Boston, MA (4/16/2024) — Guerilla Opera presents a live reading of the libretto of “The Windows”, a new opera by composer Elizabeth Gartman and librettist Susan Bywaters. Enjoy complimentary refreshments and an open bar, and be the first to experience how an opera transforms from words on a page to a vibrant production!

This operatic evolution takes place at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, April 21, 2024, at Bully Boy Distillers, Boston’s first craft distillery since the end of prohibition-based craft distillery and cocktail bar specializing in Whiskey, Rum, Gin, Vodka and Amaro. Admission is on a “pay-what-you-can” basis and bring up to 3 guests. Seating is limited to 30 attendees. Reserve tickets online today at guerillaopera.org/eventcal/thewindowslibrettoreading or email or call Guerilla Opera’s Box Office directly at boxoffice@guerillaopera.org or 617-286-6307. Guests may purchase tickets at the price of their choice and bring up to three friends. Guests may also choose an admission amount that allows them to attend and subsidizes access to others in the community.

Enjoy complimentary food and drink, courtesy of Guerilla Opera and Bully Boy Distillers, as you learn about“The Windows”, a brand new operatic interpretation of the events preceding the disappearance of Barbara Newhall Follett. The true-life author and former child prodigy vanished from her home in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1939, never to be seen again.

The live libretto reading features your favorite Guerilla performers, Aliana de la Guardia (No Exit, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, I Give You My Home), Omar Najmi (The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage), and Maggi Chauby making her Guerilla Opera debut.

Librettist Susan Bywaters’s works explore issues of morality and the victim/perpetrator paradigm. Susan has been featured in and was a runner-up of Beth Morrison Projects’ Next Generation competition in 2022 and 2021, and received the William Schumann Award for Most Outstanding Score from BMI Foundation in 2022. Her and Gartman’s most recent work has also been commissioned and performed in venues across Germany and Austria by Ensemble Chemie. Executive Director, Aliana de la Guardia writes:

“I was privileged to see this libretto evolve as part of our Guerilla Writing Collective, which is an important aspect of our programs for artists. We meet new artists with new perspectives that are sometimes outside our view.

Susan and Elizabeth are telling the true story of a woman whose spirit lingers in our neighborhoods. No one knows what happened to her to this day. How many women still go missing. Too many of their stories are overlooked. I hope that by telling this story, we are inspired to question the world around us, to become curious about our neighbors, to look at someone and truly see them with compassion in our hearts.”

Susan Bywaters is a graduate of the Guerilla Writing Collective, where she developed “The Windows”. The Collective is a 9-month cohort for artists actively seeking support, accountability, and guidance in completing text for musical settings. This summer and in the coming season Guerilla Opera brings back their libretto writing programs with course facilitator Kendra Preston. Applications for these programs open May 1st. Learn more about Guerilla Opera’s programs for artists at guerillaopera.org/guerilla-lab.

The Guerillas believe that the foundation of an equitable and inclusive arts culture requires making their events accessible to all. This event features accessible “pay what you can” admission prices. Learn more and purchase tickets online

Additionally, Guerilla Opera will unveil new music from the score of “The Windows” at their summer fundraiser. the Guerilla Backyard Bash, beginning at 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at Garage_B at The Speedway in Brighton! For more information on the Guerilla Backyard Bash visit guerillaopera.org/eventcal/backyardbash.

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WHO WE ARE

Guerilla Opera is a BIPOC and feminist organization, Boston's only experimental chamber opera ensemble, and one of only a few in the world with a mission to exclusively present new works of opera theater. Founded in 2007, the ensemble has accumulated a repertoire of over 40 new works by 30 composers. One of Boston’s most exciting companies, they have garnered a national reputation for innovative contemporary opera and daring performances with Opera News raving that “Guerilla Opera redefines the opera experience.”

The works commissioned by this artist-led ensemble are custom-tailored to their artists, who confront, examine, and question traditional conceptions of what is “operatic” by championing cutting-edge music and immersing audiences in profound experiences. Their vision is to bring new music to new audiences through a unique body of work that ferociously confronts the status quo, eschews antiquated and stereotypical traditions of the art form of opera, and examines stories by and for the people of today through contemporary lenses. They model creative authenticity and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (IDEA) to inspire and influence emerging generations of artists and creators. (guerillaopera.org)