I GIVE YOU MY HOME

Music and Libretto by Beth Wiemann

A site-specific chamber opera and film inspired by Rose Standish Nichols and her efforts to affect change through the Women’s Peace and Suffrage Movements and as a landscape architect.

Title: I Give You My Home

Music: Beth Wiemann

Libretto: Beth Wiemann

Duration: 40min (anticipated)

Instrumentation: sop, sax, perc, electronics

Status: Developing

ABOUT THE OPERA

I Give You My Home is a site-specific world premiere opera and film with music and an original libretto by local composer Beth Wiemann that will take place at the Nicholas House Museum in Boston. It is written for soprano, percussion and sax, sung in English and estimated to be 40-45min long.

Inspired by and in partnership with the Nichols House Museum, this project brings to light the efforts of this singular Bostonian woman in dramatic form on the site of the museum, which was her family home. It highlights the efforts and passions of Rose Standish Nichols who, despite her persistence, struggled to be taken seriously by the powers of her time (1872–1960). Her attempts to affect change through the Women’s Peace Movement, Women’s Suffrage and in her professional career are important and striking for their persistence in spite of the barriers.

This project’s primary goal is to inspire future generations, to pursue their unique passions and make an impact on their own terms.

We found this project exciting because it highlights the efforts and passions of a true-life, local woman. A large part of our mission is to immerse audiences in profound and culturally focused experiences, and to provide a vehicle for creative authenticity. This project succeeds in both by creating an immersive experience around the true story of this “unsung” local figure and amplifying it with the otherworldly dramatic potential of opera theater and cinematic spectacle.
As a BIPOC and woman-run ensemble, we universally recognized and related to Rose’s struggles from systemic oppression of her gender, and found her story of successes and failures compelling in profoundly personal ways. The story of her life brings questions about the definition of success, and the perception of women in leadership roles then and now.
- Aliana de la Guardia, Artistic Director of Guerilla Opera

THE FULL PROJECT

Live Performance:

Guerilla Opera will present in 4-6 live performances from June 3 to June 5, 2022 on the site of the Nichols House Museum as a completely immersive experience for our audience.

Opera-Film:

While we are rehearsing the live experience we will simultaneously shoot a film version for release in the 2022-2023 season. This will be a thoroughly composed film created for cinematic consumption, not a high quality recording of a live experience.

Studio Album:

During a residency at the University of Maine March 3-5, 2022, Guerilla Opera will record a studio album for release with or shortly after the film release on PARMA Recordings.

HISTORY & TIMELINE

11/6/2020 - First Draft Libretto and Dramaturgical Notes

2/12/2021 - First Libretto Reading / Second Draft Libretto

4/11/2021 - Musical recording at the Gloucester Stage, Gloucester, MA

4/19/2021 - Workshop at the Nichols House Museum (documentation)

6/23/2021 - Guerilla Opera and Nichols House Museum are featured on ABC WCVB's Chronicle “Great Estates” episode.

6/24/2021 - Guerilla Opera receives a LAB Grant award from The Boston Foundation and partners at the Barr Foundation and Dunamis.

6/24-7/4/2021 - Guerilla Opera shares a preview of an excerpt in EMERGENCE: SEASON 15, a virtual preview concert on STELLAR Tickets. Syndication through Haverhill Public Access Ch 22 and HC Media website.

12/11/2021 - - Guerilla Opera shares a preview of the musical score in concert at The Switchboard in Haverhill and through a Patreon-Only Livestream.

3/4-6/2022 - Guerilla Opera shares a preview of the musical score in concert at The Switchboard in Haverhill and through a Patreon-Only Livestream.

1/20/2022 - Guerilla Opera receives a FY22 CIP Project Grant award from Mass Cultural Council.

3/4-6/2022 - Guerilla Opera takes up residency at The University of Maine, Orono campus for an artistic residency and to make a studio recording of I Give You My Home.

WORK SAMPLES

In Scene 4 from "I Give You My Home" (5min) by Beth Wiemann Rose muses on the importance of order and how designing a garden is like designing a life.

