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| World Premiere of Chamber Opera "Hester Prynne at Death" (3.8.04) |
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| Tickets/Registration: 212.415.5500 |
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| Media Contact: Beverly Greenfield, 212.415.5452, email |
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| WORLD PREMIERE OF "HESTER PRYNNE AT DEATH" |
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| A NEW CHAMBER OPERA BASED ON HAWTHORNE'S THE SCARLETT LETTER |
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MUSIC BY STEPHEN PAULUS & LIBRETTO BY TERRY QUINN
ELIZABETH DABNEY, SOPRANO
Monday, March 8 at 8:00 p.m., $30 |
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| New York, NY, February, 9, 2004—The 92nd Street Y Tisch Center for the Arts presents the world premiere of "Hester Prynne at Death," a chamber opera based on The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel about a Puritan community's response to an adulteress and her illegitimate child, on Monday March 8 at 8:00 p.m. Composer Stephen Paulus and author Terry Quinn wrote "Hester Prynne" for soprano Elizabeth Dabney and an ensemble of eight choristers, clarinet, cello, piano and percussion. Also on the program is Paulus's 1994 setting of Carl Sandburg's "The Long Shadow of Lincoln," featuring baritone John Cheek. This concert is part of the Y's celebration of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Bicentennial, which also includes an evening of readings with writers Paul Auster, Russell Banks, Rick Moody and Hawthorne biographer Brenda Wineapple on Monday, March 1 at 8:00 p.m. |
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| The concept for "Hester Prynne" began with Elizabeth Dabney, who was looking to develop a vehicle for her singing that would use material familiar to a wide range of Americans and feature a passionate, strong and enduring character. "Many operatic female heroines suffer and die," says Dabney. "But Hester is unique in that she is able to survive and ultimately transcend her circumstances through tremendous strength of character." |
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| Dabney engaged Terry Quinn to write a libretto that would bring out Hester's voice in a way that was true to the spirit and language of Hawthorne. Focusing on Hester's internal process (which is largely absent from Hawthorne's original text), the libretto considers how she felt as she endured the wrath of her community and the silence of her lover — from the perspective of a woman in her last hours of life. But Quinn explores Hester's emotional life in 21st-century terms; he gives voice to her resentment and longing as well as her fierce attachment to her daughter. To maintain the historical quality of the novel, he uses 19th-century phrases and Anglo-Saxon words, which he describes as "full of consonants. It is visceral, rough, choppy and direct, and very reminiscent of the Puritan culture in which Hester lived." From the singer's perspective, the libretto is particularly challenging, Dabney says, "because it requires balancing the clipped language of the libretto with the flow of the musical score." |
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| With libretto in hand, Dabney approached Stephen Paulus, whose compositions in both opera and sacred choral music seemed a good match for the work she envisioned. Paulus reacted to the power of the libretto, the character of Hester and the opportunity to write a short, simple opera that would ultimately be portable and accessible to community and school groups and suitable for the concert hall. Paulus selected the instrumentation — clarinet, cello, piano and percussion — to provide the widest possible range of color and register without overpowering the soprano or choristers; he wanted to ensure that the words would always be clearly heard. "The music rises and falls," writes Paulus in his notes, "with moments of intensity, and relaxes into a reverent calm, depending on Hester's words, thoughts and memories." |
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A panel discussion with the creative team of "Hester Prynne at Death" — Elizabeth Dabney, Stephen Paulus, and Terry Quinn, Gary S. Fagin and Ben Levitt — follows the performance. |
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The instrumental ensemble performing "Hester Prynne" consists of Warren Jones on piano, Nathan Williams on clarinet, David Heiss on cello, and James Baker on percussion. Gary S. Fagin conducts; Ben Levit is the stage director. "Hester Prynne at Death" was commissioned through Meet the Composer's New Music, New Donors program and was performed in a workshop setting at An Appalachian Summer Music Festival in Boone, NC, last summer. The opera was also rehearsed at East Harlem's Union Settlement Association, through the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center's Literacy Outreach Program.
