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Dunphy & Goldfinger’s Alice Tierney makes its debut at Oberlin College

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by Mike Telin

The program synopsis of the new opera Alice Tierney — which received its world premiere performances on January 27 through 29 at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel (I attended on the 29th) — consists of one brief paragraph.

The scene takes place at an archaeological dig in Philadelphia. At this site in 1880, a woman named Alice Tierney was found dead, hanging from a fence by her petticoats.

While the mysterious death of the real-life Alice could have become fodder for a made-for-television cold case mystery where everything is neatly wrapped up in sixty minutes, composer Melissa Dunphy and librettist Jacqueline Goldfinger resisted that temptation. Instead, they chose to create a sixty-minute emotional roller coaster ride that follows four archeology graduate students as they attempt to discover the truth about Alice’s demise.

The opera was commissioned by Oberlin Conservatory’s Opera Commissioning Program and a 2020 Discovery Grant from OPERA America. [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera: a search for the real Alice Tierney

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by Mike Telin

When composer Melissa Dunphy and her husband purchased a Philadelphia property that was in foreclosure, they saw it as an opportunity to own what could become a small performing arts space in a prime location. “It’s only an eight-minute walk to the Liberty Bell,” Dunphy said during a telephone conversation. Little did they know that what lay beneath the foundation of the former Magic Theater would reveal a story worthy of a made-for-television cold case mystery. Or better yet, an opera.

On January 27 and 28 at 8:00 pm and January 29 at 6:30 pm in Finney Chapel, Oberlin Opera Theater will present the world premiere of Dunphy’s Alice Tierney. With a libretto by Jacqueline Goldfinger, the opera explores the fictionalized story surrounding the death of the real-life Alice. But who was Alice? And can four archeology grad students unveil the truth about her mysterious demise?

Stage direction is by Christopher Mirto, and Benjamin Martin conducts. The production is the Oberlin Opera Commissioning Program’s first world premiere. The one-hour performance is free but reservations are required.

Dunphy’s discovery of the real Alice Tierney began when she and her husband decided to build an apartment on top of the former theater. “In order to do that, they needed to dig into the foundation to strengthen it in order to support the added weight,” the composer said. [Read more…]

Oberlin Winter Term opera: premiere of The Puppy Episode (Feb. 16)

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by Daniel Hathaway

“It takes so many people to put on a production, especially a new one,” Oberlin Opera professor and director Christopher Mirto said in a recent interview with this publication. And lots of time as well, especially when the gestation period for a new work coincides with a pandemic.

Matthew Recio’s The Puppy Episode, with libretto by Royce Vavrek, stage direction by Mirto, musical preparation by Dan Michalak, and set design by Julia Noulin-Merat, received its premiere performance on the stage of Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory on February 16. Tiffany Chang conducted the eight-piece orchestra. [Read more…]

The Puppy Episode: Oberlin premieres new chamber opera on Feb. 16 and 17

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by Daniel Hathaway

The Puppy Episode, the second in a series of three-year opera projects, will be premiered in Warner Concert Hall on February 16 and 17 (click here for tickets). The performance on the 16th will be live streamed.

“It takes so many people to put on a production, especially a new one,” Oberlin Opera professor and director Christopher Mirto said in a recent Zoom call. And most of them join the process like hopping onto a moving train.

In the case of The Puppy Episode, librettist Royce Vavrek and composer Matthew Recio were present from the first spark of an idea. “I was courting Royce as a collaborator,” said Recio, who was also on the call. “I finished the Vanguard program at Chicago Opera Theater in June, and Lydia, the conductor, gave me a list of librettists. I got to do some speed dating in three or four calls with each candidate.” [Read more…]

Oberlin Winter Term Opera to premiere The Wild Beast of the Bungalow

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by Mike Telin

Complicated relationships between children and their parents have often served as inspiration for opera. Most people know the disaster that awaits Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel after they misbehave and their mother sends them to the haunted forest to look for strawberries. In Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, after being scolded by his mother, a young boy destroys everything in the room — later the objects come to life and show him the error of his ways.

