Hailed as “a rare and moving opera about women in love” by New York Magazine, the opera PATIENCE & SARAH makes a comeback for staged concert performances with the new seven-piece orchestration and seven singers on June 23 and 24, 2016 at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street in New York City. Check out our new website at: www.patiencesarah.com
Tickets available at: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/957183.
Celebrate Pride Week NYC!
Patience & Sarah is the first opera by composer by Paula M. Kimper. Set in Connecticut in the winter of 1816, the opera tells the powerful story of two young women who meet, fall in love and resolve to devote their lives to each other. The artist Patience White, sister to a middle-class Connecticut landowner, and tough-minded, adventurous Sarah Dowling, the daughter of a poor farmer, share a mutual dream of leaving behind their repressive lives to go pioneering together, defying their families’ attempts to prevent it.
The libretto by Wende Persons is based on the 1969 novel by Isabel Miller, which in turn was inspired by the true story of two 19th-century women, the painter Mary Ann Willson and her companion Florence Brundage. Today Willson is recognized as an outstanding primitive artist; her paintings may be seen in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Folk Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Commissioned and developed by American Opera Projects, the opera’s sold out premiere at the Lincoln Center Festival, July 1998, was lauded by The New York Times, Opera News, New York Magazine, The Village Voice, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Out Magazine, The Advocate, and others. The musical style is richly lyrical, with soaring vocal lines that have been likened to Richard Strauss and Puccini, and beautiful, evocative orchestral colors.
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The PAULA KIMPER ENSEMBLE's mission is to use the expressive power of opera to bring about civic transformation by bringing American Chamber Operas that resonate with today's most important issues to alternative audiences around the world.
The PAULA KIMPER ENSEMBLE is a sponsored artist of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. More at: www.fracturedatlas.org/site/fiscal/profile?id=8721
“A rare–and moving–opera about women in love.” –New York Magazine
“Kimper’s music recalls Richard Strauss in its soaring vocal lines.” – USA Today
“The opera bubbles with glorious vocal writing.” – Opera News
“There was a soaring affirmation in this music of the transcendent beauty of life and love.” – The New York Times
“Wende Persons’ libretto is a masterpiece of economy.” – The Wall Street Journal
“The delicate, chamber textures of the score allow the text to emerge with uncommon clarity amidst shimmering, Ravel-like harmonies.” – American Record Guide
“It is an opera that sings.” – New York Post
“A charming folk opera that companies around the country would be wise to add to their repertoire.” – New York Blade News
NYTheater.com
"TRUTH, An American Opera About Sojourner Truth is a...fascinating,
entertaining and heartfelt show. The powerful orchestration combined with the
saga of our American history make for a wonderful opera.”
“Mari-Yan Pringle as Truth uses
her majestic soprano voice and charismatic stage presence to show us all the
facets of the fiery preacher, religious zealot, fierce woman and mother
suffering the unspeakable heartbreak of losing her child. The ensemble cast is
equally great.
“The powerful orchestration combined with the
saga of our American history make for a wonderful opera. Go see it!"
Time-Out
NY
"Kimper’s score is
accessible: tonal and rich, blending gospel with Copland-like swoops of
grandeur."
". . . the majestic
Mari-Yan Pringle carries the show with grace and plenty of charisma, her
velvety soprano finding notes of pain but also wryness in Truth’s
journey."
Theater
Reviews Ltd.
“Mari-Yan Pringle delivers a
perfect portrait of Sojourner Truth… with a beautiful soprano voice... which
resounds with power and dignity throughout the theatre. Ms. Pringle brings
Sojourner Truth to life with an honest and heartfelt performance.”
BSonARTS.com
“Kimper’s score has great
variety with rhythms and styles that fit the moment.”
“A truly remarkable music drama . . . filled
with engaging and frequently powerful music . . . that deserves further
development and a full-scale production in a major venue.”
Blog
Critics
“From the blue notes in the
overture to the spiritual at the finale, this new opera acknowledges centuries
of African-American cultural tradition as it presents a capsule biography of
Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and activist for women’s rights. With music by
Paula M. Kimper and libretto by Talaya Delaney, TRUTH is musically appealing, with a smart balance of melodic
friendliness and rhythmic complexity. And the composer is a master of delicate interplay
among musical voices and timbres, both instrumental and vocal.”
“The greatest joy of this production comes
from the performers, led by the charismatic and fluid-voiced soprano Mari-Yan
Pringle, who endows Truth with an earthy spiritedness.”
CEOExpress
“The cast of TRUTH manages to
bring Sojourner’s life to the stage with near perfection.”
IBR
News
“The score by Paula M. Kimper
is impressive.