Trinity Wall Street’s Julian Wachner leads VOX (Nov 8)
On November 8, maestro Julian Wachner – Director of Music and the Arts for Trinity Wall Street – returns to lead the 13th annual VOX festival at the Skirball Center in New York’s Greenwich Village. Described by the New York Times as an “invaluable showcase,” VOX is the New York City Opera’s workshop for previously unproduced contemporary American opera. As this season’s conductor, Wachner will direct soloists and members of the NYC Opera Orchestra in selections from six new works by composers John Zorn, Moto Osada, Christopher Weiss, Evan Meier, James Stepleton, and Osnat Netzer, chosen to highlight the eclectic landscape of American opera.
Wachner comments:
“Returning to New York City Opera to conduct again at one of the company’s most important ventures is an honor and an immense responsibility – particularly as the conductor of all six featured operas this year. Serving as the advocate for these new works speaks directly to my life-long dedication to presenting new work and I look forward to working with the excellent orchestra and company singers of New York City Opera. In my role as Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Wall Street, I welcome New York City Opera to Lower Manhattan and look forward to the possibility of partnership and collaboration between our two great organizations.”
As the inaugural Director of Music and the Arts at New York’s historic Trinity Wall Street, Wachner serves as Principal Conductor of the Trinity Choir and of the Trinity Baroque Orchestra; he is also Music Director of the Kennedy Center’s Grammy Award-winning Washington Chorus and Principal Conductor of Opera McGill, Montreal. In 2010, he made NYC Opera history when he became the first artist to be selected as both conductor and composer at VOX. As the Boston Globe has observed, “Wachner has shown the kind of technical command, large-spiritedness, and fiery imagination that all but shout to the skies: ‘Major talent!’”
VOX plays a vital part in the fabric of American opera. Presenting excerpts of new works in professional concert performances by members of the NYC Opera Orchestra and soloists, it is the nation’s only program offering composers the opportunity to hear their new works and works-in-progress with full instrumental ensembles and professional soloists. Since its founding in 1999, VOX has launched pieces that have gone on to define American opera, written by composers including Mark Adamo, Charles Wuorinen, Richard Danielpour, John Zorn, and Stephen Schwartz. This year’s festival is presented in conjunction with OPERA America’s New Works Forum for NYC Opera’s 2012-13 season.
About the operas:
The Holy Visions is a mystery play in eleven strophes, concerning the life, work, and philosophy of twelfth-century composer, healer, and visionary mystic Hildegard von Bingen, with original texts in Latin. (John Zorn, composer/librettist)
Four Nights of Dream presents four individual scenes of three dreams concerning a samurai seeking enlightenment, a young man facing his fears, and a father’s treacherous scheme against his son. (Moto Osada, composer/librettist)
In a Mirror, Darkly comprises three one-act operas dealing with three women in three different eras (medieval Camelot, 1890s Paris, and post-WWII Manhattan), as they come to terms with love and mortality. (Christopher Weiss, composer; S. O’Duinn Magee, librettist)
The Last Act of Revolution is a chamber opera based on events surrounding the suicide of a left-wing journalist and key member of a terrorist group that rocked West Germany with violence in the early 1970s. (Evan Meier, composer; Luke Richmond, librettist)
Based on Kate Chopin’s classic novella, The Awakening follows Edna Pontellier and the sexual awakening instigated by her oppressive marriage in 19th-century New Orleans. (James Stepleton, composer; Andrew Joffe, librettist)
The Wondrous Woman Within is a farcical romp based on Hanoch Levin’s play about the lengths to which men will go to cling to the ideals of their fantasy woman. (Osnat Netzer, composer/librettist)
About Trinity Wall Street:
Historic Trinity Wall Street, a dynamic Episcopal parish in the heart of New York’s financial district, has for centuries been the home of exceptional music. Keeping with its own tradition in this regard, Trinity Wall Street opened its 2010-11 season with the exciting new appointment of noted conductor, composer, and keyboardist Julian Wachner as Director of Trinity’s Music and the Arts program. Serving as principal conductor of the Trinity Choir, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and NOVUS NY, he also oversees all liturgical, professional, and community Music and Arts programming at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel.
Julian Wachner at VOX
With New York City Opera Orchestra members and soloists
Nov 8 at 7:30pm
New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
John Zorn: The Holy Visions
Moto Osada: Four Nights of Dream
Christopher Weiss: In a Mirror, Darkly
Evan Meier: The Last Act of Revolution
James Stepleton: The Awakening
Osnat Netzer: The Wondrous Woman Within
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