First Glimpse 2022 - Andromeda
Music by J.E. Hernández
Text by Isabella Dawis
Jasmine Muhammad, soprano
Ron Robinson, piano
Inspired by a 1957 sci-fi novel by Ivan Yefremov, Andromeda is sung by a character who has an epiphany while listening to a symphony, and then decides to dedicate their life to the exploration of outer space.
Text:
DARR VETER:
THE THIRTEENTH BLUE COSMIC SYMPHONY IN F MINOR…
LIKE THAT FLASH OF LIGHTNING EONS AGO, THAT MADE LIFE’S MOLECULES.
LIKE FLOWERS SWAYING ON STEMS OF FIRE.
LIKE A THOUSAND-VOICED CHORUS OF YEARNING AND DESPAIR.
LIFE STRUGGLING AGAINST CHAOS.
MY HEAD IS IN A WHIRL. YESTERDAY I THOUGHT ALL BEAUTY HAD BEEN LOST. I TOOK A COLD SHOWER. I PACKED ALL MY THINGS, ANXIOUS TO GO WHERE THE WORK WAS HARDEST. I NO LONGER BELONGED TO MYSELF.
NOW I HAVE FOUND WHAT I THOUGHT WAS LOST. I HEAR IT!
I MUST BE CLOSER TO THE FUTURE… CLOSER TO THE COSMOS!
Video - Chris Comfort
Audio - Craig Slon
Production Assistant - Joel Kalow
Recorded on location at South Oxford Space, Brooklyn, NY
Created in Cycle 11 of The American Opera Project’s “Composers & the Voice” Fellowship Training Program
C&V Artistic Director: Steven Osgood
Head of Music: Mila Henry
Head of Drama: Matt Gray
Music Directors: Mila Henry, Kelly Horsted, Ron Robinson
http://aopopera.org/composers-voice
Composers & the Voice is made possible in part by generous multi-year awards from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.