Renegade Opera 2024 Season
Thank you for a great year!
Opera for All
A free community performance at the Tualatin Public Library. Featuring vocalists Maddy Ross and Abby Krawson, and pianist Jesse Preis.
Summer Seed Session
Growth and Blooming with The Verdancy Project
Opera in the Lavender
Gorgeous & picture perfect setting, Opera in the Lavender is set up as a date night for those 18 and older, so tickets are sold in pairs. Grab your beau or belle or spouse or bestie and get ready for an evening to remember! *Each ticket is for two* the night includes a charcuterie box * keepsake wine glasses * bottle of sparkling or reg water * opera performance * 10% discount at the farm store * one of a kind experience.
Black Opera: A Recital
Contralto Jasmine Johnson shares her voice and stories of her experiences as a Black opera singer, a step-parent, and an arts leader in today’s world. This event is for all ages, families encouraged. Jasmine will perform with pianist, Claire Forstman.
Orlofsky’s Party
A modern adaptation of Die Fledermaus centering around the wealth and class gaps that exist in our communities today, poking fun at the ridiculousness of opulent wealth, and ultimately bringing home the message that actions have consequences, no matter how rich and powerful you are. In partnership with the NW Children’s Theater!
Little Ones
Little Ones, with music by Danielle Jagelski (Oneida/Ojibwe) and libretto by Rhiana Yazzie (Navajo), portrays the life of "Marigold," a 17 year old student at a Native American Residential School, following her through her senior year of high school. “Little Ones" is a dark-comedic opera that unfolds in the 1980s, delving into the evolution of the slogan "Kill the Indian, Save the child" into a more contemporary, ostensibly benevolent version: "Save the Indian, Save them from themselves." In essence, "Little Ones" serves as a tribute to the multifaceted challenges that Indigenous young people faced during the final decade of the US residential school era, and continue to grapple with today. This work paints a vivid picture of any person who is conflicted with their place in American society while preserving their individual identity, all within a world undergoing profound change. As daughters of Residential School survivors, Jagelski and Yazzie aim to tell this story through a lens of connection and community.
There will be a discussion between the audience and the creative team after the reading to offer feedback on the progress of the piece and offer their ideas for future iterations. Tickets for Little Ones are on a sliding scale, $20, $40, or $80 with a free ticket to members of the Indigenous community to attend. Transportation is available to Elders if needed- please email renegadeoperapdx@gmail.com to request.
The Raven
Jesse Preis debuts The Raven, a chamber opera composed for three voices and piano from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem of the same name. In this opera, the narrator (split into two characters to capture the perspective of the Young and the Old at two different stages in life) deals with the loss of a loved one. These complicated, painful, and even terrifying emotions become personified through the character of the Raven. This work is composed with no specific voice types tied to the characters - anyone able to sing the part can and should sing them. This is a groundbreaking composing technique that unties the binds of gendered characters and allows vocalists to portray a character of any gender that is authentic to them and suits their voice. Preis seeks to expand our understanding of vocal writing to go beyond the gendered conventions of soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and bass-baritone, and posits a world where characters are simply written and performed by a wide variety of voices.
There will be a discussion between the audience and the creating team after the workshop performance to offer feedback on the progress of the piece and offer their ideas for future iterations. Tickets for The Raven are on a sliding scale, $20, $40, or $80 with a special free ticket to members of the trans and non-binary community to attend.
