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Art at IU
"New Voices Opera offers emerging IU composers creative growth, opportunities"
April 30, 2014
IU students' 1-act operas form double bill at BCT
Peter Jacobi, pjacobi@heraldt.com
May 3, 2015
It’s two for the price of one at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Friday evening when New Voices Opera premieres two new operas on its annual Spring Double Bill. Well, actually, admission is free, but a $10 donation will be accepted at the door. That’s a very good deal, wouldn’t you say?
You’ll see a pair of one-act operas, “Thump” by Kimberly Osberg, described as a psychodrama about good and bad based on Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Telltale Heart,” and “The King in Yellow” by Melody Eotvos, based on vignettes taken from a book of suspenseful short stories under that title by Robert Chambers.
New Voices Opera, in case you haven’t heard or can’t remember, is a student-run company founded several years ago by Chappell Kingsland, back then a doctoral student in composition at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He had written his dissertation piece and wanted the opportunity to perform it. The “it” happened to be an opera, not something easily produced. Kingsland sought out fellow students with an interest and ended up with a production of “Intoxication: America’s Love Affair with Oil.” I saw the opera and liked it very much; in fact, the high quality of both the composition and the performance surprised me.
Well, what also Chappell Kingsland had done while preparing the production of his opera was to start an ongoing institution pledged to find and perform other new American operas composed by students. Kingsland, with his studies complete, moved on. He now teaches and writes music in Colorado. But the mission continues to be applied. New Voices Opera performed a double bill last year and is zooming in on Friday’s premiere night.
Benjamin Smith, a doctoral student in the Department of Voice, has become the company’s executive director, and the company has become a full-fledged student-run institution that not only finds and performs new works but also trains young professionals in all aspects of opera production, from composing and performing to directing, designing, administering and fundraising.
Asked how the two operas were selected, Smith said, “The process starts with our Fall Exhibition, where composers submit scenes for consideration. This performance gives us a chance to see how the singers and audience react to the pieces, as well as work with the composers and get to know the direction they seek for their operas. When selecting, we consider several criteria. Most important are relevant storytelling and a solid libretto. New American opera needs to speak to today’s audiences and to the communities in which the pieces are likely later to be performed. We also consider the available performing forces: the number of singers needed, the size of the orchestra, and the feasibility of the score. We choose two for a double bill the following spring, giving the composers more time to complete the work.
“For this year,” Smith continued, “we were looking for a unified evening and had different directions to choose from. We knew we were in the Buskirk-Chumley and wanted to select pieces that would use the space’s technical abilities to our advantage. Both ‘Thump’ and ‘The King in Yellow’ provided us with great stories in the libretti, first and foremost. Combined, they gave us an evening of mystery and intrigue that is a new direction for this organization. They will demand more from the performers than we have in the past, and it is the most cerebral evening of music we’ve produced. ‘Thump’s’ narrative tells the story of Poe’s ‘A Tell-Tale Heart’ in a new and imaginative way, getting inside the mind of the narrator. This is coupled with ‘The King in Yellow,’ originally a collection of suspenseful short stories from the turn of the century, not this one but from the 19th to the 20th, that had something of a cult following. Melody selected what is, in my opinion, the most gripping story, ‘The Mask,’ and gives the audience an original tale most will not have come across before.”
“Thump’s” composer, Kimberly Osberg, says her interest in Poe “was a big part of my childhood. My mother and I loved stories, and she — ever the actress — was at her best when she told scary stories. We delighted in her renditions of Poe’s short stories, complete with sound effects and wild gesticulations. When it became clear I wanted to work on an opera, Poe immediately came to mind. … I had never encountered a musical version of ‘Tell-Tale Heart,’ and the more I read through the text, the more vivid particular moments became. I was enthusiastic about the end product a pairing of Poe’s words and my music could result in.”
“Poe’s works,” Osberg explained, “are beautiful to me in their unapologetically human nature. For example the ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ is far from being a simple narcissistically psychotic monologue by a twisted human. The narrator, in the complete subjectiveness of the words, is completely human. Part of the reason the story is so terrifying is that the narrator speaks so logically and eloquently. It’s only later we find out how completely unreliable the testimony may prove to be. We only see the story as the narrator relates to it, and there is a lot of information missing. We don’t know the narrator’s relationship to the old man in the story or whether the narrator has a history of violence. We don’t even know if the narrator is male or female. Within the ambiguity, there’s a lot of room for the reader’s mind to imagine the details. I wanted to create the same sense in my opera. By splitting the text up in a non-linear order, suddenly the same lines of text take on completely new meanings.”
