This page also serves as the digital program book! Scroll down for full program info!
Say It Ain’t So, Joe, a light tragedy by Curtis K. Hughes
an electrifying musical experience on the public personas of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden
With a stunning score and libretto by Curtis K. Hughes, this unique production transforms the true-life words exchanged during the unforgettable 2008 Vice Presidential Debate into a riveting musical journey.
Time
Saturday, October 5, at 7:30 pm ET
Location
The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472
Tickets
Secure your tickets now for a night of music, drama, and a unique look at American politics.
$15 to $75 (VIP)
VIP Tickets include a pre-show private reception at the Firebrand Lounge with the artists!
Tickets can be purchased from the Mosesian Center for the Arts Box Office online at mosesianarts.org/shows, in person or by phone at 617-923-0100, Monday-Friday from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM. Don't miss this extraordinary fusion of music and history and music!
This page also serves as the digital program book! Keep scrolling for full program info!
Curtis K Hughes, Composer & Librettist
The music of Curtis K. Hughes (b. 1974) is characterized by its rhythmic restlessness, its harmonic adventurousness and its often volatile mix of diverse stylistic elements and political subtexts. It has been described as “fiery” in the New York Times and “insidiously spiky” in Fanfare magazine. Recent collaborators have included Hinge Quartet, RAHA Duo, New Gallery Concert Series, Transient Canvas and Boston Percussion Group, and recordings of Curtis's music appear on the Albany, Avie, and Cauchemar labels. His most recent album “Tulpa,” released on New Focus Recordings, was described in The WholeNote as “redolent of mystery, wit and adventure,” and was cited by David Weininger of the Boston Globe as one of the most notable classical recordings of 2021. Curtis has held faculty positions at Boston Conservatory and MIT, and has served as composer-in-residence for the Radius Ensemble and Collage New Music. (curtiskhughes.com)
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Say It Ain’t So, Joe was written for Guerilla Opera and premiered by the Boston-based ensemble in September 2009 on the stage of the Zack Box at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The late Larry Phillips of The Boston Musical Intelligencer urged audiences to “run, don’t walk” to see the new opera with “great music” upon its premiere. If you’re hoping for a Sarah Palin SNL sketch, first consider that Guerilla Opera is known for challenging expectations and turning things on their head. This unique, progressive opera transforms the actual words exchanged between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden from the public record of the unforgettable 2008 Vice Presidential debate into a riveting musical journey.
Founded in 2007, the Guerillas have unearthed this gem from the early years of their unique repertoire to explore the riveting work by Hughes anew, amidst another presidential election more than 15 years later.
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Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are used as a point of departure for a musical and dramatic exploration of the tragic and comic aspects of both characters. Yet, the opera isn’t about Palin and Biden as real individuals so much as it is about their public identities as constructed in the imagination of American citizens. Similarly, the depiction of the debate itself isn’t so much an attempt to recreate what actually transpired as it is an evocation of the subjective experience of watching the debate, one in which a viewer’s attention sometime wanders, perhaps certain ideas and utterances stand out while others recede, and time itself doesn’t necessarily progress in a straightforward manner.
The words that are sung during the debate (even-numbered scenes), however, are “real” in that they are derived entirely from the public record. During the other scenes (all odd-numbered scenes), those that are interspersed with the recurrent glimpses of the debate, I took some considerable liberties with assembling the libretto. Nonetheless, the vast majority of the words, with the notable exception of most of Act 1, Scene 3, come from the public record, though generally culled from a wide variety of sources.
In composing the music I was also inescapably aware that politicians themselves are musicians of a sort. Nuances of tempo, phrasing and pitch language are so integral to the public verbal performances of politicians that in many places I chose to literally incorporate them into the music of the opera. Indeed, throughout Act 1, Scene 2, and for shorter stretches in other portions of the opera, you’ll be hearing the actual ‘melodies’ of the debate, rendered almost precisely as they were spoken, but in a musical context. The instrumental music sometimes assists in providing dramatic weight to Biden’s and Palin’s words, while at other times it diverges, or even belittles the candidates. Each of you in the audience might have your own interpretation of the drama, but one certainty is that both Palin and Biden are each the heroes of their own respective stories in this ‘light tragedy.’
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Location: Theater Lobby
The Lounge opens its doors 90 minutes before curtain and is a benefit for supporting Guerilla Opera at the Firebrand level and VIP tickets holders.
