ELLIS

Music by Gabriele Vanoni | Libretto by Ewa Chrusciel & Gabriele Vanoni

A world premiere multimedia and immersive opera that breathes life into forgotten voices of our past through the true stories from Ellis Island.

Title: ELLIS

Music: Gabriele Vanoni

Libretto: Ewa Chrusciel

Duration: 60-75min (anticipated)

Instrumentation: 2 sop, ten, bari, dancer, vn, vc, sax, perc, electronics

Status: Developing

PRESS

“A memorable journey for good reasons.”

The Boston Globe

“A happy marriage of musical expertise and DIY creativity.”

The Boston Globe

Guerilla Opera’s ‘ELLIS’ tells immigrants’ stories

FULL ARTICLE IN THE BOSTON GLOBE

“An all-encompassing experience”

Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Ellis turns another page in Guerilla Opera’s history of telling stories of real people that speak to our shared experience.”

Boston Musical Intelligencer

HISTORY

01/2020 - Vanoni receives Berklee Faculty Fellowship to begin work on the opera.
02/04/2021 - Guerilla Opera receives Grants for Arts Projects award from National Endowment for the Arts
02/16/2021 - Guerilla Opera Receives award from Haverhill Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
03/9-11/2021 - Residency at Gloucester Stage. Develop visual elements of the opera and record and excerpt music.
5/20 & 21/2021 - Public virtual presentation of work samples and meet-the-artist event.
9/11/2021 - “Chapter One” free public performance of scenes from ELLIS at the Haverhill Art Walk in collaboration with HC Media.
10/2 & 3/2021 - First presentation at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, MA.

ELLIS is supported in part by a Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Haverhill Cultural Council a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, Pentucket Bank, and Michael and Sharon Mollerus; developed with the help of our partners partners at Trinity Parish of Newton Centre, The Gloucester Stage, Revolutionary Spaces, HC Media, the Haverhill Art Walk, Luminartz, Studio HHH, Sharp NEC Display Solutions; and with special thanks to José Carlos Ibañez Olvera (Compañía Nacional Ópera Contemporanea), Pamela Hersh, theatre KAPOW, Ovation Theatre Company, Nathan Troup, Julia Noulin-Mérat, and Carolyn Royce and Roscoe Giles.

Originating Ensemble: Aliana de la Guardia (soprano), Raysel/Maria’s Mother; Bizhou Chang (soprano), Maria/Manny’s Aunt; Taka Komagata (tenor), Manny; Brian Church (baritone), The Guard/Lou (Manny’s Brother): Andros Zins-Browne (dancer), Raysel’s Father; Lilit Hartunian, violin; Stephen Marotto, cello & mandolin; Philipp Stäudlin, saxophone; Mike Williams, percussion; and Gabriele Vanoni, live electronics.

Production and Creative: Gabriele Vanoni, Composer/Electronic Sound Design; Ewa Chrusciel, Librettist; Laine Rettmer, Stage Director/Video Artist; Nick O’Leary, Associate Director/Dramaturg; Nuozhou Wang, Associate Director/Video Effects; Úna Rafferty, Stage Manager; Pamela Hersch, Projections Advisor; Maxx Finn, Lighting Design; Rebecca Shannon Butler, Costume Designer; Mark DiGiovanni, Technical Director; Jeffrey Means, Sound Coordinator; Aliana de la Guardia, Artistic Director; Sarah Schneider, Artistic Projects and Production Manager; Keithlyn B Parkman, Associate Producer; and Tae Kim, Rehearsal Pianist.

CONTACT

Collaboration/Artist Exchange inquiries please contact Aliana de la Guardia. Tour inquiries and/or to receive a tech rider contact Keithlyn Parkman. Perusal score and licensing please contact Gabriele Vanoni.

