Vista 360 And American Opera Projects Presents MARYMERE 6/19, 6/20

Vista 360° in association with American Opera Projects presents the premier concert performance of the new chamber opera, Marymere, composed by Matt Schickele, based on the haunting true story of John D. Sargent and his wife, Edith, who lived as pioneer settlers on the shores of Jackson Lake, Wyoming, under the peaks of the Teton Range. The concert will be presented on Saturday, June 19 at 7:00pm at Pink Garter Theater, 50 W. Broadway (upstairs) Jackson, WY and Sunday, June 20th at 2:00pm at Walk FestivAl Hall, Teton Village, WY, steps away from the former site of the Marymere Lodge that is the opera's setting. Tickets will be available at www.vista360.org.

Mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn(AOP's Darkling, The Wooster Group's La Didone) andbaritone Jesse Blumberg (The Grapes of Wrath, world premiere), will star in the opera as Edith and John Sargent, eccentric Easterners who homesteaded in Wyoming at the turn of the last century and were suspects in several, unexplained deaths. The opera uses the talents of both folk and classical musicians to tell this riveting true story. On December 12, 2009 American Opera Projects featured scenes from Marymere at Galapagos Art Space as part of their Opera Grows in Brooklyn series.

Vista 360° is very proud to present Marymere as part of their exploration of the heritage of the Greater Yellowstone region. Vista 360° announces that Marymere is this year's selection for their "Natural World of Music" series. Vista 360° is dedicated to connecting mountain people around the world for cultural exchange, economic cooperation and the sharing of knowledge and ideas. Based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Vista 360° produces the Jackson Hole Fire Festival, an annual festival celebrating mountain cultures around the world. One of the signature features of the Jackson Hole Fire Festival is the "Natural World of Music" series, presenting music that engages with the natural world or is deeply connected to a specific place.

Matt Schickele (composer/librettist) is a composer and songwriter from New York City. Matt's concert music has been performed by the Da Capo Chamber Players, the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, among many others. As a songwriter, his numerous releases include The Badger Game, April/November, and Cities Filled With Lights. He also writes for and plays with the M Shanghai String Band, an acoustic old-time-music outfit. He was 1/3 of the 90s indie-rock band Beekeeper. He is a graduate of Bard College, where he studied composition with Joan Tower. He lives in Ridgewood, Queens.

For over 20 years, American Opera Projects (AOP)has been creating, developing and presenting exclusively new American opera and music Theatre Projects that have appeared at the Royal Opera House (London), the Lincoln Center Festival, Skirball Center at NYU, the Guggenheim Museum, Symphony Space, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Israel Vocal Arts Institute (Tel Aviv), Freie Universität Berlin, and many other national and international venues. AOP, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has produced over 15 world premiere operas including Lee Hoiby's This Is the Rill Speaking (2008), Stefan Weisman's Darkling (2006), and Paula Kimper's Patience & Sarah (1998). Upcoming productions of AOP-developed projects include Séance on a Wet Afternoon, the first opera by Stephen Schwartz, at New York City Opera in April 2011 and the world premieres of Jorge Martín's Before Night Falls at Fort Worth Opera in 2010 and Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness at The Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio in 2011.

MORE INFO, including AUDIO and VIDEO samples: www.operaprojects.org/marymere