Cornish College of the Arts Postpones EUROPERA 3 & 4

The production of Europera 3 & 4 originally scheduled for March 7-10, 2012 at Cornish College of the Arts has been postponed until a TBD date this Fall 2012. 

Cornish College of the Arts, founded by Nellie Cornish in 1914, provides aspiring artists with the educational opportunities to become professionals in their fields. The College offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Art, Dance, Design, Performance Production and Theater, and a Bachelor of Music degree. It is one of three private colleges in the United States focusing on both the performing and visual arts, and the only college of its kind in the Northwest. The College is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

John Cage composed Europeras 3 & 4 (1990) near the end of his life as part of a series of five operas. The operas premiered in a production at Long Beach Opera (California) in 1993 directed by Andrew Culver. Although staged frequently in Europe, Europeras 3 & 4 have been mounted only once in America since the premiere.

Europera 3 is scored for six singers, six record players playing classic 78-rpm opera recordings, two pianists playing excerpts from opera transcriptions, and the occasional intrusion of a pre-recorded audio collage (culled from over 100 operas) assembled by Cage. The result is a multi-layered, multi-textured collage of sound that ranges from the sublime to the cacophonous. In contrast, Europera 4 is a more subdued meditation on opera, scored for two sopranos, a 78-rpm Victrola, a pianist and pre-recorded sounds.

For additional information, please contact Karen Bystrom at kbystrom@cornish.edu.