Guerilla Opera to Live Stream GIVER OF LIGHT World Premiere in Boston, 5/23

Guerilla Opera will live stream the World Premiere performance of Giver of Light on Thursday, May 23, 2013, at 8:00 p.m. EST from The Zack Box Theater at The Boston Conservatory, Boston, MA. The stream can be viewed at http://new.livestream.com/accounts/3821925/GOgiveroflight and is free of charge to watch.

Giver of Light is a new opera written by composer Adam Roberts, with stage direction by Andrew Eggert. This drama is inspired by the real life events of the 13th-century Sufi mystic poet, Rumi, whose life was forever changed after an encounter with the wandering mystic, Shams of Tabriz. When Shams disappeared, Rumi spiraled down into a deep sorrow, which in turn gave birth to much of the poetry we know today. Roberts' reimagination of this story in the present-day American Midwest breaks down and explores our various assumptions about what love is, who it can be between, and how intimately linked it is to sexuality.

"What I find in Adam's work is a codified, distinct voice. He has an identity that is unique, recognizable and thrilling." - Co-Artistic Director, Rudolf Rojahn

Live performances run Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25, 2013, and Thursday-Friday, May 30-31, 2013. All performances are at 8 p.m. at The Zack Box Theater at The Boston Conservatory, Boston, MA. Tickets for all live performances are $15 general admission, $10 seniors, and free for students with valid IDs; tickets can be purchased from The Boston Conservatory box office at (617) 912-9222 or online at www.bostonconservatory.edu/tickets. Performances are one hour long and sung in English.

Composer Adam Roberts studied at Eastman School of Music (B.M.), Harvard University (Ph.D.) and the University for Performing Art and Music in Vienna (Postgraduate Diploma). His music has been performed by artists and groups such as the Arditti Quartet, JACK Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, Le Nouvel Ensemble Modern, Ensemble FA, Garth Knox and violinist Gabriela Díaz and at festivals, including the Wien Modern (Vienna), Musique Biennale en Scene (Lyons), Tanglewood Music Festival, Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (Boston) and the ISCM "Listen to the World" Festival (Sweden). Roberts has received many awards for his compositions, including an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Bernard Rogers Prize (Eastman), New York Bohemians Prize (Harvard), Sheldon Traveling Fellowship (Harvard), the Blodgett Quartet Prize (2010), Earplay Donald Aird Memorial Prize (2010), Christoph and Stefan Kaske Fellowship Award from the Wellesley Composers Conference (2010) and the Association for the Promotion of New Music call for scores (2010). In addition, Roberts was a Le NEM 2008 Forum Laureate and a 2011 Leonard Bernstein Fellow in Composition at Tanglewood. He is currently on the faculty at Istanbul Technical University's Center for Advanced Studies in Music, where he teaches courses in composition and music theory. (www.adamrobertscomposer.com)

Director Andrew Eggert has directed opera productions for Opera Omaha, the Chicago Opera Theater, the Chicago College of Performing Arts and the Yale Baroque Opera Project, among others. This season, he will direct the U.S. premiere of James MacMillan's Clemency for Boston Lyric Opera. Eggert has collaborated with many directors, including Diane Paulus, who he worked with on the World Premiere of the opera, Death and the Powers, at the Opéra de Monte Carlo in 2010. Passionate about education, he has worked with the Young Artist programs at Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. (www.andreweggert.net)

Guerilla Opera is a collaborative performing ensemble, and independent 501(c)3 organization, whose mission is to commission new chamber operas written specifically for their ensemble of artists, to perform in intimate theatrical settings, and to perform in a highly collaborative environment resulting from the direct communication between performers without a conductor or formal music director. The ensemble envisions a national community where serious new chamber opera and ensemble performance are valued and enjoyed. They will bring exciting new works to Boston and beyond, connect with communities nation-wide, and reinvigorate the concert-going public's love for new opera.

Giver of Light is the eighth World Premiere opera commissioned by Guerilla Opera since it was founded in May 2007. The 2013-2014 Season will feature workshops and the World Premiere of a new opera by composer Ken Ueno. (www.guerillaopera.com)

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Pictured: Aliana de la Guardia, soprano (Elena); Jonas Burdis, tenor (John); Brian Church, baritone (Darren). Photo Credit: Stephanie J. Patalano Photography.

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