Melody Eotvos, in addressing the origin of her “The King in Yellow,” said she had been working “on several pieces inspired by Chambers” when she began “to entertain the thought of using his material for an opera. It seemed the ideal way to push forward toward the culmination of the musical material and sound world I’d been pursuing.”
Asked to describe her finished product, she said, “My current work with this opera isn’t actually the finished product. In fact, it’s more of a preliminary experiment with the material and how it could be set for voice and chamber orchestra. Chambers’ stories could be approached in a variety of ways, and it just happened to be best for everyone that a longer setting of 30 minutes or so for this one story would work within this particular presentation. So I can say that this is what it is. It’s not necessarily what it should be. That is an explanation I’ll leave for a future date when the piece is actually finished.”
Both composers expressed gratitude for the contributions of New Voices Opera to the production and their careers. It’s our turn Friday to determine what the composers and performers and New Voices Opera have managed to accomplish. There’s an excitement in the waiting for a new work. My hope is that, when the performance is over, the excitement level has risen because of what we just saw and heard.
Contact Peter Jacobi at pjacobi@heraldt.com.
If you go
Who and What: New Voices Opera presents world premiere performances of two short operas composed by students in IU’s Jacobs School: Kimberly Osberg’s “Thump,” a musical take of Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart,” and Melody Eotvos’ “The King in Yellow,” based on “The Mask,” a short story of suspense by Robert Chambers.
When: 7 p.m. Friday.
Where: Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
Admission: Free. But a $10 donation is suggested.
Show times
• This afternoon at 3 in First United Church, 2420 East Third St., Barry Magee leads the Quarryland Men’s Chorus in a program titled “My Indiana Home: the Music of Hoagy Carmichael and Cole Porter,” two legends born in Indiana. Tickets: at the door, $15.
• This evening at 6 in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, artistic director Adam Bodony conducts the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” prepared in multi-media form. Also on the program is Zoie Hightower, winner of the BSO’s Youth Concerto Competition. She solos with the orchestra in the first movement of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto. If you get to the theater by 5:30, you can hear a lecture by IU astonomers Gabe Lubell and Richard Durisen. Tickets: $15 for general admission, $10 for students 19 and older, and with no charge for children 18 and under.
• Check the website of music@indiana.edu for information on a number of recitals Thursday, Friday, and Saturday featuring young musicians from the Jacobs School’s pre-college programs in strings, piano, harp, and cello. They’re performed in various venues, and they’re all free.
Reviews
MUSIC REVIEW: New Voices Opera
by Peter Jacobi, pjacobi@heraldt.com
November 10, 2014
HeraldTimesOnline.com
The event was labeled “Second Annual Fall Exhibition.” On exhibit were bits and pieces of music designated to become parts of future operas, operas to be written by composers studying at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
Sponsoring the event on Friday evening in Ford-Crawford Hall was New Voices Opera, an institution founded just a few years ago to provide student composers the opportunity to create works for the musical stage and get them produced. The fall exhibition, which will be repeated Friday evening at 7 at Bloomington Playwrights Project, is a prelude: the young folks who run New Voices follow up by deciding which of the ideas submitted should get further support leading to premiere performances in the spring.
In fact, on the program were an aria and a duet from the opera already selected for a spring 2015 debut, a horror story called “The King in Yellow” that composer and doctoral candidate Melody Eotvos says “is all at once grisly, tender, thrilling, and disquieting.” The music performed at the exhibition indicated that Eotvos is on the right track. Her excerpts had a pulse and a tension that seem right for the theatrical content she’s fleshing out.
The remainder of the program was left for composers seeking to be the New Voices choice for 2016. Composers in the running include freshmen as well as master’s degree and doctoral candidates. Subject matter ranged from Greek mythology to Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” and Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Poems from Spain and Emily Dickinson were inspirations for other proposed projects, as was the fate of Roanoke Colony in early American history. I was particularly impressed by Max Ramage’s clever take on Marcel Proust’s “Swann’s Way,” done in glittery dialogue and fetching song. The music was easy to like.
Not all was. Listening to some, I thought, to hear a full evening would not offer much pleasure. But then, not always do bits and pieces accurately foretell what a completed work might bring. In the listening, however, I repeatedly asked myself two questions: “Is what I’m hearing suitable for the topic?” and “Is the music adding anything useful to the words or getting in the way?” I couldn’t always be positive in answering.
