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The following reflects listings on the Lister Calendar as of press time, but we're always adding more.
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We're still moving articles to their new home, but Singerpreneur is here, and will offer us space and flexibility to provide more articles, reviews and goodies than ever.
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Hidden Gem
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L to R: Robin Buck as Dr. P,
Suzan Hanson as Mrs. P (holding the hat), John Duykers as Dr. S. |
Can't believe my eyes
Michael Nyman's new opera sheds light on the drama
of the mind
So, you're walking down the street on a beautiful day, you see a bag of groceries on the sidewalk, and then it barks at you. Would you be surprised? If you knew yourself to have visual agnosia, perhaps less so. Although those affected report a range of results, this rare psychological disorder essentially affects the communication between the eyes and the brain, so that objects and faces are not accurately interpreted, or even completely unrecognized. Long Beach Opera explores this unusual phenomenon through the eyes of "Dr. P.", the singer/professor protagonist in Oliver Sacks' groundbreaking 1985 book about this rare condition. Sacks himself copes with "facial blindness", a neurological condition that makes it difficult to recognize one face from another, so his lifelong study of such disorders is clearly a personal mission. (His YouTube channel is truly fascinating...)
Michael Nyman is most commonly known for his unforgettable score for Jane Campion's 1993 film, The Piano. In this "neurological opera" (known simply as "The Hat" for short), he uses his minimalist style to delve into the world of someone who quite literally sees the world differently. Robin Buck (pictured above), finds that he relates to his character beyond the norm, as well: "I could go on and on about the similarities between myself and the 'Man Who' -- love of German Lieder, opera, concert work...thankfully I don't share the visual agnosia, but music has always been a central part of my life, just as it was for 'Dr. P.'" Sacks himself sees the organic connection to the stage: "The real hero in The Hat is surely music -- the power of music to organize and integrate, to knit or re-knit a shattered world into sense... opera turns out to be the perfect medium: the theme seems pre-ordained for the form."
The show makes the most of just three characters, under the direction of David Schweizer, who has led several acclaimed projects for LBO already. He says, "the piece has everything: deeply felt emotions, humor, and a haunting portrait of the fine line between mental illness and genius." Operagoers seem to agree, as anticipation has already been high. Additional shows were recently added, but get your tickets asap.
Michael Nyman's
The Man Who Mistook
His Wife for a Hat
Four performances:
Saturday, June 16, 8pm Sunday, June 17, 7pm Sunday, June 24, 2pm & 7pm
EXPO Building
4321 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach, CA 90807 Buy tickets
Event Listing LBO website
Cast info Excerpt from the original book
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Summer scheduling
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NOTE: It's June! As CCMN goes into their annual every-other-week phase, we'll do the same after the next issue: we'll put out Next 7, covering two weeks each, in the weeks that Jim is "dark". Please send any listings including classical vocalists to events.la@laurislist.com, so we can load your information asap. This reduced schedule will continue into September. In the meantime, make sure you and your friends are subscribed to BOTH Next 7 and CCMN, so you'll get one or the other each week through the summer, and you can stay in the loop. To subscribe to the Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter from the South Bay, send an email to Jim Eninger. To view the latest issue of this essential resource, click here.
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Vocal Focus from CCMN
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Southern California Vocal Events
LAURI D GOLDENHERSH's Weekly Highlights
There's so much going on in June! First, with SONGFEST in full swing at the Colburn School, there are new concerts and recitals almost every day -- check the calendar for events highlighting talented singers, extraordinary coaches, and new compositions and arrangements from composers WILLIAM BOLCOLM and JOHN MUSTO, including a world premiere by Bolcom. For the complete schedule of SongFest events and more information on the program, click here. On Saturday and Sunday, PASADENA MASTER CHORALE brings to wondrous power of Rachmaninoff's ' All-Night Vigil' to Pasadena and Altadena, respectively. This unforgettable masterwork is even worth hearing twice... Get details and ticket info by clicking here. For another look at budding young singers, don't miss OPERAWORKS' ' Arias in Motion' in Northridge. This unusual organizations offers a range of training programs here and in New York, empowering singers to approach performance with better skills and imbuing them with the confidence to reach their true potential. The result is riveting performances of prepared and improvised material -- this particular show is described as a two-act dance-opera, adding a strong focus on movement, as well. Since every OperaWorks performance is different, don't miss this one! For details, click here. What if you could see, but couldn't interpret the information your eyes collect? This weekend also starts the first of just four performances of LONG BEACH OPERA's highly anticipated ' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by MICHAEL NYMAN. Based on the best-selling book by OLIVER SACKS, about "mental blindness" or visual agnosia, this opera delves into brain psychology on a direct path that is unusual in opera. (We opera types like to pretend that we're usually very subtle... ;-)) This dynamic company keeps surprising us with shows and productions that challenge the idea of what opera is and what it 'should' be, and their performances are anything but boring. Get your tickets quick, and get details by clicking here. Do you feel that society needs more morals? Opera may not be able to fix morality, but composer JONATHAN PRICE's new ĘSOPERA offers a little 6th-cent. BC perspective on everything from love to politics to family and invention. Produced by SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LYRIC THEATER, with a libretto by JAN MICHAEL ALEJANDRO and JONATHAN GOODE, this show rocked a packed house at a preliminary reading last fall. This is the Los Angeles premiere of the staged version, directed by KURT ARNOLD-SMITH and ALISON ELIEL KALMUS, and stars vocalists BROOKE DEROSA, ELYSE COOK, NANDANI MARIA SINHA, MIGUEL VARGAS, JONATHAN MEDINA and JEFFREY STACKHOUSE, most of whom have been involved in the project from early on. The troupe makes their appearance as a guest production at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at Pasadena Playhouse, bringing engaging material to great digs. Tickets are available through the Playhouse, and details can be had by clicking here. Check the calendar for more events, including concerts from JOUYSSANCE and VOX FEMINA, whom we love and have written about many times -- they're always great! Have a wonderful week, and thank you for supporting live singing! Lauri D. Goldenhersh
lauri@laurislist.com
There's never enough room here, and we're always adding more there -- For details about these and many other vocal events, see the Calendar at LaurisList.com, now the largest centralized resource for vocal events in the area. Visit the calendar by clicking http://bit.ly/ListerCalendar and send a message to the email address above to learn how to register with us, so you can add your vocal events!
Want weekly updates? Subscribe to 'Next 7', the free newsletter from LaurisList.com, to keep up with vocal-related events like these are more. All are welcome! Click here to sign up:
http://tinyurl.com/ListerNews
or click here to see the latest issue:
http://www.laurislist.com/Next7
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