'As One' — A Chamber Opera for Two Voices
Baritone Kelly Markgraf, seen here, is part of a two character cast who can be seen in one performance only of 'As One' at Utah State University. The one-act chamber opera is presented Tuesday, April 7, 7:30 p.m., Caine Performance Hall.
A monodrama for two voices sharing one central role — the American Opera Projects-commissioned work As One — is a one-act chamber opera that chronicles the experiences of a transgender person as she emerges into harmony with herself and the world around her.
As One premiered in New York in September 2014.
Written by composer Laura Kaminsky and with an original libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, As One also features the Fry Street Quartet from the Caine College of the Arts. It is through the efforts of the Fry Street Quartet that the new opera will be seen in Cache Valley.
The opera’s second performance run nationally is April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Caine Performance Hall on the Utah State University Logan campus.
“We have had the great pleasure of collaborating with the composer of As One, Laura Kaminsky, on our other recent venture, ‘The Crossroads Project,’” said Robert Waters, violinist in the Fry Street Quartet. “Laura invited the Fry Street Quartet to premiere the work, commissioned by American Opera Projects, with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and baritone Kelly Markgraf at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last September. The audience and critical response to the premiere was so positive that we felt we must bring this extraordinary work to the USU campus.”
Kaminsky was intrigued by a 2008 article in the New York Times about the legal implications of a marriage in which one of the parties transitioned from male to female. In 2011, she saw Kimberly Reed’s documentary “Prodigal Sons,” the story of a transgender woman and her return home to Montana for a high school reunion. Kaminsky wrote to Reed and the two came up with a concept and visuals for As One and turned to librettist Mark Campbell for the story.
“Co-librettists Campbell (Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist) and Reed have created such a wonderfully elegant and simple story about the search for one’s own identity to which really anyone could relate,” Waters said. “We are so excited to share this deeply moving and groundbreaking work with our Utah community.”
Baritone Kelly Markgraf repeats his role, but mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke from the original production is unable to travel to Logan. Her role will be sung by Blythe Gaissert.
Curtain time for As One is 7:30 p.m. in the Caine Performance Hall for one performance only April 7. Tickets are $15 adults, $10 seniors, youth and USU faculty and staff and $5 for USU students with ID. For more information and to pick up tickets, contact the CCA Box Office located in room L101 of the Chase Fine Arts Center on USU’s Logan campus, call 435-797-8022 or see the college’s Production Services website.
Related link:
Caine College of the Arts Box Office
Writer and contact: Whitney Schulte, 435-797-9203, whitney.schulte@usu.edu
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