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| Violinist Yoon Kwon, cellist David Heiss and pianist Warren Jones accompany baritone John Cheek on Paulus's "The Long Shadow of Lincoln" |
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| CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERT DISCOUNTS |
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| A limited number of $10 tickets are available in the rear orchestra for each concert. Senior citizens and students with ID's may obtain a 50% discount on regularly priced tickets one hour before show time on the day of the concert. |
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| ABOUT THE ARTISTS |
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| STEPHEN PAULUS (composer) has written works for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, solo voice, keyboard, and opera. He has received commissions from many organizations including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Minnesota symphony orchestras and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, with performances of his works by many other orchestras and ensembles. He has served as composer in residence for several orchestras and worked with conductors Sir Neville Marriner and Kurt Masur, among many others. Mr. Paulus has also been commissioned to write for artists Thomas Hampson, Doc Severinson, Evelyn Lear and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He has been featured guest composer at the festivals of Aspen, Santa Fe, Tanglewood, Aldeburgh, and Edinburgh. One of today's preeminent composers of opera, Mr. Paulus has written nine works for the dramatic stage. The Postman Always Rings Twice was the first American production to be presented at the Edinburgh Festival, and has received nine productions to date by opera companies throughout the United States; his most recent operas are Heloise and Abelard, which had its premiere in New York in 2002 and Summer, which was presented in New York by the Center for Contemporary opera in June 2002. His music is represented on over 50 recordings. A recipient of both Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships, Stephen Paulus is active in contemporary music organizations. He is co-founder and a Board Vice President of the American Composers Forum, and is on the ASCAP Broad of Directors as the Concert Music Representative, a post he has held since 1990. For more information see Mr. Paulus's website at
www.StephenPaulus.com. |
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| TERRY QUINN (librettist) has published two novels, The Great Bridge Conspiracy (St. Martin's Press) and A Death in Brooklyn (Vivisphere) and a biography Second Daughter: Growing Up in China, 1930-1949 (Little, Brown). His short stories, memoir pieces and plays have appeared in many literary journals and national magazines. He wrote the book, lyrics and music for A Second Chance and Rasputin, performed Off-Broadway and in regional theatre. He has also written seven dramas presented on stages in New York City, England, France, Germany, and on National Public Radio. Mr. Quinn co-authored, with George Plimpton, One Sunday at the Fitzgeralds (featuring Lee Grant and Timothy Hutton), and Zelda, Scott and Ernest (with Norman Mailer and Norris Church Mailer), and directed the production that toured New York, Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and Vienna. His dramatic dialogue Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya: The Friendship and the Feud was published in The Paris Review and produced throughout the United States and Europe, with Dmitri Nabokov portraying his father, novelist Vladimir Nabokov, and William F. Buckley, Jr. and George Plimpton alternating in the role of critic Edmund Wilson. A volume of Mr. Quinn's poetry, titled Mad for Newyorktown: Dark Verse and Light, was recently published by Straw House Press, and his opera libretto The Birthmark will be presented as a verse drama next month at the Mercantile Library of New York. |
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| ELIZABETH DABNEY (soprano) made her debut with Hawaii Opera Theatre as Miss Silverpeal and Bastienne in a Mozart double-bill, and has since returned to perform Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. She has also appeared in leading roles with the Lake George Opera Festival, Liederkranz Opera and Princeton Opera. She has appeared in the New York metropolitan area in the roles of Donna Anna, Marguerite, Fiordiligi, and the Countess. Hester Prynne at Death by Stephen Paulus and Terry Quinn was written for Ms. Dabney's voice, in preparation for the Bicentennial of Nathaniel Hawthorne's birth in 2004. She is a recitalist and concert performer; she recently performed in New York at Bargemusic and has been soprano soloist in the Bach Magnificat and St. John Passion as well as in Handel's Israel in Egypt, Laudate Pueri, and Saul. Elizabeth Dabney was awarded the Shoshana Foundation's Richard T. Gold Career Advancement Award upon receiving her master's degree at the Mannes College of Music. During her undergraduate studies at Princeton University, she attended the music festivals at Aspen, Colorado, and Fountainebleau, France. |
