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AOPERA America

presents

The New Works Forum Showcase

TESLA (or the Life and Times

of Nikola Tesla)

By Phil Kline and Jim Jarmusch

Produced byAmerican Opera Projects

Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 11:00 a.m.Audition Recital Hall

The National Opera Center

PROGRAMOPERA America’s New Works ForumJanuary 14, 2015

TESLA

(or the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla) Music by Phil Kline Words by Jim Jarmusch

Introduction: Ed Harsh

Video Introduction: Video by OPERA America

Live performance of excerpts from Tesla (or the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla)

Featuring Nikola Tesla: Ryland Angel J.P. Morgan: James Harrington Katharine: Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek Robert: Brandon Snook Chorus: Gregory Purnhagen

Kamala Sankaram

Conductor: Alan Pierson

Ensemble: ACME, American Contemporary Music Ensemble

Violin: Ben Russell

Violin: Caroline Shaw

Viola: Caleb Burhans

Cello: Clarice Jensen

Piano: Timo Andres

Piano: Peter Dugan

Music coach: Mila Henry

Stage manager: W. Wilson Jones

Discussion with the creators moderated by Ed Harsh

SPECIAL THANKS OPERA America’s New Works Forum has been made possible by a generous and deeply appreciated grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

ABOUT THE WORKTesla (or the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla) is a non-linear fantasy of key moments in the life of the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla by Phil Kline, Jim Jarmusch and Robert Wilson. While there are scenes in Tesla’s Colorado Springs radio laboratory as well as his native village of Smiljan, Croatia, most of the action takes place in New York City, where Tesla went from being an acclaimed young genius and toast of the town to an eccentric old man feeding pigeons.

EXCERPTS

In a Ditch After Tesla’s falling out with Thomas Edison, he briefly takes work as a manual laborer in a gang digging ditches.

Ryland Angel (Tesla) Chorus

Lab Duet In his lab, Tesla demonstrates inventions for Katharine Johnson, who adores him. 

Ryland Angel (Tesla) Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (Katharine)

The Hand Katharine is mesmerized by a magazine image of Tesla’s hand illuminated by one of his fluorescent lamps.

Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (Katharine)

A Vast Electrical Disturbance Tesla and Westinghouse light the White City at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Instrumental

After the Fire A crowd assembles as the building housing Tesla’s lab burns to the ground.

Ryland Angel (Tesla)Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (Katharine)James Harrington (Morgan)Brandon Snook (Robert)Chorus

Pigeon (A Light in Her Eyes) Asked by a reporter about his fondness for pigeons, Tesla remembers the one he loved most.

Ryland Angel, countertenor (Tesla)Chorus

ABOUT NIKOLA TESLA, FROM THE CREATORS

Our subject remains a kind of enigma. His ideas and discoveries were, at times, too fantastical to be believed, let alone understood. Many still are. This places him in the realm of a dreamer — but a dreamer with a scientific mind and a photographic memory. He presented us with, among many other things, wireless portable light bulbs in the 1890s, radio transmission, remote control devices, the possibility of making solid objects disappear, the concept of thought transmission, X-ray technology, electrically powered vehicles, focused particle beams, free wireless global communication and, most controversially, free energy accessible from any point on our planet. Above all, he invented the modern method of electrical distribution that powered the second industrial revolution and lights the world to this day. And yet, to most he was simply a “mad scientist.”

Recollections of Tesla vary wildly, even on details such as the color of his eyes and hair, his height, and whether or not he spoke with an accent. An ethnic Serb raised in Croatia, he came to America as a young man to pursue a career in the new field of electrical engineering. He worked with Edison and Westinghouse. Mark Twain was fascinated by him. He became an international celebrity, mixing with industrialist millionaires and wealthy heiresses. And yet, he died impoverished, discredited and mostly forgotten, alone in his room at the New Yorker Hotel. A brilliant thinker, he consistently blurred the lines between science, art and religion. Tesla could describe physics in the language of spirituality, and spirituality in the language of science. But what impresses us most as we ponder the meaning of his life is that, much like an artist, his inventions can be seen as an extension of his spirituality and worldview. It is as if his science is his life and his art.

SCORE AND PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Publisher: Please direct inquiries to composer Phil Kline.

World Premiere: The premiere will be at the Croatian National Theater on December 9, 2016. It will be directed by Robert Wilson and feature a film by Jim Jarmusch.

