Event

Both Eyes Open - Opera Workshop

On 9/6/19, Ensemble Ipse, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, and First Look Sonoma present "Both Eyes Open" - a workshop presentation of Max Giteck Duykers' new opera with a libretto by Philip Kan Gotanda.

"Both Eyes Open is an opera/theater hybrid about the effects of U.S. internment during WWII on a Japanese-American farmer in Californias Central Valley, and draws parallels to ethnic tensions and socio political trends that still resonate today. Seen through the eyes of his wifes ghost, and his resurrected, once buried, Zen Buddhist Daruma Doll, the farmer returns alone after the war to his darkened fields having lost his family and livelihood, struggling to find his path again. Singers Kelvin Chan, Kalean Ung, and John Duykers star in this piece that revisits and illuminates this pivotal period of U.S. history and its divergent perspectives, and sheds light on the current state of xenophobia and polarizing socio-political beliefs.

The project has been awarded numerous grants including the JFunds Commission, New Music USA, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and the National Parks Service's Japanese-American Confinement Sites Program, and will be premiered by the Paul Dresher Ensemble along the West Coast in 2020-21 in communities affected by the internment.

Our workshop performance on 9/6/19 will feature:

Kelvin Chan (baritone), "Jinzo Matsumoto"
Kalean Ung (soprano), "Catherine Matsumoto"
John Duykers (tenor), "Daruma Doll"

Ensemble Ipse:
Christa Van Alstine, clarinet
Esther Noh, violin
Geoff Burleson, piano
Ben Grow, condutor

Special Guest from the Paul Dresher Ensemble:
Joel Davel, Marimba Lumina

Direction: Melissa Weaver