West Edge Opera and Earplay present two evenings of new opera

Friday January 31st
8:00 PM
Ed Roberts Campus
3075 Adeline St, Berkeley

Saturday February 1st
8:00 PM
Taube Atrium Theater
401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco

2020 features a program of four new works:

Gilberto

Music by Nicolas Lell Benavides and libretto by Marella Martin Koch. A young Latino American celebrates one last night out dancing with his friends in Oakland's historic Sweet's Ballroom before shipping off to the Korean war. With its rhythmic, rumba and mambo infused score and a vibrant cast of latinx singers, this opera asks how we hold onto our individual identities and cultures in a country wracked by war and violence.

Eighteen Melodies for Hujia

Music and text translation by Joan Huang. With a score that echoes the ancient Chinese wind instrument named in the title, this inventive and evocative piece is inspired by the art and life of Cai Wenji, a talented musician and poet who was forced to abandon her two children by powerful men during the Han Dynasty (25 - 220 A.D.).

El Canguro

Music by Peter Michael von der Nahmer and libretto by Cynthia Lewis Ferrell. An impoverished young woman in the South American rainforest bears babies that her father then sells to the lucrative adoption market. The newfound wealth is enough to create a new life, one that can lift them out of of their desperate circumstances, but at what cost?

Moon, Bride, Dogs

Music by Ryan Suleiman and libretto by Cristina Fríes. The moon greets a mysterious girl who has fallen from the sky in this surreal reimagining of a deeply troubling fairly tale. Lost in a post-apocalyptic nightmare and hounded by a pack of dogs, she struggles to remember the events that led her here, but the very act of remembering may be an even greater violence.