The New School's Mannes Opera to Stage IN THE GREEN

The College of Performing Arts at The New School is proud to present a Mannes Opera production of Grace McLean's In the Green from Tuesday, May 10 through Saturday, May 14 at the Bank Street Theater. Premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in 2019, and praised as "Ingenious & Wildly Inventive" by The New York Times, Mannes Opera has expanded on McClean's original vision by weaving in additional choral pieces by Hildegard von Bingen, performed by a full chorus. A vibrant and pulsing meditation on art, music, and the responsibilities of the individual to society - In the Green is a thrilling return to live performance by the students and faculty of Mannes Opera.

"It's an incredible show, featuring an extraordinary display of talent from students from across the College of Performing Arts. The composer/librettist Grace McLean is faculty at CoPA, and we are excited to workshop her next piece in the coming year. The In the Green score demands real virtuosic performance from our voice students - with extended technique and complex looping technology. The material - an investigation into Von Bingen's early life and the overlooked inner lives of women - spans a thousand years of narrative music. It's a joyous, complex, astonishing return to the stage for Mannes Opera, and a real expression of hope for who we are as a school and community," said Emma Griffin, Managing Artistic Director of Mannes Opera.

This innovative opera/music/theater piece tells the story of the medieval composer, mystic, scientist, and Catholic saint Hildegard von Bingen "on her path to sainthood from childhood," focusing on the thirty years she spent locked up in a cell with her mentor, the anchoress Jutta von Sponheim.

In the Green is performed by students from across the College of Performing Arts at The New School: Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, the School of Drama as well as the MA AME program and conducted by Mannes alum Geoff McDonald (MM '09).

Performance dates and times are as follows:

Tuesday, May 10 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, May 11 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, May 12 at 7:30 pm
Friday, May 13 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 14 at 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 pm

All performances are to be held at the Bank Street Theater, 151 Bank Street, New York, New York.

To attend the show, RSVP at event.newschool.edu/inthegreen. Audience members must show proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination series (and booster if eligible), ID, and remain masked at all times.

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