Production Photos by Cam Byrnes
Program
Black Wolf (2021) A Passion Cantata for Narrator, Chorus, and Chamber Orchestra in 4 movements
Music by Emerson Eads, Narrator text by Dave Hunsaker. Additional text for chorus compiled by Emerson Eads
Music by Emerson Eads, Narrator text by Dave Hunsaker. Additional text for chorus compiled by Emerson Eads
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1. My Morning
2. G̱ooch 3. That Romeo Wolf 4. Epiphany |
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Dr. Emerson Eads, currently serves as Director of Choral Activities at Minot State University. As a composer and conductor, Emerson has devoted himself to music of social concern. His Mass for the Oppressed, a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass featuring textual interpolations by his brother Evan Eads, and a Credo adapted from the diary of Pope Francis before his ordination, holds particular poignancy for the social issues of our time. The Mass was written for the release of the Fairbanks Four (Native Alaskan’s from the composer’s home town) who spent 18 years in prison wrongfully. His cantata “…from which your laughter rises.” for mezzo-soprano, oboe, and orchestra, was written for the mothers of the Fairbanks Four, and was paired in a concert featuring Haydn’s Stabat Mater, conducted to acclaim. His newest opera, The Princess Sophia, about the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia in October of 1918, was premiered in Juneau, Alaska on October 25th, 2018 to rave review in Opera Magazine. His most recent project, A Prairie Cantata with poetry by North Dakota poet, Huldah Lucile Winsted will be premiered in November with the Minot State University Choir.
Dr. Eads studied choral conducting with Carmen-Helena Tellez at the University of Notre Dame working with eminent choral conductors such as, Joseph Flummerfelt, Stephen Cleobury, Anne Howard Jones, and Peter Phillips among others. He studied composition with Alaskan composer, John Luther Adams. |
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Dave Hunsaker is a writer who lives in Juneau, Alaska, and sometimes in Venice Beach, California. As a screenwriter, he has written for most of the major studios and numerous independent production companies. He has had plays staged at theaters in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including eight mainstage productions at Perseverance Theatre and four at LaMaMa, in New York City. He was artistic director of the Naa Kahidi Theatre for ten years, which was based in Juneau and which toured the world.
He is the author of The North End of the World, a graphic novel, and the librettist and stage director for the Orpheus Project’s opera, The Princess Sophia. Hunsaker is a Fellow of the Sundance Institute, a member of the Writers Guild of America, and is an adopted member of the Lukaax.ádi Clan of the Tlingit Nation. He has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska and a Governor’s Award for the Arts. |
© Mark Kelley
Vox Borealis is a vocal chamber ensemble directed by Sara Radke Brown. The group primarily performs a cappella works from antiquity to present day, and provides experienced singers an opportunity to refine their technique and build their skills as exceptional choral and individual vocal artists.
Vox Borealis had their premiere performance during Orpheus Project's 2019 Continuum concert, where they performed Josquin des Prez's Missa L'homme armé sexti toni. In the same year, they presented Eventide Carols at the Shrine of St. Thérèse before they went on hiatus due to the pandemic. In 2021, the ensemble reassembled to present sea shanties at the Juneau Maritime Festival, and most recently performed throughout Juneau as a holiday caroling group costumed in Victorian finery.
For information about Vox Borealis including performance schedule and how to audition, visit juneauopera.org/vox-borealis.
Vox Borealis had their premiere performance during Orpheus Project's 2019 Continuum concert, where they performed Josquin des Prez's Missa L'homme armé sexti toni. In the same year, they presented Eventide Carols at the Shrine of St. Thérèse before they went on hiatus due to the pandemic. In 2021, the ensemble reassembled to present sea shanties at the Juneau Maritime Festival, and most recently performed throughout Juneau as a holiday caroling group costumed in Victorian finery.
For information about Vox Borealis including performance schedule and how to audition, visit juneauopera.org/vox-borealis.