New Voices Opera is a fledgling company founded by Indiana University music students to support the future of opera by championing the creation of new works from student composers in the Jacobs School of Music and then producing them with performers from there. Over the weekend, the company added to its record with premiere performances of a twin bill at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center.Last year, the folks in charge chose a full-length opera, Chapell Kingsland’s “Intoxication: America’s Love Affair with Oil,” an impressive and intriguing piece adroitly produced and presented. This year, as follow-up to that successful company debut, the choice was a pair: “Ile” by Ezra Donner (a somber item) and “Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris” by Eric Lindsay (a silly one). Neither breaks new ground, but both show talent, grasp of the operatic genre, and deserve further attention.
‘Ile’
“Ile,” pronounced with a broad “I,” sets to music a play by Eugene O’Neill. “Ile” is the way the central character, the captain of a whaling ship in the 1890s, pronounces “oil.” He is fanatic when it comes to filling the ship with whale oil; there can be no return to home, he decrees, without the oil, no matter what the circumstances. It so happens, on this particular journey, the ship gets caught in ice for an extended period, causing the trip to become endless enough for the crew to consider mutiny and the captain’s wife, who had begged to come along rather than once again be left alone for a matter of months, to lose her mind, literally.
The score is Italian verismo, updated and made American through language, O’Neill’s inescapably stark New England and composer Donner’s own gift at establishing mood and tone. The music strongly hints of Puccini and his disciples. It draws one in, being melodic, lushly orchestrated and dramatic, eminently suited to O’Neill’s tragic material.
A chamber ensemble of 12 instrumentalists complemented the vocals, thanks to the score itself and to conductor Carlos Andres Botero. He and stage director David Kote gave the cast sufficient underpinning to make O’Neill’s six troubled characters once again come to life. Baritone Reuben Walker and soprano Natalie Weinberg as Captain Keeney and his wife entered totally into that unhappy world. So did bass-baritone Andrew Richardson as a grumpy, griping seaman and baritone Ryan Kieran as Keeney’s supportive Second Mate. Baritone Bruno Sandes and tenor Jake Gadomski added their portrayals of other seamen caught on the gloomy vessel.
‘Cosmic Ray’
Conductor Botero remained in place to conduct a differently constituted orchestra of 13 in composer Eric Lindsay’s music for “Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris.” For this work of great contrast to “Ile,” Sarah Wells served as stage director. And she had a grasp on the world of young people and the not-so-young who blend the insufficiencies of their real life with the fantasy of comics, science fiction and conventions that bring such souls together, costumes, inhibition, exhibitionism and all. The plot, on one level, involves a trio of young people heading for a Comic-Con to compete in a costume contest. On another, it concerns the content in the last issue of a comic book that its fanatic readers yearn to save, one reader particularly.
The music echoes rock opera and “Hair” and “Jesus Christ, Superstar” and John Williams’ “Star Wars” scores. It is raucous, bold, brassy, almost all fortissimo, of a sort that would cause a producer in a larger house to give each singer a body mike. New Voices Opera singers had no mikes. On occasion, they were overwhelmed acoustically, but they acquitted themselves courageously.
Tenor Mark Phillips made a sympathetic figure and a shapely-voiced one as Chris, the young college grad with a job beneath his abilities and escapist dreams larger than are likely to happen; he’s the would-be comic book saver. Tenor Jake Williams commanded the stage as Chris’ idol, the comic book hero Cosmic Ray, pledged to save the universe; he also portrays Cosmic Ray’s human alter ego Ray, a quiet, mousy fellow with an unexciting life. The remaining cast members were well chosen and displayed solid, nice-to-hear voices.
In sum, “Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris” was both fun and food for thought. Had it been cut from 75-or-so minutes to 60, it would have been more fun and still provided food for thought. But chalk up the combine of “Ile” and “Cosmic Ray” as another success for New Voices Opera. May it prosper.
2 new operas provide food for thought, fun
by Peter Jacobi, pjacobi@heraldt.com
May 7, 2014
HeraldTimesOnline.com
Opera 'Intoxication, America's Love Affair with Oil' a good show
by Peter Jacobi, pjacobi@heraldt.com
April 29, 2013
HeraldTimesOnline.com
Chappell Kingsland, a doctoral candidate in composition at Indiana University, decided several years ago he’d write an opera, no less. He lined up his brother, Ben-Allen Kingsland, to write the libretto. And while creating, he decided there needed to be a producing outfit to perform it. With colleagues at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, he set about to do just that; they formed New Voices Opera, committed to present not only Kingsland’s opera but, in the projected future, other new works for the musical stage.
