Pittsburgh Opera will present the first-ever local performances of Handel’s Baroque opera, “Ariodante,” in an all-new production running Jan. 21-29 at Pittsburgh CAPA Theater.

“Ariodante” also will be the debut with the company of costume designer Grace Kang and set designer Ningning Yang, both students at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Almost every year, we have a CMU student, or maybe two, come in and design something for us,” said Steve Grair, the opera’s director of production. “It’s a great thing for us, because it’s a local designer who’s young and has interesting ideas. For the student designer, working outside the realm of CMU in a different system is good for their educational growth.”

The opportunity was presented to Kang by her adviser, Susan Tsu, a CMU professor of design and an award-winning costume designer.

“Susan has tried to maintain a relationship with the opera’s costume shop and tries to give her students as many professional opportunities as she can,” Kang said.

At CMU, Kang is pursuing a master of fine arts degree in costume design.

“I grew up in the Seattle area, but spent most of my professional career before coming to Carnegie Mellon at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.,” she said. “I worked as a stitcher and a costume design assistant for four seasons.”

In addition to CMU productions, she has worked in Pittsburgh with Kinetic Theatre and City Theatre Company.

Composed in 1735, “Ariodante” is set in medieval Scotland and tells a tale of love and jealousy, deception and redemption.

The title character is betrothed to the king’s daughter, Princess Ginerva. The evil duke, Polinesso, schemes to win Ginerva’s heart and forge his own path to the throne. Polinesso tricks the king into thinking Ginerva has been unfaithful to Ariodante, who then must clear her name.

‘Stylized world’

The Pittsburgh Opera production doesn’t necessarily inhabit Handel’s setting, Grair said.

“(The audience) will see a very artistically stylized world, a world that is not literal or realistic, which I think for the piece and what we’re doing, is really going to work nicely,” he said.

Kang’s costume designs will follow that aesthetic.

“While the opera is set in medieval Scotland, there is no direct reference to the location in the libretto, so (stage) director Crystal Manich wanted us to use that freedom to set the opera in a unique world that isn’t tied to any specific country,” Kang said.

“The overall concept of the production is a loosely ‘period’ look inspired by nature and the earth,” she said. “I took inspiration from art nouveau styles, medieval silhouettes, fairy tales and Pre-Raphaelite artwork.”

The color palette contains many earth tones, greens and other muted colors.

“I like to call it ‘swamp chic,’ in the best way possible,” Kang said.

The build began in June with conversations among members of the entire team, Grair said, including Manich, general director Christopher Hahn and conductor Antony Walker.

Once there is creative consensus among those involved, the individual teams have to decide what they can build, buy or borrow within their budget constraints, he said.

“For ‘Ariodante,’ you’ll see a particular green velvet period jacket, pants and vest costume that no one would have in stock, and we wouldn’t be able to get off the internet,” Grair said. “We didn’t know if we could build it in-house, so that particular piece was built out of state.”

Many of the women’s costumes were made in-house, including extra paint and dye work to give them the flow and feel that Kang wanted.

“Aside from having a professional credit on my resume, getting to work with a shop that has built your designs from scratch has been a very exciting experience,” Kang said. “Most of the shows that I have designed have been shopped, pulled or rented, which means I have to work with existing costumes.

“It has been amazing getting to see my unique designs come to life and have so much creative control over each costume,” she said.

The collaboration benefits all parties, said Christian Cox, the opera’s director of marketing and communications.

“Pittsburgh Opera is quite proud of our partnership with the CMU School of Drama,” he said. “We have found the quality of their students to be excellent and believe the future of our art form is in good hands.”

“Ariodante” will run for three evening performances and one matinee. Tickets cost $26-$52 and are available at 412-456-6666 or pittsburghopera.org.