Renegade Opera Presents

American Patriots

Created by Samantha Rose Williams

Lyrics compiled verbatim from 50 interviews with ordinary Americans
Final scene written by Bill Barclay

Composed by Regina Harris Baiocchi, Danielle Jagelski, Marc LeMay, and Yaniv Segal

Directed by Bill Barclay

Program

Nightmare - Regina Harris Baiocchi

Aging Out - Yaniv Segal

Kneel - Yaniv Segal

Creed - Regina Harris Baiocchi

Born Here - Yaniv Segal

Patriots - Regina Harris Baiocchi

Polarity - Yaniv Segal

Flag - Danielle Jagelski

I’m not BIPOC - Yaniv Segal

Honor - Yaniv Segal

Grandfather - Danielle Jagelski

Dream - Yaniv Segal

Sovereignty - Danielle Jagelski

A Good Life - Danielle Jagelski

Homecoming - Regina Harris Baiocchi

Learn Something - Danielle Jagelski

Full Sung/Spoken texts below artist information

Cast

samantha rose williams

Samantha Rose Williams is an arts activist committed to sharing marginalized experiences with diverse audiences and creating space for critical discussion about art, culture, and social change. After earning her B.A. at Stanford University, Samantha went on to receive her Master’s in Music and Specialist's in Music at the University of Michigan in Voice Performance. An accomplished performer in both musical theater and opera, a researcher, and arts leader, Samantha began producing to share nuanced stories of people of all backgrounds and beliefs to help create a more sympathetic and equitable world by breaking down the walls of “us and other.” In recognition of her impactful work as a producer Samantha was awarded the University of Michigan’s 2022 Graduate DEI Award, the 2021 MLK Spirit Award, and served as a panelist in SphinxConnect 2021's session on youth activism.

robert wesley mason

With his ardent devotion to new music and stories that challenge audiences' perspectives, American baritone Robert Wesley Mason has given voice to a multitude of characters. Mason's engagements for the 2023-2024 season include performances of a new song cycle by Yaniv Segal entitled American Patriots and a return to Detroit Opera to sing in John Cage's Europeras: 3 & 4 and cover the role of The Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen. During the 2022-2023 season, Wes returned to Pensacola Opera for 'Carousel' - reprising his signature role of Billy Bigelow - and made his role and company debut as Jack Torrance in Moravec adn Campbell's 'The Shining' with Opera Pallele. He has appeared with the Glimmerglass Festival, Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Kentucky Opera, Nashville Opera, West Edge Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Virginia Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opera Hong Kong, On Site Opera, and many more.

annie sherman

Annie is a New York-based actress and singer of musical theatre, opera, and contemporary repertoire. Broadway tours include: THE SOUND OF MUSIC Global and National Tours (Elsa Schraeder), Warchus & Thorne’s Tony Award-winning adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Jess, Belle U/S, Little Fan U/S), and Lincoln Center Theatre's THE KING AND I (Anna alternate). Regional theatre and opera credits include: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Mrs. Nordstrom, Anne U/S) at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, RAGTIME ON ELLIS ISLAND (Evelyn Nesbit), MACBETH (Witch, swing) at the Los Angeles Opera, FALSTAFF (Nannetta) with Pacific Opera Project, and more. Annie has performed solo concerts nationwide and premiered her original English translations of Edith Piaf's songs in a one-woman-show at The Green Room 42 (NYC). Annie holds a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from UCLA and a B.A. in Music and Human Biology from Stanford University.

Orchestra

claire forstman | Piano

Claire Forstman is a pianist and vocal coach passionate about bringing new stories to the
operatic stage. Drawn to contemporary opera, they have worked on premieres by Nicolas Benavides, Carla Lucero, Whitney George, Andrea Clearfield, and Leanna Kirchoff, in addition to productions of works by Missy Mazzoli and Julian Wachner. This season, they will be music staff for a production of Joel Thompson’s The Snowy Day (Portland Opera) and a workshop of
DJ Rico King and Will Liverman’s The Factotum (Portland). Claire is currently a Resident Artist at Portland Opera and has held studio residencies at the Florentine Opera (’21-’23), Opera Steamboat (’23), and Finger Lakes Opera (’21) and coached at Chicago Summer Opera (’23, ’22), dell’Arte Opera Ensemble (’22, ’20, ’19), and
Sarah Lawrence College (’19-’21). In the traditional operatic repertoire, they have enjoyed coaching and playing for productions of Le Nozze di Figaro (Portland), Rigoletto
(Florentine), Massenet’s Cendrillon (Chicago Summer Opera), L’enfant et les sortilèges
(Florentine), La bohème (Florentine), Gianni Schicchi (Opera Steamboat), Roméo et Juliette (Florentine), Agrippina (CSO), and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Florentine; Finger Lakes Opera), among others. They earned their M.M. in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a B.M. in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music.

