Encompass visited Chicago for NATS 2022 to share outstanding songs by living American composers
FeatureD WORKS
FROM OUR 2022 NATS PRESENTATION
”Is There Opera Beyond the Met…You Bet!
Operas and Arias of Living American Composers”
ANNA CHRISTIE
With music by Grammy nominated composer Edward Thomas and libretto by Joseph Masteroff (Cabaret, She Loves Me), this opera is based on Eugene O’Neill’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. A story of family forgiveness and fierce feminism long before its time, the opera explores the lost relationship of a woman and her father, and the sailor she falls in love with. For 4 singers, 1 actor, and chamber orchestra. For scores, email Nancy Rhodes or visit the publisher’s site.
ANGEL OF THE AMAZON
Music and libretto by Evan Mack. This is based on the true story of Sister Dorothy Stang, an American missionary and nun who devoted her life to helping indigenous farmers and families of Brazil gain land rights, and to protecting the rainforest. In 2005, at age 73, she was brutally murdered by assassins hired by a logging company who felt her passion for the Earth and all its gifts to be a threat. The opera depicts her life’s work and the events that set her on a path to martyrdom. (One hour touring version for 7 singers, 2 musicians; also, a full-length version for 13 singers and chamber orchestra). For scores, contact Evan Mack.
THE ASTRONAUT’S TALE
Music by Charles Fussell, libretto by Jack Larson. Exploring the nature of time: dreamtime, clock-time, and eternal time. Breathtaking images of outer space ignite a modern tale of a man’s fascination with the cosmos and his dream of flying to Mars. His adventure is guided by a mysterious stranger, a peddler who challenges his small- town beliefs about creation and religion that clash with the science he so desperately wants to learn. (3 singers, 1 actor, chamber orchestra). For scores, contact Nancy Rhodes.
OCEAN DREAM
Music by Victor Kioulaphides, libretto by Nancy Rhodes. This poetic journey of self-discovery premiered in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Estonia. Amid water and brilliant sunlight, a young woman discovers a mysterious child and wakens her true soul; drawing from popular children’s stories and rhymes, it weaves a story of sexual awakening. For scores, contact Victor Kioulaphides.
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
With music by John David Earnest, libretto by Nancy Rhodes. Alternating between North and South America, scenes take place in a planetarium and at the University of Sao Paulo. Tomás Cabral, a Brazilian quantum physicist, raised in the Amazon, challenges his students to become scientists for change in a world on the edge of environmental destruction. His wife, Rachel, a filmmaker is exploring spiritual dimensions after a harrowing experience at sea. Their daughter Cassy is a precocious 8-year-old student of astronomy. Dramatic events catapult a search into other dimensions and alternate universes.
(8 principles, 8 ensemble singers/dancers; orchestra, 21 musicians). For scores, contact Nancy Rhodes.
A WAKE OR A WEDDING
Music and libretto by Richard Pearson Thomas. A sparkling comedy with a lyrical and lightly romantic score. Set in 1898 Montana, Pierpont Mackerel Davenport, ruthless copper king, has dropped dead on the eve of his daughter’s wedding. The topsy-turvy household is shaken up by the arrival of Marcella Sorella, opera diva extraordinaire and her cohort, Egyptian tenor Raimondo Vecchiofaraone---is he from Cairo, Egypt or Cairo, Illinois? True identities and relationships are revealed in a surprise ending. (8 singers, chamber orchestra). For scores, contact Richard Pearson Thomas.
ONLY HEAVEN
Music by Ricky Ian Gordon. Based on the poems of the Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. This piece provides exceptional vocal writing for each voice type and has excellent audition arias. For 4 singers, 2 dancers, chamber orchestra. For scores, contact Nancy Rhodes.
MORE SUGGESTED WORKS
FLORA THE RED MENACE
With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, libretto by George Abbott and Robert Russell, this features a headstrong heroine in the depths of the Great Depression. Valedictorian and future fashion designer Flora Meszaros gets caught up in the Communist Party during the Great Depression. For scores, contact Nancy Rhodes or visit the publisher’s site.
LADIES IN A MAZE
Music and libretto by Richard Pearson Thomas. When three friends set off on a tour of the world’s mystical sties, Time goes awry, bouncing them back and forth between present and past lives. From the jungles of Costa Rica to the temples of Cambodia, these travelers wander in a touching and comic maze. For scores, contact Richard Pearson Thomas.
MISS HAVISHAM’S WEDDING NIGHT
With music by Dominick Argento, libretto by John Olon-Scrymgeour, based on the character from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. This musical soliloquy is set on a night in which Miss Havisham re-enacts all that happened when she was left by her lover. For scores, contact Nancy Rhodes.
TARTUFFE, OR THE IMPOSTOR
With music and book by Molière, this work was first performed in 1664. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theatre roles. For scores, contact Nancy Rhodes or visit the publisher’s site.
THREE SISTERS WHO ARE NOT SISTERS