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Here Be Sirens Kate Soper presents Here Be Sirens Kate Soper This performance is underwritten by the Friends of the Deines Cultural Center. Deines Cultural Center · Sunday, July 15, 2018 · 2:00 pm PROGRAM Here Be Sirens Kate Soper b. 1981 Peitho Aani Bourassa Phaino Janie Brokenicky Polyxo Jorie Moss Music Director Patrick Murray Stage Director Sasha Hildebrand Prologue 1. The Myth of Er Plato 2. Concerning the Siren Bishop Theobald 3. Song Scene 1: Sirens Break Rank 4. Sirenbraid Homer (trans. Soper) and Carl Jung 5. Naufragium Erasmus Scene 2: Polyxo Explains It All 6. Troubador Song de Vacqueiras and Tibullus 7. Phonebook Aria 8. Naufragium Erasmus Scene 3: Origin Speculation 1 9. Witch-Wife Edna St. Vincent Millay 10. Naufragium Erasmus Scene 4: The Abduction of Persephone 11. The Abduction of Persephone 12. Hymn to Neptune Thomas Campion 13. Naufragium Erasmus Scene 5: Origin Speculation 2 14. Muses Entr’acte 15. Siren Nomenclature 16. O Sailor 17. Naufragium Erasmus 2 · Scene 6: The Contest of the Muses and the Sirens 18. The Muses Elyzium Michael Drayton 19. Pythagorus 1 Iamblicus 20. Across the Turbid Waves Dante (trans. Soper) 21. In a Silent Valley John Milton 22. Pythagorus 2 Iamblicus 23. Naufragium Erasmus Scene 7: Peitho Rising 24. Sappho Fragments Sappho (trans. Anne Carson) 25. Here to Me from Krete Sappho (trans. Anne Carson) 26. Naufragium Erasmus Scene 8: Siren Evolution 27. Song to Odysseus Homer NOTES Kate Soper’s “music theatre in one act” Here Be Sirens premiered in New York in January 2014. A critical success for the composer, who also sang in the premiere, it presents as its protagonists the familiarly antagonistic sirens of Greek mythology, the dangerous “birdwomen” whose dulcet tones lured many an errant sailor to his doom. Yet these creatures are not simplistic ravenous monsters. Much as the ambiguous phrase “here be sirens” meant unknown dangers on ancient maps, Soper sails us into the uncharted psyches of these characters as we watch them play out their lives on their lonely island. A major fascination for Soper in this project has been the malleability of myth—the glorious capacity of its meaning to change across time between various tellings and retellings, old interpretations and reinterpretations. The epigraphs chosen for the score, quotations from philosopher Michel Foucault and Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, reflect the paradoxes and delights of fixed unfixedness. Meaning, Foucault would have us understand, is “free for the dream.” For Soper’s sirens, this freedom means a constant flux in their origins, their number, their names, the nature of their existence, but not necessarily their role as villains. One contrasts this with their · 3 mythological opposites—the nine Muses, whose names and identities have maintained a greater constancy and positive connotation. In one story, the Muses defeated the sirens in a contest of song judged by the gods, and they become offstage antagonists in Here Be Sirens as well. For all the emphasis in siren myths on their dangerous powers of seduction, this danger is predicated on one element above all: the power of the voice and, with it, the power of the singer. Here Be Sirens draws out this quality and is in many ways a meditation upon singing itself—as an art, as (a) craft, as philosophy, as an extension of the body, as a weapon, as a tool. Soper’s sirens utilize a wealth of vocal techniques throughout the piece, including spoken dialogue. To this mixture, she adds the power—and demand—of non-vocal instruments, principally the piano, which is used in every sense as a percussive instrument. Along with Soper’s own words, the libretto draws from ancient authors like Homer and Sappho, various texts of the Renaissance, writings of psychoanalysists, philologists, and philosophers, even the poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Soper collages all this material into a narrative that operates on multiple levels. The three sirens, all sopranos, are effectively collages themselves. Peitho, a “Pre-Raphaelite, early Romantic-era-type siren,” embodies a stylized innocence and relishes the ritual of luring sailors to their doom. These qualities place her as an antipode to Phaino who, as the archetype of “the deadly birdwoman,” appears trapped within her mythic identity, repeating ritual as rote. Triangulating these two is Polyxo, entirely self-conscious of her deeds and yearning to escape their island. This world too abjures any notion of fixity. As Soper’s stage directions state, the time is “the past and the future,” the place is “the prearchaic Greek past and the postapocalyptic U.S. future.” During the prologue, the sirens conjure themselves within this world, a world bound to the endless routine of waiting for ships and sailors to pass. The following eight scenes correspond to a ship passing the island. The first scene introduces two major musical ideas that thread through the whole work: the “Waiting Theme,” a series of three musical “gestures” on the piano which accompany spoken dialogue, and the “Naufragium,” a setting of Erasmus that depicts the terrifying chaos when the