Performed at The Switchboard in Haverhill, MA by Guerilla Opera: Aliana de la Guardia, soprano (Rose), Philipp Stäudlin on saxophone, and Mike Williams on percussion. (December 2021)

In Scene 2 from “I Give You My Home (5min) by Beth Wiemann Rose recalls her childhood in boarding schools of New England and Paris, France and how formative her education was.

Performed at The Switchboard in Haverhill, MA by Guerilla Opera: Aliana de la Guardia, soprano (Rose), Philipp Stäudlin on saxophone, and Mike Williams on percussion. (December 2021)

In this film sample (3min) Rose shares an intimate secret and her professional ambition this aria from "I Give You My Home: Rose Standish Nichols".

Performed by Aliana de la Guardia, Artistic Director and soprano and Mike Williams, percussionist of Guerilla Opera. Music and libretto by Beth Wiemann. Edited by Nuozhou Wang. Photography by Craig Incardone. Direction by Cara Consilvio. (April 2021)

In this film sample (1min) Rose Nichols reads a disappointing letter from President Woodrow Wilson in this aria from "I Give you My Home: Rose Standish Nichols".

PRESS

“Great Estates,” ABC's Chronicle: Artistic Director, Aliana de la Guardia and Linda Marshall, Executive Director of the Nichols House Museum on the episode talking about this collaboration. Clip above. Watch the full episode.
“Opera Based on Life of Rose Standish Nichols Coming Next Year to the Nichols House Museum” Beacon Hill Times, Dan Murphy, July 8, 2021
“Guerillas Awarded a $15,000 Live Arts Boston Grant from The Boston Foundation” Broadway World, Alexa Criscitiello, July 6, 2021

A clip from “Great Estates,” ABC's Chronicle, where Artistic Director, Aliana de la Guardia and Linda Marshall, Executive Director of the Nichols House Museum on the episode talking about this collaboration. Click here to watch the full episode.

ARTISTS

Rose Standish Nichols

Beth Wiemann, librettist & composer

Cara Consilvio, stage & film director

Director of Photography

Aliana de la Guardia, performer & executive producer

Mike Williams, percussion

Philipp Staeudlin, saxophone

CONTACT

Tour inquiries and/or to receive a tech rider contact Keithlyn Parkman. Screening inquiries contact Aliana de la Guardia.

Nichols House Museum

The exterior of the Nichols House Museum as wlll be experienced by audience members upon arrival.

Video Still from Work Sample (April 19, 2020)

From the video documentation Aliana de la Guardia enters the home. This many by part of musical interludes and audience may follow Rose or instrumentalists through the house as the enter and exit through in various doors and hallways. This video still shows us experimenting with period costume, which may alter or change leading up to the full performance. (Photo by Nichols House Museum staff)

Process Shot from Workshop (April 19, 2020)

Filming “Formal in Design” aria for soprano and percussion in Rose’s bedroom at the Nichols House Museum. A private moment revealing her desire to create beautiful gardens as works of art. Experimenting with period costume and using natural light for filming. (Photo by Nichols House Museum staff)

Process Shot from Workshop (April 19, 2020)

Filming “Formal in Design” aria for soprano and percussion. In an effort to maximize space in the museum, which has limited capacity, the percussionist is places in the second bedroom across the hall from Rose’s bedroom at the Nichols House Museum. Experimenting with movement and performer placement, and using natural light for filming. (Photo by Maxx Finn)

Video Still from Work Sample (April 19, 2020)

From the documented work sample, Aliana de la Guardia and Mike Williams performing “A Letter from President Wilson.” Experimenting with instrumentalists as actors, the percussionist reads and hands the note to Rose in the parlor where she held many gatherings for her activist community at the Nichols House Museum. (Video shot by Craig Incardone)

SUPPORT AND AWARDS

I Give You My Home is supported by 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 company debut of Cara Consilvio was partially supported by OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors, generously funded by the Marineau Family Foundation.

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.