Intermission
A Wolf Called Romeo (2020-2021) A Cantata/Ballet in 7 Tableaux for Soprano, Baritone, Chamber Orchestra, and Dancers
Music by William Todd Hunt, Text by Nick Jans. Text compiled and adapted by William Todd Hunt.
Music by William Todd Hunt, Text by Nick Jans. Text compiled and adapted by William Todd Hunt.
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1. Prologue
2. Waking Dream 3. Encounter and Dance 4. Time 5. Light and Shadow 6. Ambulare in Aqua 7. Epilogue -- movements 4, 5, 6, and 7 played without pause |
© Marilyn Holmes
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William Todd Hunt, Composer. Mr. Hunt has studied composition for most of his adult life with the great masters of the past 700 years through his work as a conductor. Some of his most influential teachers have been Dmitri Shostakovich, Béla Bartók, and Guillaume de Machaut, despite never having met them. When not composing, Mr. Hunt teaches woodwinds privately and is Artistic Director of the Orpheus Project.
Recent performances include a flute quartet for the Con Brio Chamber Series: Three Movements for Four Flutes. His his other two flute quartets, Lost - The Kaua'i 'ō'ō and Rhombus Transversus, were performed by the Flutatious Flute Quartet, as well as Charon and Kerberos from his Pluto Suite for Saxophone Quartet and String Quartet with the Aurora Saxophone Quartet, Meditation in Crystal with the Amalga Chamber Orchestra, and ...Upon Enchanted Ground with the Taku Winds wind ensemble. |
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Best-selling author Nick Jans is one of Alaska’s most recognized and prolific writers. A longtime contributing editor to Alaska Magazine and a member of USA Today’s board of editorial contributors, he’s written twelve books and hundreds of magazine articles and columns, and has contributed to many anthologies and other books. Jans is also a professional nature photographer, specializing in Alaska wildlife, landscapes, and Native cultures in remote locations. He has been the recipient of numerous writing awards over the years, and his photo exhibit, Visions of Wild Alaska, is currently being shown on all Princess Cruises ships in Alaska waters. An accomplished public speaker, he makes multimedia presentations on a variety of Alaska-related subjects, including wildlife and natural history, climate change in Alaska, development versus preservation, and his first love, wolves and grizzlies.
Jans lived for 20 years in northwest arctic Alaska, and currently resides out the Haines Highway with his wife, Sherrie, and their dogs, and travels widely in Alaska. He returns each year to the arctic Inupiaq village of Ambler, and the surrounding country he calls home. He is currently working on several book projects, including a long-simmering literary novel set in the Arctic; a collection of Alaska animal essays; and another book with photographer Mark Kelley, on the Mendenhall Glacier. |
© Danielle Barnum
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Noted for her “particularly soulful” interpretations (L.A. Times) and a "captivating combination of skilled singing and magnetic acting" (Pioneer Press), soprano Tess Altiveros is equally at home in a wide range of repertoire from the 17th century to the 21st.
