Next month Opera Parallèle will launch its 2021–22 season, which will mark the company’s twelfth anniversary. Between November and July there will be three productions: a world premiere, a West Coast premiere, and the conclusion of a trilogy project that began in 2011. Not all the details have been finalized. However, many readers prefer to save dates sooner rather than later; so this is a good time to summarize the schedule.
Poster design for the opera “Harriet’s Spirit” (from the Eventbrite event page)
The season will begin with “Harriet’s Spirit,” a musical profile of nineteenth-century abolitionist Harriet Tubman composed by jazz bassist Marcus Shelby and a libretto by Roma Olivera. This is the latest in a series of operas for youth commissioned by Opera Parallèle through its Hands on Opera community engagement program. Those that have been following this site for some time may recall the account of an earlier Hands on Opera production first performed in November of 2016, “Xochitl and the Flowers.” Indeed, anyone with that much memory will probably also recall when “Harriet’s Spirit” was first launched as a Hands on Opera production in January of 2018. On that occasion the only instrumentalist was pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi, who had also been part of a combo including flute and percussion at the “Xochitl” performances.
Since that time, Shelby has worked with Opera Parallèle to prepare a “main stage” production of “Harriet’s Spirit.” This will include new orchestration for ten musicians (flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, strings, and percussion). There will also be new staging the L. Peter Callender. The role of Tubman will again be sung by jazz soprano Tiffany Austin; and she will again be joined by soprano Christabel Nunoo as the young student Modesty. They will now be joined by Bradley Kynard in the role of Montgomery. Finally, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, led by Valérie Sainte-Agathe, will provided the voices for two choruses names “Say Nothing” and “Do Nothing.” General and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement will conduct.
The world premiere of this new version of the opera will be given three performances on Saturday, November 13, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and on Sunday, November 14, at 1 p.m. The venue will be the Bayview Opera House, located at 4705 Third Street. Tickets are being sold through an Eventbrite event page. General admission will be on a pay-what-you-can basis; and Eventbrite has created options of $10, $25, and $50. There is also an option for making a donation of any amount to the Opera House. Finally, tickets will be provided to those age 21 and younger at no charge.
The second production of the season will be the West Coast premiere of Lembit Beecher’s “Sophia’s Forest,” a one-act opera with a libretto by Hannah Moscovitch. If “Harriet’s Spirit” provides an operatic account of the abolitionist movement in the history of the United States, “Sophia’s Forest” reflects on the immigration experience. The title character, sung by soprano Maggie Finnegan, immigrated to the United States at the age of nine. The opera presents her as an adult reflecting on her childhood, which includes the chaos of civil war in her homeland and the traumatic journey that brought her to the United States. Other roles include Sophia’s mother Anna, sung by mezzo Kindra Scharich, and her sister Emma, sung by young sopranos Virginia Ko and Samantha Fung, who appear in flashback scenes. In addition, Sophia herself is performed as a child by actor Charlotte Fanvu. The music will be performed by the Del Sol Quartet joined by percussionist Divesh Karamchandani. The score will also include Sound Sculpture electronics created by the composer. Paiement will conduct.
The West Coast premiere of this opera will be given four performances, three at 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 24, Friday, February 25, and Saturday, February 26, along with a 5 p.m. performance on Saturday. The venue will be Grace Cathedral, located at the top of Nob Hill at 1100 California Street. Tickets will not go on sale until Monday, November 15. At that time a hyperlink on the event page for this opera will be activated.
The final program will be a performance of Philip Glass’ “alternative soundtrack” for Jean Cocteau’s film La Belle et la Bête (beauty and the beast). This will complete the trilogy of Glass operas based on Cocteau films. Opera Parallèle performed Orphée (Orpheus) in 2011, followed by Les Enfants Terribles (the terrible children) in 2017. Because Glass had conceived his music as a soundtrack for La Belle et la Bête, he planned the resources of four vocalists and a small instrumental ensemble to perform while the film was projected in the background. Some readers may recall that this was how Glass’ music was performed in the Lam Research Theater at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts when San Francisco Performance presented its Philip Glass at 75 “mini-festival” in May of 2013.
Opera Parallèle will take an alternative “hybrid” approach to its production. Permission has been granted by Glass himself, the Philip Glass Ensemble, and the Cocteau Estate. This new approach will be developed by Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel. He will draw upon the efforts of David Murakami (media designer), Yayoi Kambara (choreographer), Alina Bokovikova (costume designer), Sophia Smith (hair and make-up designer), and Mextly Couzin (lighting designer). Glass’ constraint of four vocalists will be maintained by Vanessa Becerra, Hadleigh Adams, Anders Frölich, and Shawnette Sulker. Paiement will conduct.
The performance dates will be Friday, July 15, Saturday, July 16, and Sunday, July 17. Performance times have not yet been announced, which means that tickets are not yet on sale. The venue will be the Miner Auditorium of the SFJAZZ Center, located at 201 Franklin Street, on the southeast corner of Fell Street. The plan is for tickets to go on sale in March. Once again, this will involve activating a hyperlink on the event page for the opera.
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