Media Contact:

Alexis Peart, Development and Marketing Coordinator
apeart@guerillaopera.org | (617) 286-6307 (call/text)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, MA (May 9, 2022)—Boston’s Guerilla Opera and the Nichols House Museum co-present I Give You My Home, a world premiere site-specific chamber opera inspired by the life of Rose Standish Nichols, a true-life Women’s Peace Party and Suffrage Activist and professional landscape architect. I Give You My Home features music and original libretto by local composer Beth Wiemann and is brought to life by acclaimed theater and film director Cara Consilvio. The immersive opera plays for five performances over one weekend only on Friday, June 3 through Sunday, June 5, 2022 within the rooms of the Nichols House Museum at 55 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, MA 02108. Tickets are available now and can be purchased online only from the Nichols House Museum.

Wiemann’s I Give You My Home brings to light the efforts and passions of Rose Standish Nichols, a singular Bostonian woman, in dramatic form on the site of the museum, which was the Nichols family home. Rose’s efforts to affect change through the Women’s Peace and Suffrage Movements and in her professional career are striking for their persistence in spite of the barriers.

“We want to inspire future generations to pursue their unique passions and make an impact on their own terms. This is everything Guerilla Opera is about!”

Aliana de la Guardia, Guerilla Opera’s Artistic Director

The opera is a monodrama written for Guerilla Opera’s core ensemble members: soprano and Artistic Director Aliana de la Guardia as Rose, percussionist Mike Williams and saxophonist Philipp Stäudlin.

Each performance concludes with a tea reception in honor of the tradition of hosting salons, which was started by Rose Standish Nichols and her mother. Opening night on June 3 concludes with a special reception and champagne toast to Guerilla Opera’s 15th Anniversary Season. The full live experience including the reception is roughly 60 min in duration.

I Give You My Home is supported by an Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors award from OPERA America, a Live Arts Boston grant award from The Boston Foundation and their partners the Barr Foundation and Dunamis Boston, and a CIP Projects grant award from Mass Cultural Council. The development of I Give You My Home has been in partnership with the University of Maine, Orono, The Switchboard artist residency program in Haverhill, MA and the Nichols House Museum in Boston.

ACCESSIBILITY

The Nichols House Museum is an historic 1804 Federal townhouse home. It is spread across multiple floors with no elevator. The performances include walking throughout the house. If you have questions or need assistance with accessibility please email or call Barbara Callahan at bcallahan@nicholshousemuseum.org or 617-227-6993.

COVID-19 POLICIES

Audience members must show proof of vaccination or show a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 72 hours or a negative COVID-19 take-at-home rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of the event. All audience members must remain masked for the duration of the performance.

Because this is an intimate performance with limited seating, and because proof of vaccination is required, tickets must be reserved in advance. Admission will not be sold at the door.

For more information visit Guerilla Opera online at guerillaopera.org!

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ABOUT GUERILLA OPERA

Guerilla Opera is a BIPOC and feminist organization, Boston's only experimental chamber opera ensemble, and one of only a few in the world who focus exclusively on presenting new works. One of Boston’s most exciting young companies creating brave new works and founded in 2007, the ensemble has accumulated a repertoire of over 40 new works by the most exciting composers of our generation. In daring performances, they have garnered a national reputation for innovative contemporary opera, with The Boston Globe raving that “radical exploration remains the cornerstone of everything it does.”

This artist-led ensemble wields a mission to develop new experimental works custom-tailored to their ensemble of artists. With the goal to confront, examine, and question they champion cutting-edge music, immerse audiences in profound experiences, and are a model for creative authenticity and inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) in order to inspire, influence and amplify emerging generations of artists.

Their vision is to generate a unique body of work that ferociously confronts the status quo, eschews antiquated and stereotypical traditions of the art form of opera, examines stories through culturally focused and contemporary lenses, and brings new music to new audiences. (guerillaopera.org)

ABOUT THE NICHOLS HOUSE MUSEUM

The Nichols House Museum preserves and interprets the home of landscape gardener, suffragist, and pacifist Rose Standish Nichols and her family. In 1885, Dr. Arthur Nichols and his wife Elizabeth purchased an 1804 townhouse attributed to architect Charles Bulfinch. The house was where their three daughters matured into designers, writers, and social activists. In 1930, Rose Standish Nichols (1872-1960) inherited the property and began laying the plans for its establishment as a museum. Soon after her death in 1960, the Nichols House Museum opened to the public.

The Nichols family home and its original art and furnishings provide a glimpse into life on historic Beacon Hill from the mid-19th to mid-20th century. Highlights include sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Flemish tapestries, Japanese woodblock prints, and Boston furniture. Visitors also encounter day-to-day objects including an 1897 dumbwaiter and a 1936 radio. The Museum welcomes virtual and in-person visitors for tours, programs, and special events.