Recent roles include Angela in In Real Life (Opera Memphis), Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (Kentucky Opera), and Female Soldier in The Falling and the Rising (Seattle Opera), a portrayal described as “a triumph” by Classical Voice North America and “enthralling” by the Seattle Times. Other recent credits include E in Seattle Opera’s O + E, L'enfant in L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (Pacific Symphony), Clorinda in Seattle Opera's acclaimed production of The Combat, Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte (Skylark Opera Theatre), Hannah in The Merry Widow (Inland Northwest Opera), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Pacific Symphony), Maria in West Side Story (Central City Opera/Boulder Philharmonic), Musetta in La Bohème with Mo. Andrew Litton (Colorado Symphony), Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw (Eugene Opera), and Elle in La Voix Humaine (Vespertine Opera). On the concert stage, her voice has been hailed as “darker, creamy, sensuous…sprezzatura personified” (Opera Today) and “pure gold” (Opera Magazine). Engagements have ranged from the American Prize-winning world premiere of Muehleisen’s Borders at Carnegie Hall to the critically acclaimed West Coast tour of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Grammy winning conductor Stephen Stubbs. Ms. Altiveros has been featured with the Colorado Symphony, Pacific Symphony, the Boulder Philharmonic, Portland Baroque, Early Music Vancouver, Shreveport Symphony, San Francisco Early Music Society and the Vancouver Bach Festival, to name a few. During these unprecedented times, Ms. Altiveros has had the pleasure of singing for a number of virtual performances, including an at-home recital for Seattle Opera’s Songs of Summer series, an appearance on Long Beach Opera’s Artist Afternoons, Navidad with Pacific MusicWorks, and Rodas Recordada (Music of Remembrance), as well as virtual concerts with the Whidbey Island Music Festival and Opera on the James. Full digital productions include Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore (Seattle Opera), and the role of Rockstar in Resonance Works & Decameron Opera Coalition’s Tales from a Safe Distance, a project described by The Wall Street Journal as “ingenious” and ranked fifth on Operawire's "Best of 2020: Top 11 Industry-Defining Moments of the Year”. Upcoming engagements include Le Nozze di Figaro (Intermountain Opera), the world premiere of Romeo (Orpheus Project), and appearances with Evansville Philharmonic, Opera on the Lake, Harmonia Orchestra, Symphony Tacoma, the Great Bend Center for Music and a recital of new compositions with The Aria Institute in Paris. A native Seattleite, Ms. Altiveros has been a regular anthem singer for the Seattle Mariners for over a decade, and was proud to be among the first to sing the national anthem for Seattle’s Kraken in their inaugural NHL season this November. |
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Internationally acclaimed baritone José Rubio has garnered attention performing at major and regional venues across the world. Mr. Rubio's recent international operatic engagements have included his operatic debuts in Germany at the Berlin Staatsoper, the famed Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, and in Vienna at the historic Ronacher Theater. He is among the first westerners in the world to sing leading roles in contemporary Chinese Operas which have led to his debuts at the most important opera houses in China, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Grand Theater, and the Jiangsu Grand Theater in Nanjing.
His operatic credits include the title roles in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gianni Schicchi. Other credits include Escamillo in Carmen, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Così fan Tutte, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana, Hannah Before in As One, El Payador in Maria de Buenos Aires, and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus. His leading credits include principal roles for Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Portland Opera, Nashville Opera, Alamo City Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Tacoma Opera, Vashon Opera, Juneau Lyric Opera, Pacific Northwest Opera and Bellevue City Opera among others. On the concert stage he has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, The Tianjin Julliard School, and the New Mexico State University. He has been a guest soloist with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, and the Rogue Valley Symphony. Upcoming performances include multiple world premieres including an opera Tres Minutos with Music of Remembrance in Seattle and San Francisco, a cantata based on the New York Times best seller A Wolf Called Romeo with the Juneau Orpheus Project, a Chinese language chamber piece Fantasy on Tang Poetry, commissioned for baritone at the Tianjin Julliard School, his debut with the Boise Philharmonic, and his Lincoln Center debut for a Chinese New Years concert with Orchestra Now. |
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Genevieve Carson is a Los Angeles-based choreographer, director, dancer, and educator who has worked extensively in both the commercial and concert dance worlds. Her work has spanned across North America, the Philippines, Argentina, Sweden, and New Zealand. She has been commissioned and presented by the US Embassies of Buenos Aires and Auckland, FORD Amphitheater, UC Santa Barbara, ODC Theater, Luckman Arts Complex, Laguna Dance Festival, Musco Center for the Arts, The Orpheus Project, and more. Commercial collaborations include Foster the People, Superbowl XLIX w/Earth Harp Collective, Funny or Die, Adult Swim, and Comedy Central. Additional credits include: the Emmys, Samsung, BENCH Fashion Week, CottonOn, TEDx, Saks 5th Avenue, Drop Concert w/Vic Berger & DJ Douggpound, “Give Me Pity!” featuring Sophie Von Haselberg, and music videos for Blood Orange, Active Child, Vitamin String Quartet, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Katrina Stuart, and Justin Bieber. She held the Artistic Directorship of LA Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) from 2016-2020. During her time as artistic director, Genevieve choreographed numerous celebrated works for the stage and film, and led the company on international and domestic tours while growing the company's educational programs. With a strong passion for cultivating a healthy and nurturing environment for the next generation of dance artists, Genevieve dedicates much of her time to teaching and mentoring young dancers and choreographers through training programs and workshops. In 2019, she established L.A. Contemporary Choreography Lab, a program designed to provide aspiring choreographers the opportunity to workshop new material with professional dancers in an intimate environment with one on one mentorship. Genevieve has been a guest artist at UC Santa Barbara, CalArts, Cal State Long Beach, University of Auckland, Chapman University, OSCHA, El Camino College and the University of the Philippines. She is currently on faculty at AMDA, where she teaches an array of classes and directs various concerts and productions. Genevieve graduated cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University.
