HER | ALIVE.UN.DEAD
Music and libretto by Emily Koh
A REUNION AND A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE
Title: HER:alive|un|dead: a media opera
Music: Emily Koh
Libretto: Emily Koh
Duration: 95 min
Instrumentation: 3 treble voices, 1 bass voice, cl, sax, vl, perc, electronics
Status: In-Development
ABOUT THE OPERA
Exploring familial issues of immigration from the often overlooked multigenerational perspective of Asian women, this opera investigates themes of identity and place.
“a powerful story”
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
HER | alive.un.dead is a media opera about three generations of Asian women in a single family. Through birth and death cycles in the family, and encounters in a space called the “in-between, these women expound on gender biases against women, and discriminatory practices against people of Asian descent.
The specific experiences of Asian women in largely Western society and upbringing are brought to focus. This clash between East and West is interpreted differently between the three generations of women in the family.
The opera is sung in English, Mandarin, and Teochew and is 95min in duration.
“I found it very moving, very touching, very authentic.”
Vivian T, Audience Member
PRESS/NEWS
“a powerful story” “excellent direction and creative scoring.” The Boston Musical Intelligencer
“The music deftly underlines every emotional twist. At times soaring and lyrical, at others gritty and forceful.” The Arts Fuse
WGBH: Morning Edition [interview]
Words First Podcast [interview]
Eastman Institute for Music Leadership Podcast [interview]
The Boston Globe [article]
WBUR [article]
The Boston Musical Intelligencer [article]
Pao Arts Center [blog post]
Pao Arts Center [blog post]
“I found it very moving, very touching, very authentic. I loved the music! The musicians were fabulous, the musicality and the voices were inspiring, moving, touching. I feel different after the show than before the show. It really reminded me of the centrality of family and how we try so hard.” (Vivian T, Audience Member)
“It was just really meaningful to be sitting here, in this community, witnessing this piece, in this space – the Pao Arts Center, in Chinatown, during this month, where we are celebrating not only our heritage but our present and our future.” (Felicia C, Audience Member)
DEVELOPMENTAL TIMELINE & MILESTONES
07/2020: Guerilla Opera received OPERA America Female Composer Commissioning Grant, a significant award supporting 50% of Emily Koh’s commission fee
12/2020: First dramatic reading of the libretto by Guerilla Opera
03/2022: Guerilla Opera received a Grants for Arts Project Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, a significant award support the workshop and full production of HER|alive.un.dead
7/14/2022: Full reading of musical score at the Decordova Sculpture Park and Museum. 1 public performance.
07/14/2022: Fully staged workshop of two scenes that are set in the afterlife (the in-between), experimentation with video design and mapping. Feedback garnered from invited audience. (Private presentation & documentation)
09/2022: Guerilla Opera received a Live Art Boston grant from the The Boston Foundation and their partners at Dynamos and The Barr Foundation, significant award supporting the full production of HER|alive.un.dead
12/2022: Guerilla Opera received a significant award from the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research Grant Program supporting the full production of HER|alive.un.dead
05/12-5/142023: World premiere at the Pao Arts Center, Boston, MA. 4 public performances
05/2023: Guerilla Opera receives an award from the Alice M. Ditson Fund to begin a studio album of HER|alive.un.dead
11/2023: Streaming performance in The Guerilla Underground (1 Live Stream + On Demand)
About the Composer
Emily Koh is a Singaporean composer based in Atlanta, whose music is characterized by inventive explorations of the smallest details of sound. In addition to writing acoustic and electronic concert music, she enjoys collaborating with other creatives in projects where sound plays an important role in the creative process. Emily is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music. (https://emilykoh.net/)
FROM THE COMPOSER
I am a first-generation Singaporean immigrant to the United States. This chamber opera follows the experiences of new Teochew-Chinese immigrants to the US, highlighting the plight of women living one foot in a traditional patriarchy, while trying to assimilate into their new and less conservative society. Similarly, my musical style is a confluence of my Western musical training and Singaporean upbringing, speaking Teochew (Chinese dialect), performing in Chinese orchestras and gamelan ensembles. The operatic genre accentuates the story telling because the Teochew language (used by a few characters in the opera), is a tonal language, and has a sing-songy quality. Western opera is also similar to Teochew stage drama in dramatic temperament.
COLLABORATORS
Emily Koh, composer & librettist
Mo Zhou, Stage Director and Dramaturg
Nuozhou Wang, Video and Projections Designer
Sol Kim Bentley, soprano
Nina Guo, soprano
Jeannette Lee, mezzo soprano
Jiayin Shi, baritone
SUPPORT AND PARTNERS
The commissioning of Emily Koh for HER | alive.un.dead: a media opera received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
This opera is supported in part by a Grants for Arts Projects Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Live Arts Boston Grant award from The Boston Foundation and their partners at the Barr Foundation and Dunamis, a grant from Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership’s funds from the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research, a Project Grant from the Mass Cultural Council, and an award from the New Music USA Creator Development Fund.
This world-premiere opera was developed in partnership with the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts.
All photos featured on this page are of the world premiere production of “HER | alive.un.dead” by Emily Koh at the Pao Arts Center, Boston, MA. May 10, 2023. Photo by Timothy Gurczak.
CONTACT
For information regarding the touring of this opera, for touring information, or to learn how to partner with Guerilla Opera, contact Aliana de la Guardia at artistic@guerillaopera.org.