Duration: Currently unknown

Instrumentation: While the premiere group will be larger and may perform at other European venues, the touring group for America and world is expected to be 8 soloists, 8 chorus members, 12 instrumentalists (6 strings, 2 pianos, 2 percussion, 2 electric guitars).

Year of Composition: 2016

Cast: Nikola Tesla (countertenor), Duka Tesla (in development), Katharine Johnson (mezzo-soprano), Robert Johnson (tenor), Mark Twain (in development), Thomas Edison (in development), George Westinghouse (in development), J.P. Morgan (bass-baritone)

CREATORS

A fixture of New York’s downtown scene, Phil Kline stands out for his range and unpredictability. He makes music in many genres and contexts, from experimental

electronics and sound installations to songs, choral, theater, chamber and orchestral works. Early in his career he co-founded the rock band The Del-Byzanteens with Jim Jarmusch and James Nares, collaborated with Nan Goldin on the soundtrack to The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, and played guitar in the notorious Glenn Branca Ensemble. Some of his early work evolved from performance art and used large numbers of boom boxes, such as the Christmas cult classic Unsilent Night. Other diverse works include John the Revelator, a setting of the Latin mass written for early music specialists Lionheart, and dreamcitynine, which mixed 60 percussionists with hundreds of iPhones around the plaza of Lincoln Center. In 2012, American Opera Projects premiered Kline’s Out Cold starring Theo Bleckmann at BAM’s Next Wave Festival in conjunction with a new production of Kline’s Zippo Songs. (philkline.com)

Jim Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch is described as having instigated the American independent film movement with his first

feature film, Stranger Than Paradise (1984), which The New York Times declared “permanently upended the idea of independent film as an intrinsically inaccessible avant-garde form.” Other films include Down by Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989), Night on Earth (1991), Year of the Horse (1997), Ghost Dog (1999) and Broken Flowers (2005). As a musician, Jarmusch released two collaborative albums with lutist Jozef van Wissem, Concerning the Entrance into Eternity (Important Records) and The Mystery of Heaven

(Sacred Bones Records), in 2012. He was the keyboardist and one of two vocalists for The Del-Byzanteens, a No Wave band whose sole LP, Lies to Live By, was a minor underground hit in the United States and Britain in 1982. He is a member of rock band SQÜRL, whose version of Wanda Jackson’s 1961 song “Funnel of Love” opens Jarmusch’s 2014 film Only Lovers Left Alive.

Story and Direction for the 2016 Premiere by Robert Wilson:

The New York Times described Robert Wilson as “a towering figure in the world of experimental theater and an explorer in the uses of time and space on stage.” Born in Waco, Texas, Wilson is among the

world’s foremost theater and visual artists. His works for the stage unconventionally integrate a wide variety of artistic media, including dance, movement, lighting, sculpture, music and text. His images are aesthetically striking and emotionally charged, and his productions have earned the acclaim of audiences and critics worldwide. After being educated at the University of Texas and Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Wilson founded the New York-based performance collective The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds in the mid-1960s and developed his first signature works, including Deafman Glance (1970) and  A Letter for Queen Victoria (1974–1975). With Philip Glass he wrote the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach (1976). Wilson’s artistic collaborators include many writers and musicians, such as Heiner Müller, Tom Waits, Susan Sontag, Laurie Anderson, William Burroughs, Lou Reed and Jessye Norman. He has also left his imprint on masterworks such as Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Brecht and Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, Büchner’s Woyzeck, Jean de la Fontaine’s Fables and Homer’s Odyssey. Wilson’s drawings, paintings and sculptures have been presented around the world in hundreds of solo and group showings, and his works are held in

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private collections and museums throughout the world. Wilson has been honored with numerous awards for excellence, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, two Premio Ubu awards, the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale and an Olivier Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and France pronounced him Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Wilson is the founder and artistic director of The Watermill Center, a laboratory for performing arts in Watermill, New York. (robertwilson.com)

ARTISTS

The American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2014–2015, is dedicated to the outstanding performance of masterworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, primarily the work of American composers. The ensemble presents fresh work by living composers alongside contemporary classics. ACME’s dedication to new music extends across genres and has earned them a reputation among both classical and rock crowds. NPR called them “contemporary new music dynamos” and The New York Times described ACME’s performances as “vital,” “brilliant” and “electrifying.” Time Out New York reported, “[Artistic Director Clarice] Jensen has earned a sterling reputation for her fresh, inclusive mix of minimalists, maximalists, eclectics and newcomers.” ACME’s instrumentation is flexible and includes some of New York’s most sought-after, engaging musicians. The ensemble has performed at leading venues across the country, including (Le) Poisson Rouge, Carnegie Hall, BAM, The Joyce Theater, Noguchi Museum, Whitney Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Symphony Space, Stanford Live, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Virginia Tech, Newman Center at the University of Denver, Flynn Center, South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Montclair’s Peak Performances and All Tomorrow’s Parties in the UK, among others. ACME can be heard on the New World Records and New Amsterdam Records labels. (acmemusic.org)

