Jonathan Dawe has emerged as an exciting and original composer of the 21st century. His music, described as “skillful”, “sparkling” (New YorkTimes) and “envelope-pushing” (Boston Globe) embodies a striking mix of modernist nuance and baroque imagery, spanning grand orchestral forces to delicate chamber music combinations. Show more
Recent commissionsinclude The Flowering Arts for The Boston Symphony Orchestra with James Levine, Symphony of Imaginary Numbers for the Manhattan Sinfonietta, ballet music from Armide for the American Composers Orchestra, Prometheus an opera in three act opera for Works & Process at The Guggenheim Museum, Piano Concerto for Robert Taub and The Wharton Center for Performing Arts, and Ciphers and Constellations in Love with a Woman for The Miró Quartet.
He has received awards from The Copland Fund for New Music 2002, 2008, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation 2001, New York State Council on the Arts 2001, the Fromm Foundation 1997, the Presser Foundation 1995, the American Academy of Arts and Letters 1990, the Bearns Prize1988, and multiple awards from ASCAP 1990, 1992 and BMI 1987, 1991.
Jonathan Dawe was born in Boston Massachusetts in 1965 and studied at the Oberlin Conservatory with Richard Hoffmann and The Juilliard School with Milton Babbitt. Upon receiving his Doctorate at Juilliard in 1995, he joined the doctoral faculty. Show less
American opera is often explosive. We Americans have a special knack of acquiring inspiration from other cultures, transforming these borrowings, and in doing so, making them our own. It is perhaps not so much what we take, but the very act of taking it that is one of the most decisively American attributes of our art and culture. Refashioning, reinventing, and the speed at which we do it lead to entirely new creations. This creative attitude is dynamic in opera, since it is an art form defined by tradition and genre, and if altered too much, it is conceivably no longer “opera”. Thus it is perhaps the very grit and mixture that arises from envelope-pushing developments pitted against the very conventions that define opera, that make American opera the explosive art form it is today.
Heather Raffo is the recipient of a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation and the Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin Fellowship for 9 Parts of Desire. Most recently she has received a 2005 Lucille Lortel award for Best Solo show as well as an Outer Critics Circle Nomination and a Drama League nomination for Outstanding Performance. Heather first performed 9 Parts of Desire in August 2003 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. It later moved to the Bush Theatre in London's Off-West End, where critics hailed it as one of the five best plays in London in late 2003. 9 Parts of Desire was then developed and performed as a reading at The Public Theatre as part of their New Work Now festival in Spring 2004. Its New York premiere took place in the fall of 2004 at the Manhattan Ensemble Theater, where the show ran for nine sold out months; described as “Powerful, impassioned, vivid, and memorable” by the New York Times. Show more
Heather received her BA from the University of Michigan, her MFA from the University of San Diego and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. Originally from Michigan, Heather divides her time between New York and Los Angeles. Her father is from Iraq and her mother is American. Show less
Set in the year 2019, ARMIDE is a dynamic drama set in post-war Iraq. In a transformed political and social landscape, a fragile coexistence continues between an integrated American presence, the InnerAmerican Republic led by Renaud, and the Iraqi people. As the Iraqi society has become exasperated with the ineffectiveness of current politicians, Armide has emerged as a leader among the people. Armide struggles with ambition, her duties, a growing love for Renaud. a driving hope for her country, and a deeper understanding of her culture. Show more
From Act II, Scene I - Marche 1 - Instrumental
Forces of the InnerAmerican Republic en route from Fallujah to Baghdad break from their march.
Duet
Major Ubaldi, Renaud’s first in command, suggests that the troops not linger, but Renaud has noticed an odd area of lush green foliage amidst the barren desert landscape. He urges Ubaldi to continue the convoy to Baghdad while he investigates.
Marche 2 - Instrumental
The troops depart.
Interlude
Now alone, Renaud investigates the lush grotto. It seems odd yet so familiar, almost like home. There is a small café there. He sits at the table outside and falls asleep.
Gavotte – Instrumental
Armide enters in search of Renaud, and she has finally found him. As he sleeps, she angrily contemplates his role in the predicament of her homeland. He awakens; they have met before. At first she is frustrated by the fact that they speak different languages. Aware of this, he asks her to teach him some more Arabic. It starts simply enough, but quickly becomes intimate, as neither can deny the overpowering chemistry of their attraction.
From Act IV, Scene I - Chacone, tempo “hip-hop”
Ubaldi and an elite reconnaissance group arrive in search of Renaud, now missing, in the highly volatile backstreet slums on the northern banks of the Euphrates river in north Baghdad. At this moment of high tension, non-Muslim black soldiers taunt Ubaldi and the black Muslim soldiers. Ubaldi boldly defends his and his colleagues’ faith.
From Act V, Scene I - Ritournelle and Passacaille
Renaud, now in Armide’s bedroom, pleads with her to stay. She must go but will return. She jokes that the young cleaning women may amuse him while she is gone. After she leaves, they enter. Renaud is taken by their graceful beautyas they clean the apartment. Show less
