Name: Sophia’s Forest
Start: 2022-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Grace Cathedral

Organization

Conductor

Nicole Paiement

Stage director

Brian Staufenbiel

Singer

Soprano

Maggie Finnegan

Sophia

Mezzo-soprano

Kindra Scharich

Anna

Baritone

Bradley Kynard

Victoria Ko

Emma

Samantha Fung-Lee

Opera Parallèle

Sophia’s Forest

San Francisco

United States

Grace Cathedral

Sophia’s Forest Beecher

Public

Approved

Accordionist

Instrumentalist

Archlutenist

Baroque Flutist

Baroque Oboist

Baroque Trumpetist

Bassist

Bassoonist

Cellist

Clarinetist

Contrabassist

Cornettist

Flutist

Guitarist

Harper

Harpsichordist

Hornist

Lutenist

Mandoline Player

Musette de cour Player

Oboist

Organist

Percussionist

Pianist

Recorder Player

Saxophonist

Tenor Violinist

Theorbist

Timpani

Trombonist

Trumpeter

Tuba Player

Vibraphonist

Viola Pomposa Player

Viola da gamba

Viola d’amore Player

Violinist

Violino Piccolo Player

Violist

Actor

Broadcasting

Choir

Choreographer

Chorus Director

Chorus master

Composer

Costume designer

Dancer

Dramaturge

Executive producer

Extra

Hairstylist

Illustrator

Librettist

Lighting designer

Makeup artist

Orchestra

Orchestra Operations

Other

Photographer

Poet

Repetiteur

Set designer

Sound designer

Stage Manager

Teacher

Translator

Video designer

Vocal coach

Wig & Makeup Designer

Writer

Writing and performance

Bass

Contralto

Bass-baritone

Tenor

Countertenor

Alto

Child vocalist

Continuo

Silent

Spoken

I.  Dream Nr. 1
II. Dream Nr. 2 (5:43)

Written for string quartet, custom music box, and electronically-controlled sound sculptures, “Sophia’s Wide Awake Dreams” (2017) was adapted from Lembit Beecher’s opera “Sophia’s Forest.” These two movements suggest the inner imaginative world of the protagonist, a 9-year old recent immigrant to the United States named Sophia. In the opera, Sophia confides in a music box that gradually comes alive in her mind, a mechanical creature both comforting and dangerous, who shields her from the outside world.

The sound sculptures used in the recording were built in collaboration with the ExCITe Center at Drexel University. The music box is a vintage Thorens music box modified by Jonathan Herz of the Herz Music Box Company to play a melody Lembit composed.

Recorded and produced by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio. Video by Four/Ten Media. From the Aizuri Quartet’s GRAMMY-nominated debut album Blueprinting (New Amsterdam Records, 2018).

Sophia’s Forest explores the lasting effects of the immigrant experience on families and the ways children use their imaginations to cope with trauma and find healing. The innovative opera tells the story of a nine-year-old recent immigrant to the US who, through a traumatic journey, escaped the chaos of a civil war in her homeland.
Nine electronically-controlled sound sculptures, designed and operated by composer Lembit Beecher, placed across the stage are a direct outgrowth of Sophia’s memories: bike wheels recall Sophia’s youthful adventures with her sister Emma, and wine glasses become a central part of her mother Anna’s coping once the family moves to America.

English

Sophia’s Forest by Beecher, From (2022/2022), Directed by Brian Staufenbiel,, Conductor Nicole Paiement, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, United States

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Programme, About & Synopsis

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues