Houston Premieres of Carlisle Floyd's 1-Act Operas Set for April at UH

This spring, University of Houston's Moores Opera Center will stage the Houston premieres of Slow Dusk and Markheim, a double-bill of one-act operas by Carlisle Floyd, the preeminent American opera composer of the twentieth century.  The centennial of Floyd's birth is this year, and as his home for twenty years, Houston has extra reason to celebrate.  Floyd served for two decades as a UH music professor, and his pieces have become staples across the country's opera houses and college campuses alike.  Slow Dusk, his first opera, and Markheim, written at the height of his career, both reveal his keen instinct for harrowing drama and heartbreaking music.

“Born in the American South, Floyd created operas that speak plainly and sing deeply.  His works do not stand at a distance from their characters.  They sit beside them in the church pew.  They listen.  They ache. They forgive,” says Moores Opera Center Artistic Director Kathleen Smith Belcher, the opera's director.  “There is something beautifully fitting about honoring Floyd in Houston, a city whose artistic landscape he helped shape.  His influence resonates in rehearsal rooms, on main stages, and in classrooms where young singers are learning that opera can sound like home.”

“As the opera world celebrates this great composer's centennial, we are honored to showcase two of our Emeritus Professor Floyd's one-act operas,” said Moores School of Music Director Dr. Brian Kai Chin.  “This marks the Houston debut of both Slow Dusk and Markheim, offering local audiences the rare chance to experience these pivotal works while giving our students an equally valuable opportunity to add new roles to their repertoire.”

The opera is partially double-cast, with Slow Dusk led by Ayanna Lewis as Sadie, plus Briona Robinson and Carolyn Schrock as Aunt Sue, Micah Zimmerman as her love interest Micah, and Joshua Thomas as her brother Jess.  The title role of Markheim is sung by Jamie Eagle and Wes Kelley, opposite the mysterious and seemingly omniscient Stranger, sung by Zach Averyt and Gabriel Chona Rueda.  The Markheim cast is rounded out by Adam Holthaus and Camden Kegley as the shopkeeper Josiah and Cassi Gardner and Natalia Leslie as his maid Tess. 

Performances are conducted by Moores Opera Center Music Director Jorge Parodi and directed by Moores Opera Center Director Kathleen Smith Belcher.  The production's designers are Jefferson Ridenour (sets), Mary Webber and Shaun Heath (costumes), and Kevin Mynatt (lighting).