Violet Fire in Philadelphia
Violet Fire’s first production was mounted in Philadelphia at Temple University’s Tomlinson Theater, to sold-out audiences on February 13-14, 2004. The production, represented a collaboration of Temple faculty and students with the core project collaborators and the Relache Ensemble. The opera was performed by students in the Department of Voice and Opera at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music, under the supervision of John Douglas, with the Relâche Ensemble playing the instrumental score under the baton of Music Director Thaddeus Squire. The project partnered with the community-arts organization Cosacosa Art at Large to involve students from Philadelphia’s Kenderton School.
This production was supported by the Temple University Provost’s Commission on the Arts, the Five-County Arts Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, and individual donors. |
PARTICIPANTS
John Gibson | Composer Miriam Seidel | Librettist Terry O'Reilly | Director Thaddeus Squire | Music Director Sarah Drury & Jen Simmons | Media Design Philip Grosser | Choreography Dan Boylen & Martin Dallago | Sets Anthony Hostetter | Lighting Design Maori Holmes & Heidi Barr | Costumes Jay Wahl | Assistant Director Kim Barrosso | Assistant Conductor Singers Kristin Moody | Tesla Sharon Derstine | Katharine Johnson Adam Fry | Mark Twain Julie Snyder | White Dove Rachel Sutliff | Margaret Storm Stephanos Tsirakoglou | Reporter Peri Berman, Colin Dill, Emily Good, Michele Jenkins, Denise Ryks | Chorus Relâche Ensemble Bob Butryn | sax & clarinet Andrea Clearfield | keyboard John Gaarder | bassoon Michele Kelly | flute Douglas Mapp | bass Harvey Price | percussion Lloyd Shorter | oboe Aliza Appel | viola |