aaron kahn | trumpet

Aaron Kahn is an experimental trumpet artist, creative entrepreneur, writer, community engagement specialist, event producer, music educator, and public safety advocate based in Portland, Oregon. His mission is to push creative boundaries, expand the imagination, and champion various humanitarian, environmental, political, and forward-moving spiritual causes – all in the name of individual and collective liberation. Aaron studied Music and Cognitive Psychology at McGill University in Montreal, QC, Canada; got his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts; and received his Master’s of Music in performance from the University of Oregon, where he served as the Graduate Teaching Fellow under Brian McWhorter.

Aaron has worked with some of the most creative and influential musicians and groups in the field, including the Britt Festival; Mason Bates, David Rozenblatt, and Chicago (all Grammy winners); and PNW-based composer and NEA grant awardee Justin Ralls. He has won a number of awards, scholarships, and fellowships, including the most recent Arts3C Grant from RACC.

cecille elliott | Violin

Cecille is a multifaceted musician specializing in voice, violin, and viola. A prolific songwriter, she has recently begun sharing her strikingly raw and deeply captivating songs and compositions with public audiences - including the world premiere of We Are Murmurs with Resonance Ensemble. Throughout her music career she has taken on various avenues from orchestra halls and auditoriums to pubs and open mics. Her passion lies in the diversity of music, and how her instruments find voices around the world and in various genres. As a performer and creator, she has collaborated with various artists across the country to bring their projects to life. She spends much of her free time buried in various forms of creative writing, and building her skills as a visual artist, with film, photography, drawing, and painting as her mediums of choice.

Matt Rowning | Guitar

Matt Rowning (he/they) is a musician, sound designer, actor and healthcare worker from SE Portland, where riding the MAX green line taught them not just how to stay alive, but how to thrive. His guitar playing, composition, sound design, and acting have proven a sign of poor prognosis for dozens of productions and multiple bands, including CHERA CHERA and his solo project, CHERUB FACE. Proud member of AFM Local 99. @chaereb Selected credits: Guitar, tick…tick…Boom! (Portland Center Stage), Heathers: The Musical (Linfield University), Un Pajarito Canta (Portland Revels); Sound design and original composition, It’s A Wonderful Life! (Portland Center Stage), American Fast (Artists Rep), and The God Cluster (FUSE Theater Ensemble); Acting, Rodney Richards/Guitar in Adam’s Run (Renegade Opera), Simon Zealotes in Jesus Christ Superstar (Post5 Theater Company)

ryan messling | bass

Ryan Messling is thrilled to be joining the Renegade Opera team for this production. After graduating from the Lionel Hampton School of Music, Ryan started teaching band at Prairie High School. Some of his professional credits include performing with the band Kansas, the Boston Symphony, the Bob Curnow Big Band, and the Vanport Big Band. Ryan is the owner of Social Sound, a company that provides music for weddings and corporate events.

kelly gronli | oboe & english horn

Kelly Gronli has been a member of the musical community in Portland, Oregon for over 20 years. She currently holds positions as principal oboist of the Oregon ballet theater orchestra and the Portland Opera orchestra. Kelly is an instructor at Reed college and Portland State University as well as having her own private studio. She has also served on the board of directors for Local 99 Musicians Union for several years and has been an active member on orchestra committees in the groups that she plays in. In her free time, Kelly enjoys cooking and practicing Pilates and yoga. She lives in southeast Portland with her husband Patrick of 20 years and their two children, Dane and Piper.

owen broder | saxophone

Owen Broder is a member of the GRAMMY® nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and has performed with internationally respected artists such as Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Miho Hazama, the Ulysses Owens, Jr. Big Band, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. He earned the title 2018 Debut Artist of the Year from NPR’s Francis Davis and was included on DownBeat Magazine’s 2023 Critics Poll as a Rising Star Alto Saxophonist. His six albums as a band leader have received national recognition. An award-winning composer and arranger, Broder has received commissioned projects from the U.S. Air Force Band in Europe, the Airmen of Note, two off-Broadway shows, and the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble. A Portland resident since 2021, Broder teaches core jazz courses at Portland State University and saxophone lessons at Pacific University, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble.

eric parchen | Percussion

Eric Parchen is a freelance percussionist who lives in Seattle, WA. He has played in various jazz bands, musical theaters, rock bands, and symphony orchestras. Additionally, he has a private lessons studio and works with many middle schools and high schools in the Seattle area coaching the student percussionists. Eric has worked extensively with drumlines including teaching multiple ensembles, giving clinics, teaching at camps, and writing music for marching percussion groups.

