In 2016, Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer workshopped 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life鈥� with 麻豆免费版下载student singers before its premiere that fall at Houston Grand Opera.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good thing we didn鈥檛 stop at Rembrandt. We would never have had Picasso.鈥�
So muses Eklund Opera Director Leigh Holman about the importance of nurturing new creative efforts in order to keep the arts alive and thriving. It鈥檚 this imperative that underscores the 麻豆免费版下载New Opera Workshop (麻豆免费版下载NOW) as it enters its ninth year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just like any art form, whether it be painting, literature or theatre. Opera deserves to have a long-lasting future,鈥� Holman says.
The three-week summer program will again consist of two parts: 麻豆免费版下载NOW Professional and the Composer Fellows鈥� Initiative. Both will take brand new works from the stage floor up, giving composers and librettists an extensive and intensive look at their creations that may so far have lived only in their heads.
From there, says 麻豆免费版下载NOW veteran and legendary composer Jake Heggie, the march toward opening curtain begins. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so rare to get this much time in a workshop setting. We dig into every corner of the piece, hear it performed as many times as we need. It鈥檚 invaluable.鈥�
Heggie, the composer behind award-winning operas 鈥淢oby Dick鈥� and 鈥淒ead Man Walking,鈥� was last in Boulder for 麻豆免费版下载NOW in 2016, along with librettist Gene Scheer. They were workshopping their rendition of Frank Capra鈥檚 holiday-season mainstay 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Wonderful Life鈥� ahead of its premiere at Houston Grand Opera. 鈥淕ene and I had the most extraordinary experience in 2016,鈥� says Heggie. 鈥淲e were writing this new opera very quickly, so to be able to try new things and move things around was almost like getting a preview every single day. And that鈥檚 not something you get in opera.鈥�
This year, Heggie and Scheer return with a new piece commissioned by San Francisco Opera鈥檚 Merola Opera Program. 鈥淚f I Were You,鈥� based on the novel by Julien Green, is a contemporary Faustian tale of identity, body swapping, love, death, and deals with the devil.
It鈥檚 a challenging story to craft, but Heggie is looking forward to delving into it in the shadow of the Flatirons. 鈥淭o be able to get away from the studio and the weight that鈥檚 associated with that, into a beautiful place with wonderful people, restores you. It鈥檚 a great gift to be able to do that.鈥�
Heggie鈥檚 involvement with 麻豆免费版下载NOW doesn鈥檛 end with 鈥淚f I Were You.鈥� For the past several months, he鈥檚 been working with the four 麻豆免费版下载student composers who will premiere their new scenes during the Composer Fellows鈥� Initiative. CFI Managing Director Daniel Kellogg says the combined mentorship of Heggie and 麻豆免费版下载Boulder Theatre & Dance alumnus and librettist Mark Campbell make CFI a career-shaping experience.
鈥淛ake is an amazing teacher, and Mark has helped us develop our current structure the past few years. That helps our student composers gain a deeper understanding of the voice and storytelling. It鈥檚 the kind of experience that produces versatile chops and confidence.鈥�
Indeed, Eklund Opera Program Assistant and College of Music alumna Christie Conover (MM 鈥�10)鈥攚ho participated in the very first 麻豆免费版下载NOW production in 2010鈥攕ays the experience was as close to a professional setting as she got during her time as a student. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e thrown into this demanding three weeks, working with actual professionals, you get a real taste of what your career will be like. Looking back, that served me well as I prepared to do new music and workshops with other companies.鈥�
Holman says that鈥檚 the ultimate goal of 麻豆免费版下载NOW. 鈥淢ost of the students involved tell me that 麻豆免费版下载NOW was a highlight of their education at CU,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲hen people see that they鈥檝e done 麻豆免费版下载NOW, they can trust that these singers are intelligent and they know how to learn music quickly.鈥�
She adds, offering anything less as a university opera program would be a grave misstep for Eklund Opera and its counterparts across the country. 鈥淚鈥檝e told my colleagues at Opera America听that if we don鈥檛 teach our students how to be prepared to go out and sing new works, it would be akin to malpractice. This is the golden age of American Opera and our students must be prepared.
鈥淲e started 麻豆免费版下载NOW as something different and new, and now it鈥檚 something that is much needed in the marketplace.鈥�
The 2018 麻豆免费版下载NOW workshop begins on May 29, with performances June 15 through 17 in the Music Theatre and ATLAS Black Box Theater. All performances are free and open to the public. For more information, visit .
