Music of Remembrance Presents a Double Bill of Jake Heggie & Gene Scheer Operas

Music of Remembrance is a Seattle-based performing arts organization with a robust history of commissioning "testimonies for tomorrow" - works that explore the consequences of intolerance toward the other. Now in its 25th year, Music of Remembrance (MOR) will tour two of its most successful commissions this spring, in a double bill featuring one-act operas by the acclaimed creative team of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. Performances will star soprano Caitlin Lynch, bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, and actor Curt Branom, with appearances at Seattle's Benaroya Hall on May 21, 2023, San Francisco's Presidio Theatre on May 24, 2023, and Chicago's Athenaeum Center, in collaboration with Chicago Opera Theater, on May 27-28, 2023.

Directed by Erich Parce, this double bill pairs two richly emotional portraits of real people - and their responses to circumstances that defy comprehension. Another Sunrise is an intimate illustration of one Auschwitz survivor's struggle to find words capable of describing her harrowing experiences to those who weren't there. In For a Look or a Touch, two idealistic young men in love are torn apart under Nazi rule. Joseph Mechavich will conduct a chamber orchestra featuring musicians from the Seattle Symphony.

"This compelling double bill highlights the redemptive power of memory," said MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller. "We believe these works will help audiences appreciate those touched by the Holocaust in all their complicated humanity."

Music of Remembrance was established in 1998 to honor the lessons of the Holocaust through live performances and recordings. Over the past two decades, its mission has grown to address the experience of other communities who have been excluded or persecuted for their faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. MOR has commissioned over 40 new works, including song cycles, chamber works, operas, film scores, and choreography. Recent commissions have included works addressing the separation of families at the US-Mexico border, the worldwide refugee crisis, and the threat of nuclear war.

As music journalist Thomas May noted in Memeteria, "MOR has proved to be ahead of its time in grappling with issues of social justice and persecution. Commissions in recent years have become, alarmingly, more and more topical. Confronting intolerance and its destructive consequences remains an urgent struggle in our troubled era, when anti-Semitism is on the rise, targeting of refugees and immigrants is condoned by those in power, and the tools of social media amplify the same hate-fueled ideologies that motivated the Nazis."

MOR's commitment to addressing both timeless and contemporary themes has led to collaborations with more than 20 living composers, including Tom Cipullo, Lori Laitman, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Paul Schoenfield, whose MOR commission Camp Songs was a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

"Music of Remembrance has been central and essential to my creative life as a composer for the past 17 years," said composer Jake Heggie. "Being able to explore and share surprising perspectives and unknown stories has affected every aspect of my work. Gene Scheer and I have grown tremendously as artists and as human beings thanks to Mina Miller's vision and determination." MOR SPRING 2023 TOUR

Conductor: Joseph Mechavich
Director: Erich Parce
Media Designer: Peter Crompton

Another Sunrise
Krystyna: Caitlin Lynch

For a Look or a Touch
Manfred: Ryan McKinny
Gad: Curt Branom

Chamber Ensemble
DeMarre McGill, flute
Laura DeLuca, clarinet
Mikhail Shmidt, violin
Walter Gray, cello
Jonathan Green, double bass
Jessica Choe, piano

Performance Dates

SEATTLE
Sunday, May 21, 2023 @ 4pm
Benaroya Hall (200 University Street)
Tickets $50-65
www.seattlesymphony.org/en/benaroyahall/bh-calendar/2022-2023/22mor-heggie-scheer

SAN FRANCISCO
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 @ 7:30pm
Presidio Theatre (99 Moraga Avenue)
Tickets $15-90
www.presidiotheatre.org/show/2023musicofremembrance/

CHICAGO
Saturday, May 27, 2023 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, May 28, 2023 @ 3pm
Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture (2936 N Southport Avenue)
Tickets $20-132
chicagooperatheater.org/season/mor