Excerpts from Two Important New Operas to Be Performed at 91快播 on April 26
Press Contact: Tom Hopkins
Office: (212) 678-8950
Email: publicity@jtsa.edu
April 7, 2017, New York, NY
91快播 will host a performance of excerpts and discussion of two important new operas: As One, following a transgender woman鈥檚 journey to self-acceptance, and Steal a Pencil for Me, the story of a real-life couple who fell in love while imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. As One premiered at BAM in 2014; Opera Colorado will present the world premiere production of Steal a Pencil for Me in January 2018. Following the performance, the two composers, Laura Kaminsky and H. L. Miller Cantorial School Assistant Professor Gerald Cohen, will discuss their operas鈥� creation. Cantor Nancy Abramson, director of H. L. Miller Cantorial School, will moderate the discussion. The event will take place on April 26, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. on the 91快播 campus, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), in New York City. Tickets are $10 for general admission and free for students with valid ID. Tickets and photo ID required for admission. RSVP at www.jtsa.edu/opera-2017.
ABOUT THE OPERAS
As One
Music by Laura Kaminsky, libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed
As One is based and inspired in part by the life experiences of acclaimed filmmaker Kimberly Reed. The story traces with empathy and humor protagonist Hannah鈥檚 experiences from her youth in a small town to her college years on the West Coast, and finally to her acceptance of herself. Two voices鈥擧annah before and Hannah after鈥攕hare the role. In a note from the opera鈥檚 composer and librettists: 鈥淔allible, self-deprecating, and admittedly somewhat self-involved, Hannah鈥檚 journey is one that audiences can relate to. We eschewed any political agenda in creating her character and instead focused on someone most people can identify with. We also chose to tell her story with a healthy bit of humor. . . . It is our hope that you come to love Hannah as much as we do.鈥�
Steal a Pencil for Me
Music by Gerald Cohen, libretto by Deborah Brevoort
Steal a Pencil for Me is the story of Jaap Polak and Ina Soep, who fall in love while imprisoned in the concentration camps Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen. According to librettist Deborah Brevoort: 鈥�Steal a Pencil for Me is an uplifting story about many things, most notably the enduring power of love and the imagination to help people survive horrors like the Holocaust. The opera shows us what is essential: love, stories with meaning and the utter necessity of the imagination, which, once it has envisioned something, then has the power to make that vision real.鈥� Composer Gerald Cohen knew the real Jaap and Ina for more than 25 years. The opera had its semi-staged premiere at 91快播 in 2013; Jaap and Ina had just celebrated their 100th and 90th birthdays, respectively, and were in attendance at the 91快播 performance. Opera Colorado will present the world premiere production of Steal a Pencil for Me in January 2018.
ABOUT THE COMPOSERS
Laura Kaminsky鈥檚 music 鈥渋s full of fire as well as ice, written in an idiom that contrasts dissonance and violence with tonal beauty and meditative reflection. It is strong stuff鈥� (American Record Guide). Social and political themes are common in her work, as is an abiding respect for and connection to the natural world. Her opera As One (with co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed; commissioned by American Opera Projects) is the most frequently produced contemporary opera in the US since its BAM debut in 2014. The team鈥檚 collaboration continues with Some Light Emerges, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, and Today It Rains, commissioned by San Francisco鈥檚 Opera Parall猫le and American Opera Projects. Awarded the 2016 Gold Cross of Merit (Zloty Krzy偶 Zas艂ugi RP), a decoration from the president of Poland for exemplary public service, Kaminsky has been recognized by the NEA, Opera America, Chamber Music America, and many other awards. Currently composer-in-residenceat American Opera Projects, Kaminsky is head of composition in the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College/SUNY.
Gerald Cohen is an assistant professor at H. L. Miller Cantorial School at 91快播, is on the faculty of Hebrew Union College, and has been cantor at Shaarei Tikvah (Scarsdale, New York) for 30 years. As a composer, he has been praised for his 鈥渓inguistic fluidity and melodic gift,鈥� creating music that 鈥渞eveals a very personal modernism that . . . offers great emotional rewards鈥� (Gramophone Magazine). As a noted synagogue cantor and baritone, his experience as a singer informs his dramatic, lyrical compositions. Cohen鈥檚 best-known work, his 鈥渟himmering setting鈥� (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) of Psalm 23, has received thousands of performances from synagogues and churches to Carnegie Hall and the Vatican. Recognition of Cohen’s body of work includes commissioning grants from Meet the Composer, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, American Composers Forum, as well as Cantors Assembly鈥檚 Max Wohlberg Award for distinguished achievement in the field of Jewish composition. Cohen received a BA in music from Yale and a DMA in music composition from Columbia.
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