Creative Team

bill barclay | Stage Director

Former Director of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe, Bill Barclay is Artistic Director of both Concert Theatre Works and Music Before 1800, NYC’s oldest early music presenter. Broadway and West End: Farinelli & The King, Twelfth Night, and Richard III, all starring Mark Rylance. A ‘personal polymath’ (London Times), Barclay regularly works as a director, writer, composer, actor, producer, and conductor.

Annabel cantor | lighting designer

Annabel Cantor is a designer, performer, and theatre multi-hyphenate based in Portland. Previous lighting credits include Stinky Cheese Man at Northwest Children's Theatre, Of Mice and Men with Life in Arts, and Freak Piece with the Sarah Lawrence College Melancholy Players. Up next, in Spring of 2024, she will be in residency at CoHo with Olivia Mathews, Akitora Ishii, and Leiana Petlewski, developing Endurance: The Boat (the show). Annabel is deeply grateful to Renegade Opera for the opportunity to bask in, and support, the work of these incredible performers. Find them at annabelcantor.com

yaniv segal | MUSICal artistic DIRECTOR/Conductor/composer

Creative polymath Yaniv Segal has achieved critical success since childhood for his work as a conductor, composer, actor, and violinist. Yaniv is Music Director of the Salina Symphony in Kansas, Conductor Laureate and Artistic Advisor of the Chelsea Symphony in New York City, and former Assistant Conductor of the Naples Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In recent seasons his compositions have been performed by ensembles such as the Reno Philharmonic, Norwalk Symphony, Grand Rapids Classical Orchestra, Ashland Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Sarasota. Yaniv grew up trilingual in New York with a Polish mother and an Israeli father- a luthier who made the instruments his family plays on. Yaniv received a bachelor’s from Vassar College and completed graduate degrees in conducting and composition at the University of Michigan, with support from the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

samantha rose williams | Creator

Composers

Yaniv Segal

regina harris Baiocchi

Regina Baiocchi is a composer, author, and poet. Her music has been performed by acclaimed artists throughout the U.S., notably the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Regina’s work has been profiled in the Chicago Tribune, the New Grove Dictionary of American Music and the International Dictionary of Black Composers, among others. In 2010 Regina founded 6Degrees Composers to feature women’s music. Regina has received many awards, including from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Illinois Arts Council. She is an alumna of New York, DePaul, and Roosevelt universities.

DANIELLE JAGELSKI

Danielle Jagelski is a conductor and composer. At home in both operatic and orchestral realms, she is the Artistic Director of Renegade Opera, Associate Conductor of PROTESTRA, Producer at First Nations Performing Arts, and mentor for Girls Who Conduct. Recent engagements include Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly at Temple University Opera Theater, Garden of Alice by Elizabeth Raum with City Lyric Opera (NYC), assistant conductor for Le nozze di Figaro at the Estates Theater (Prague, CZ), and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (Portland, OR). Sought out for her execution of newly written and contemporary works, she has performed concerts of world premieres at Manhattan School of Music, New Music Manhattan, National Music & Global Culture Society at Lincoln Center. As a composer, her music has been heard throughout the US, Canada, and Germany with ensembles such as Hear Us Hear Them Ensemble, New Native Theatre, The American Patriots Project, and Chicago’s Artemis Singers. An enrolled member of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe Tribes with mixed heritage from Polish/Irish settler communities, Danielle is a fierce advocate for equity in musical spaces and has presented her research on Indigenous representation and Mixed-Race theory throughout the US and Canada. daniellejagelskiconductor.com

Renegade Producers

Abby Krawson, Elliot Menard, and Maddy Ross

American Patriots Producers

Cath Brittan and samantha rose williams

Texts

Nightmare

The American Dream... It is not for us.

We do not get a dream.

The American Dream is for white people.

The American Dream is not for Black folks.

It is not for us.

I do not know what they think the American Dream is, but we do not get a dream... a dream.