drowned sailors reach the sirens’ shore. In the second scene, as Peitho sings the “Troubadour Song,” Polyxo explains the sirens’ imprisoning routine and the source of their power—their voices. The 4 · next four scenes present variations (and heated debates) on their origins, including the play-within-a-play about the abduction of the goddess Persephone, the incident which gave the sirens their wings. These histories culminate in a retelling of the sirens defeat at the hands, or more properly voices, of the nine Muses, which literally strips them of their ability to fly. The seventh scene brings Peitho’s anxieties forward, anxieties which spread to Polyxo who beseeches the doomed approaching ship to take her away. This crisis heralds the long- anticipated approach of Odysseus, the ultimate test of the sirens' power. —Ryan M. Prendergast BIOGRAPHIES American soprano Aani Bourassa is a versatile actress of emotional depth, praised for her “brilliant, yet sparkling high notes” (Burlington Hawk Eye). In addition to her artist in residency at Ad Astra, noteworthy engagements include Larina (Eugene Onegin) and Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte) with Bel Cantanti Opera; solo recitals featuring the works of Bach, Purcell, and Barbara Strozzi; Passion and Resurrection (Ešenvalds) as part of the Latvian Embassy’s celebration of Latvia’s centennial; a world premiere of The Night Psalms by composer Griffin Candey and Dona Nobis Pacem (Vaughan Williams) with the Marquette Choral Society, as well as other oratorio, choral, and concert work. In addition to performing, Ms. Bourassa works as a producer for Acis Productions, a classical recording label, and sings with the Songs by Heart Foundation, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for those suffering with age- related memory issues through music therapy. Janie Brokenicky, soprano, teaches applied voice and music theory at Kansas State University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Curriculum and · 5 Instruction. She is co-founder of the Flint Hills Children’s Choirs, based out of Manhattan, Kansas. The choirs have performed at the KMEA State Convention, collaborated with the KC ballet, and in December will perform with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and soloist Chris Mann. As a soloist, Janie has been featured at the Kauffman Center (Kansas City), the Meyerson Symphony Hall (Dallas), and the Folly Theater (Kansas City). Additionally, she has been a guest artist for the Wichita Chamber Chorale, Hays Symphony Orchestra, Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale, and served three summers as artist in residence for the Ad Astra Music Festival. Last spring, she took on the infamous role of The Queen of the Night in the KSU production of Mozart's The Magic Flute. In addition to vocal music, Janie also holds a degree in mathematics (hence her love for music theory) and is an accomplished oboist. Soprano Jorie Moss is a versatile performer of opera and musical theater. As an emerging artist with Seagle Music Colony, she appeared in the roles of Margaret Johnson (The Light in the Piazza), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and Giannetta (L’Elisir d’Amore). Other noteworthy roles include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), the title role of Iolanta, Mademoiselle Silberklang (Der Schauspieldirektor), Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), and Le Feu, La Princesse, and Le Rossignol (L’Enfant et les sortilèges). Recent recital engagements have included selections from Bach, Hahn, Schubert, Sibelius, Libby Larsen, and Aaron Jay Kernis. Also active in the professional chorus world, Jorie is currently a member of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir. She received additional training with The CoOPERAtive Program, SongFest, and Lied Austria International. Currently based in Philadelphia, she holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and DePauw University. Canadian conductor and composer Patrick Murray directs the University of Illinois University Chorus, and is a visiting artist with Illinois Summer Youth Music and the Ad Astra Music Festival in Russell, Kansas. A passionate advocate for new music, Patrick previously served as Music Director of FAWN Chamber Creative (Toronto), where during 6 · his tenure he premiered two new chamber operas by emerging Canadian composers, as well as numerous interdisciplinary new music and media works. As a conductor, Patrick has collaborated with the Illinois Modern Ensemble, Yale Voxtet, Yale Camerata, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Toy Piano Composers, and the University of Toronto New Music Festival. Equally at home in contemporary and historical performance, Patrick has performed as a chorister with the Yale Schola Cantorum under the direction of noted Baroque specialists David Hill, Masaaki Suzuki, and Simon Carrington, and with the Illinois Bach Festival under Andrew Megill. An award-winning composer, Murray’s choral and chamber compositions are regularly commissioned and performed by ensembles across Canada and the United States.
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