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Los Angeles artist Mimi Haddon works with photography using costume as a point of departure. Through the employment of color, texture, materials and shape she creates a visual language both personal and universal. While working on her MFA in Fiber Art at California State University, Long Beach, Haddon learned to embrace the meditative practice of repetition, utilizing everyday materials such as T Shirts, twist ties, flag tape and found objects. Combining traditional craft with contemporary ‘discards’ she creates work that is a collaboration of time, process, and materials - allowing the outcome to reveal itself along the way. Working with costumes and dancers has become a way for Haddon to explore the exterior and interior worlds simultaneously, witnessing and documenting what can be revealed to the viewer through the transformative power of disguise.
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Cody Brunelle-Potter:
TheyThem Cody is a non binary dance artist currently based in Los Angeles. They began their dance and performance career in NYC, where they were a dancer and Assistant Director for In-Sight Dance Company, a nonprofit service and performance organization in Queens. Since moving to Los Angeles, they have had the pleasure of making live performances with WhyteBerg, Mollie Wolf, Heidi Duckler, Robin Conrad, Invertigo Dance Theater, Rosanna Gamson World Wide, Acts Of Matter (Rebecca Lemme) Iris Company, LACDC Choreo Lab. They have also had the opportunity to work within the commercial industry with Toogie Barcelo, William Ylvisaker, Reggie Watts, Amy O’Neal, Panther Modern, Ani Taj, Billie Eilish, Fyohna, Austin McKenzie. Cody is also a fiber artist who is interested in exploring the place where fiber art and dance meet to open up new ideas and ways of thinking about performance as sculpture. They are also interested in how costumed movement can inform us as people in today’s world about our deeper connection to ourselves when we delete the human form under costumesculpture. They have worked frequently with/for and are always inspired by fellow artist Mimi Haddon. The combination of these two forms creates the artist that Cody strives to be currently. |
The Amalga Chamber Orchestra is the resident instrumental ensemble of the Orpheus Project. Founded in 2003, the ACO has performed frequently in Juneau both on stage in concert and in the pit for operas. With a stylistic range from the early baroque to new music, the ACO is at home in many genres. The majority of ACO’s players are from Juneau, and occasionally we invite out-of-town musicians to fill our harder to fill seats in the orchestra. When playing music from before the time of the standard orchestra, the group is often referred to as the Amalga Consort, most recently in our production of Alcina in 2020.
Dancers: Hyosun Choi, Hali Duran, Anouk Otsea, Cody Brunelle-Potter, Drea Sobke, Alisha Falberg, Ali Maricich, Lanie McCarry
Sponsored by Juneau Dance Theatre
Sponsored by Juneau Dance Theatre
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Hyosun Choi currently dances with LA DANSA DANSA, LA Contemporary Dance Company, Invertigo Dance Theatre, and Iris Company. She is a certified trainer in the Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis Methods, works as a Corporate Trainer at Bank of Hope, is admitted to the State Bar in California and New York, plays cello, piano, and guitar, composes music, and reads. Books. Now and then, she sleeps. She is very happy.
