Seagle Festival is excited to present the WORLD PREMIERE of the brand new opera HARMONY by Robert Carl & Russell Banks!
Set in Keene Valley, NY, with numerous Adirondack references, our world premiere opera tells the story of young composer Charles Ives, his love for high-class Harmony Twichell, and the interference of Twichell family friend Mark Twain in their betrothal – the opera is based on true events.
For a full synopsis of the opera CLICK HERE.
The creation of HARMONY began after Robert Carl picked up a copy of Russell Bank’s novel “Rule of the Bone” and later learned that Russell was married to Ives’ grandniece, the poet Chase Twichell. Intrigued by the partnership of Charles Ives and Mark Twain, the two began their own partnership in writing and composing this new opera.
“We decided that it should take place on a midsummer’s eve in the Adirondack summer home of the Twichell family, visited often by both Twain and Ives, and it should be a Mozartian romance, in which the romantic dreams of youth are played out against the restraints and fears of the sagacious and cautious elderly.” says Russell Banks.
They had their first reading of the show at the New York City Opera Vox series where Seagle Festival Artistic Director, Darren K Woods, just so happened to be in attendance. Darren later reached out to the duo offering Seagle as the premiere site for the piece as a historical Adirondack location. In the fall of 2019, Seagle Festival fall artists first dipped their toes into HARMONY with a workshop performance of the piece at Keene Arts.
Recent works from Robert Carl, composer, and Russell Banks, lyricist, have been featured in the New York Times, including Robert’s newest CD ‘White Heron’ READ REVIEW HERE and Russell’s latest book ‘Foregone’. READ REVIEW HERE
HARMONY is presented as a venture of the American Center for New Works Development at Seagle Festival, and in support of our vision to be a leading cultivator of new American opera. Performance and streaming of the opera is by arrangement with the composer Robert Carl. The live-stream and video recording of HARMONY is sponsored, in part, by the Touba Family Foundation.
Seagle Festival’s world premiere production of HARMONY will be directed by Meaghan Deiter with music direction by Neill Campbell. Performances will take place August 14 & 20 at 7:30 pm. Click here or more information or to buy tickets.
For more information on composer Robert Carl: robertcarlcomposer.com
For more information on librettist Russell Banks: russellbanks.com
Special Thanks goes to our Media Sponsor for HARMONY – North Country Public Radio
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