Visitations: Theotokia & The War Reporter, Two Chamber Operas (World premiere Stanford commissions)
2013-04-12
Bing Concert Hall
Stanford University, 327 Lasuen St, Palo Alto, CA
8:00 PM, Friday, April 12, 2013

[7:58 PM, seated and ready to go! 8:03 PM, lights down]

1. Mother Anne, spiritual leader of the Shakers, invites Leon and her congregants to obtain a secret knowledge.
2. The Yeti Mother, an imaginary mother of God, calls to Leon from her cave in the Himalayas, promising to call him home to her.
3. Leon, an institutionalized schizophrenic, compulsively beats out a rhythm on his own body.
4. Leon’s mother visits and tells the story of her son’s illness, concluding accusatorily, “How could he do this to me?”
5. Leon obsessively reiterates his mother’s question, his speech transforming into glossolalia as he invokes the Yeti Mother.
6. The Yeti Mother answers Leon’s distress with a song in celebration of excrement.
7. The Yeti Mother reveals that she is Leon’s true mother, and that she, along with her congregation of yetis, will help Leon transcend his physical limitations.
8. The Yeti Mother and her yeti children transform into Mother Anne and her congregants once again, soothing Leon with the knowledge that he is now in possession of a secret knowledge. In a rare and painful moment of lucidity, however, Leon realizes that he is alone and suffering from his mental illness.
   [8:40 PM work ends]

• Heather Buck as \\Mother Anne\\, \\Leon's mother\\, and \\Yeti Mother\\: soprano vox;
  - New York Polyphony -
• Christopher Dylan Herbert as \\congregant\\: baritone vox;
• Craig Phillips as \\congregant\\: bass vox;
• Geoffrey Williams as \\Leon\\: countertenor vox;
• Steven Caldicott Wilson as \\congregant\\: tenor vox;

[9:04 PM performers enter]

1. Mogadishu
2. Columbia University
3. Johannesburg
4. Mosul
5. Phoenix
   [9:56 PM work ends]

• Heather Buck as \\Honderich
  and one of \\Paul's inner voices\\: soprano vox;
  - New York Polyphony -
• Christopher Dylan Herbert as one of \\Paul Watson\\: baritone vox;
• Craig Phillips as one of \\Cleveland
  and \\Cleveland's brother\\: bass vox;
• Geoffrey Williams as one of \\Paul's inner voices\\: countertenor vox;
• Steven Caldicott Wilson as one of \\Paul's inner voices\\: tenor vox;

♀♂ St. Lawrence String Quartet ♂♀ * Christopher Costanza: cello; * Geoff Nutall: violin; * Lesley Robertson: viola; * Scott St. John: violin;
♀♂ and supporting performers ♂♀ * Pascal Archer: clarinet; * Pedja Muzijevic: piano; * Tara Helen O’Connor: flute; * Steven Schick: percussion * Stephen Tramontozzi: bass;
♀♂ with invaluable contributions from ♂♀ * Jonathan Berger: composer; * Rinde Eckert: director; * Dan O’Brien: librettist; * Christopher Rountree: conductor.

H116-117 w/TC& Kaoru

Promo article Jesse Hamlin's promo for SFCV Rebecca Wallace' promo for Palo Alto Weekly