World Premiere Of SLEEPERS AWAKE Comes to Opera Philadelphia

In his first commission for Opera Philadelphia, Gregory Spears, the composer acclaimed for works that blend “touches of minimalism with post-Romantic lyricism and hints of Schubertian majesty” (Gramophone Magazine), works with director and event architect Jenny Koons to create a new work starring the Opera Philadelphia Chorus.

In Sleepers Awake, premiering April 22-26 at the Academy of Music, Spears creates a labyrinthine soundscape to accompany a dream-like rendering of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty, inspired by modernist Swiss writer Robert Walser (1878–1956). Praised for writing “exquisitely for vocal ensembles” (The Wall Street Journal), Spears fashions a hypnotic, labyrinthine soundscape in which the Opera Philadelphia Chorus sings itself in and out of slumber. Conceived with and directed by Koons, this visually dazzling production transforms the stage into a liminal space, blurring the fragile boundary between waking and dreaming.

The story follows The Stranger (tenor Jonghyun Park), who wakes Thorn Rose (soprano Susanne Burgess) and her companions from a century-long sleep. But instead of gratitude, they express annoyance. Thorn Rose and The Court Poet (baritone Brian Major) recount the tale of the curse that doomed them to slumber, yet they remain unable to cross fully into wakefulness, repeatedly slipping back into sleep. Voices and music weave the audience into a fractured, cyclical world where time folds in on itself.

It is the first Opera Philadelphia commission for Spears, a New York-based composer whose music has been called “astonishingly beautiful” (The New York Times), “coolly entrancing” (The New Yorker), and “some of the most beautifully unsettling music to appear in recent memory” (The Boston Globe). Spears' most recent opera The Righteous premiered at the Santa Fe Opera in summer 2024. His Fellow Travelers, written in collaboration with Greg Pierce, premiered at Cincinnati Opera in 2016 and is currently in a multi-year tour across the U.S., hailed as “one of the most accomplished new operas I have seen in recent years” (Chicago Tribune) and an opera that “seems assured of lasting appeal” (The New York Times).

Koons is a visionary creative director specializing in immersive events and innovative storytelling. With a track record of dynamic collaborations across industries—from global fashion brands and theatrical institutions to experiential pop-ups — she creates unforgettable moments that blend narrative, space, and human connection. Her expertise lies in bringing ambitious ideas to life across mediums, whether on stage, in branded environments, or at international festivals. Her productions have been showcased on renowned stages like The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, and Pasadena Playhouse. Her unique approach merges theater and spectacle, as seen in projects like Queen of the Night (Drama Desk Award-winning immersive show), Blue Man Group's National SPEECHLESS tour, and her trilingual adaptation of Oedipus in ASL, English, and ProTactile with Deaf West Theatre and the Getty Villa.

The Swiss writer of whom Hermann Hesse famously declared, “If he had a hundred thousand readers, the world would be a better place,” Robert Walser is only now finding an audience among English-speaking readers commensurate with his merits-if not with his self-image. After a wandering, precarious life during which he produced poems, essays, stories, and novels, Walser entered a psychiatric hospital, saying, “I am not here to write, but to be mad.”

Sleepers Awake is conducted by Opera Philadelphia's Judy & Peter Leone Music Director Corrado Rovaris, with Director of Music & Chorus Elizabeth Braden leading the voices of the Opera Philadelphia Chorus. The production includes set design by Jason Ardizzone West, lighting design by Yuki Link, and costume design by Maiko Matsushima.

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