Grammy-nominated countertenor Ryland Angel has performed in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Gavin Bryars’ Doctor Ox’s Experiment  (English National Opera), The Fairy Queen (Barcelona), Gluck’s Orfeo (Koblenz), Amadigi 

(Karlsruhe), Venus and Adonis (Flanders Opera),  Dido and Aeneas (Opera Comique), The Play of Daniel (Spoleto) and Ballet Comique de La Royne (Geneva). Angel has sung on over 50 recordings, including music of Buxtehude, Charpentier, Scarlatti, Handel, Monteverdi, Purcell and Bach, as well as on the film soundtracks of Le Petit Prince, La Peau, Henry IV, Machete, The Mystery of Dante and the PBS television special Heavenly Voices. Recent engagements include Doux Mensonges (Opera National de Paris), Agrippina (NYCO), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Florentine Opera, Kansas Opera), Julius Caesar (Utah Opera, Boston Baroque, Opera Colorado), Sant’Alessio  (Paris, London, New York), Carmina Burana  (Lincoln Center), St. John Passion (Saint Thomas and Houston Bach), Classics and Rock (Seoul Philharmonic), Tesla (Dartmouth), Acis and Galatea (Houston) and Messiah (Handel and Haydn Society, Masterworks Chorus, Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall). (rylandangel.com) 

James Harrington has performed the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Lodovico in Otello, the bass roles (Edison, Westinghouse and Morgan) in Phil Kline’s Tesla In New York, Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore,

the Marquis in La traviata and Fouquier in Andrea Chénier, as well as covered Jud in Oklahoma!, Dr. Engel in The Student Prince, Angelotti in Tosca and Alidoro in La Cenerentola. In concert, he has sung the baritone solos in the Duruflé and Fauré Requiems. In 2015, Harrington sings Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Jigger Craigin in Carousel and Pedro in Man of La Mancha, and he will cover Colline in La bohème and Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha.

Harrington has appeared with Nashville Opera, Sarasota Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera New Jersey, Opera Naples (Florida), American Opera Projects, Florida State Opera, Nashville Philharmonic and the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony.

Mila Henry is a New York-based pianist, coach and music director who specializes in music-theater projects and vocal chamber music, ranging from art song to cabaret, folk opera to indie musicals, and

standard repertoire to contemporary classics. She has collaborated on both workshops and world premieres with American Opera Projects, American Lyric Theater, Beth Morrison Projects, Center City Opera Theater, Gotham Chamber Opera, HERE, OPERA America, Opera on Tap, Ripe Time, VisionIntoArt and Two Sides Sounding. Notable engagements include Later the Same Evening, Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater (2009, released on Albany Records); The Blind, Lincoln Center Festival (2013); Thumbprint and The Scarlet Ibis, PROTOTYPE (2014 and 2015); Smashed: The Carrie Nation Story, FringeNYC (2014); The World is Round and As One, BAM (2014); The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, Beth Morrison Projects (2014, to be released on Cantaloupe Music in 2015). A native of the Philadelphia area, she lives in Brooklyn. (milahenry.com)

Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, mezzo-soprano, is a member of the world-famous vocal quartet Anonymous 4, performing all over the world and recording many award-winning CDs, including the Billboard chart-

topping American Angels and The Drop That Contained the Sea. She was also a featured soloist on the Grammy Award-winning album Calling All Dawns. Outside of her work with Anonymous 4, Horner-Kwiatek has a reputation as a versatile and accomplished soloist, performing music from Bach

to Babbitt with many ensembles in the U.S. and Europe, including Ensemble Intercontemporain (Paris), Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), Washington Bach Consort, Carmel Bach Festival, Parthenia, Locrian and American Opera Projects. She is also a voice teacher with a thriving studio in New York City and gives master classes and ensemble technique workshops in New York City, Washington, D.C., and throughout the U.S. She is currently a doctoral candidate at The Juilliard School. (jacquelinehorner.com)

Alan Pierson has been praised as “a dynamic conductor and musical visionary” by The New York Times, “a young conductor of monstrous skill” by Newsday, “gifted and electrifying” by The Boston Globe and “one of

the most exciting figures in new music today” by Fanfare. He is the artistic director and conductor of the acclaimed ensemble Alarm Will Sound, which has been called “the future of classical music” by The New York Times and “a sensational force” by The New Yorker. Pierson served as the artistic director and conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and he is principal conductor of the Dublin-based Crash Ensemble. Pierson has also appeared as a guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta, the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the New World Symphony and The Silk Road Project, among other ensembles.

