AMERICAN BARITONE SCOTT HENDRICKS TO CREATE ROLE OF PRINCE NEKHLYUDOV IN THE WORLD PREMIERE OF TOD MACHOVER'S RESURRECTION
Previously announced Christopher Schaldenbrand withdraws from production

HOUSTON, TX---American baritone Scott Hendricks will assume the creation of Prince
Dimitry Nekhlyudov for the world premiere of Tod Machover's Resurrection. Mr. Hendricks
will step in for the previously announced American baritone Christopher Schaldenbrand, who
has been indisposed and forced to withdraw. Mr. Hendricks, who is a member of the acclaimed
Houston Opera Studio, was Mr. Schaldenbrand's understudy for the role during early rehearsals.

"I feel confident that Scott Hendricks will create a superb Nekhlyudov,"said HGO's general director David Gockley. "Scott has been a part of the rehearsal process since the beginning and his performances in other HGO productions the last two seasons have convinced me that he is ready for this huge career challenge."

Based on Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel of the same name, Resurrection opens in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater on Friday, April 23 with additional performances on April 25m
and 28, and May 1, 4, and 7. With a libretto by Laura Harrington and additional material by
Braham Murray, Resurrection is a story of spiritual renewal amid the corrupt institutions of a
decadent society. It traces the fate of a Russian Prince called as a juror for the trial of a prostitute
who proves to be a servant girl he set on the road to ruin.

The creative team includes British director Braham Murray, British set and costume designer Simon Higlett, lighting designer Chris Parry and choreographer Sandra Organ. HGO's music director Patrick Summers, in his premiere season with the company, leads the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra for all performances.

The cast features a trio of mezzo-sopranos, Joyce DiDonato as the prostitute Maslova, Katherine Ciesinski as Sofia lvanova and Judith Christin as Princess Korchagin, bass-baritone Dale Travis in the dual roles of Prince Korchagin and President of the court and tenor Raymond Very as Simonson, a political prisoner who falls in love with Maslova.

Mr. Hendricks, a native of San Antonio, Texas, was recently described as "the sleeper" for his performance in Monteverdi's Orfeo by the Houston Chronicle. The review went on to say that Hendricks, "sounded totally at ease with the (Baroque) style and he had complete command
of the ornamentation."

Scott Hendricks, a second-year artist with the Houston Opera Studio, is the recipient of both the 1998 Sullivan Foundation Award and the 1998 William H. Wells' Opera Index Grant. This June he will sing Sharpless in HGO's MMS production of Madame Butterfly at Miller Outdoor Theatre. During HGO's 1998-99 season, Mr. Hendricks sang Baron Douphol in La Traviata and Pastori 11 and Spiriti 11 in Orfeo. During the 1997-98 season he created the role of Friedrich Bhaer in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women and sang Count Almaviva in the alternate cast performances of The Marriage offigaro and appeared in Billy Budd and Carmen.

Mr. Hendricks made his Wolf Trap Opera debut in the summer of 1996 performing the roles of Don Alvaro in Rossini's II Viaggio a Reims and Ford in Falstaff. He returned to Wolf Trap in 1997 to perform the roles of Slook and Don Parmenine in Rossini's La Cambiale di Matrimonio and L'Occasione fa 'il Ladro respectively, as well as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro. In recognition of his accomplishments with Wolf Trap, Hendricks was awarded the 1996
Richard F. Gold Career Grant.

Single tickets for Resurrection, priced from $20 to $175, are on sale now. In addition, special two opera packages including both Resurrection and Mefistofele starring Samuel Ramey are available. Tickets are available by phone at 713/227-ARTS, out-of-town at 1-800-828-ARTS or in person at both Houston Ticket Center locations (the ticket lobby at the Wortham Theater Center and Jones Hall) and at all TicketMaster outlets. Ticket prices do not include a $1 city surcharge.

Resurrection is an Opera New World Production sponsored in part by Philip Morris Companies Inc. Commissioned through a generous gift from Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle. NL Industries, Inc., The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Inc., and Anonymous are the grand guarantors for Resurrection. Enron and Edward and Frances Bing Fund are the guarantors for Resurrection.