MESA - May 16 and May 17 will see the world premiere of a new opera by Arizona composer, James DeMars, based on the appearances of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Mexican-Indian Juan Diego. The two-act opera will be presented as a concert featuring internationally recognized singers Isola Jones (mezzo-soprano) as Our Lady of Guadalupe and Robert Breault (tenor) as Juan Diego.

ASU faculty vocalists Carole Fitzpatrick (soprano) and Robert Barefield (bass) will add their talents as the conniving La Malinche and the imperious Bishop Zumarraga. Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai will serve as the main musical soloist with Fr. Jorge Rodriguez Eagar, OSB as cantor. Assisted by concert-mistress Danwen Jiang, DeMars will conduct the Guadalupe Festival Orchestra & Chorus, an ensemble of ASU faculty, advanced students, and members of the ASU Symphonic Chorale and Sun Valley Chorale.

Audiences will have the rare opportunity to hear two of the finest singers in the world. Jones is an internationally recognized mezzo-soprano who made her professional debut in the Verdi Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and then went on to sing more than 500 performances as a leading artist at "The Met" where she was paired with Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, and performed under the baton of Richard Bonynge and James Levine. Some of her leading roles include Giulietta in Les Contes D'Hoffman, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and Maddalena in Rigoletto, but it is her portrayal of Carmen, her signature role, for which she is best known.

Breault, who enjoys an international career encompassing opera, oratorio, recital, and concert work, is known for his warm and flexible voice, and dramatic acting skills. He sings a wide range of literature ranging from Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Don Jose in Carmen to Handel's Messiah, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Opera News described him as making "an excellent impression, his mellifluous tenor boasting clarity of both tone and diction; clearly reveling in high notes, he sang with notable dynamic variety."

The appearance of the Virgin Mary to the peasant Juan Diego in 1531 created the foundation for spiritual life in Mexico and Latin America. The power of the story of how a peasant's vision and miraculous experience changed his society is still felt strongly almost 500 years later. Like the story, which is set against a background of two cultures, the pagan Aztec and Catholic Spanish, coalescing into a new society, the music is also a multicultural blending of musical styles, artists, and languages. The libretto includes text in English, Spanish, Latin, and Nahuatl (Aztec).

DeMars integrated European, African, Native American, and native Mexican musical elements in his score, and asked Nakai, the world's premier Native American flutist and his frequent collaborator, to provide a native "voice" to interact with the vocal soloists. To further expand the native expression, Huichol percussionist and flutist, Xavier Quijas Yxayotl, will provide exotic musical colors from indigenous Mexico, and Mark Sunkett will provide the power and rhythmic complexity of African drums and percussion.

This world premiere is produced by Canyon Records, an independent record company specializing in Native American music since 1951, with support from the ASU Herberger College School of Music, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Jack Miller Productions, Nile Graphics, and Herding Cats Productions.