þ÷ STLMAG.COM JULY 2019 Photography courtesy of Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
$7 &7 ı= ıS$ı XJ
ı
There’s never been a better time to see a show at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Shakespeare Fes-
tival, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, or the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, because new talent—
Andrew Jorgensen at the opera, Tom Ridgely at the Shakespeare Festival, Hana Sharif at The Rep, and
Stéphane Denève at the symphony—have taken over these arts institutions, and they’ve already started
making their marks. Ridgely and the Festival’s Shakespeare in the Streets program will present SFSTL’s
first urban-rural production, based on stories from Normandy, Missouri, and Brussels, Illinois, in Septem-
ber. Denève’s inaugural season will be celebrating the connections between France and the United States
with classics by Gershwin, Ravel, and Saint-Saëns and works by newer voices, including Adams, Higdon,
Puts, Kernis, and Connesson. This year, Jorgensen’s New Works, Bold Voices series includes Fire Shut Up
in My Bones, based on a memoir by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. Sharif ’s tenure only began
in June, but we can’t wait to see what new works, new perspectives, and new talent she brings to the stage.CULTURE & ARTS