A new opera in two acts presented by Mind on Fire
Composed by Michael Hersch
After texts by Shane McCrae
Directed by James Matthew Daniel
Featuring Ah Young Hong and Jesse Blumberg
Mind on Fire is proud to present the upcoming world premiere of Michael Hersch's new opera, and we, each. The opera, built around the poetry of Shane McCrae, is an exploration of the treacherous territories of relationships – between individuals, within societies and, ultimately, the collapse of both.
Widely considered among the most gifted composers of his generation, MICHAEL HERSCH has been called a composer of "uncompromising brilliance" (The Washington Post) whose work has been described by The New York Times as "viscerally gripping and emotionally transformative music … claustrophobic and exhilarating at once, with moments of sublime beauty nestled inside thickets of dark virtuosity." His 2019 opera Poppaea was a recent nominee for the Austrian Music Theater Prize for "Best Contemporary Music Theater." and we, each, is Hersch's fourth opera.
SHANE MCCRAE, one of America's most celebrated poets, has written work characterized as "ingenious … where the dignity of English meter meets, as in a mosh pit, the vitality – and often the brutality – of American speech." (The New Yorker); "…dangerous" (The New York Times); a poet whose work "isn't easy to shake" (Publisher's Weekly); a poet who confronts the challenging "facts of the world, head-on — while… transposing the literal into the otherworldly." (Los Angeles Review of Books).
Renowned soprano AH YOUNG HONG has sung the title role in Hersch's Poppaea, as the lone soloist in his On the Threshold of Winter, and in many other Hersch premieres written for her over the past decade, has. She been described by Opera News as an artist of "fearlessness and consummate artistry," The New Yorker as "transfixing," and in Hersch's monodrama, The New York Times called her "the opera's blazing, lone star."
JESSE BLUMBERG is one of today's most in-demand baritones. His repertoire spans music from the Renaissance to works created in the 21st century. Performances include the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's The Grapes of Wrath at Minnesota Opera, Bernstein's MASS at London's Royal Festival Hall, Lisa Bielawa's The Lay of the Love and Death, and featured roles with Atlanta Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Atelier, and Boston Lyric Opera. Jesse has made concert appearances with American Bach Soloists, Boston Baroque, Apollo's Fire, and on Lincoln Center's American Songbook series.
Director and cinematographer JAMES MATTHEW DANIEL directed the acclaimed 2015 production of On the Threshold of Winter the world premiere of Agatha with Hong, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Reto Bieri and Camerata Bern in 2020, and the fully realized version of Hersch's Images from a Closed Ward with the FLUX Quartet.
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