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Hali Duran studied at the International Ballet School, Colorado Conservatory of Dance, and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Notable local production credits include directing for La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’ isola di Alcina and Juneau’s Got Talent, choreography for Climate for a Cool Planet, Fun Home, Joie de Vivre, West Side Story, Next to Normal, Whale Song, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Sweeney Todd, was a movement coach for Chad Deity and Winter Bear, and was a performer in productions of Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and Princes Sophia. She is currently studying at Intimacy Directors and Coordinators and is proud to be a board member of Juneau Dance Theatre and the New JACC Partnership Board. Up next, one can see her choreography for the Juneau Public School's production of High School Musical, opening next weekend.
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A dance artist, lover of the outdoors, and GYROTONICR Instructor, Anouk is a proud born-and-raised Juneauite. After studying at Juneau Dance Theatre for thirteen years, she then attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Anouk attended the LINES Ballet BFA Program where she graduated summa cum laude with a minor in religious studies. While at LINES, she performed original works by Alice Klock, Robert Moses, Christian Burns, and Gregory Dawson, among others. In 2020 Anouk had the honor of returning to Juneau to create “solace,” a dance film funded by the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council which was featured in the 2021 San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Anouk will be joining Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre in Chicago as a company member for their 2022 season. Beyond grateful for Juneau’s continued support of her artistic pursuits, Anouk would like to thank Genevieve, Todd, Hali, and many more, for entrusting her with their artistic visions.
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Cody Brunelle-Potter: TheyThem
Cody is a non binary dance artist currently based in Los Angeles. They began their dance and performance career in NYC, where they were a dancer and Assistant Director for In-Sight Dance Company, a nonprofit service and performance organization in Queens. Since moving to Los Angeles, they have had the pleasure of making live performances with WhyteBerg, Mollie Wolf, Heidi Duckler, Robin Conrad, Invertigo Dance Theater, Rosanna Gamson World Wide, Acts Of Matter (Rebecca Lemme) Iris Company, LACDC Choreo Lab. They have also had the opportunity to work within the commercial industry with Toogie Barcelo, William Ylvisaker, Reggie Watts, Amy O’Neal, Panther Modern, Ani Taj, Billie Eilish, Fyohna, Austin McKenzie. Cody is also a fiber artist who is interested in exploring the place where fiber art and dance meet to open up new ideas and ways of thinking about performance as sculpture. They are also interested in how costumed movement can inform us as people in today’s world about our deeper connection to ourselves when we delete the human form under costumesculpture. They have worked frequently with/for and are always inspired by fellow artist Mimi Haddon. The combination of these two forms creates the artist that Cody strives to be currently. |
Performers: Julia O'Connor, Sidney Hughes, Ericka Lee, Jarrett Cherkas Jr., Xavier C. Cherkas, Kelsey Riker, Tom Carson, Cheri Carson
When I started working on A Wolf Called Romeo, I began sketching ideas, even though I had no text to work with at the time - and the music quickly came to life in front of my eyes and ears. The fundamental musical material for the piece comes from a transcription I made of a recording of Romeo’s howl. With admittedly lots of artistic license, I decided that the musical notes of this howl were E, F, C, and Bb. These notes are heard from the very beginning of the piece, both as a harmony and a simple melody. Gradually, this melody gains life and becomes the motive we hear throughout the piece, my musical embodiment of Romeo.
Early on in the composition process, I mentioned to Nick Jans that I wanted to find some text to set for the music I was working on, and he graciously offered his help right away. He sent me a list of excerpts from his book, from which I chose sections that I thought worked well together, either for their similarity or contrast. This text inspires the bulk of the musical material of the piece, outside of the main motive, sung by the baritone at the end of the 1st movement.
