Locust: The Opera

04/11/2021

Some photos from last night’s performance. One more chance to catch Locust at Cottiers- tonight at 7:30!

03/11/2021

Stage is ready for tonight’s performance at Cottiers ✨✨✨

03/11/2021

Sunday was a whirlwind, so sadly I was unable to capture any images from the performance or to post a proper follow-up, but the team would like to thank the wonderful crew at University of St Andrews Music Centre, with Christopher Bragg heading up the massive organizational efforts to make our little production work. We had some hiccups on the day of the show, but were still able to present a lovely afternoon of song for our appreciative audience. Thank you again! You can catch up tonight and tomorrow at Cottiers in Glasgow. 7:30pm!

02/11/2021

Tomorrow and Thursday👻 ✨
Nov. 3-4: Cottiers ..
..
Composer: Anne Guzzo
Librettist: Jeffrey Lockwood
Music Director: Thomas Blomster
Art Director: Ashley Carlisle
Stage Director: Cristin Colvin
Scientist: Todd Teske
Locust: Cristin Colvin
Rancher: Thomas Erik Angerhofer

01/11/2021

Our lovely cast from our premiere in at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Join us THIS WED AND THURS at Cottiers for more performances...

30/10/2021

It's Science AND it's Art!

In June 1875 the sky over Plattsmouth, Nebraska, about 20 miles south of Omaha, darkened for five days as a swarm of Rocky Mountain locusts flew across the plains.

30/10/2021

Scenes from last night’s first rehearsals in this beautiful space! 🤩

29/10/2021

What's this opera about again? Why, it's an environmental murder mystery, of course! If you're in Scotland, swing by for a performance for the full experience. Oct 31 at University of St Andrews Music Centre and Nov 3-4 at Cottiers ..

28/10/2021

Locust: The Opera proudly takes place in Wyoming....and what would a prairie scene be without a rancher? Meet our opera's rancher, baritone Thomas Erik Angerhofer:

A native of Rochester, NY, Thomas Erik Angerhofer has won critical acclaim for performances throughout North America, Europe, and the Near East. Hailed by the Citizen-Times for his “powerful and sweet baritone” and the Daily Camera for his “compelling” characterization, Erik’s repertoire encompasses numerous genres. He has been heard as Jesus in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Boulder Bach Festival and in Beirut, Lebanon, where he will return this spring as a soloist in Brahms’ Requiem. Erik’s concert appearances inlcude Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Vaughan-Williams Five Mystical Songs and Epithalamion, Bach’s B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah and Semele, and much more. As an interpreter of staged music, Erik has performed over 50 roles from Baroque to Contemporary, including Anneas in Dido and Anneas, Guglielmo and Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, Count Almaviva and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Escamillo and Dancairo in Carmen, Giorgio Germont and Barone Douphol in La Traviata, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Il Marito in Amelia Goes to the Ball, Tarquinius in The R**e of Lucrezia, Joseph DeRocher in Dead Man Walking, Emile DeBecque in South Pacific, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, and the Wolf / Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods. This season Erik created the title role in Tenebrae: The Passion of Dietrich Bohnoeffer for the Orpheus Theatrical Group, Frank L. Baum in Pushed Aside for the Society for New Music, and the Rancher in Locust at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY.

Erik has performed at many distinguished music festivals, including Aspen, Brevard and Chautauqua. He received his B.A. in music from SUNY Fredonia, M.M. and D.M.A. (ABD) from CU Boulder. He is currently a member of the voice faculty at CSU; previous faculty positions include Ithaca College, MWSU, and MSUD. His students have won roles in Broadway shows, national tours, regional theatres and opera houses, and have received scholarships and fellowships to continue studies at prestigious institutions in the US and abroad.

28/10/2021

Meet Tenor Todd Teske. He plays the Entomologist, our tortured hero.

Todd's recent career highlights include: Monteverdi Dixit Dominus, Beatus Virand Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Handel Messiah, Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Colorado Bach Ensemble, Handel Dixit Dominus and Laudate Pueri Dominum with Seicento Baroque Ensemble, Gilbert and Sullivan Mikado (Nanki-Poo) and various rolls in Gilbert and Sullivan Review with Opera Theater of the Rockies. Todd can be heard soloing in the Hollywood movie: A Remarkable Life. He recorded The Sacred Spirit of Russia (Harmonia Mundi) with Conspirare, which garnered a 2014 Grammy for Best Choral Performance. Todd made his Washington D.C. Kennedy Center solo debut in Handel’s LÁllegro il Penseroso for the Mark Morris Dance Group. In New York City, Todd has won second place at the Richard Tauber International Tenor Competition, soloed in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast with the Dessoff Choirs and Handel’s Messiah with Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, and three Bach Cantatas with The Canticum Novum Singers. Todd has also soloed in J.S. Bach’s Magnificat and Cantatas1&125 with Helmuth Rilling in Stuttgart, Germany. Todd made his European opera debut at Giessen Stadttheater in Germany performing the title roles in Milhaud’s Le Pauvre Matelot and the world premiere of Jean Francaix’s Le Diable Boiteux. Upcoming solo performances for 2018/2019 include: Bach cantata BWV 70 with Colorado Bach Ensemble and the world premiere of the opera Locust by Anne M Guzzo.

26/10/2021

We're happy to introduce you to our Artistic Director...she's designed our costumes, projections, and set--- Ashley Hope Carlisle! She's a visual artist working as an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Wyoming. Her artist's vision matches wonderfully with this production. She says, " The western landscape is vast and varied, diverse at every view and it continues to pe*****te the seeds I choose and the moving pictures I present." Check out more of Ashley's work at her site ()

26/10/2021

We are happy to introduce to you our fearless leader at the podium, Maestro Thomas A. Blomster!

Swiss American Thomas A. Blomster has a BM from Metropolitan State College of Denver and a MA from the University of Denver. He has performed and studied throughout the USA, Europe, Mexico, and New Zealand. He has worked with Aaron Copland, Elliot Carter, Krystof Penderecki, Karel Husa, Morton Gould, Michael Colgrass, Lukas Foss, David Amram, as well as members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. He has performed and/or conducted the following orchestras: Theatre des Westens (Berlin, Germany), Louisville Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria (Mexico City), Evansville (IN) Philharmonic, Denver Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Ballet Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and was Percussionist and Artist in Residence at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver for ten years.

During the summer of 2017 Maestro Blomster was the first Western composer and conductor to work with the State Morin Khuur Ensemble (traditional instrument ensemble) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where he conducted the premiere of his composition Postcards To Mongolia. The score of the composition is now housed at the 2000+ year old Mongolian National Archive. His composition, A Brighton Serenade, is the title cut for The Mercury Ensembles’ CD for Sonora Productions. He also arranged and recorded German composer Markus Reuter's Todmorden 513, a one hour algorithmic composition.

Currently Thomas is Music Director of the Colorado Chamber Orchestra and the Douglas County Youth Orchestra. He also maintains an active schedule performing and recording with various jazz and rock bands. Thomas resides in Pueblo, Colorado with his wonderful wife pianist Noriko Nikki Tsuchiya and enjoys cycling, hiking, and gardening when he gets a break from his many demanding musical roles. More at

Keep track of us here for the premiere of Locust: The Opera in Jackson, WY!

CCO Director Thomas Blomster has led the following ensembles on the podium: the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Denver Chamber Orchestra, the Mostly Strauss Orchestra, the Boulder Brass, the Mile High Community Band, the Youth Orchestra of the Rockies, and was founder and Music Director of the Me...