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| YOON KWON (violin) has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout this country and abroad. In 2003 she collaborated with violinist Robert McDuffie at the first-ever Rome Chamber Music Festival where she will return this summer, in addition to appearing at Tanglewood and the Kuhmo Festival in Finland. She collaborates in performances with keyboardist Anthony Newman and tours the U.S. with Bowfire, the staged production of string virtuosos. Yoon Kwon's debut CD on the BMG/RCA Red Seal label was released in Korea in 1997. She can also be heard on a jazz album entitled Phoenix on the Songlines label. A native of Seoul, Korea, Yoon Kwon began her musical studies at the age of three, studying the piano. At age six, she began studying the violin, and two years later was accepted into The Juilliard School, where she studied with the late Dorothy DeLay. In 1997, at the age of 17, she was the youngest ever winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, resulting in her Avery Fisher Hall debut later that year. Ms. Kwon received her bachelor and master's degrees from Juilliard. She is currently enrolled there in the Artist Diploma program, where she continues her violin studies with Cho-Liang Lin and Donald Weilerstein. She plays on the Avery Fisher Stradivarius on generous loan from The Juilliard School. |
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| DAVID HEISS (cello) is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and has played solo cello continuo for over 250 performances of Mozart's operas; he is principal cellist for the New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall under Skitch Henderson; is a guest principal for many New York area chamber groups and orchestras; and is a veteran of hundreds of recording sessions for films, television and commercials. Featured in Musical America as a "Young Artist to Watch," Mr. Heiss won the Artists International Competition and made a highly successful Carnegie Recital Hall debut. As the onstage cellist in The Elephant Man, Mr. Heiss performed his own arrangements of incidental music for the Tony award-winning Broadway drama. He studied with Leonard Rose at The Juilliard School. His instrument is a 1789 John Betts cello. |
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| NATHAN WILLIAMS (clarinet) has been awarded numerous prizes and honors including the Eastman Concerto Competition and the Naumburg International Competition. He has been a resident artist at the Banff Centre in Canada and, as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, he was awarded the C.D. Jackson Award for outstanding achievement. Mr. Williams gave his New York concerto debut in Merkin Concert Hall performing the U.S. Premiere of a concerto by Richard Dünser. He has performed throughout the U.S. and Austria, in new music festivals in Prague and Budapest, and at international symposia in this country and China. He has commissioned, premiered and recorded works by many contemporary composers. His recordings are on the Albany, Composers Recordings, Inc., Naxos, and Arizona University Recordings labels. Mr. Williams earned the Artist Diploma with highest honors from the Academy of Music and Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria, the Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music, and a doctorate from The Juilliard School. Nathan Williams is instructor of clarinet at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and visiting associate professor at Michigan State University's School of Music. He is a founding member of Strata, a trio with violinist James Stern and pianist Audrey Andrist. |
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| WARREN JONES (piano) is a favored guest at major concert venues throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, appearing in recital and chamber music performances with the leading vocal and instrumental artists of our time. He enjoys a broad and varied career as performer, recording artist, teacher and jurist. His interests include travel, geography, history, cooking, exercise, and the outdoors. Mr. Jones is a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music in New York City and the famed Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Please visit his website at
www.warrenjones.com which features a full listing of his biography, recordings, and itinerary. |
