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North American Works Directory Listing
| Composer: |
John Adams
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| Composer Bio: |
One of America’s most admired and respected composers, John Adams is a musician of enormous range and technical command. His works, both operatic and symphonic, stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. Over the past 25 years, Adams’s music has played a decisive role in turning the tide of contemporary musical aesthetics away from academic modernism and toward a more expansive, expressive language, entirely characteristic of his New World surroundings.
The official John Adams website is www.earbox.com. The music of John Adams is published by Boosey & Hawkes and Associated Music Publishers.
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| Librettist: |
Peter Sellars
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| Other Artistic Personnel: |
Peter Sellars, Director
John Adams, Conductor
Orquesta Joven Camerata de Venezuela
Schola Cantorum Caracas
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| Original Cast: |
Storyteller: Eric Owens
The Prince: Russell Thomas
Kumudha: Jessica Rivera
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| Premiere Date: |
November 14, 2006
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| Producing Company: |
New Crowned Hope Festival
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| Description: |
In the 2000-year-old South Indian folk tale A Flowering Tree, a beautiful girl named Kumudha devises a plan to help her impoverished family: she transforms herself into a tree, from which she and her sister gather the fragrant flowers, weave them into garlands, and sell them at the marketplace. They carefully perform the ritual, which requires two pitchers of water for Kumudha to turn into the tree, and two pitchers of water for her to turn back into human form.
The local prince spies on her and wants her for his wife. After their wedding, the prince commands Kumudha to perform the transformation for him. She complies, but his sister watches from a hiding place and, envious of her sister-in-law’s powers, forces Kumudha to perform the ritual for her and a group of her friends.
After Kumudha turns into a tree, they break her branches, tear off her flowers, and abandon her, neglecting the water ritual which would revert her back into human shape. Trapped in a netherworld, not quite tree, not quite human, Kumudha is eventually rescued by a band of minstrels, who incorporate her into their travelling act because she can sing exquisitely.
Meanwhile the prince, distraught at his wife’s disappearance, wanders through the country as a beggar. After a long time he ends up at his sister’s palace (she has since become a queen). Barely recognizing him, she takes him in.
When she hears about a travelling minstrel troupe and a strange tree-woman with a heavenly voice, she summons the broken hybrid to the palace, in hopes it will help the prince. At once the prince recognizes his wife’s voice, and with pitchers of water restores her to her human self.
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| Character List (Major): |
Kumudha(lyr s)
The Prince(t)
Storyteller(bar)
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| Video Clip: |
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| Chorus: |
SATB Chorus (min. 40)
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| Orchestration: |
2 picc.treble recorder(=perc, opt. pic), alto recorder(=soprano recorder, perc, opt.fl)*, 2 ob(Eng Hrn), 2 bcl, 2 bsn(dbn) - 4 hrn, 2 tpt, 3 tbn - timp, 4 perc(glsp, wdbl, claves, pedal BD, SD, 2 susp cyms, 2 tuned bongos(or roto toms), tom-t, shaker, 3 tpl blks, cowbell, bongo, maracas, BD, 2 Japanese Bowl gong, Chinese cym, 2 tgls, slapstick/chimes, tgl, tamb, wdbl, susp cym, rainmaker(med), BD, cast, bongo, SD/maracas, tamb, rainmaker(low), high tgl, low tubular wind chimes/shaker, rainmaker(low)) - hp - cel - str(min 12 vln1, 10 vln 2, 8 vla, 6 vc, 5 db) *OPTIONAL: recorder players play some very simple percussion (rainsticks, etc) or they can play only recorder.
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| Contact: |
Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
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| Address: |
229 W 28th Street, Floor 11
New York, NY 10001
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| Phone: |
212-358-5300
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The Opera Fund Awardee Information
| Award Category: |
2007
Audience Development
Project
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| Project Name: |
A FLOWERING TREE: Opera Insights and Opera for All
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| Awardee: |
Chicago Opera Theater
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| Director: |
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| Conductor: |
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| Designer: |
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| Award Category: |
2011 Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Showcase
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| Project Name: |
A Flowering Tree
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| Awardee(s): |
Austin McCormick
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| Director: |
Austin McCormick
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| Designer: |
Set and Costume Designer: Zane Pihlstrom, Lighting Designer: Gina Scherr
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| Choreographer: |
Hari Krishnan
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"In the 2000-year-old South Indian folk tale A Flowering Tree, a beautiful girl named Kumudha devises a plan to help her impoverished family: she transforms herself into a tree, from which she and her sister gather the fragrant flowers, weave them into garlands, and sell them at the marketplace
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About the 2011 Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Showcase
This bi-annual program is offered as part of OPERA America’s continuing effort to foster emerging opera artists. The showcase, made possible through support from the Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, has been established to bring promising talent to the attention of the field and connect promising directors and designers with those who are in a position to advance their careers. Twenty-seven director-driven teams submitted proposals for consideration in this second showcase round. Four finalist teams were selected by panelists Donald Eastman, designer; Kevin Patterson, general director, Austin Lyric Opera; Tazewell Thompson, stage director; and Diane Wondisford, producing director, Music-Theatre Group. As opera is an intrinsically collaborative art form, the projects chosen were selected not only because they demonstrate the requisite creativity and skill, but because they display true collaboration, creative vibrancy and collective passion.
Each team is given $2,000 to be used toward further research and the production of more comprehensive renderings and models. Up to two representatives from each finalist team receive travel, lodging and registration to attend Opera Conference 2011 in Boston, MA to present their proposals to opera producers at a special session and to network with conference attendees.
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Schedule of Performances Listings
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What is OPERAAmerica.org?
Spring 2013 Magazine Issue
- Letter from the President/CEO
- Of One: The Quest for Asian Fusion in the Opera House
- Vancouver: Where Nature Nurtures Art
- Inheriting the Wind
- My First Time
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From 42nd Street/Times Square:
Take the Train to the 28th Street stop and walk north on 7th Avenue.
The building is on the same block as the train stop.
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