VIDEO: Ellen Reid Wins Pulitzer Prize for 'prism'
In September I posted about a fresh upcoming opera by the composer Ellen Reid, called p r i s m, for which Reid was awarded a Pulitzer Prize yesterday. Calliope PR is thrilled for Ellen and honored to have worked on this amazing project, as well as with many of the artists involved. It is a joy to advocate for such talent!
p r i s m
p r i s m was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) and developed over a period of years with director James Darrah (Calliope PR) and librettist Roxie Perkins. The piece is an insightful, poetic, and colorful exploration of the elasticity of traumatic memory; in a metaphorical room, the piece follows a girl along her hero's journey as she moves from blissful denial to reality regarding her past sexual assault. Reid draws from classical tradition, electronic club music, and contemporary experimental composition to create massive shifts in reality in a brilliant way. It premiered on the West Coast in partnership with BMP and LA Opera in November 2018 (two performances conducted by Daniela Candillari; Calliope PR) and on the East Coast as part of the PROTOTYPE Festival (Calliope PR) in January 2019.
PLAYGROUND/RUN
Meanwhile, I just got back yesterday from seeing Ellen Reid's most recent premiere on Opera Omaha's ONE Festival (Calliope PR), led by General Director Roger Weitz and Festival Artistic Director James Darrah. The Festival commissioned an interactive musical installation from Ellen---PLAYGROUND---as well as a 15-minute operatic piece---RUN---to be played on the installation by members of the Festival's house band, International Contemporary Ensemble, and sung by soprano Naomi Louisa O’Connell. It was a joy to see the multigenerational audience at the Joslyn Art Museum, rapt with attention for the performance then rushing to play with the PLAYGROUND in the hours following the show. Here's an inside look at the design; Ellen is on the right.
UPCOMING FROM CALLIOPE PR:
May 2-5 - Brooklyn Youth Chorus brings to NYC’s New Victory Theater Silent Voices: Lovestate, the third installation in its Silent Voices commissioning series (for which the ensemble previously commissioned Ellen Reid ). The show features premieres from David Lang and Angélica Négron, with pieces by Toshi Reagon, Olga Bell (Dirty Projecters), Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Shara Nova, Paola Prestini, Toshi Reagon, Shaina Taub.
May 2, 4, 5 - Daniela Candillari conducts a double header of Riders to the Sea (Vaughan Williams) and Empty the House (Rene Orth) with Opera Philadelphia and Curtis Institute of Music.
May 20 - Missy Mazzoli, via the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, presents Break Away, the fourth and final installment of the 2018-19 MusicNow series, which she curated and for which she performs two arrangements of Meredith Monk pieces.
May 24 - Alicia Hall Moran’s Two Wings: Music of Black America in Migration travels to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
August 2, 4 - James Darrah directs and Daniela Candillari conducts Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain at Music Academy of the West.
August 21, 23, 24 - Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves travels to the Edinburgh International Festival via Opera Ventures and Scottish Opera.
RESOURCES:
For information on or interviews with James Darrah, Daniela Candillari, PROTOTYPE Festival, ONE Festival, Alicia Hall Moran, or Missy Mazzoli contact me: sarah@calliopePR.com | 646.907.8062.
For information on or interviews with Ellen Reid, contact her manager: james@eclipseprojects.org