"Who is Reginald De Koven..."

... and why haven't I heard of him before?"

Excellent question! His isn't a name that usually comes up when you think of operetta.  But why not?  Robin Hood is often considered to be the first great American operetta.  But when you consider the entire light opera repertoire, he totally gets overshadowed by names like Gilbert & Sullivan, Offenbach, and Strauss.  That's kind of a shame.  So let's find out a little more about this De Koven guy, shall we?

De Koven was born in Connecticut in 1859, but he ended up spending much of his life in Europe.  He spent years studying music and composition in England, Germany, France, and Austria, and he went on to write a grand total of 20 light operas throughout his career. 

But before he was able to devote himself fully to music, he came back to the U.S. to work in business to be able to make a living.  He first worked for a brokerage firm in Chicago, and later he started a dry-goods business that did extremely well.  With that success under his belt, he went back to music and started cranking out operas, operettas, sonatas, orchestral works, and even ballets.  And he didn't just stick to composing - he also worked as a music critic for major publications and was conductor of the Washington, D.C. symphony for a couple of years.  

Robin Hood was De Koven's biggest success, and it performed all across the U.S. after it opened in Chicago in 1890. Don't miss your chance to see VLOC's production of De Koven's most popular work!  Get your tickets online HERE or call the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre box office at 240-314-8690.