Gregory Purnhagen enjoys an eclectic career that encompasses diverse eras and genres. He has premiered roles in projects for Philip Glass (La Belle et la Bête, Monsters of Grace and Galileo Galilei);

sung as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall and other major international venues; created award-winning cabaret shows in New York, most notably Babalu-cy! The Art of Desi

Arnaz; has recorded early music, new music and cast albums; and has appeared as a guest vocalist on Bjork’s Medúlla. His work in contemporary opera has included projects for Nick Brooke, Yoav Gal, Fred Ho and Michael Kowalski. A performer in the 1992 revival of Einstein on the Beach, he was also seen in the recent 2012–2014 revival. He gave the American premiere of Glass’ Songs of Milarepa at The Town Hall last season. He is also the conductor of The New Xavier Cugat Orchestra, which is bringing vibrant, historic Latin music to new audiences.

Praised as “an impassioned soprano with blazing high notes” (The Wall Street Journal), Kamala Sankaram, who is also a composer, has performed and premiered pieces with Beth Morrison Projects, the

Philip Glass Ensemble, The Wooster Group, Anti-Social Music and Petr Kotik, among others. She is the currently the front woman for world music ensemble Bombay Rickey. Sankaram’s awards and grants include the Jonathan Larson Award, NEA ArtWorks, MAP Fund, Meet the Composer and the Asian Women’s Giving Circle. He has held residencies with the HERE Artist Residency Program, the MacDowell Colony, the Watermill Center, the Hermitage Con Edison/Exploring the Metropolis, and American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program. While at HERE Arts Center, Kamala created Miranda, winner of the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical. Her second opera, Thumbprint, premiered in the 2014 PROTOTYPE Festival. In addition to her musical pursuits, Kamala holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and can be heard as a voice on the Cartoon Network show Superjail!

American tenor Brandon Snook previously premiered the role of Robert Johnson/Agent Healy in Tesla workshops in 2013 at Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center for the Arts. He has collaborated extensively with

American Opera Projects, and he is currently developing the role of Joe/Max/Sam for the new opera Independence Eve, slated for its world premiere this season. Snook played the robotic role of Joe in the premiere of The Companion last season. Praised by The New York Times for his “vocal freshness, tempered with despondency” for the 2010 Chelsea Opera production of Glory Denied, he will reprise the role of Younger Thompson this season at Opera Memphis. Additional mainstage credits include Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Sarasota Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera, as well as solo concert credits at Lincoln Center and BAM. A native of Dallas, Texas, he has voice degrees from the University of Kansas and the University of Michigan.

PRODUCING COMPANY

AOP (American Opera Projects) creates, develops and presents opera and music-theatre projects, collaborating with young, rising and established artists. Notable premieres include Kimper and Persons’ Patience & Sarah at the Lincoln Center Festival (1998); Weisman and Rabinowitz’s Darkling in New York City and on tour (2006–2007); Lee Hoiby and Lanford Wilson’s This is the Rill Speaking at SUNY Purchase and Symphony Space (2008); and Phil Kline’s Out Cold at BAM (2012). AOP premieres with partners include Spears and Walat’s Paul’s Case with UrbanArias (2013) and PROTOTYPE Festival (2014); Ince and Seidel’s Judgment of Midas with Milwaukee Opera Theatre (2013); Perla and Bailis’ Love/Hate with ODC Theater and San Francisco Opera (2012); Stephen Schwartz’s Séance on a Wet Afternoon with Opera Santa Barbara and New York City Opera (2011); Nkeiru Okoye’s Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom with Irondale (2014); Lera Auerbach’s The Blind with the Lincoln Center Festival (2013) and Central City Opera (2015); Kaminsky, Campbell and Reed’s As One with BAM (2014), Utah State University (2015) and West Edge Opera (2015); O’Regan and Phillips’ Heart of Darkness with London’s Royal Opera (2011) and Opera Parallèle (2015); Davis, Michalek and Pelsue’s Hagoromo with BAM (2015); and Kline and Jarmusch’s Tesla with the Croatian National Theatre (2017).