Lo and behold, on Friday evening (again on Saturday) in the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, New Voices Opera offered the premiere of that Kingsland-Kingsland creation, titled “Intoxication: America’s Love Affair with Oil.”
Well also, lo and behold, what full houses of viewers saw and heard was really quite special. Who knows whether a new American opera, one with so strange a title and an unusual topic, will gain legs that carry it to further performances? Many new operas never make it beyond the premiere. But “Intoxication” deserves further attention. In fact, both the opera and its New Voices production deserve further attention. Most everything about this project merits praise and opportunity.
An argument might ensue on whether the opera is an opera or a musical, but that’s more for marketers to consider than for viewers to worry about. Like most operas and like few musicals, “Intoxication” is through-composed. There is continuous music, even when spoken dialogue is called for. There are full-bodied arias and ensembles, such as one hears in “Carmen,” “Traviata,” “Boheme,” and “Lohengrin.” So, why not call it an opera? And never mind that the orchestration blends in elements of rock and pop. We’ve had rock opera, so why not rock in a score rich, as well, in traditional classic modes?
Without doubt, “Intoxication” is Americana, like the musical “Ragtime,” like the opera “Ballad of Baby Doe.” The theme is American. The story and music ring American. But unlike most of its operatic predecessors, whether American-made or otherwise, this one has an agenda. The script, the words, the music that underlines those words speak and sing to our oil dependency. However, although the whole is dramatic, little came across as overwrought. The libretto is clever; the music, appropriate, varied and attractive.
As the opera opens, one sees two dancers, excellent ones: Ryan Galloway, dressed in skin-tight black body suit, portraying Oil; Shannon Kazan, in bright patriotic colors, portraying America. They’re alternately in choreographic embrace and struggle, as when they periodically return to bring emphasis to the issue of our dependency.
The opera chronologically unfolds the fuel’s dominating presence from 1859, when the first contact with oil was documented, to the gusher at Spindletop in Texas at the dawn of the 20th century, the Model T Ford craze, the devastating Dust Bowl decade, the World War II years, the post-war growth accelerating need, to Kuwait and the Deepwater Horizon spill. Along the way, three Presidents (Nixon, Ford, and Carter) preach independence; the fourth (Reagan) recommends a “don’t worry” approach. At opera’s end, two vocal quartets argue the path to the future. Is it to be hooked or freed?
The limited Waldron stage, featuring the base of an oil derrick, was ingeniously used. A corner was reserved for the 17-player orchestra (from strings, winds and percussion to piano/synthesizer and electric guitar). Carlos Andres Botero, conductor of Columbia’s premier youth orchestra, kept “Intoxication’s” orchestra and all things musical together, impressively so. MFA candidate Lee Cromwell was equally impressive directing a complex, always-moving, multi-scene production. Joe Musiel’s choreography was stunningly to the point. Costuming by Elizabeth Toy and Lauren Kingsland was professional, as were Katie Gruenhagen’s lighting and Steve Pollitt’s construction of scenery.
The 18 singers, a number of them familiar to those who attend campus musical events, switched from role to role and duty to duty with aplomb. Composer Kingsland gave particularly strong moments to the driving owner of Spindletop (Zachary Coates), to a car saleswoman (Kathryn Summersett), to a troubled farmhand during the dusty 1930s (Conor Lidell), and to the four presidents (Reuben Walker, Nixon; Charles Lyon Stewart, Ford; Coates, Carter; Brendon Marsh, Reagan).
A surprisingly good show. May it prosper.
Copyright: HeraldTimesOnline.com 2013
'Intoxication' - Bold, Loud, and American to the Core
by Olivia Savage
April 27, 2013
whatithinkaboutamericanopera.blogspot.com
I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the New Voices Opera premiere of "Intoxication: America's Love Affair With Oil" by Chappell Kingsland. As a recent graduate from the Jacobs School of Music myself, I am well-versed in how student composition projects can often turn out: disorganized, overly-intellectual walls of sound. Luckily, Kingsland seems to have a keen understanding of what makes music theater and opera entertaining, selling out the opening night performance at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center on Friday night, April 26th.
"Intoxication" is a factual story, chronicling the evolution of the oil industry from conception to modern day. The show is divided into two acts, and each scene represents a different time period within the 20th Century. It doesn't necessarily sound like a brilliant topic for an opera, does it? Well, don't be fooled. The story is fascinating and the structure of the show is quite clever indeed. The vignettes are short enough to not bore those with shorter attention spans, and each scene gives both historical background and an emotional taste of what Americans felt and experienced throughout the cultivation of the oil industry.
