NICOLAS REVELES

The opera Rumpelstiltskin was composed and orchestrated by Dr. Nicolas Reveles, a San Diego County native whose musical studies began at the early age of four in the studio of Dorothy Kelly in Carlsbad. After high school, he attended the University of San Diego and received a Bachelor of Arts in Music, then a Master of Arts in Music with an emphasis in choral conducting at the University of Redlands. While at Redlands, he became the accompanist for a string repertory class that traversed the bulk of the chamber music literature for piano and strings and awakened in him a greater desire to perform publicly. As a faculty member at his alma mater, The University of San Diego, he performed regularly as soloist with their orchestra, in countless piano recitals and in concerts with the Alcala Trio. He remained at USD from 1977 until 1990 and was ultimately tenured at the position of associate professor.

Between 1983 and 1985, he attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York where he studied with the American pianist Gary Graffman, himself a student of the great Vladimir Horowitz. Also participating in master classes with John Browning, Reveles received the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance.

In 1994 he began a four-year relationship with Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project as pianist for their chamber ensemble, providing integral musical accompaniment for the performances. In this capacity, the pianist appeared throughout the United States, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. During these tours he performed at La Scala, Milan; the Opéra Comique in Paris; the Coliseum in London; and before Vaclav Havel, the president of the Czech Republic, in a solo capacity with Baryshnikov. He also accompanied the dancer in a performance at the 53rd Presidential Inaugural Gala in Washington DC.

Dr. Reveles has also performed with such notable musicians as cellist Milos Sadlo and singers Carol Neblett, Vivica Genaux and Patricia Racette. He is currently The Geisel Director of Education and Outreach for the San Diego Opera. His relationship with the Opera goes back to 1978 when he began offering occasional lectures concerning the annual opera season. Since 1990 he has been the regular opera preview lecturer, offering over 60 presentations during each season. He is currently the host of OperaTalk on UCSD-TV. He was awarded First Place in Community Service and Public Affairs Programming by the San Diego Press Club.

For San Diego Opera, Reveles composed, in collaboration with librettist J. Sherwood Montgomery, operatic versions of The Sleeping Beauty and Rumpelstiltskin. These have toured schools and theatre venues in a production for the San Diego Opera Ensemble with piano accompaniment. He has recently orchestrated Rumpelstiltskin for this production at San Diego Lyric Opera