DARK SISTERS Comes to OrpheusPDX in August

Following quickly on the heels of its August 3rd season-opening production of Mozart’s The Royal Shepherd, OrpheusPDX, is readying the second offering of its 2023 season on August 24 with Nico Muhly’s hauntingly beautiful opera, Dark Sisters. All performances will take place in Portland State University’s Lincoln Performance Hall, hailed by Opera News as the best venue for opera in the city. Tickets, beginning at $50, are available at www.orpheuspdx.org. 

Dark Sisters is a story of resilience, survival, and ultimately of hope, as seen through the eyes of one extraordinary woman. Based on the 2008 raid of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Texas, the opera follows the journey of Eliza, a sister-wife who questions what she has been taught

and emerges as a singular voice, one who is no longer content to be one of many.

OrpheusPDX artistic and general director, Christopher Mattaliano commented:

"I saw the world premiere production of Dark Sisters in 2012 and this opera has haunted me for the past 10 years. I think it’s one the best modern operas in the rep today - a powerful libretto with deeply expressive music. Nico Muhly's background as a choral singer is apparent in his stunningly beautiful choral writing for 6 female voices in this opera. Dark Sisters is a rich, moving work." Muhly has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera on two separate occasions and been described by Met General Manager Peter Gelb as "one of the most brilliant composing talents out there.”

Dark Sisters also marks the continuation of OrpheusPDX’s innovative mentor-based new training program  The Pathways Program. Conceived by Christopher Mattaliano, it pairs a student or young professional with an established professional artist engaged by OrpheusPDX for the 2023 season and, in the process, helps guarantee a thriving future for the operatic art form. 

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