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Jennifer Ashe, soprano as Sarah Palin 1
Aliana de la Guardia, soprano as Sarah Palin 2/Diane Sawyer
Amanda Keil, mezzo-soprano as Hillary Clinton
Isabel Randall, mezzo-soprano as Gwen Ifill
Brian Church, baritone as Joe Biden/Joe "The Plumber"
Mike Williams, percussion
Philipp Staudlin, saxophone
Stephen Marotto, cello
Amy Advocat, bass-clarinet
Keithlyn B Parkman, Lighting Designer
Tláloc López-Watermann, Projections Designer
Jacob Blaustein, Production Assistant
Jeffrey Means, Sound
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Mustering up “rock solid technique” and “the kind of vocal velvet you don’t often hear in contemporary music” (Boston Phoenix), soprano JENNIFER ASHE has been praised for performances that are “pure bravura, riveting the audience with a radiant and opulent voice” (The Boston Globe). A strong advocate of new works, she has sung with Boston Musica Viva, Sound Icon, Fromm Festival, Boston Microtonal Society, Harvard Group for New Music, New Music Brandeis, New Gallery Concert Series, Guerilla Opera, Ludovico Ensemble, Ensemble Parallax, SICPP, and the Callithumpian Consort. No stranger to early music, she has also appeared with Blue Heron, The Handel and Haydn Society, and Boston Baroque. Recent projects include the premiere of Close and Apart- a new song cycle exploring themes of loss, hope, and connection inspired by an organ donor, written by Matthew Jaskot. Ashe holds a DMA and an MM in voice and vocal pedagogy from the New England Conservatory and a BM in voice and music education from the Hartt School of Music. Formerly on the faculties of the College of the Holy Cross and Eastern Connecticut State University, she currently teaches at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley.
ALIANA DE LA GUARDIA is an operatic soprano, nonprofit arts leader, dedicated mentor, and warrior for artistic misfits who champions new music that challenges conventions. Since 2007, she has been integral to Guerilla Opera’s leadership, steering the progressive ensemble artistically and organizationally through 40 new operas with roles tailor-made for her ferocious theatrical abilities. She also co-directs Bahué with percussionist Ariel Campos, an emerging duo that celebrates Latin culture through music. Her artistry has enchanted esteemed stages nationwide, premiering nearly 200 new works nationwide with American Lyric Theater, Americas Society, AtlasUNLIMITED, Beth Morrison Projects, Castle of our Skins, Center for Contemporary Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston New Music Festival, Dinosaur Annex, Ludovico Ensemble, Monadnock Music, Mountain Time Arts, New Gallery Concert Series, Talea Ensemble, Transient Canvas, and Windsor Music, and been featured in the ICE Factory Festival, Boston New Music Festival, Pine Mountain Music Festival, and American Composers Orchestra’s Sonic Festival at Lincoln Center. She is a PARMA Recordings Artist, contributing to many commercial recordings on their various labels, as well as to BMOP Sound, and other independent labels. The Latina arts leader is a passionate mentor who offers one-on-one mentorship, masterclasses, and lectures and participates in panels at institutions throughout the country. She helps artists step into their power and live their best creative lives through life, career, entrepreneurial, and voice coaching through her award-winning Dirty Paloma Studio. (alianadelaguardia.com)
BRIAN CHURCH (he/him) is a longtime collaborator with Guerilla Opera. He first made his debut with GO in the fall of 2009 originating the roles of Joe Biden and Joe the Plumber in the premiere production of Say It Aint So, Joe. Since that time, Brian has taken part in over 30 pieces/projects with the group, encompassing Premieres, Revivals, Workshops, Tours and Recordings. Outside of Guerilla Opera, he is a longtime member of the Cantata Singers and the Choir at King's Chapel as well as Boston's Renaissance Men. Brian is a Kindergarten Paraprofessional in the Waltham Public School district and teaches Piano, Voice, Guitar and Bass at Music 101 Studios in Melrose. He plays bass for Violabajo, a bass-drums-viola power trio and 3400 Palace, an avant-jazz-punk trio. Brian sings in the duo Jaimene and B and the trio Tiny Lungs Rising who will be releasing their 1st EP this Fall. Both projects include his wife Jaime, an actress, singer and teacher. Jaime and Brian are proud parents of Elias and Quentin.ISABEL RANDALL is excited to debut with Guerilla Opera for the 2024-2025 season! A civic-minded opera singer, poet, and librettist from Rota, Spain, Isabel is passionate about making opera accessible and performing contemporary works. She originated roles in Boston Opera Collaborative’s Courthouse Bells (2023) and White Snake Projects’ Is This America? (2024).
As "The Inquisitive Typist," Isabel’s poetry inspired the staged song cycle Five Short Pieces: The Inquisitive Typist, composed by Ben Russman, earning her the 2023 Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation. She is developing Once There Was a Girl: An Opera in Three Acts with composer Janet Lagah-Bona, based on her mother’s memoir.Recognized internationally, Isabel was a finalist for the Slovak National Theatre’s Opera Studio and the National Association of Negro Musicians Eastern Region Competition. She joins Dayton Opera as an Artist-in-Residence for 2024-25 and has trained with Des Moines Metro Opera and Boston Opera Collaborative. Isabel holds a Graduate Performance Diploma from Longy School of Music and degrees from Azusa Pacific University and Baylor University. She is deeply grateful to God, her loved ones, and mentors for their support.
