FT. WORTH, Texas ¬– An idea more than three years in the making will see its world debut this April thanks to the shared stories of dozens of active duty soldiers and veterans, The U.S. Army Field Band, a composer, a librettist and five opera companies. On April 6, Texas Christian University will host “The Falling and The Rising,” a new American opera about Army veterans.
The idea began in 2015 when a tenor in the Soldiers’ Chorus, Staff Sgt. Ben Hilgert, first proposed the idea of telling the Army story through an opera. Hilgert joined the Soldiers’ Chorus of Field Band in 2010 after a successful opera career, most recently performing principal operatic roles with Theater Goerlitz (Germany), Lyric Opera Kansas City, Central City Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera and the Aspen Music Festival.
“I had drawn up this really detailed proposal for our commander,” Hilgert said. “By August, I was in the president and CEO’s office of Opera America with Col. (Jim) Keene talking about this idea. We wanted to work with opera companies that had a history of military connections but we wanted to have veterans and active duty soldiers be the ones to tell their story and then bring it to the opera stage.”
It was the following year during an opera conference that Hilgert met with American opera producer Darren Woods, now the executive producer of “The Falling and The Rising” along with Hilgert, and artistic director of Seagle Music Colony. The next month, five opera companies had agreed to co-commission the piece: TCU, Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera and Opera Memphis, which was later developed at Seagle Music Colony.
The opera by contemporary artistic duo Zach Redler, composer, and Jerre Dye, librettist, was based on collective interviews with dozens of Army veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. “The Falling and The Rising” chronicles the imagined journey of a soldier suspended inside a coma following a roadside attack. Throughout the story, she makes her way through a coma-induced dreamscape punctuated by powerful encounters with other fellow service members, each on the brink of discovery.
Together, they must find clarity, consciousness, and communal hope inside a strange and ever-shifting universe. This operatic soldier’s odyssey was created to honor the indomitable spirit of our military veterans and to shed light on the power of their often overlooked stories.
"When I heard about ‘The Falling and the Rising,’ I knew I wanted to be involved in its creation and its production. The powerful story of service and sacrifice told through the eyes of a female soldier is one of the most moving operas I have ever produced,” said Woods.
The opera is not only a powerful story for those who haven’t had the opportunity to serve in the military, but also for those now serving our country.
“I have a whole new understanding of my role as a soldier,” Hilgert said. “You can’t hear those stories and it not change you. This project tells the Army story in a very human way. The stories contained in the opera speak truth to the service of soldiers, while at the same time highlighting the resiliency and strength demanded of them."
Singing the featured roles in the “The Falling and The Rising” are Soldiers’ Chorus members Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Erbe, Sgt. 1st Class Betsy Garcia, Staff Sgt. Ian Bowling, Staff Sgt. Rachel Farber and Staff Sgt. Kennan McCarter. The music director and conductor for the world premier is Tyson Deaton and stage director is David Gately.
WHAT: “The Falling and The Rising: A New American Opera”
WHO: The US Army Field Band’s Concert Band & Soldiers’ Chorus and Texas Christian University
WHEN: April 6 at 7 p.m.; April 7 at 2 p.m. & 7 p.m..; April 8 at 2 p.m. & 4 p.m.
WHERE: Ed Landreth Hall and Auditorium, 2800 S. University Dr., Fort Worth, Texas
TICKETS: https://finearts.tcu.edu/music/event/spring-opera-the-falling-and-the-rising
COST: Free, but must be reserved
About The U.S. Army Field Band:
The US Army Field Band tours nationally and internationally as directed by the Department of the Army, and serves as the liaison between the Army and the American people. The Army Field Band consists of four performing components and a far-reaching educational program. Each concert tour is sponsored by a local organization with the mission of supporting local community events such as centennial celebrations, festivals, and city and state commemorations. To become a sponsor or for more information, visit www.ArmyFieldBand.com.
About the TCU School of Music
The TCU School of Music is a nationally recognized, award-winning institution that features a distinguished, renowned faculty and a talented, energetic student body. The school offers an exciting musical environment in which students grow as artists, educators and individuals, and provides many opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, TCU’s program provides professional training for performers, teachers, scholars and composers.
About Jerre Dye
Jerre Dye is a Chicago-based librettist and playwright. He is the recipient of the Award for Dramatic Literature from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Beyond The Falling and the Rising, his opera librettos include: Ghosts of Crosstown for Opera Memphis with composers Zachary Redler, Kamran Ince, Jack Perla, and Nathaniel Stookey (featured at the Opera America Annual Conference as part of the New Works Sampler 2014 and 2015), Parksvlle, a filmed, episodic, virtual reality opera for Opera On Tap with composer Kamala Sankaram, Chautauqua Stories for Chautauqua Opera in Chautauqua, NY, BY/IN for Opera Memphis with composers Kamala Sankaram, Sam Shoup, Robert Patterson, Taking Up Serpents with composer Kamala Sankaram for Washington National Opera and an upcoming commission for Opera Philadelphia with composer Jennifer Higdon.
About Zach Redler
Zach Redler is an award-winning music theater composer whose music has been performed in concert halls, opera houses and theaters around the world. Ben Brantley of the New York Times said, Zach’s music “transcends the expected and achieves a haunting originality...the music itself becomes a character that both connects and divides the others.” In 2014, Zach and collaborator Sara Cooper won the 2014 Jonathan Larson Award for their musical theater writing. Zach is adjunct faculty at, and a graduate of, Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program and is a member of ASCAP and Local 802. Recent/upcoming productions include: The Falling and The Rising (2018 TCU, Seagle Music Colony; 2019 Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Memphis, Arizona Opera); Adam (2017 libretto by J Douglas Carlson at The Kennedy Center with Washington National Opera); Movin’ Up In The World (libretto by Jerre Dye 2014-18 Opera Memphis; 2015 University.
###
| Date Taken: | 03.27.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 03.27.2018 17:06 |
| Story ID: | 270837 |
| Location: | FORT WORTH, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 258 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, TCU, Army Field Band Announce Premiere of ‘The Falling and The Rising’, by Jennifer Peace, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