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| JAMES BAKER (percussion) is an active freelance percussionist and conductor. He plays chamber music with the New York New Music Ensemble, Speculum Musicae and the Da Capo chamber ensemble among other groups. He has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Santa Fe festival, Prague spring, Moab festival and 92nd Street Y among others. He plays with the American Composers, NYC Ballet, EOS, Orpheus and Stamford orchestras as well as the New York Pops, Broadway shows and various commercial, pop and jazz projects. As a conductor, he has frequently worked with the NY New Music Ensemble in NY and around the US. He frequently conducts new music concerts at the June in Buffalo festival. This winter and spring he will be conducting Speculum Musicae, NYNME on an Asian tour and a new chamber opera by John Eaton. He has conducted many shows on Broadway, having been associate or assistant conductor of such shows as The King and I, Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Music Man and La Boheme. Mr. Baker frequently composes for dance and theater and has enjoyed a long collaboration with choreographer Tere O'Conor. He received a "Bessie" (downtown dance and music) award for his composition Heaven up North. His latest piece, written for O'Conor, was presented in NY and San Francisco this season and is currently touring. |
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| GARY S. FAGIN (conductor) has conducted, composed, orchestrated and arranged music for symphony orchestras across the country, ballet, Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, public radio, regional and repertory theaters and university and conservatory orchestras. Mr. Fagin is music director of the Bucks County (PA) Symphony Orchestra and the Ridgewood (NJ) Symphony Orchestra and conducts the New Jersey Ballet's annual production of The Nutcracker. He has appeared as conductor with the Colorado Symphony, Korean National Symphony, Concordia Orchestra, Eugene (OR) Symphony, New World Symphony, Chicago String Ensemble and numerous regional orchestras. Mr. Fagin studied composition with George Crumb and George Rochberg at The University of Pennsylvania; cello with Orlando Cole of The Curtis Quartet; and conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller at the Yale School of Music, where he received the first doctorate degree in conducting awarded by Yale. He also studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Berlin, and holds a Certificate from the Kodály Institute of Pedagogy in Kescemet, Hungary. |
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| BEN LEVIT (stage director) served as artistic director of the American Music Theater Festival d.b.a. The Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia from 1993-2001 where he directed five world premiere productions in addition to producing new musical theater, revivals, cabarets, and the Rainbow Youth Company. He also staged productions for OperaDelaware and for The Curtis Institute of Music Opera Theatre. His work has garnered Joseph Jefferson and Obie Awards, and the Barrymore Award for "Outstanding Direction of a Musical." In his last season as artistic director, the Philadelphia Inquirer awarded the Prince Music Theater the "Best of Philadelphia." Prior to Philadelphia, Mr. Levit freelanced as a director at Off-Broadway and regional theaters for 14 years and served as a director-in-residence at both the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and Playwrights Horizons in New York. Mr. Levit has an MFA in Directing from Florida State University and has taught acting and directing at New York University's Studio Theater Program and Philadelphia's University of the Arts. |
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| ABOUT THE 92ND STREET Y |
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| The 92ND STREET Y TISCH CENTER FOR THE ARTS, endowed through the generous support of the Tisch family, produces and presents world-class concerts of classical, world, folk and cabaret music, lyric theater and jazz. The Center's Unterberg Poetry Center, established in 1939, produces a renowned literary reading series that presents the most distinguished writers of our time and offers extensive educational programs for writers of all levels. |
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The 92ND STREET Y unites culture, education and community service in one multifaceted institution. Founded in 1874 by a group of visionary Jewish leaders, the Y has grown into an organization guided by Jewish principles but serving people of all races and faiths. Its mission is to enrich the lives of the 300,000 people who visit its three facilities each year. People come to the 92nd Street Y to attend performances of classical and popular music, jazz, American standards and contemporary dance; to hear renowned novelists, poets and playwrights read from their work; to explore the richness of Judaism with eminent scholars; and to listen to world leaders, public figures and experts in every field discuss timely issues. A wide-ranging curriculum offers adults of all ages the chance to learn and grow, while developmental programs help children, teenagers and families reach their full potential. Committed to sharing its programs with all New Yorkers regardless of economic circumstance, the 92nd Street Y provides over $1 million in annual financial assistance as well as an outreach program that brings the arts into the lives of 8,000 economically disadvantaged schoolchildren. For more information, visit
www.92Y.org/content/PRESS_RESOURCES.asp.
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© 2008 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved. |
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