Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Composer Patrick Morganelli holds degrees in music from both California State University Northridge and the USC Thornton School of Music where he studied Piano with Daniel Pollack and Composition with Frederick Lesemann and Tamar Diesendruck, graduating with distinction. He also holds a postgraduate certificate in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television from USC, where he was the first recipient of the prestigious Joe Harnell Memorial Scholarship.

Morganelli composed the music and adapted the text for Hercules vs Vampires which combines opera and midcentury pop culture, synchronizing live music with the cult fantasy film Hercules in the Haunted World, a 1961 sword-and-sandal epic directed by Mario Bava and starring Reg Park (a three-time Mr. Universe) and Christopher Lee. The work had its premiere in Portland at Opera Theater Oregon in 2010. The LA Opera production, which runs April 23, 25 and 26 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, will include a cast of 10 singers from the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, a 26-piece orchestra and be conducted by Christopher Allen. Hercules vs Vampires is being presented in association with American Cinematheque and the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles.

Critics have lauded Morganelli’s work in film and television as being uniquely evocative and haunting in a way that persists long after the music has ended.  He has worked with filmmakers such as Academy Award nominee Randall Wallace and composers Christopher Young and Michael Giacchino. In 2014 he was invited by the Yosemite Conservancy to become an Artist-In-Residence there in 2015, and he recently was selected to be featured on the California State University San Bernardino Distinguished Artist Series. In addition to his work in film, television and opera, he also is active in the world of concert music.  Recent commissions include a Violin Concerto and a large work for solo piano. His song cycle Songs of Late Summer for mezzo-soprano and orchestra premiered in the fall of 2015. He lives and works in Los Angeles.