“We the Innumerable” [70′] 4 Lead singers, Chorus, Pierrot ensemble
Scene II from PV score reading at Opera America in February 2020
We the Innumerable has been awarded an Opera America Discovery Grant, Press Release is HERE. Libretto by Lisa Flanagan
UPCOMING WORKSHOP: We the Innumerable will be workshopped as a co-presentation with CONTEMPORARY CENTER FOR OPERA.
About We the Innumerable: After the 2009 presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Roya and her husband, Siavash, become targets of the state for participating in nationwide protests against the election result. Siavash is murdered, and Roya is imprisoned and put under extreme pressure to record a confessional stating that her husband was a Revolutionary Guard force who was killed by the enemies of the state. The opera is the heroic journey of an Iranian woman who protects the truth in the face of fear and violence.
Indie Opera Podcast Featuring “We the Innumerable” starts at 51:00 Soprano: Corrine Byrne
Reading From Opera America, February 2020
Photo Credits: Anahita Rouzbeh
Roya: Corrine Byrne
Siavash: Morgan Manifacier
Maryam & Ensemble: Amal El-Shrafi
Chief Interrogator & Ensemble: Mohsen Namjoo
Ensemble: Thomas Albanese, Carlo Bunyi, Chao Ma, David Mather
Artistic Director: Sara Tarana Jobin (workshop) and Dmitry Glivinskiy (PV reading)
Sound Board & Tech Manager: Samuel Beebe
Stage Director: Harris Doran
Projection Designer: S. Katy Tucker
Featuring translations by Sholeh Wolpe, Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad.
Special thanks to Deniz Khateri (pop singer in scene I) and Golnar Shahyar (Roya’s Mother in scene III) for recordings as part of the electronics of this piece.
Composer: Niloufar Nourbakhsh Libretto: Lisa Flanagan
