (DMA), where his principal teachers included Diana Gannett, Donald Palma, Peter Dominguez, and Thomas Sperl.

Claire Happel Ashe is a versatile performer known for integrating diverse aspects of movement and music. As a harpist, she has appeared with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional of the Dominican Republic, and the Newberry Consort among many other ensembles. She regularly collaborates in chamber music performances with oboist Karisa Werdon (Immer Neu), and guitarist James Moore and mandolin player Jeremy Harting (Noble Fowl Trio). An advocate of new music, she has performed with contemporary ensembles such as the Chicago Composers Orchestra, International Ensemble Modern Academy, and the Pulitzer Series of St. Louis, and commissioned new works with grants from the Urbana Public Arts Program, City of Chicago Cultural Affairs, American Harp Society, and the Illinois Arts Council. In the summers, she has performed at the Midwest Harp Festival, American Harp Society Conferences and Institutes in Chicago, Logan (UT), and Tacoma (WA), and presented at the World Harp Congress in Dublin and Alexander Technique Congress in Chicago. In addition to performances on the modern pedal harp, Claire has performed on the Baroque triple harp since 2016 mentored by artists such as Cheryl Ann Fulton, Charlotte Mattax Moersch, and Christa Patton at the Madison Early Music Festival and Queens College Early Opera Workshop. She holds degrees in music performance from Yale University and the University of Illinois, where she also received a BFA in Dance, and was a 2007-08 Fulbright Scholar in Prague. She has served on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, Illinois Summer Youth Music, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and as a teaching assistant at Yale University, the University of Illinois, and the Music in the Mountains Festival. She currently teaches harp, Alexander Technique, and movement at the Music Institute of Chicago, Valparaiso University, Olivet Nazarene University, and the James Hart Harp Program in the Homewood Public Schools.
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The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

4 days ago

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

Tune in on Friday nights at 7:00 p.m. for livestream performances


Subscribe to the Fred Fox School of Music YouTube Channel


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The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

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The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

Registration is now open for UArizona Virtual Clarinet Day! Mark your calendars for Jan. 17, 2021 and join us for this free event! ... See MoreSee Less

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The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

1 week ago

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

Congratulations to DMA candidate Erik Peregrine!

https://facebook.com/UAChoirs/photos/…
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Congratulations, Erik! We are so proud of you!!

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

1 week ago

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music

Tucson Bass Jam
Virtual Event (Zoom)
Sunday, January 17, 2021
1:00-5:00 p.m.
Free Admission

The Tucson Bass Jam is an ASTA and University of Arizona sponsored virtual clinic on Zoom for beginning, intermediate, and advanced double bass students, music educators, and community bass players of any age from Southern Arizona.

Faculty Director:
Philip Alejo, The University of Arizona

Guest Artists:
Issac Trapkus, New York Philharmonic
Juan J. García Jiménez, National Autonomous University of Mexico, CEPROMUSIC

Registration and Fees:
Tucson Bass Jam will be free of charge in 2021.

Registration: Participants should contact Philip Alejo (palejo@email.arizona.edu) to register. A Zoom link and entry code will be sent to every registered participant prior to the event. Registration on the day of the event will be possible, but not recommended. Any high school student interested in playing their regional excerpts for Isaac Trapkus should also contact Philip Alejo.

Schedule of Events:
Sunday, January 17, 2021
1:00-5:00 p.m.

1:00 - 1:15 p.m.
Welcome and introductions

1:20 - 2:00 p.m. Warm-ups with Philip Alejo (beginner/intermediate) and Juan García (advanced)

2:00 - 2:50 p.m.
New and experimental music with Juan García

3:00 - 3:55 p.m.
Masterclass on regional excerpts with Isaac Trapkus

4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Masterclass for UA students with Isaac Trapkus

Guest Artist Biographies

Bassist Isaac Trapkus joined the New York Philharmonic in November 2016. Before joining the Philharmonic he was a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and, before that, principal double bass of the New Haven Symphony while he was studying with Leigh Mesh, associate principal bass of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Mr. Trapkus is a product of Iowa’s public school music program and began his bass studies with Linda Gannett of Davenport, Iowa. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Diana Gannett, and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with former New York Philharmonic Principal Bass Eugene Levinson. At Michigan, Isaac Trapkus became the first bassist in 30 years to win the school’s concerto competition, for which he performed Tubin’s Bass Concerto. He also won Juilliard’s bass concerto competition, performing Vanhal’s Bass Concerto. During his study he performed with the New York String Orchestra Seminar and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany. Mr. Trapkus volunteers as a designer and administrator with IMSLP, the online sheet music library.

Juan J. García Jiménez is a musician specializing in contemporary music and improvisation, who lives and works in Mexico City. Since 2012, he is a member of the ensemble at the Center for Experimentation and Production of Contemporary Music (CEPROMUSIC) and since 2018 is part of the faculty at the Music School of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the School of Art of Yucatán (ESAY). He has collaborated with orchestras and chamber ensembles internationally and has also developed a career in improvised and experimental music, collaborating since 2001 with iconic characters in the development of contemporary music. His practice stems from studies and practices within the musical tradition combined with a broad foray into new music, prominently in sonic explorations and experimentations. He has also developed innovative teaching techniques that have led him to mix traditional and experimental musical ideas and practices within the classroom.

García studied double bass at the University of Houston under the tutelage of Dennis Whittaker and earned a master's degree at Arizona State University under Catalin Rotaru in 2008. Since then he has fully devoted himself to teaching, performing, and disseminating new music, premiering hundreds of works by composers from around the world with the CEPROMUSIC Ensemble, Liminar Ensemble, and the Low Frequency Trio. Important performances include concerts at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), The Darmstadt Summer Festival (Germany), No Idea Festival (Austin), the Tate Modern (UK), and the Rothko Chapel (Houston).
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