AS ONE - west edge opera
a chamber opera for two voices
Add to Cal
As One
A chamber opera for two voices
Music & Concept by Laura Kaminsky, Libretto by by Mark Campbell & Kimberly Reed
By arrangement with Bill Holab Music
Sunday July 26, 2pm
Friday July 31, 8pm
Saturday August 8, 2pm
At the Oakland Metro, in the Jack London Square area
THE OPERA
As One illuminates the brave and painful growth of a transgender person, whose identity is still deemed "abnormal" and more shamefully for our world, is barely recognized. The deeply normal need to unite body and soul within the boundaries of accepted human interactions has much to reveal to all of us.
As One premiered at The Brooklyn Academy of Music just this past September. It is based on the life experience of noted filmmaker Kimberly Reed. Two singers, a baritone and a mezzo-soprano, together portray the character Hannah. The two singers embody a young boy who knows he is different but can't understand how or why. The 70-minute opera traces the life of young Hannah through her eventual gender reassignment. It examines the life of a transgender person through poetry, movement, beautiful music and film in a new and especially touching way.
The Venue:
The Oakland Metro
522 2nd Street (at Washington), Oakland
Located just a block from Jack London Square at 522 2nd Street at Washington, across from the Jack London Square garage, The Oakland Metro is a punk rock venue. The space embodies Oakland’s gritty art scene and is an ideal place for such a provocative subject.
RECOMMENDED ROUTES, BY AUTO:
From the west
The Co-Creators:
Composer Laura Kaminsky’s first opera, As One, received critical acclaim at its BAM premiere. Currently composer in residence at American Opera Projects, who produced the original production, she is an award-winning composer whose Piano Concerto was the recipient of a Koussevitzky Prize. Her music is performed at concert venues across the U.S. and abroad, from New York's Carnegie Hall to Wigmore Hall in London.
Co-Librettist Mark Campbell was recently profiled in Opera News as one of 25 artists “poised…to become major forces in opera in the coming decade.” The opera Silent Night, which he wrote with composer Kevin Puts for Minnesota Opera, received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music and was telecast on PBS: Great Performances.
Co-Librettist/Filmmaker Kimberly Reed’s work has been featured on media outlets such as the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN and NPR. Reed directed and produced PRODIGAL SONS, a co-production with BBC Storyville and Sundance Channel, premiered at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival.
the artists
Friction Quartet: Since forming in 2011, Friction has given 28 world premiere performances and commissioned 30 works for string quartet. They recently opened for Kronos Quartet, in Kronos’s “Under 30″ series.
Music Director/Conductor Bryan Nies is assistant conductor at Oakland East Bay Symphony.
Stage Director Mark Streshinsky is General Director of West Edge Opera.
Hannah Before: Dan Kempson
Hannah After: Brenda Patterson
