THE WINDOWS
Music by Elizabeth Gartman | Libretto by Susan Bywaters
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF A PRODIGY
Title: The Windows
Composer: Elizabeth Gartman
Librettist: Susan Buywaters
Duration: 70min (est)
Instrumentation: 2 sop, ten, cl/bass cl, vln, sax, perc
Status: In development
ABOUT THE OPERA
The Windows is a dark and haunting interpretation of the events leading up to the 1939 disappearance of the writer and former childhood prodigy, Barbara Newhall Follett.
Mike Williams (percussion), Aliana de la Guardia (soprano) as Barbara, and Magdalyn Chauby (sopano) as Young Barbara. Libretto by Susan Bywaters. Composed by Elizabeth Gartman. Recorded 06/04/2024 at Trinity Episcopal Church by Jeffrey Means, Suonovivo Audio.
Barbara Newhall Follett's debut novel The House Without Windows (1927) was written when she was 12 years old. It was an instant success, and Follett became a child celebrity overnight.
Follett's writings always had themes of escape from adulthood, from responsibilities, from civilization—and so did her life. Throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, Follett was always running away from her life, looking for something to distract her mind from an escalating depression. Despite her success, she experienced significant childhood trauma; abandonment by her father to start a new family, whom she idolized; her beloved home burned down, taking the first draft of her novel with it; and in one of her attempts to run away at 15, she was caught by police and jumped out a window, demonstrating a desire to either escape her life or to die.
She continued running throughout her early adulthood but eventually met Nickerson Rogers, married, and settled into a rowhouse in Brookline, Massachusetts. Becoming increasingly agitated with the expectations of married life, Barbara couldn't resist the urge to run—and one day, with $30 in her pocket, she left and was never seen again.
This opera is a dialogue between two versions of Barbara—young Barbara and adolescent Barbara. Much of the text for the character of “Young Barbara” comes from Follett’s books, letters, and various published and unpublished archival writings.
Themes from this work will include the progression and misunderstanding of depression and mental illness and the historical limitations of being female-bodied and behaving outside societal control.
TIMELINE
Nov-May 2021: Libretto creation in the Guerilla Opera 2020-2021 Writing Collective
May 2021: Libretto complete
Oct 2022: Guerilla Opera Commission accepted
Apr 21, 2024: Libretto reading (Boston, MA)
May 2024 - Sept 2025: Independent writing period for creators
Jan 2026: Full musical reading of the score and theatrical workshop.
Feb-Jun 2026: Score revisions and final editing.
Jul 2026: FINAL score and parts delivered. GO prepares for full production
Oct 2026: Full production premiere, 5 perf.
Dec 2026: Live-streamed on GO virtual festival
ARTISTS
Elizabeth Gartman
A composer and soprano currently based between Berlin, Germany and New York City. Her compositions call attention to the implications behind the vocal instrument paired with the physical body. Her work also explores themes of process in performance, as well as active listening and response. Elizabeth has been commissioned by Washington National Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, New Chamber Ballet, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Percussion Ensemble, Pax Duo, InfraSound Ensemble, Ensemble Chemie, the Why Collective, NYC Virtuoso Singers, and others. Her work has been received internationally at venues from National Sawdust, Mark Morris Dance, Salzburg Stadtgalerie Lehen, the Cell Theatre, to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Elizabeth’s hometown of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, among others.
Susan Bywaters
A writer whose work centers morality and the victim/perpetrator paradigm. Her operatic works have been performed on stages in Germany, Brazil, Croatia, and across the US. Her most recent darkly comedic opera It is a Comfort to Know, written with frequent collaborator Elizabeth Gartman, was a runner-up in the Beth Morrison Projects Next Generation 2022. This is following the success of their previous collaboration [Weight], featured in Beth Morrison Projects Next Generation in May of 2021 and the recipient of the William Schumann Award for Most Outstanding Score from BMI Foundation in the same year. Her and Gartman’s most recent work, Moritura Filia, was recently commissioned and performed in venues across Germany and Austria by Ensemble Chemie.