I do not know what they are talking about.

It’s crap.

It’s bullcrap.

Write that down.

It’s crap, it isn’t real.

The American Dream...

You got me messed up!

Where is my American Dream?

Girl!

What has this country done for Black people?

What have they done?

What has this country done for me?

Jim Crow wasn't it.

Slavery wasn't it.

Police brutality is not it.

What is the US doing for me?

No!

I am no Patriot.

I am not some Patriot.

You got me messed up!

Next question

Aging Out

(spoken) When a person turns 21 they’re kicked off the application.

(sung) It’s one of the strangest, unnecessary, most damaging, cruel, loopholes in the system. (One of the strangest)

Aging out. Aging out!

I got my green card, and my parents got their green cards, but my older sister… (unnecessary)

Aging out. Aging out!

She'll be 40 and she will have been here since she was 6 years old. And so the crazy thing is that it took so long to get her green card that I had enough time from the age of one and a half to

grow up,

and go to college,

go to law school

and learn immigration law,

practice immigration law,

file her petition myself,

and get it approved.

That's how much time I had, because that's how long it took.

That's the absurdity of the whole system.

Kneel

Having served

In the United States military for an extended period of time

Having worn

The uniform in multiple aspects of public service

It really, really aggravates the hell out of me.

It has nothing to do with what they’re protesting

(If you track it back to Colin Kaepernick and)

Why he said he was doing it

Okay!

I get why you’re doing it

But there’s other ways to protest.

“I only kneel for the fallen.

Tonight I kneel for my brother,

Tomorrow I stand for his family.”

Not only have I lost family,

I’ve lost friends in combat.

And when you have to...

when I end up kneeling before a combat cross,

or a coffin draped with an American flag

And then I see someone doing it

doing it in protest...

“I only kneel for the fallen.

Tonight I kneel for my brother,

Tomorrow I stand for his family.”

It angers the living hell out of me.

I understand that I protect

their right to do it

Because the Constitution says

they have the right to protest

Peacefully

and as long as they’re doing it

Peacefully

There’s not a damn thing

that can be done about it.

Creed

I have a problem with the concept of patriotism.

If you ask the average American, too often patriotism is mixed with nationalism.

Patriotism is not a blind loyalty, or a lack of objectivity.

True patriotism is the ability to protest.

True patriotism is the ability to point out America’s flaws.

True patriotism demands that our government do better, for all people.

Patriotism gets to the ideals that the founding fathers put on paper.

The founding fathers didn’t intend freedom, justice, patriotism for everyone.

Not for women!

Not for people of color!

But the ideals are fine. We want to get to that ideal.

I don't want to be a patriot the way that most people think of it.

But I’m a true patriot,

Yes, I’m a true patriot.

I believe in the promise of this country,

I believe, I believe, I believe!

I want this country to be better.

Born Here

“So umm, Tell me a bit about your childhood? What was the neighborhood like where you grew up?”

I spent a lot of my childhood summers in Egypt and my grandmother was the wisest, most intelligent person. She had this, like, very brutal way of putting me in my place. You know...

I'd walk in with my hat cocked sideways and my arrogant American walk, and she’d sit me down. She’d point to one of my cousins and say, “that one is smarter than you.” Point to the next one and say, “I don't have to tell you this one is taller and, well, better looking.”

“This one's nicer.”

And so at some point, it’s like, okay, well what do I have going for me? She's like: “you get to leave.”

At times I know I'm the first Arab or Muslim that someone's ever met.

And so for as much of the injustices that have defined parts of my life, I'm continuously reminded just how lucky I am to have been born here.

Polarity

Polarity. I'd fix polarity. Like, how the country is divided.

I just want people to know “it's okay.” It's okay to disagree, it's okay.

I came to United States when I was 13. In America we cherish differences. We cherish freedom. It's kinda chaotic, I'm not gonna lie, it's kinda messy. As long as that doesn't hurt the other side..

It's okay.

I just want people to know “it's okay.” It's okay to disagree, it's okay.

One of the best phrases I like is: “agree to disagree.”

Agree to disagree. Agree to disagree. It's a beautiful saying.

Everybody came from different places, everybody came from different backgrounds, it's okay to disagree. If you like everybody to get on one page, there's many good places to be.

North Korea.

Probably China.

Authoritarian regimes, they all agree in one direction. And if you want that, go there!

In America we cherish differences. I just want people to know, it's okay.

I still am a firm believer and defender of the Second Amendment.