I felt that the text needed two different voices: one from our present (the baritone) who is a narrator of sorts, and one from the past (the soprano), who relays her experiences to us as events unfold. It is only at the memorial service (movement 7) that their timelines merge. I felt it was important to hear more than one voice that experienced Romeo, just as our collective memory of him is created by a patchwork of stories and experiences from many different people. There is no one truth to be known about this wild animal who played among us for a time. He represents a sort of magic to me. This magic exists at the intersection of humanity and wilderness, which is a reason that many people live here.
Dance is an integral part of this experience, adding another element that invites our imagination to explore this intersection. This piece is cast in 7 movements; each movement has a vocal section and a dance section, occasionally overlapping. I am eternally grateful to Genevieve Carson for being such a wonderful creative partner in this endeavor.
I am excited to experience this piece with you this weekend. It means a great deal to me, and I have discovered while working on this project that it means a great deal to our community, too.
-William Todd Hunt
Early on in the composition process, I mentioned to Nick Jans that I wanted to find some text to set for the music I was working on, and he graciously offered his help right away. He sent me a list of excerpts from his book, from which I chose sections that I thought worked well together, either for their similarity or contrast. This text inspires the bulk of the musical material of the piece, outside of the main motive, sung by the baritone at the end of the 1st movement.
I felt that the text needed two different voices: one from our present (the baritone) who is a narrator of sorts, and one from the past (the soprano), who relays her experiences to us as events unfold. It is only at the memorial service (movement 7) that their timelines merge. I felt it was important to hear more than one voice that experienced Romeo, just as our collective memory of him is created by a patchwork of stories and experiences from many different people. There is no one truth to be known about this wild animal who played among us for a time. He represents a sort of magic to me. This magic exists at the intersection of humanity and wilderness, which is a reason that many people live here.
Dance is an integral part of this experience, adding another element that invites our imagination to explore this intersection. This piece is cast in 7 movements; each movement has a vocal section and a dance section, occasionally overlapping. I am eternally grateful to Genevieve Carson for being such a wonderful creative partner in this endeavor.
I am excited to experience this piece with you this weekend. It means a great deal to me, and I have discovered while working on this project that it means a great deal to our community, too.
-William Todd Hunt
Personnel
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Amalga Chamber Orchestra
Flutes - Inga White and Sally Schlichting Clarinet - Colton Welch Saxophone - David Dumesnil Contrabassoon - Artemio Sandoval Horn - Bill Paulick Trumpet - Rick Trostel Trombone - Mike Bucy Percussion - Keenan Wright, Sean Dowgray, Kristin Mabry Harp - Candace LiVolsi Piano - Douglas Smith Violins - Franz Felkl, Lisa Ibias Viola - Julia Bastuscheck 'Cello - Ben Holtz Bass - Abe Levy |
Vox Borealis, Sara Radke Brown - Director
Sopranos Sara Radke Brown, Anneka Knotts-Morgan, Lioba Menger, Skiba Wuoti Altos Wendy Byrnes, Elizabeth Ekins, Alisha Falberg, Heather Mitchell, Kristy Kissinger-Totten Tenors Derrick Grimes, Dakota Morgan, Jay Query, Jacob Soboleff Basses Martin Harrington, Chris Pierce, Larry West, Stephen Young Production Staff
Projections and Lighting Design - Greg Mitchell Design Assistant - Elijah Frankle Light and Projection Cues- Emily Kane Supertitles - Shawn Stendevad Tsimshian Artist - Abel Ryan Wolf Movement Installation Concept - Drea Sobke Shadow Fabric Concept - Cody Brunelle-Potter Auditorium Manager - Bo Anderson Poster and graphic design - Lanie McCarry Box Office Manager - Cindee Brown-Mills Scenic Construction - Odin Brudie, Jay Query Coordinator of Photography Exhibit at the JACC - Emily Kane |
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