BEOWULF
Music and libretto by Hannah Lash
A chamber opera in two acts that investigates what it means to be a hero.
Title: Beowulf, a chamber opera in two acts
Composer: Hannah Lash
Libretto: Hannah Lash, inspired by the epic poem
Duration: 70min
Instrumentation: sop, ten, bari, cl, sax, vln, perc
Status: Active, Available for touring
PRESS
“a fabulous addition to the diverse Guerilla Opera canon” (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN)
“Brian Church sang handsomely and acted compassionately… clarinetist Amy Advocat, saxophonist Philipp A. Stäudlin, percussionist Mike Williams, and violinist Lilit Hartunian played with passion and assurance…” THE BOSTON GLOBE
“…a contemporary tale, yoked to the past with one simple word — a name….relentlessly inventive…an inspired authorial stroke.” THE ARTERY, WBUR
HISTORY
Commissioned for and produced by Guerilla Opera in partnership with the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Supported by an Opera America Opera Grants for Female Composers Discovery Grant.
09/15/2015 - Partial musical reading with Guerilla Opera.
01/18/2016 - Partial performance at the Opera America New Works Showcase in NYC.
05/20/2016 - World Premiere in The Zack Box at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Five performances.
7/23-30/2020 - Guerilla Encore Series Virtual Viewing and Video on Demand
TOURING INFO
Director: Andrew Eggert
Production Design: Julia Noulin-Mérat
Lighting Design: Daniel B. Chapman
Costume Design: Neil Fortin
Theater Requirements: 3/4 thrust/round preferred.
Originating Ensemble & Design Team: Brian Church (Beowulf), Aliana de la Guardia (Mother), Brendan P. Buckley (Nurse), Amy Advocat (Clarinets/Nurse), Philipp A. Stäudlin (Saxophones/Nurse), Mike Williams (Percussion), Lilit Hartunian (Violin).
ABOUT THE OPERA
A modern-day adaptation of the well-known epic poem, in which Beowulf is a doctor caring for his elderly mother and suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress upon his return from a recent war. Beowulf investigates what it means to be a hero.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Hailed by the New York Times as “striking and resourceful…handsomely brooding,” Hannah Lash’s music has been performed at the Times Center in Manhattan, the Chicago Art Institute, Tanglewood Music Center, Harvard University, The Chelsea Art Museum, and on the American Opera Project’s stage in New York City. Commissions include The Fromm Foundation, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, American Composers Orchestra, The Naumburg Foundation, The Orpheus Duo, The Howard Hanson Foundation’s Commissioning Fund, Case Western Reserve’s University Circle Wind Ensemble, MAYA, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Arditti Quartet, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival and School, among many others. Lash has received numerous honors and prizes, including the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fromm Foundation Commission, a fellowship from Yaddo Artist Colony, the Naumburg Prize in Composition, the Barnard Rogers Prize in Composition, the Bernard and Rose Sernoffsky Prize in Composition, and numerous academic awards. Her orchestral work Furthermore was selected by the American Composers Orchestra for the 2010 Underwood New Music Readings. Her chamber opera, Blood Rose, was presented by New York City Opera’s VOX in the spring of 2011. Other recent premieres include God Music Bug Music in January 2011 with the Minnesota Orchestra, the monodrama Stoned Prince by New York based ensemble Load Bang in April 2013, Subtilior Lamento with the Da Capo Chamber Players at Carnegie Hall in 2012, and Glockenliebe, for three glockenspiels, with Talujon Percussion in December 2012. Her 2011 orchestral work, Hush, was featured on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Brooklyn Festival in April of 2013. Her chamber opera, Beowulf, commissioned by Guerilla Opera, was premiered in May 2016. (http://hannahlash.com/)
CONTACT
Tour inquiries and/or to receive a tech rider contact Keithlyn Parkman.
Perusal score please contact Scott Music. Staged performances of this work require licensing.
