PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKYComposer (1840-1893)Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky studied music sporadically early in his life, but took a job as a government clerk. Hating the post, he turned to music and studied at the newly founded music school in St. Petersburg. His teachers and peers harshly criticized many of Tchaikovsky’s early works. Despite the views of the musical “elite,” his music always found favor with the public. Such works include his first three symphonies, the Violin Concerto in D major, and the immensely popular Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. Tchaikovsky, always, self-critical, felt he was unable to grasp the concepts of musical form, and so relied heavily on romantic melodies and colorful orchestration. Among his most popular works is the 1812 Overture, composed in 1880 as part of the celebrations commemorating Russia’s defeat of Napoleon. In 1877, Tchaikovsky received commissions from a wealthy widow, Nadezhda von Meck, whose continued patronage and financial gifts enabled Tchaikovsky to devote all of his time to composing. His Symphony No. 4 in F minor was the first of these later works. The Sleeping Beauty, written in the traditional form of early classical ballets, elevated ballet music to new heights. Tchaikovsky’s contributions to this art form influenced the entire course of ballet music.
MIKKO NISSINEN
Boston Ballet Artistic Director and Choreographer of The Nutcracker
Mikko Nissinen is recognized internationally as an accomplished dancer, teacher and artistic director. He assumed the position of Artistic Director of Boston Ballet and the Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education in September 2001. Born in Helsinki, Finland, Nissinen began his dance training at age ten with The Finnish National Ballet School. At age fifteen, he launched his dance career and immediately began performing soloist roles. In 1979 he joined The Kirov Ballet School to continue his studies. Nissinen went on to dance with The Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet and San Francisco Ballet - where he held the position of principal dancer for ten years. In 1996 Nissinen retired as Principal Dancer from San Francisco Ballet and was appointed Artistic Director of the Marin Ballet in San Rafael, California. In 1998 Nissinen was appointed Artistic Director of Alberta Ballet, in Calgary, Canada. As Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, Nissinen has defined the Company’s image with classical and neo-classical works, ranging from full-length ballets including Cranko’s Onegin and The Taming of the Shrew, Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, and Nureyev’s Don Quixote, to masterworks by George Balanchine, to new works and world premieres from some of finest contemporary choreographers including William Forsythe, Mark Morris, Val Caniparoli, David Dawson and Jorma Elo. Nissinen choreographed The Nutcracker for Boston Ballet in 2003/2004, and the Company debuted his staging of Swan Lake in May 2004. In July 2002 Nissinen was a fellow at the Executive Program for Nonprofit Arts Leaders at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Nissinen is a member of the Artistic Committee for the New York Choreographic Institute.
HELEN POND and HERBERT SENN
Scenic Designers
Helen Pond and Herbert Senn created the sets for Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker in 1978. Pond and Senn were principal scenic designers for the Opera Company of Boston for many years where they collaborated on over 50 productions with Sarah Caldwell including Mass, Don Pasquale, Russian and Ludmilla, Falstaff, Die Fledermaus, and Aїda. Pond and Senn also designed Caldwell’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in New York. The duo’s New York City Opera design credits include The Merry Widow, Ariadne auf Naxos, The Young Lord, and The Barber of Seville. Their Broadway credits include What Makes Sammy Run, Oh Coward, and the 1982 revival of Showboat. Internationally, Pond and Senn designed The Boys from Syracuse at London’s Drury Lane and The Balcony at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. They also designed dozens of shipboard shows for Theatre Guild cruises and were the first recipients of the Eliott Norton "Robert Edmund Jones" prize.
DAVID WALKER
Costume Designer
David Walker began his design career with Joan Littlewood at Theatre Workshop after studying at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He has worked for the Royal Court, Haagsche Comedie, Regents Park, Stockholm Royal Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Edinburgh Festival, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, La Fenice in Venice, The Aldwych Theatre, and National Theatre in London. Walker also has done work for The Metropolitan Opera, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet West, Louisville Ballet, Santiago Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, English National Opera, English Opera Group, Gatenburg Ballet, Drottningholm, Deutsche Opera Berlin, Stuttgart Ballet, Rome Opera, and Houston Ballet, as well as work for film and television. His additional Boston Ballet credits include Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty.
CHARLES HEIGHTCHEW
Boston Ballet Manager of Costumes and Wardrobe
Born in Dover, Delaware and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Charles Heightchew is Boston Ballet's Manager of Costumes and Wardrobe. Before coming to Boston, Heightchew was a draper at various opera and theater companies including the Santa Fe Opera, The Virginia Opera, Stage One Children’s Theater, and The Louisville Ballet. Prior to working in theater he served as Production Manager and Location Staging Manager for ShowTech, Inc., a multi-image production company. Heightchew's designs for Boston Ballet include the Golden Idol from La Bayadere and many costumes for Boston Ballet's 2004 production of The Nutcracker. Heightchew also designed the Arabian costumes for The Nutcracker in 2003 and oversaw the builds of Christopher Wheeldon's Four Seasons and Daniel Pelzig's Resurrection. Heightchew has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisville. This is his eighth season with Boston Ballet.
ALEXANDER V. NICHOLS
Lighting Designer
Alexander V. Nichols' design work spans from lighting and projections to scenery and costumes for dance, theater, opera and art installations. His designs have been set on companies and artists including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Arena Stage Co. (Washington D.C.), Alley Theater (Houston), California Shakespeare Festival, National Theater of Taiwan, San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hong Kong Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, ODC/SF, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Paul Dresher Ensemble and Rinde Eckert. Nichols served as Resident Designer for the Pennsylvania Ballet, Hartford Ballet, American Repertory Ballet and as Lighting Director for American
Ballet Theater. Other dance credits include designs for choreographers: Christopher d’Amboise, Val Caniparoli, Sonya Delwaide, Marguerite Donlon, Dominique Dumais, Jean Grand-Maître, Joe Goode, Allyson Green, Susan Hadley, Joanna Haigood, Robert Hill, Margaret Jenkins, Bill T. Jones, Graham Lustig, Mark Morris, Matjash Mrozewski, KT Nelson, David Nixon, Kevin O¹Day, Lawrence Pech, Kirk Peterson, Stephen Petronio, Dwight Rhoden, Michael Smuin and Brenda Way. His recent projects include lighting for Bridge and Tunnel, an off-Broadway production by Sarah Jones; scenery and projections for Visual Music by the Kronos Quartet; the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s production of Val Caniparoli's A Cinderella Story; and the exterior lighting of the Sentinel Building, Francis Ford Coppola's historic headquarters in San Francisco.