To me, the score is reminiscent of the operatic works of William Bolcom. Utilizing elements from a variety of genres and styles, Kingsland deftly blends operatic and musical theater vocalism with the many facets of "American" music, including folk, rock, blue grass, doo-wop, and jazz. Ben Allen-Kingsland's libretto is an exemplar of poetic craftsmanship. He draws from historical events, political figures, pop culture, and even mid-century advertising to show the evolution of American culture and it's relation to our growing dependence on oil. Without an obtuse agenda, Allen-Kingsland leaves the audience with a heavy message and a lingering sense of discomfort; we're all dependent on oil, no matter how much we wish to become more "sustainable" and "green".
The theater was a cozy venue, especially with a large pit orchestra and a sold-out audience. Steve Pollitt's set was minimalistic yet effective, employing a wooden oil rig structure, a few props, and a platform. The rest of the scenes were set with limited lighting and some projections, which were dynamic and well-designed. Elizabeth Toy's costumes were period-accurate and colorful, bringing the stage and characters to life while relying on donated resources. Carlos Andrés Botero kept the singers and pit musicians together under difficult circumstances, both relating to the space and the score. The music was incredibly challenging at times, with changing meters, syncopation, and odd tonalities. Impressively, there were no obvious train-wrecks on stage or in the pit, and Botero used clear and concise gestures in the face of obscurity.
Lee Cromwell's stage direction deserves particular merit, as he utilized minimal rehearsal time in crafting an effective, emotional, and entertaining musical theater experience. The singers' solo performances were riveting, ensemble scenes were well-constructed, and visual interest was always maintained. He adapted the material for a small venue extremely well, and there were no large sections of the show that lost my interest.
One of the most entertaining and visually-stimulating parts of the production was the choreography by Joe Musiel, which was most prominently featured in the numerous dance numbers scattered among the scenes. The dances physically represented a growing romantic relationship between the two characters "Oil" and "America", played by Ryan Galloway and Shannon Kazan (respectively). Galloway employed a very fluid technique, performing gravity-defying motions with intriguing liquidity. Kazan brought a more classical technique to the stage, with perfect lines, soundless landings, and a fabulous characterization of a young woman (or country) falling in love. When they danced in tandem, I was impressed with their use of space and versatility in style, being called upon by Musiel to seamlessly change from ballroom to tango to Charleston to swing and back again.
There were several standouts among the singing cast, and I appreciated how well the singers were able to employ classical vocal technique with the many popular music styles interspersed throughout the work. Zach Coates soared over the boisterous orchestra with sharp diction, a brassy timbre, and a larger-than-life stage presence. Conor Lidell gave a chilling rendition of an aria desperate dustbowl Americans during the Great Depression. The strongest scene came after Intermission when Vinéecia Buchanan, Sarah Ballman, Christine Buras, and Jacquelyn Matava sang about their lives as 50's housewives. When Buras expressed unease about the pressures of modern wifehood, the other ladies cutely reminded her that advertised items such as Colgate toothpaste, Jell-o, and lipstick make life better. Musically, stylistically, lyrically, and dramatically, this scene was terrifically entertaining and cohesive.
The rest of the second act was decidedly darker. A particularly disturbing scene portrayed four Presidential television press releases given by Carter, Ford, Reagan, and Nixon. All four discussed their views on the energy crisis and how to solve the everyday woes of the individual American. Reuben Walker was a terrific Nixon, assuming a revolting ego, singing decisively and seductively, and leaving a bitter taste in the onlookers' mouths. Charles Lyon Stewart gave a strong performance as Carl Sagan, although not without flaws. However, Stewart's intelligibility and vocal edge were among the strongest in the cast, hinting at tremendous talent and a solid technique about to merge in a capable young artist.
Smaller roles with memorable performances include Brayton Arvin, who crooned his way to a crowd's hearts as a linen-clad gas station attendant. Additionally, Ben Smith as President Taft asserted himself vocally and physically with great confidence. In an Andrews Sisters imitation, Sarah Ballman, Jacquelyn Metava, and Christine Buras made a lovely trio and found their way through complicated staging during one of the most challenging musical sections of the entire show.
Overall, this production has many elements of strong off-Broadway productions. There are a few blemishes yet to be healed, but for an amateur production and free general admission, it's quality entertainment at an unbeatable price, plus a chance to see some tremendous student work. Stay tuned for future productions given by New Voices Opera, and get in while you can...with performances this strong, the tickets won't be free for long!