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Hailed by The Boston Globe as “one of the city’s best percussionists,” Mike Williams is an advocate for contemporary music, a member of the new music sinfonietta Sound Icon, the Calithumpian Consort, and is a co-founding artist of Guerilla Opera as well as former co-artistic director, with whom he has commissioned and premiered many new chamber operas since 2007. Williams has worked with many of the leading composers of our time including Pierluigi Billone, Philippe Leroux, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gunther Schuller, and Roger Reynolds.
A native of Norwalk, Connecticut, STEPHEN MAROTTO (Cello) has received a Bachelors degree with honors from the University of Connecticut, and Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Boston University. Stephen’s formative teachers include Michael Reynolds, Kangho Lee, Marc Johnson, and Rhonda Rider. A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Marotto plays regularly with chamber groups throughout New England and also performs on various new music concert series in the Boston area and beyond. Marotto has attended music festivals at the Banff Centre, Cortona Sessions for New Music and SoundSCAPE festival in Italy, and the and the Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany. Marotto has a wide range of musical interest that include contemporary chamber music, improvisatory music, and electroacoustic music. As a soloist, Stephen has commissioned several new works for the instrument, and is concerned with expanding and augmenting the tonal pallet of his instrument both with and without technology. Stephen can be heard as a featured artist on Mode Records. In his spare time, Marotto is an avid hiker and outdoorsman.
Philipp A. Stäudlin is an award-winning virtuoso saxophonist that has performed hundreds of concerts throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He has appeared as a soloist with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Ensemble Sound Icon, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Callithumpian Consort, Bielefelder Philharmoniker, and many others. Stäudlin won First Prize and Audience Prize in the Gustav Bumcke International Saxophone Competition in 1998. As a former member of the New Art Saxophone Quartet, he received First Prize in the 1998 Chamber Music Competition of the German Music Foundation. A graduate of Musikhochschule Basel, Stäudlin received a Soloist Diploma, having studied with Marcus Weiss and Iwan Roth. Philipp Stäudlin is the saxophonist of Hinge Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, Ensemble Sound Icon, and Ludovico Ensemble. He is the Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and also teaches saxophone at Tufts University.
Sought out for her “dazzling” (Boston Globe) performances with “extreme control and beauty” (The Clarinet Journal), AMY ADVOCAT, clarinetist, is an avid performer of new music having performed with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Alarm Will Sound, Sound Icon, Guerilla Opera, Firebird Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, Collage New Music, and Dinosaur Annex. Recent appearances include performances at Beethovenfest Bonn, Vienna Summer Music Festival, Monadnock Music, New Hampshire Music Festival, and the White Mountain Music Festival.Amy is a founding member of the bass clarinet and marimba duo, Transient Canvas, with whom she has commissioned and premiered hundreds of new works and released three albums to critical acclaim. Transient Canvas regularly tours across the United States and Europe, including featured performances at New Music Gathering (San Francisco/Boston), SoundNOW Festival (Atlanta), Alba Music Festival (Italy), Music on the Edge (Pittsburgh), Outpost Concert Series (Los Angeles), and more. Their debut album, Sift, was released in August 2017 on New Focus Recordings to rave reviews. KLANG New Music called it "one of the more refreshing things I've heard in recent years." Their second album, Wired, was named a top local album of 2018 by The Boston Globe with I Care If You Listen raving “Transient Canvas is a tour de force and this record is a must-add to any new music lover’s library.”
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Keithlyn Parkman is Guerilla Opera's Director of Design & Production and resident Lighting Designer with a a BFA in Lighting Design from Boston University College of Fine Arts. During her time at BU she came across this crazy little opera family and the rest is history. When not running around Boston with Guerilla, Parkman shares her passion for theater making by mentoring young theater artists at various high schools in her hometown of NYC. Recent Guerilla credits include SALT, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage, and Ululations & Gurgles of the Invisible. Upcoming projects include Into the Woods (Berkeley Carroll School) and Arcadia (The Beacon School).
Tláloc Lopez-Watermann is an experienced lighting, projections and scenery designer with over 20 years of experience. He has worked with many Opera and Theatre companies, including, Arizona Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Columbus, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Opera Orlando, Virginia Opera, Opera Southwest, Opera Santa Barbara, TheatreZone, Opera Naples, Gulf shore Opera, North Carolina Opera, Shreveport Opera, Opera Luisiane, Lakes Area Festival, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, In-Series Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, North Carolina Opera, Toledo Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Roanoke, Amarillo Opera, Guerilla Opera (Boston, Mass.), Crested Butte Music Festival and Brevard Music Festival among others. Tláloc is the founder and owner of Light Conversations LLC. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornish College of the Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in design from NYU/Tisch. Tláloc was awarded the 2002 Allen Lee Hughes Lighting Fellowship at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Tlaloc spent a semester working at the Deutsche Oper Berlin 2001.
Jacob Blaustein, Production Assistant, a fine artist by trade, is currently earning his BFA in Furniture Design and Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. Jake strives to work and experiment with a vast variety of mediums, drawing on his experience in theatrical design and carpentry skills to influence his sculpture art. During the summer, Jake spends his time working with young and upcoming artists at Buck's Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp. He is very excited to be working on his first Guerilla show.