I GIVE YOU MY HOME FILM
Music and Libretto by Beth Wiemann
Directed by Cara Consilvio
An opera-film interpretation of the opera by Beth Wiemann, inspired by Rose Standish Nichols and her efforts to affect change through the Women’s Peace and Suffrage Movements and as a landscape architect, as well as the Nichols House Museum.
Title: I Give You My Home
Music & Libretto: Beth Wiemann
Filmmaker: Cara Consilvio
Duration: 35min
Instrumentation: sop, sax, perc, electronics
Status: Touring
ABOUT THE OPERA
I Give You My Home is an opera-film interpretation of the world premiere chamber opera with music and an original libretto by local composer Beth Wiemann that was shot on location at the Nichols House Museum (Boston, MA), Path of Life Sculpture Garden (Windsor, VT), Saint-Gaudens National Park (Cornish, NH), Naulakha (Rudyard Kipling House) (Dummerston, VT), and Scott Farm Orchard (Dummerston, VT).
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 opera inspires 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. This opera film takes inspiration from the beauty of New England in locations from Boston to Vermont and re-imagines through magical realism the true story of this “unsung” local figure and amplifies it with the otherworldly dramatic potential of opera theater and cinematic spectacle.
Any woman can relate to Rose’s struggles . The story of her successes and failures are compelling in profoundly personal ways and inspires questions about the definition of success, and the perception of creative self-employed women then and now.
- Aliana de la Guardia, Artistic Director of Guerilla Opera
The opera is written for soprano, percussion, and saxophone. The film also includes one youth actor. It is sung in English and is estimated to be 45min long.
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.
6/24/2021 - 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 website.
12/11/2021 - - Guerilla Opera shares a preview of the full musical score in concert at The Switchboard in Haverhill and through a Patreon-Only Livestream.
1/20/2022 - Guerilla Opera receives a CIP Project Grant award from Mass Cultural Council.
3/4-6/2022 - Guerilla Opera records the full opera during an artistic residency at the University of Maine, Orono.
5/16-5/27/2022 - Filming at the Nicholas House Museum (Boston, MA), Path of Life Sculpture Garden (Windsor, VT), Saint-Gaudens National Park (Cornish, NH), Naulakha (Rudyard Kipling House) (Dummerston, VT), and Scott Farm Orchard (Dummerston, VT) locations.
3/3/2023 - Guerilla Opera releases a single from the studio album
3/10/2023 - Guerilla Opera release the studio album on Navona Records.
3/24/2023 - Live screening of the film at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA
3/29 - 4/2/2023 - Live screenings (6) at the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
4/6/2023 - Virtual Film Premiere, on demand through 3/16/2023
6/11/2023 - Live screening at the Colonial Performing Arts Center, Keene, NH
1/2024 - Possible screening
CONTACT
THE FULL PROJECT
PRESS
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.
“Wiemann’s subtle underlining of the opera’s message of intentional persistence in the face of daunting obstacles that provided I Give You My Home a certain timelessness… Wiemann’s score and Guerrilla Opera’s production ably do justice to both the woman and her mission.” Boston Classical Review
“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
“Opera Based on Life of Rose Standish Nichols Coming to the Nichols House Museum” Beacon Hill Times, Dan Murphy, May 25, 2022
The Boston Musical Intelligencer, Lee Eismann, June 6, 2022
ARTISTS
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, The Puffin Foundation, 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 co-produced by the Nichols House Museum.
Film location partners are the Nichols House Museum in Boston, MA, Saint-Gaudens National Park in Cornish, NH, Path of Life Sculpture Garden and Hedge Maze in Windsor, VT, and Rudyard Kipling House and Scott Farm Orchard in Dummerston, VT.
