Interview: Gregory Spears and Royce Vavrek Talk New Chamber Opera O COLUMBIA

This month, the Houston Grand Opera presents its 57th world premiere O COLUMBIA.

O COLUMBIA, a chamber opera in three acts, explores our unending fascination and commitment to space exploration through an imagined conversation across space and time, from Sir Walter Raleigh in the 16th century, to the space shuttle Columbia tragedy in 2003, and far into the future as astronauts continue to reach for the limits of our solar system.

Composer Gregory Spears and librettist Royce Vavrek discuss the genesis of O COLUMBIA, the unique relationship between space travel and the city of Houston, and how O COLUMBIA will resonate with, as HGOco Programs Director Brittany Duncan says, "anyone who's ever looked at the night sky in wonder."

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Talk, if you will, a little bit about the process of creating a new work like O COLUMBIA - what sparks the idea, who gets the first phone call, etc. all the way through to the composition, staging and eventual premiere.

O COLUMBIA began as an open submission to HGOco's Song of Houston series. We met and discussed a number of ideas - many which were suggested by Gregory's Houston-based relatives - that would potentially resonate with the people here. After we found out that we were given the opportunity to write the piece, the initial stage was the libretto writing process and workshopping, followed by the composition of the music and a piano-vocal reading of the piece. We are now in the rehearsal process which brings all of the elements together (orchestra, singers, staging)!

Houston, perhaps more than any other city on Earth, has a uniquely close relationship with space exploration. How would you describe this relationship and how did it inspire the piece?

Because Houston is home to the Johnson Space Center, and thus home to a myriad of employees (including scientists, astronauts, engineers, etc.) whose daily lives are connected to space exploration, it has become a strand of the city's DNA. That is why the idea of writing O COLUMBIA was the idea that resonated so deeply with us as a project we were developing with, and for, the city. We were also fascinated with how in pop culture "Houston" has come to be associated with broader notions of mission control. It's "home" when communicating with earth from space.

O COLUMBIA began its life with a focus on the 2003 space shuttle Columbia tragedy. What led you to broaden this piece from being singularly focused on the tragedy? And particularly, how did the interviews conducted with members of the space community inform this shift in focus?

Our interviews with the members of the space community helped us to understand the importance of continuing to explore, even when faced with great tragedy. It became important for us to provide a larger context of both success and loss, the risk that is involved in setting out for new frontiers, and the spirit that compels us as humans to dream of what we haven't yet discovered. It seemed right to use the opera as a chance to contextualize Columbia in a much larger historical unfolding. The story of exploration is one that has defined our past, determined our present and will shape our future. We wanted to tell that larger story.

How do the elements of the production (entire cast on stage, audience in the round, shadow puppetry, etc.) enhance the show?

Like any opera, the score and libretto are the roadmap for a work that is designed to live in a three-dimensional dramatic space. A production does more than enhance an opera; it fully realizes the work, creating the full ecosystem that allows for all of the elements of storytelling to come together. Kevin's staging focuses on eleven singers who work together to tell a story of exploration that spans many centuries. I can add that a teenager's record player plays a central role in the staging. But I don't want to give away too much!

Playfully worded, what does space sound like? But really, what can we expect musically from O COLUMBIA?

The score incorporates styles from different eras just as the story itself spans centuries. The audience will hear music that reminds them of 18th-century music and earlier, as well as music that sounds more modern. There is a lot of spinning music in the score, hopefully evoking in the audience's minds orbiting spacecraft, rotating planets, spinning records, and whirling planets.

Last question: We are fast approaching the world premiere of O COLUMBIA. Do you get nervous before a premiere?

It's impossible to not get nervous when you're premiering a work for the first time, but most of that stems out of great anticipation. So much of what we do lives in our imaginations (much like our ideas of space!) and when it's finally in a form that can be shared, it is one of the most intimate offerings to lay bare our thoughts and ideas and creative impulses for other people to experience. Sitting in a rehearsal room of a world-class opera company like HGO with so many talented people working together to realize a new opera is also the most thrilling experience. It's great to know the piece is in such good hands.

The first of three chamber operas debuting in the next three years as part of HGOco's Song of Houston series, O COLUMBIA, will premiere September 23, with a second performance September 24, at the Revention Center (formerly the Bayou Music Center), 520 Texas Street, Houston, TX 77002. General admission tickets are available at ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. For more information, please visit the Houston Grand Opera's website here.

Photo credit: Houston Grand Opera