LIVERMORE \u2014 For a community accustomed to the transcendent operatic voices brought to life by Erie Mills, a stunned silence took hold early last week. News of the Livermore Valley Opera (LVO) artistic director\u2019s sudden death broke across the Tri-Valley on social media leaving behind waves of shock and sadness. Mills passed away on June 23, following a brief illness, one day after her 73rd birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an unfathomable loss for the world of music, and Livermore Valley Opera, where she has been our artistic director and guiding light for years and for all those who love and cherish her. She was absolutely extraordinary,\u201d LVO Board President Jonathan Kleid said in a statement issued last Thursday. A close friend of Mills since 1985, Kleid shared in a phone interview with The Independent that in the quiet of the aftermath, a clear message can be heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the sort of unfathomability, if that\u2019s a word, of the whole situation, the voice I hear is Erie\u2019s saying \u2018Okay, now let\u2019s get to work,\u2019\u201d Kleid said.<\/p>\n
Not only had Mills planned and prepared LVO\u2019s 35th season before her death, but she also laid out the 36th, which will include the works \u201cMadame Butterfly\u201d and \u201cMacbeth,\u201d Kleid confirmed.<\/p>\n
The internationally acclaimed coloratura soprano achieved world recognition, but many people in the Tri-Valley will remember her warm and down-to-earth nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a person who, I think because she was a member of our community and lived locally…a lot of people didn\u2019t realize what we had and the gravitas of the artist that she was,\u201d Kleid said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople kind of just said, \u2018Oh, well, you know, it\u2019s Erie.\u2019 But Erie was a major, major artistic figure.\u201c<\/p>\n
Mills, who led LVO\u2019s artistic vision since 2016 and had been a devoted champion of LVO since 2009, was born in Granite City, Illinois and graduated from The College of Wooster, the University of Illinois and the Houston Opera Studio, LVO officials said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Over the course of her career, she performed in many of the world\u2019s leading opera houses, among them the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera and New York City Opera.<\/p>\n
She was highly respected for signature roles including Zerbinetta in Strauss\u2019s \u201cAriadne auf Naxos,\u201d Rosina in \u201cIl Barbiere di Siviglia,\u201d Cunegonde in Bernstein\u2019s \u201cCandide,\u201d the title role in \u201cLucia di Lammermoor\u201d and Giunia in Mozart\u2019s \u201cLucio Silla at La Scala.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her portrayal of Cunegonde at the New York City Opera was broadcast nationally on PBS\u2019 \u201cLive from Lincoln Center.\u201d On record, she can be heard on RCA\u2019s \u201cFollies,\u201d the Grammy Award-winning \u201cCandide\u201d on New World Records, and her solo album of American song, \u201calways it\u2019s Spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kleid commented on her impact on the Livermore Valley Opera company.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer vision and her refinement of taste in knowing which singers would be wonderful and worthy of what roles… that kind institutional knowledge is really rare and to have that for the last 10 years since she has been artistic director is why the level and reputation of the company, in large part, was what it was. And that can never be replaced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Independent had a chance to speak by phone from Canada with Rob Herriot, who directed the LVO production of Mozart\u2019s \u201cCosi fan tutte\u201d this past spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was certainly a strength for Livermore Valley Opera. I mean she raised them higher than anything. She was such a champion,\u201d Herriot said. \u201cI always felt when I was coming to Livermore that I\u2019d better live up to Erie Mills\u2019 expectations because she raised her own expectations so high throughout her career.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to her work on stage, Mills served as a member of the voice faculty at San Jose State University, beginning in 1998. Upon her retirement two decades later, she was a full professor of music.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had such a presence and a vibrancy,\u201d Herriot said.\u201d I can\u2019t imagine what the company is facing. It\u2019s like suddenly where does the ship go? You know, she just… she was everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to dedicating the 35th season to Mills, the board has also granted her the honorary title of artistic director laureate in perpetuity.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that she\u2019s always in some way with us,\u201d Kleid said.<\/p>\n
The company will additionally honor her memory with the newly established Erie Mills Legacy Fund to continue the work she loved.<\/p>\n
Kleid added that as a company they are taking a moment to process.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we will move through it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we hope to see (the community) keep coming to the opera.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIVERMORE \u2014 For a community accustomed to the transcendent operatic voices brought to life by Erie Mills, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,98886,137,100880,100877,100879,100878],"class_list":["post-233555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-mills","tag-erie-news","tag-jonathan-kleid","tag-livermore","tag-livermore-valley-opera","tag-lvo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}