General Director: Charles Jarden Managing Director: Robert E. Lee III Producing Director: Matt Gray Composer-in-Residence: Laura Kaminsky Development Assistant: Anthony Paggett Artistic Apprentice: Devinder Kumar

TODAY’S HOSTEd Harsh is president and CEO of New Music USA, which was created by the 2011 merger of the American Music Center and Meet The Composer. Ed had previously been president and vice president of MTC since 2005. His background includes more than 20 years of professional experience in the arts as program director, development officer, composer, teacher and writer. Aside from his work with New Music USA and Meet The Composer, his principal positions have included managing editor of the Kurt Weill Edition, director of development of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, associate director of David Bury & Associates, and managing director of the new music ensemble Sequitur. As a founding member of the grassroots Common Sense Composers Collective and as an individual composer, he has completed commissioned work for many prominent ensembles, among them the Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Anhaltische Philharmonie, New Millennium Ensemble and American Baroque. He has authored 20 published items, from essays on music to musical editions to recording reviews. His compositions are recorded commercially on the Albany, Santa Fe New Music, CRI and Neuma labels. Harsh holds degrees in composition and musicology, including a D.M.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Columbia University and a B.M. from Peabody Conservatory. He also studied at the Royal Conservatory in the Netherlands. His composition teachers included Louis Andriessen, Martin Bresnick, Jacob Druckman and Robert Hall Lewis.

THE NEW WORKS FORUM VIDEOS Cara Consilvio, Producer

Greg Emetaz, Director

These videos were generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

OPERA AMERICA NEW WORKS FORUM SHOWCASE PRODUCTION TEAMCara Consilvio, Showcase Coordinator

Laura Lee Everett, Executive Producer

Justin Giles, Production Coordinator

Craig Kaufman, Engineer

Jeffrey Larson, Supervising Producer

Ben Newman, Special Events and Catering Coordinator

Nicholas Roberts, Opera Center Manager

Katherine K. Yip, Stage Manager

Ben Young, Technical Manager

OPERA AMERICA ARTISTIC STAFFLaura Lee Everett, Director of Artistic Services

Jeffrey Larson, Artistic Services Manager

Justin Giles, Artistic Services Coordinator

UPCOMING OPERA AMERICA EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

ONSTAGE AT THE OPERA CENTER: SPRING SEASONWe invite you to join us for the 2015 spring season of Onstage at the Opera Center, which spans generations of artists from our field. Featured artists include legendary baritone Sherrill Milnes (January 27), conductor Stephen Lord (February 12), composer David T. Little (March 10) and countertenor David Daniels (April 21). All events take place at the National Opera Center. For more information, visit operaamerica.org/Onstage.

OPERA CONFERENCE 2015: INCREASING CIVIC IMPACTMay 6–9, 2015, Washington, D.C.

As part of Opera Conference 2015, OPERA America is planning a variety of new works activities, including a New Works Forum meeting, the New Works Sampler and other sessions specific to new works. For more information and to register, visit conference.operaamerica.org.

OPERA AMERICA GRANTS FOR PROFESSIONAL COMPANY MEMBERS

Opera Grants for Female Composers: Commissioning Grants 2015 These grants support works by female composers commissioned by OPERA America Professional Company Members. Guidelines will be available in September 2015, with an Intent to Apply deadline in December 2015.

The Opera Fund: Repertoire Development Grants 2015 Repertoire Development grants assist OPERA America Professional Company Members and their partners in meeting the special costs incurred by developing and producing new North American opera and music-theater works. Guidelines will be available in July 2015, with an Intent to Apply deadline in September 2015. Online applications will be available on grants.operaamerica.org.

New Works Exploration Grants OPERA America’s New Works Exploration Grants provide financial support for Professional Company Member representatives to attend a performance or workshop of a new North American work and meet with the piece’s creative artists and administrators. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through June 15, 2015. Learn more at operaamerica.org/Grants.

NEW WORKS FORUM 2016Save the Date: January 16–19, 2016

OPERA America will present the fifth New Works Forum from January 16 to 19, 2016. To receive regular updates about the meeting, be sure to sign up for the New Works listserv. To be added to the list, contact Laura Lee Everett at LEverett@operaamerica.org.

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