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2017 Fort Worth Opera Festival presents Frontiers

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Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Opera Festival

The final week of the 2017 Festival will include Frontiers, the company’s showcase for new works. Six to eight selected composers and librettists will be in residence at the Festival during the last week and their works will be presented in 20-minute performances sung by young artists of the 2017 Opera Festival and accompanied by piano.

Each creative team will attend the showcase and participate in an enlightening post-performance discussion. Composers will receive feedback on their work through private meetings with the Frontiers jury panel. In addition, the workshops will be recorded, so the composers can subsequently study the recording to assist in the completion of their compositional process. Final performances will be offered in two separate showcases.

THE OPERAS

  • Sweets by Kate: Composed by Griffin Candey on an original story and libretto by Thom Miller, the darkly-comic Sweets by Kate follows Elizabeth Brigmann as she returns to her hometown with her partner, Kate, to run the family business after the untimely death of her father. Once there, she faces down both the buried remnants of the prejudice that she faced in her youth and her parents' (quite literal) deals with the Devil.
  • A Taste of Damnation: Based on the short story “A Souvenir of Hell” by Etgar Keret, A Taste of Damnation, by composer Avner Finberg and librettist Edward Einhorn, follows a woman who works in a convenience store at damnation's doorstep, who falls in love with a man on a one-day furlough from Hell. He leaves, but her obsession for him remains. Her father, also condemned, sacrifices himself to reunite them, but when she sees her lover again, she faces a terrible choice.
  • La Lupa: Adapted from the Giovanni Verga novella and originally to have been composed by Puccini, La Lupa, by composer and librettist Norman Matthews, follows a sensual and beautiful 35-year old Sicilian widow who loves and seduces a handsome young wheat-harvester near Mt. Etna. Much to her horror, he wishes to marry her young daughter. Their affair recklessly continues even after he marries her daughter, leading to tragedy.
  • Escobar: Composer and librettist Matteo Neri chronicles the search for Colombia's most notorious cocaine trafficker, Pablo Escobar. When hitmen in his empire assassinate a popular presidential candidate, the Colombian government goes after the drug cartels with full force, but due to Pablo's wit and his ability to garner protection from the people of his hometown, the government's task of tracking him down would become far more dramatic and violent than anticipated.
  • The System of Soothing: A young doctor’s investigation into a new method of treating the mentally insane reveals a thin line between reality and a terrifying masquerade. Based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Soothing, by composer and librettist Frank Pesci, balances precariously on the observation that one person’s madness is another’s normalcy. A devastating conclusion drives home the warning echoed throughout the opera: “believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see!”
  • A Capacity for Evil: Inspired by the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, the detective tale A Capacity for Evil is based on an original story conceived by composer Evan Snyder, and by tenor John Riesen. The story follows Daniel, a famed 1930s private eye, who, with help from his partner Doyle and his fiancée Angelica, works to unravel a series of grisly religious murders occurring on New Year’s Eve before the unknown murderer is able to realize the full scope of his perverse aims. As tensions rise and time runs short, the bonds between the three friends are tested - the limits of human compassion and trust tried against the dark ordeals of this imperceptible murderer.
  • Service Provider: A hilarious snapshot opera by composer Christopher Weiss and librettist John de los Santos, Service Provider details the erosion of modern romance by our obsession with mobile technology. When a loving young couple goes out for their anniversary dinner at an elegant restaurant, the evening descends into farcical disaster as the pair’s phone calls and texting unmask the facade of their fragile marriage.
  • Nothing in the Nothingness: In this work by Daniel Zajicek and John Grimmett, a man is pulled underwater in a strong undertow during his visit to the beach. After 12 minutes without oxygen, he never regains consciousness. This operatic monologue for bass-baritone and electronics explores what it means to be alive and functioning in a vegetative state when consciousness is not possible.

The final week of the 2017 Festival will include Frontiers, the company’s showcase for new works. Six to eight selected composers and librettists will be in residence at the Festival during the last week and their works will be presented in 20-minute performances sung by young artists of the 2017 Opera Festival and accompanied by piano.

Each creative team will attend the showcase and participate in an enlightening post-performance discussion. Composers will receive feedback on their work through private meetings with the Frontiers jury panel. In addition, the workshops will be recorded, so the composers can subsequently study the recording to assist in the completion of their compositional process. Final performances will be offered in two separate showcases.