It's okay. It's okay to disagree, it's okay.

Flag

I was always raised to respect the flag,

On military bases, everything stops at 5pm.

The flag is lowered.

Everyone stops.

It doesn't matter what you're doing

Every day you stop.

You stop and turn and watch

The Flag caref’lly taken down.

I think there's times where people should feel free to make a statement.

Kneeling for the national anthem is truly just a statement:

That my respect for this country is conditional,

conditional on this country's respect for me.

I’m Not BIPOC

Oh man, this is going to be, like, super publicly unwelcome and unpopular to say, but... it's a perpetuated myth that America's racist. Just because somebody is Black, doesn't mean that we have to get behind them. That is actually racist, in and of itself. You are defining that person by their color. That is racist.

(ORCHESTRA: That is racist! That is racist!)

Am I Against Racism? Yes!

Do I have anything against representation? No.

I dated a Black guy once and I remember him talking to me about all these, like, nuanced things. Sometimes he was getting more hate from the Black women mad at him for dating me: a White Girl.

(ORCHESTRA: A white girl!!!)

I'm not BIPOC. I'm not LGBTQ. Not androgynous. I'm not non-binary. I'm not Black, not bipolar. Not all these things like, you know, that'll get me passed in a role.

Am I Against Racism? Yes!

Do I have anything against representation? No

But like where does it end for you? Like what is your ultimate goal?

Do you want every single character and every single blockbuster film to be Asian, or Black?

Am I Against Racism? Yes!

Do I have anything against representation? No

I think that in reality we do not have a race problem. You know, if anything the whites are the ones being oppressed.

Because we’re being told that we’re not.

Grandfather

He was seventy-eight… you know you work your whole life.

You give and give, give and give

You give and you give….

He was seventy-eight, a lumberjack,

He worked until the day he died..

To pay for her medicine.

You give and you give…

He gave for her heart, to pay for her heart!

This is not what the American dream is.

You give and you give and you give and you give…

Could Have Been Me

So I actually grew up in Mexico. I was born there, and I moved here to the US when I was 7 years old. I am undocumented...

I am undocumented so I did have to cross the border.

You know, like, being a kid…

You get separated. You get separated…

And there was another kid who was crossing with me at the time, and she was actually sexually assaulted in front of me, and..., and she got taken away.

Typically, in these situations it's like human trafficking (spoken) or they killed her.

So, it was like that whole experience has shaped me.

Obviously. But it actually yeah, like, it gave me motivation at the time, like making everything I do worth the sacrifice or worth that moment in time, that it could have been me.

Sovereignty

A sovereign nation within bounds of a larger one…

A sovereign nation within bounds of a larger one.

And we try to practice our ways, our rites.

A sovereign nation… we claim to have sovereignty.

But we must stay in the guidelines they impose on us,

that envelop us.

The illusion of freedom...

A Good Life

Their idea of the American Dream

And mine

Are different

Theirs is like:

If you’re a girl—

get married

have kids

be quiet

If you are a girl.

If you’re a boy—

go to college

get a career

(then you)

get married

have kids

He has a career,

I have a job.

But, you know,

I don’t look at it that way.

The American Dream is...

The American Dream is—

doing what you want to do

what makes you happy...

The American Dream

I lived the American Dream—

I might not have finished college, but

I got a job

I worked hard

I worked hard at the job for 33 years

I was able to just recently retire

Gave my kids a good life.

Hopefully they think so...

Homecoming

I cannot. I can’t… I cannot say… I cannot say that I...

I can’t-- you know, it’s hard to say patriot.

I served in the navy, four long years.

I served in the navy.

It’s hard to say: patriot,

It’s hard to say I am a patriot.

Because even after serving I come home and see on TV.

“Black man gunned down”

in his uniform,

Killed in his uniform.

In his uniform!

It's hard to say I am a patriot, being a Black man in America:

The treatment of Black men in America.

When you come home from war, you want to feel safe, in your House.

You want to feel good. When you come home….

But home does not feel good.

Your home does not feel good.

Of course you want to go outside.

You know what I mean?

You know what I mean.

Learn Something for Me

My Grandmother left to care for them, her parents, she was like 12 years old…

The native way – always, take care of your elders.

But grandmother said, said to me every day

Always, always you go, get up and every day

always always “go learn something for me.”

Ah oh, Ah oh.

She said “ev’ry day, always always you go,

Get up and and e’vry day always, always go learn something for me.”

Oh ah, Oh ah