A new addition to opera with a child/parent theme is Rachel J. Peters’ The Wild Beast of the Bungalow with libretto by Royce Vavrek. The work, presented by Oberlin’s Winter Term Opera and directed by Christopher Mirto, will receive its world premiere on Wednesday, January 29 in Warner Concert Hall. Additional performances run from Friday, January 31 through Sunday, February 2. All begin at 7:30 pm and will be followed by a talkback with members of the artistic staff, performers, and the creative team. The event is free, but reservations are required. The Wild Beast of the Bungalow is the inaugural work of the Oberlin Opera Commissioning Project.

With a duration of 90 minutes and a cast of one coloratura soprano with eight additional principals playing multiple roles, the opera is played out in three sections. The plot unfolds in the bedroom of a nameless eleven-year-old Girl, where, over the course of a few days, a mermaid, a family of stuffed prairie dogs, and singing groups of chickenpox and shingles force her to come to terms with what it means to care for others and to allow others to care for you. [Read more…]

Oberlin Winter Term Opera: Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up (Feb. 4)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Opera, states composer Missy Mazzoli, has a “superpower of subtext.” The feeling of sitting in a room among strangers as unamplified voices subtly charge and change the air: this, more than any strict definition, constitutes the form’s precious essence, in her view. Few living composers exploit this superpower of multiple media and meanings the way Mazzoli does, leaving ample room for interpretation while honing an overall point so sharp that it cuts through regardless of staging. Oberlin Opera Theater’s recent Winter Term production of Proving Up, her bracing latest, found director Christopher Mirto and a cast of students more than equal to the challenge of realizing the opera’s subtext, picking up where music and words leave room for performers’ magic. [Read more…]

Oberlin Winter Term Opera:
Proving Up — a quest for the American Dream

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by Mike Telin

The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged people seeking the dream of owning their own land to move west — the only cost was a filing fee of $18. Would-be homesteaders had to be at least 21 years of age or the head of a household in order to claim 160 acres of “free land.” (That included women and African-Americans after the 14th Amendment.) In exchange, homesteaders agreed to live on and farm the land, build a home, and make improvements for a period of five years, after which they would be eligible to “prove up.”

The sacrifices made in one family’s pursuit of the American Dream in the shadow of Civil War Nebraska is the subject for the most recent collaboration between composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. On Thursday, January 31 at 7:30 pm in Wilder Main Lounge, Oberlin Winter Term Opera will present Proving Up, directed by Christopher Mirto. Performances continue through February 5 with free admission, but tickets are required. Cleveland Opera Theater will sponsor a talk-back and reception with the composer and librettist following the February 4 performance as part of the company’s {NOW} Fest ‘19.

“Rehearsals are going great,” Mirto said during a recent telephone conversation. “I think we’re in very good shape. I’m really excited because the opera is only a year old, and these are the first performances since it finished its commission cycle.” [Read more…]

Oberlin Opera Theater: Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone at the Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse (Jan. 31)

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by Nicholas Stevens

Lexi Reed and Angels-PC Yevhen GulenkoThis month, a cast of students gave a genre-bending, violent new opera its Northeast Ohio premiere run at a coffee shop — and all five performances sold out in advance. The scenario may sound unlikely, but Angel’s Bone, a chamber work with music by Du Yun and a libretto by Royce Vavrek, has exceeded expectations since its 2016 premiere. On January 31, the Oberlin Opera Theatre debuted its production of Angel’s Bone, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Music Composition, in the Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse. [Read more…]

Oberlin to present Winter Term Opera Angel’s Bone

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by Jarrett Hoffman

Du Yun2It’s hard to say what’s most interesting about the new opera Angel’s Bone, which will receive its second-ever performance next week in Oberlin. It could be the music of Oberlin Conservatory alum Du Yun (left), which incorporates punk rock, cabaret, and electronics. It could be the libretto by Royce Vavrek, which examines sexual slavery and trafficking through a prism of magical realism. Or maybe it’s the challenge for performers of portraying the perpetrators of those crimes, making them human.

On January 31 at 7:30 pm at The Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse, Oberlin Conservatory presents a Winter Term Opera production of Angel’s Bone, directed by Christopher Mirto and conducted by Matthew Chamberlain. After opening night, which is part of Cleveland Opera Theater’s {NOW} Festival, performances continue on February 2, 4, 6, and 7 — see our Concert Listings for exact times. Admission is free, but tickets are required and seating is limited. Talk-back sessions including Oberlin faculty, students from the production, and community support groups will follow each performance.

[Read more…]

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