Indie Opera MOSHEH Premieres at HERE 1/26-2/4/11

HERE proudly presents the premiere of Mosheh created and designed by HERE Resident Artist Yoav Gal. Directed by Kameron Steele, the new original opera Mosheh explores the story of Moses through music, immersive video projection and highly styled costuming and movement. Mosheh plays January 26 - February 5 as a mainstage production at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue).

Mosheh, a dynamic hybrid opera, reenacts the early-life events of the Biblical figure Moses as a contemporary urban hallucination. Against a vivid video generated backdrop, Mosheh brings four women who nurtured and protected Moses to the forefront of the Biblical story. One by one, mother, sister, adoptive mother and wife appear, tracing the evolution of a hero from infancy through maturation and acceptance of his mission while revealing ancient pagan traditions often overlooked in the text. Their extensive arias, sung in Hebrew with English supertitles, are punctuated by appearances of God, a jealous and fearsome father figure, who bestows on Moses an arduous gift.

Under the direction of Kameron Steele, this production features Nathan Guinsinger as Mosheh, and Heather Green (Bitia), Beth Anne Hatton (Zipporah), Judith Barnes (Yocheved), Hai-Ting Chinn (Miriam) and Wesley Chin (Voice of God, Assistant Music Direction).

Mosheh features Musical Direction by Yegor Shevtsov (piano) and musicians Margaret Lancaster (flute), Alejandro Acierto (clarinet), Argeo Ascani (saxophone), Peter Wise (percussion), Olivia De Prato (violin), Josh Modney (violin), Victor Lowrie (viola) and Mariel Roberts (cello). Production designs conceived and created by Yoav Gal, in collaboration with the following designers as noted: Andreea Mincic (Set), Mirit Tal (Video) and Heather Green (Costumes). Lighting Design is by Ayumu "Poe" Saegusa.

Originally conceived as a series of pieces for ensemble and video projections, excerpts from Mosheh have been performed by many of New York's young ensembles including Ensemble Pamplemousse, Locrian Chamber Players and the International Contemporary Ensemble in venues such as Galapagos Art Space, Golden Fleece Opera, Ice Festival and others. In 2006, Mosheh received a semi-staged performance in Merkin Concert Hall and in 2007, Mosheh was accepted for residency at HERE. Over the past three years, several work-in-progress scenes have been presented at HERE, notably in the annual CULTUREMART festival (2008, 2009, 2010) which showcases work at various stages of development. In 2009 Mosheh was selected to the New York City Opera VOX program and excerpts were presented by NYCO soloists and orchestra. Of earlier incarnations, Allan Kozinn in The New York Times remarked on Gal's "music that is drawn to what's next, rather then what has been," and John Schaefer on WNYC commented, "Yoav Gal takes the Passover Story and turns it on its head."

Composer and multi-disciplinary artist Yoav Gal has devoted his artistic life to the creation of a new form of Opera, a style named "indie opera" (The New York Times, Anne Midgette, "Never Say Die in Indie Opera"). It has evolved in small spaces, often with limited means, and is designed to provide the audience with an "operatic" experience in a concert hall, a black box theater or a gallery, just as in a large opera house. This form draws on a range of new media such as video, web and performance art while at the same time relying on traditional practices, especially those of Baroque Opera - vocal virtuosity, highly stylized dramatization and polyphonic settings cast in a clear harmonic language. These elements combine in Mosheh to create a charged atmosphere of both ancient and futuristic ritual.

Yoav Gal has been commissioned by Bang on a Can, Golden Fleece LTD, David Cossin, Real Quiet trio, Wendy Sutter, Gila Goldstein, Abby Fischer, Ensemble Pamplemousse and the Now Ensemble, among others. He is a recipient of grants from the NEA, American Music Center, Harvestworks, Franklin Furnace and BCAT/Brooklyn-Rotunda Gallery. Born in Israel and a New York resident since 1988, Gal holds a BA in composition from the Manhattan School of Music and an MA from Queens College. He also studied visual art in Thelma Yelin School for the Arts in Tel Aviv.

Kameron Steele (Director) was born in Duluth, Minnesota. After receiving his degree in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, he joined Tadashi Suzuki's SCOT company in Toga, Japan, where he has since worked as an actor, translator and assistant director. Steele also worked at Robert Wilson's Watermill Center in Long Island and subsequently appeared in several of Wilson's touring productions, most notably Persephone. Steele is artistic director of The South Wing Theatre Company, which has presented works in New York city at PS122, The Public, HERE, LMCC, CRS, PRELUDE as well as on tour in Mexico, Argentina, Belgium and Spain. Steele will direct Argentinean writer Ivana Catanese's new work Epona's Labyrinth at HERE in April 2011.

Since 1993, the OBIE-winning HERE, Kristin Marting, Artistic Director and Kim Whitener, Producing Director, has been one of New York's premier arts organizations and a leader in the field of producing and presenting new, hybrid performance viewed as a seamless integration of artistic disciplines-theatre, dance, music, puppetry, visual, multi-media art. Past productions include Basil Twist's Symphonie Fantastique, Hazelle Goodman's On Edge, Trey Lyford & Geoff Sobelle's all wear bowlers, Young Jean Lee's Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, Corey Dargel's Removable Parts and Theatre of a Two-headed Calf's Drum of the Waves of Horikawa, among many other standout works. HERE's work is challenging and alternative and offers audiences the opportunity to feel that they are part of something new and fresh.

HERE's core program is the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), through which HERE commissions and develops new hybrid works over a 1-3 year period. As part of the HERE community of artists and audiences, Resident Artists show works-in-progress, develop workshop productions and mount full-scale productions. Through HARP, HERE grows innovative artistic work and offers artists, while offering artists resources and education in areas such as marketing, budgeting, grantwriting and touring. Each season, HERE produces 4 to 6 Resident Artist productions as mainstage works. Mosheh was developed through HARP, and is a mainstage production in the HERE 2010-11 Season.

SPECIAL NOTE: In conjunction with the stage production, the premiere recording of Mosheh will be released Tuesday, January 25 on HEARart, a new label founded by Yoav Gal to document and promote "indie-opera" multimedia music-theater works. The CD features the vocal soloists heard at HERE, accompanied by Ensemble Pamplemousse, a Brooklyn-based chamber group that is earning acclaim for performances of avant-garde repertoire throughout the US and Canada. Recorded at the Sirius Radio studio, the disc was produced by Gal with Natacha Diels and engineered by Paul Massiello.

Mosheh plays at 8:30 PM on Wednesday 1/26, Thursday, 1/27, Saturday, 1/29, Sunday 1/30, Tuesday 2/1, Wednesday 2/2, Friday 2/4 and Saturday, 2/5. Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased at www.here.org or by calling (212) 352-3101 or at the HERE Box Office (4 PM until curtain on show days). HERE is located at 145 Sixth Avenue, one block below Spring Street. For more info, visit www.here.org. *Please note: For listings & editorial, HERE should be referred to as HERE (formerly HERE Arts Center).

Mosheh was originally commissioned by Kaufman Center - Merkin Concert Hall with generous support from Denise Simon, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

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