Wang Jie, Composer | IT RAINED ON SHAKOPEE
687
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-687,single-format-standard,ajax_updown_fade,page_not_loaded

IT RAINED ON SHAKOPEE

IT RAINED ON SHAKOPEE

Did you know that every prisoner at Shakopee can tell which guard is approaching by the sound of the guard’s jingling keys?

Premiere:
Thu, July 20, 2017
7:30 PM – 10:00 PM CDT

LOCATION

Weber Music Hall
University of Minnesota Duluth
1151 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812

Tickets: Click here
Featuring

1 ) Eleven Shakopee Prisoners (on tape);

2) Soprano and Baritone couple Vicki and Jeff Madison;

3) Children’s choir;

4) Award wining LSCO music director Warren T. Friesen

Wang Jie is the first composer to premiere a research opera based on her education work at a U.S. correctional facility. Her pioneering work can have profound influence on issues of diversity, recidivism and the reach of new opera.

* *   *       *          *              *                            *

Commissioned by Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, this chamber opera is supported by The McKnight Foundation and NewMusic USA Duration: 20 minutes 

* *   *       *          *              *                            *

A first of its kind, chamber opera “It Rained On Shakopee” unites two otherwise unrelated Minnesota communities to channel the voices from inside the fence to the public. Shakopee Prison and Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra will join forces in the creation and premiere of this opera. The literal voices are women of the Shakopee Prison. You will hear them on tape, incorporated as a “ghost choir” during the performance of the opera. The metaphoric voices are the individual prisoners who contributed to the story of this opera in various ways. Minnesota Correctional Facility – Shakopee houses all of Minnesota’s female offenders. It is also the only women’s correctional facility in the nation to house maximum custody level offenders.

* *   *       *          *              *                            *

Creative Team:

Warren Friesen, music director,  Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra

Zhu Yi, playwright/screenwriter

Concert Opera Version:

Duration: 20 min total

Principle Roles: Soprano & Lyric-Baritone

Instrumentation

Fl, Ob, Cl, Bsn, Hn, 2 Perc, Cel/Pno, Tape, Strings, Children’s Choir

Help upscaling this opera for mainstage production:

Contact Wang Jie for a chat: wangjie@wangjiemusic.com

Contact Wang Jie to inquire about the score
15 Feb 2017