Two Brooklyn opera companies, AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS (AOP) and OPERA ON TAP, will present the fourth installment of its Opera Grows in Brooklyn series, an evening of three 30-minute opera scenes and songs. The program will feature mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer singing Absynth, a futuristic monodrama made up of newly-commissioned electronic songs from composers Nico Muhly, Andrew Staniland, and others; Operamission's production of Clint Borzoni's new one-act opera Margot Alone in the Light, based on a Ray Bradbury short story; and Dreams of Pure Spirit: Songs of Tom Cipullo with the composer at the piano. The show will be held on Friday, April 16 at 8pm at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students/seniors) at www.galapagosartspace.com.
Opera Grows in Brooklyn is an ongoing collaboration between American Opera Projects, "known for bringing cutting-edge vocal production to the masses," (New York), and Opera on Tap, "...raucous and sublime...un-elitist, imperfect, and fun..." (NY Sun), that presents three 30-minute selections of songs and scenes from contemporary composers in a hip, cabaret-style atmosphere. Audiences have a chance to meet the artists and composers after the performance.
American Opera Projects begins the evening with Absynth, a futuristic monodrama made up of newly-commissioned electronic songs from composers Nico Muhly, Andrew Staniland, Stephen An
Drew Taylor, Kevin McFarland, Florent Ghys and Caleb Burhans. Conceived and performed by mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer, Absynth explores questions about the influence and relationship between (wo)Man and Machine. Fischer is a versatile singer whose has been praised for her "sumptuous" (The Boston Globe) and "impressive" (Newsweek) voice. Equally expert at music from the Baroque era to contemporary work, Ms. Fischer has performed with New York Collegium and Early Music New York, the Boston Pops, New York City Opera, and has given world premieres of music by Elliot Carter, John Zorn, Nico Muhly, Bernard Rands, and the Bang on a Can artists.
Fanfare magazine recently declared (March 2010) "Tom Cipullo...excels by pulling off the conjuror's trick mastered by all the great writers of poem-based song from Schubert forward - the blurring of the demarcation between where the word ends and the music begins." Dreams of Pure Spirit: Songs of Tom Cipullo will showcase some of Mr. Cipullo's more accessible and lyrical works. The performers for the evening are three of the most exciting young singers in New York, soprano Tory Browers, mezzo Rebecca Jo Loeb, and baritone
Michael Anthony McGee. Mr. McGee, the winner of numerous competitions, will be making his Kennedy Center debut on April 10 in Tom Cipullo's mini-opera LUCY. He is one of only forty young artists that have been recently selected to attend Operalia,
Placido Domingo's international opera competition in Milan. Ms. Loeb has performed with the New York Festival of Song in their Rising Stars series. Tory Browers has performed Mr. Cipullo's music at Merkin Hall under the auspices of Joy in Singing, and at SongFest in Malibu. As Anne Midgette noted in The New York Times, "Call it aria, call it Broadway, Mr. Cipullo's strengths are in song."
Opera on Tap will present Operamission's production of the one-act opera Margot Alone in the Light, an adaptation of
Ray Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day by composer Clint Borzoni and librettist Emily Conbere. Margot Alone in the Light was originally conceived during Borzoni and Conbere's participation as Resident Artists in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program.
Ray Bradbury's story is set in a classroom of schoolchildren on the planet Venus, where it rains constantly with the exception of one hour every seven years. None of the schoolchildren remember the sun, except for 'Margot,' who moved to Venus four years ago from Ohio. The role of 'Margot' will be portrayed by soprano Martha Guth and the role of 'Mrs. Clott,' the schoolteacher, will be sung by mezzo-soprano Alteouise de Vaughn. It will be staged by Scott C. Embler (founding member and former producing director of Vital Theatre Company). Jennifer Peterson, founder and director of operamission, will conduct the opera.
The inaugural performance of Opera Grows in Brooklyn at Galapagos in April 2009 represented the first time that opera took the stage in the institution's 11-year history and was called "an exciting new level of work for these young companies. Brooklyn and the rest of the city will benefit from future collaborations like these." (The Curator). Past Opera Grows in Brooklyn performances have featured music by
David T. Little, Stefan Weisman,
Christopher Berg, Gilda Lyons, Matthew Schickele and Jack Perla and performances by David Adam Moore,
Lauren Worsham, Jonathan Hays, and Daisy Press.
"Galapagos is about to become New York City's first LEED-certified, "green" cultural building. Director Robert Elmes is adding opera to a space known best for its Obie Award winning, progressive programming," says AOP General Director Charles Jarden. "We think it's not just cool for opera to be in a spectacular space like Galapagos, it's essential for creating new music that connects to audiences. Opera away from opera houses is the best way for the genre to thrive and grow. It is economically smart and creatively daring and the voices sound great to both new listeners and fans. If one audience member walks out with an interest in discovering music by living composers, we'll know we are on the right track."
For over 20 years, American Opera Projects (AOP) has been creating, developing and presenting exclusively new American opera and music
Theatre Projects that have appeared at the Royal Opera House, London, the
Lincoln Center Festival, Skirball Center at NYU, the
Guggenheim Museum,
Symphony Space, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and many other national and international venues. AOP, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has presented over 15 world premiere operas including
Lee Hoiby's This is the Rill Speaking (2008), Stefan Weisman's Darkling (2006), and Paula Kimper's Patience & Sarah (1998). Upcoming productions of AOP-developed projects include Séance on a Wet Afternoon, the first opera by
Stephen Schwartz, at New York City Opera in April 2011 and the world premieres of Jorge Martín's Before Night Falls at Fort Worth Opera in 2010 and Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness at The Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio in 2011.
Opera on Tap's mission is to bring opera to new audiences by performing in bars, rock concert halls, and other alternative spaces. Born in the backroom of a Brooklyn divebar in 2005, Opera on Tap has gained national press recognition, several performance residencies across the city, and regional chapters in New Orleans, Chicago, Ann Arbor/ Ypsilanti, MI and Atlanta.
