‘Scalia/Ginsburg’ at 2017 Glimmerglass Festival
The Glimmerglass Festival Presents Derrick Wang’s Opera Scalia/Ginsburg in August 2017
2017 Artist in Residence William Burden to Sing the Role of Scalia
Cooperstown, NY – July 7, 2016
Scalia/Ginsburg, the new American opera by Derrick Wang about Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia, will be presented by The Glimmerglass Festival in a production starring 2017 Glimmerglass Artist in Residence and acclaimed tenor William Burden.
UPDATE (Oct. 12, 2016): Performances of Scalia/Ginsburg will take place Friday, August 4, 2017 and Sunday, August 13, 2017 on the Glimmerglass Festival mainstage.
New subscriptions for the 2017 Festival go on sale October 18, 2016; single tickets for the 2017 Festival go on sale January 31, 2017.
First introduced in a private audience at the Supreme Court of the United States, Scalia/Ginsburg received its world premiere production at Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival in 2015, where it has been hailed by both arts critics and legal commentators as “brilliant” (DC Theatre Scene), “funny, exceedingly clever” (Above the Law), “laser-accurate…top-notch” (Classical Voice North America), and “tuneful…accessible…smart…a triumph” (The American Interest). The Los Angeles Times wrote: “Could we please make it a constitutional requirement that no one can be sworn into office in the White House or Congress without first having seen Scalia/Ginsburg?”
Composer/librettist Derrick Wang’s operatic fusion of music and law dramatizes the question: What if Supreme Court Justices were judged by a Higher Power? In this one-act comedic valentine to law and opera inspired by the opinions of the Justices themselves, ideological opposites Justices Ginsburg and Scalia must navigate three cosmic trials to win their freedom. The catch? They just might have to agree on the U.S. Constitution. Opinions will be offered. Dissents will be delivered. And justice will be sung.
“Scalia/Ginsburg comes from my fascination with the intersection of opera and theater, tradition and change, and the interdisciplinary power of the arts in society — ideas also embodied by The Glimmerglass Festival,” said Derrick Wang. “I am excited to work with Glimmerglass to share this story of a friendship that transcends political and philosophical divides.”
The libretto to Scalia/Ginsburg, written by the composer and containing over 200 footnotes to legal and musical sources, was published in the Winter 2015 issue of The Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts with prefaces by Justices Ginsburg and Scalia. Developmental excerpts from Scalia/Ginsburg have been presented at musical and legal organizations including the Washington National Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Maryland Opera Studio, National Constitution Center, Second Circuit Judicial Conference (co-sponsored by Columbia Law School) with artists from Opera Saratoga, and Stanford Law School & the Stanford Arts Institute.
SCALIA/GINSBURG
Opera in one act by Derrick Wang
Twitter: @ScaliaGinsburg
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ScaliaGinsburg
Instagram: @scaliaginsburg
About DERRICK WANG (Composer & Librettist, Scalia/Ginsburg)
Derrick Wang is a composer, lyricist, and librettist, creating dramatic music for an interdisciplinary world. He is the creator of the opera Scalia/Ginsburg, which was introduced at the U.S. Supreme Court, published in the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts, and premiered at Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival to international attention from both the musical and legal worlds. The Los Angeles Times wrote: “Could we please make it a constitutional requirement that no one can be sworn into office in the White House or Congress without first having seen Scalia/Ginsburg?”
His music has been awarded by ASCAP and BMI, played by groups ranging from the American Modern Ensemble to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and heard in venues from New York to Shanghai. His lyrics, set to his own music, have been performed at venues including the York Theatre, Ars Nova, Joe’s Pub, and Center Stage. He has been a Resident Artist at American Lyric Theater as both composer and librettist. As a speaker, Derrick Wang engages audiences in the United States and abroad on interdisciplinary topics, including the intersection of music and law; recent appearances include TEDxBroadway and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
He is a graduate of Harvard University (AB Music, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude), the Yale School of Music (MM Composition), and the University of Maryland Carey School of Law (JD). www.derrickwang.com
Twitter: @WhatDerrickSaid
Facebook: http://facebook.com/DerrickWangMusic
Glimmerglass 2017 Season Announcement
CONTACT:
pr@derrickwang.com
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