ELLIS First Presentation

Dancer, Andros Zins-Browne, and soprano /artistic director, Aliana de la Guardia performing in the first presentation of ELLIS at the Old South Meeting House, (Boston, MA). Experimenting with movement vocabulary throughout the Prologue that will return with each character to abstractly connect stories within the opera. (Photo by Timothy Gurczak, October 3, 2021)

ELLIS First Presentation

Soprano/artistic director, Aliana de la Guardia (Maria’s Mother) and soprano Bizhou Chang (Maria) performing in the first presentation of ELLIS at the Old South Meeting House, (Boston, MA). Performed on the second floor/mezzanine floor of the meeting house, this is a familial scene where Maria’s mother explains her arranged marriage to a young Italian man in America and it’s benefits.. (Photo by Timothy Gurczak, October 3, 2021)

ELLIS First Presentation

Soprano /artistic director, Aliana de la Guardia (Raysel) and baritone Brian Church (Guard) performing in the first presentation of ELLIS at the Old South Meeting House, (Boston, MA). Performed on the second floor/mezzanine of the meeting house, Guard and Raysel fall in love, but she is troubled and leaves for America. (Photo by Timothy Gurczak, October 3, 2021)

ELLIS First Presentation

Tenor, Taka Komagata (Manny) performing in the first presentation of ELLIS at the Old South Meeting House, (Boston, MA). Performed in the main hall and ground level of the meeting house, Manny travels to America on the boat and sees the Statue of Liberty. (Photo by Timothy Gurczak, October 3, 2021)

ELLIS First Presentation

Dancer, Andros Zins-Browne (Raysel’s Father) performing in the first presentation of ELLIS at the Old South Meeting House, (Boston, MA). Performed in the main hall and ground level of the meeting house, this transient character creates through lines and connections between scenes and traveliers. (Photo by Timothy Gurczak, October 3, 2021)

ELLIS First Presentation

Soprano/artistic director, Aliana de la Guardia (Raysel) and dancer, Andros Zins-Browne (Raysel’s Father) performing in the first presentation of ELLIS at the Old South Meeting House, (Boston, MA). Performed on the main level/ground floor of the meeting house, Raysel arrives at Ellis Island and unexpectedly meets her father there. (Photo by Timothy Gurczak, October 3, 2021)

ELLIS First Presentation

ELLIS Workshop

Soprano and Artistic Director Aliana de la Guardia performing in the first workshop at The Gloucester Stage (Gloucester, MA). Here we are experimenting colorful additions to costume to cut through grayscale and sepia toned projection. This shot is of an experimental animation that begins as a “spotlight” and becomes a memory of the Statue of Liberty. (Photo by Jeffrey Means, April 11, 2021)

ELLIS Workshop

Soprano and Artistic Director Aliana de la Guardia performing in the first workshop at The Gloucester Stage (Gloucester, MA) experimenting with colorful props break through grey scale and sepia toned projections. (Photo by Jeffrey Means, April 11, 2021)

ELLIS Workshop

Soprano and Artistic Director Aliana de la Guardia performing in the first workshop at The Gloucester Stage (Gloucester, MA) experimenting with colorful props. Luggage will be a significant element, out of which we will pull artifacts the immigrants bring with them that remind them of home, and maybe even and unusual element or two. (Photo by Jeffrey Means, April 11, 2021)

ELLIS Workshop

Soprano and Artistic Director Aliana de la Guardia performing in the first workshop at The Gloucester Stage (Gloucester, MA). Here we are experimenting animations that include photos of immigrants past and of many cultures who have traveled through Ellis Island. De la Guardia moves down stage and joins them waiting in line. (Photo by Jeffrey Means, April 11, 2021)

ELLIS Workshop

Percussionist and Co-Founding Artist Mike Williams performing in the first workshop at The Gloucester Stage (Gloucester, MA). Instrumentalists are always visible in Guerilla Opera productions and frequently in costume with actions to perform on stage. Here we are experimenting with stage movement as well as sepia tones video and animations behind the instrumentalist. (Photo by Jeffrey Means, April 11, 2021)

ELLIS Workshop

Soprano and Artistic Director Aliana de la Guardia performing in the first workshop at The Gloucester Stage (Gloucester, MA) experimenting with shadow theater behind sepia toned video design. (Photo by Jeffrey Means, April 11, 2021)