The opera will have its free premiere for one night only on Saturday, Aug. 19, at
7 p.m. in Johnson Studio Theatre. Seating is limited. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - The phrase "here today, gone tomorrow" applies perfectly
to "Wake-Lucia: A Joycean Operatic Rite," the first opera written by Winthrop University Associate Professor of Music Leonard Mark Lewis.
The opera will have its free premiere for one night only on Saturday, Aug. 19, at
7 p.m. in Johnson Studio Theatre. Harvest Hill Productions will produce the opera, with support from the University
of North Carolina-Charlotte and the Charlotte Symphony. Then, the musicians will record
the opera for Albany Records, based out of New York.
Seating is limited. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
The dance-opera, "Wake-Lucia: A Joycean Operatic Rite," explores the complicated relationship
between prolific author James Joyce and his brilliant daughter Lucia, taking inspiration
from Joyce's multiple works as well as recent scholarship about Lucia and her artistic
endeavors.
Director Kelvin Chan described the 30-minute performance as a "fantastical dreamscape,
a place where sound, body, voice and text are entangled and unwoven again." With a
libretto written by Chan, Lewis' score provides the poignant and powerful backdrop
to a world in which Lucia forges her own self-identity. Kathy Lawson serves as choreographer
and plays the role of Lucia, while UNC-Charlotte's tenor Brian Arreola portrays James
Joyce.
Lewis holds degrees from the University of Houston and University of Texas-Austin.
He's received composing awards from ASCAP, B.M.I., Voices of Chance, Columbia University
and more. His previous compositions have been commissioned and performed by many ensembles,
including the Charlotte Civic Symphony, the Hyperion Ensemble, the North/South Consonance,
the Truman State Orchestra and more.
For more information, contact Lewis at 803/323-4615 or lewism@winthrop.edu.
