CUTTING EDGE CONCERTS New Music Festival
Victoria Bond, Artistic Director
Puppet operetta How Gulliver Returned Home in a Manner that was Very Not Direct by Victoria Bond
On the program Kings, Giants & Robots: Vocal Music by Victoria Bond, Robert Paterson, and Herschel Garfein
May 13 at 8 pm at the Sheen Center
"...a gift to New Yorkers thirsty for new sounds" - Time Out New York
On May 13, Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival and Mostly Modern Projects co-present staged scenes from Victoria Bond's puppet operetta How Gulliver Returned Home in a Manner that was Very Not Direct. The production features puppets created by Doug Fitch, the renowned visual artist, designer and director, and libretto by Stephen Greco, prize-winning screen-writer and novelist, complementing the music by Victoria Bond. Fitch also directs the production.
The work is a journey of the imagination based on the classic 17th century satirical novel by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels. Told through music and animated objects, the story follows the title character as he travels to a series of strange lands.
Ms. Bond said, "Doug Fitch’s puppet creations and stage direction brings the first scene of our puppet operetta to life. I am thrilled that both he and librettist Stephen Greco are part of the creative team.”
The opera was commissioned by American Opera Projects. How Gulliver Returned Home in a Way that was Very Not Direct was supported by a Production Grant from the Jim Henson Foundation.
Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival (Victoria Bond, founder and artistic director) partners with Mostly Modern Projects for this presentation. The performance features soprano Ariadne Greif, tenor Glenn Seven Allen, and baritone Jonathan Green as soloists with the American Modern Ensemble conducted by Victoria Bond. Also on the program are Herschel Garfein's King of the River and Robert Paterson's The Companion.
The performance takes place at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker St, New York, NY) on May 13, 2022 at 8:00 pm. Tickets available here.
The next Cutting Edge Concerts performance is June 12, a co-presentation with Kyo-Shin-An Arts at Tenri Center in New York. Details at CuttingEdgeConcerts.org
CALENDAR LISTING
Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival (Victoria Bond, founder and artistic director) and Mostly Modern Projects present
Kings, Giants & Robots
May 13, 2022, 8:00 pm
Sheen Center
18 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10012
Tickets and details
PROGRAM
VICTORIA BOND—How Gulliver Returned Home in a Manner that was Very Not Direct (puppet operetta)
HERSCHEL GARFEIN—King of the River, text by STANLEY KUNITZ
ROBERT PATERSON—The Companion (one-act opera from Three Way),
libretto by DAVID COTE
with American Modern Ensemble
Geoffrey Andrew McDonald (Garfein and Paterson) & Victoria Bond (Bond), Conductors
Doug Fitch (Bond) & John de los Santos (Paterson), Directors
CAST
Ariadne Greif, Soprano
Glen Seven Allen, Tenor
Phillip Bullock, Baritone
Keith Phares, Baritone
Jonathan Green, Baritone
Presented by Mostly Modern Projects & Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival
This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Victoria Bond, artistic director
A major force in 21st century music, composer Victoria Bond is known for her melodic gift and dramatic flair. Her works for orchestra, chamber ensemble and opera have been lauded by The New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding." Her compositions have been performed by the New York City Opera, Shanghai, Dallas and Houston Symphonies, members of the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater and the Cassatt and Audubon Quartets. Ms. Bond is also an acclaimed conductor, and is the principal guest conductor of Chamber Opera Chicago, and has held conducting positions with Pittsburgh Symphony, New York City Opera, Roanoke Symphony, and Bel Canto and Harrisburg Operas.