THE OPERAS

  • Sweets by Kate:Composed by Griffin Candey on an original story and libretto by Thom Miller, the darkly-comic Sweets by Kate follows Elizabeth Brigmann as she returns to her hometown with her partner, Kate, to run the family business after the untimely death of her father. Once there, she faces down both the buried remnants of the prejudice that she faced in her youth and her parents' (quite literal) deals with the Devil.
  • A Taste of Damnation:Based on the short story “A Souvenir of Hell” by Etgar Keret, A Taste of Damnation, by composer Avner Finberg and librettist Edward Einhorn, follows a woman who works in a convenience store at damnation's doorstep, who falls in love with a man on a one-day furlough from Hell. He leaves, but her obsession for him remains. Her father, also condemned, sacrifices himself to reunite them, but when she sees her lover again, she faces a terrible choice.
  • La Lupa: Adapted from the Giovanni Verga novella and originally to have been composed by Puccini, La Lupa, by composer and librettist Norman Matthews, follows a sensual and beautiful 35-year old Sicilian widow who loves and seduces a handsome young wheat-harvester near Mt. Etna. Much to her horror, he wishes to marry her young daughter. Their affair recklessly continues even after he marries her daughter, leading to tragedy.
  • Escobar: Composer and librettist Matteo Neri chronicles the search for Colombia's most notorious cocaine trafficker, Pablo Escobar. When hitmen in his empire assassinate a popular presidential candidate, the Colombian government goes after the drug cartels with full force, but due to Pablo's wit and his ability to garner protection from the people of his hometown, the government's task of tracking him down would become far more dramatic and violent than anticipated.
  • The System of Soothing: A young doctor’s investigation into a new method of treating the mentally insane reveals a thin line between reality and a terrifying masquerade. Based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Soothing, by composer and librettist Frank Pesci, balances precariously on the observation that one person’s madness is another’s normalcy. A devastating conclusion drives home the warning echoed throughout the opera: “believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see!”
  • A Capacity for Evil: Inspired by the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, the detective tale A Capacity for Evil is based on an original story conceived by composer Evan Snyder, and by tenor John Riesen. The story follows Daniel, a famed 1930s private eye, who, with help from his partner Doyle and his fiancée Angelica, works to unravel a series of grisly religious murders occurring on New Year’s Eve before the unknown murderer is able to realize the full scope of his perverse aims. As tensions rise and time runs short, the bonds between the three friends are tested - the limits of human compassion and trust tried against the dark ordeals of this imperceptible murderer.
  • Service Provider: A hilarious snapshot opera by composer Christopher Weiss and librettist John de los Santos, Service Provider details the erosion of modern romance by our obsession with mobile technology. When a loving young couple goes out for their anniversary dinner at an elegant restaurant, the evening descends into farcical disaster as the pair’s phone calls and texting unmask the facade of their fragile marriage.
  • Nothing in the Nothingness: In this work by Daniel Zajicek and John Grimmett, a man is pulled underwater in a strong undertow during his visit to the beach. After 12 minutes without oxygen, he never regains consciousness. This operatic monologue for bass-baritone and electronics explores what it means to be alive and functioning in a vegetative state when consciousness is not possible.

The final week of the 2017 Festival will include Frontiers, the company’s showcase for new works. Six to eight selected composers and librettists will be in residence at the Festival during the last week and their works will be presented in 20-minute performances sung by young artists of the 2017 Opera Festival and accompanied by piano.

Each creative team will attend the showcase and participate in an enlightening post-performance discussion. Composers will receive feedback on their work through private meetings with the Frontiers jury panel. In addition, the workshops will be recorded, so the composers can subsequently study the recording to assist in the completion of their compositional process. Final performances will be offered in two separate showcases.

THE OPERAS

  • Sweets by Kate:Composed by Griffin Candey on an original story and libretto by Thom Miller, the darkly-comic Sweets by Kate follows Elizabeth Brigmann as she returns to her hometown with her partner, Kate, to run the family business after the untimely death of her father. Once there, she faces down both the buried remnants of the prejudice that she faced in her youth and her parents' (quite literal) deals with the Devil.
  • A Taste of Damnation:Based on the short story “A Souvenir of Hell” by Etgar Keret, A Taste of Damnation, by composer Avner Finberg and librettist Edward Einhorn, follows a woman who works in a convenience store at damnation's doorstep, who falls in love with a man on a one-day furlough from Hell. He leaves, but her obsession for him remains. Her father, also condemned, sacrifices himself to reunite them, but when she sees her lover again, she faces a terrible choice.
  • La Lupa: Adapted from the Giovanni Verga novella and originally to have been composed by Puccini, La Lupa, by composer and librettist Norman Matthews, follows a sensual and beautiful 35-year old Sicilian widow who loves and seduces a handsome young wheat-harvester near Mt. Etna. Much to her horror, he wishes to marry her young daughter. Their affair recklessly continues even after he marries her daughter, leading to tragedy.
  • Escobar: Composer and librettist Matteo Neri chronicles the search for Colombia's most notorious cocaine trafficker, Pablo Escobar. When hitmen in his empire assassinate a popular presidential candidate, the Colombian government goes after the drug cartels with full force, but due to Pablo's wit and his ability to garner protection from the people of his hometown, the government's task of tracking him down would become far more dramatic and violent than anticipated.
  • The System of Soothing: A young doctor’s investigation into a new method of treating the mentally insane reveals a thin line between reality and a terrifying masquerade. Based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Soothing, by composer and librettist Frank Pesci, balances precariously on the observation that one person’s madness is another’s normalcy. A devastating conclusion drives home the warning echoed throughout the opera: “believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see!”
  • A Capacity for Evil: Inspired by the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, the detective tale A Capacity for Evil is based on an original story conceived by composer Evan Snyder, and by tenor John Riesen. The story follows Daniel, a famed 1930s private eye, who, with help from his partner Doyle and his fiancée Angelica, works to unravel a series of grisly religious murders occurring on New Year’s Eve before the unknown murderer is able to realize the full scope of his perverse aims. As tensions rise and time runs short, the bonds between the three friends are tested - the limits of human compassion and trust tried against the dark ordeals of this imperceptible murderer.
  • Service Provider: A hilarious snapshot opera by composer Christopher Weiss and librettist John de los Santos, Service Provider details the erosion of modern romance by our obsession with mobile technology. When a loving young couple goes out for their anniversary dinner at an elegant restaurant, the evening descends into farcical disaster as the pair’s phone calls and texting unmask the facade of their fragile marriage.
  • Nothing in the Nothingness: In this work by Daniel Zajicek and John Grimmett, a man is pulled underwater in a strong undertow during his visit to the beach. After 12 minutes without oxygen, he never regains consciousness. This operatic monologue for bass-baritone and electronics explores what it means to be alive and functioning in a vegetative state when consciousness is not possible.

WHEN

WHERE

Kimbell Art Museum
3333 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
http://www.fwopera.org/events/

TICKET INFO

$17-$195
All events are subject to change due to weather or other concerns. Please check with the venue or organization to ensure an event is taking place as scheduled.
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