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Washington National Opera's vocalists Aundi Moore, Anamer Castrello,
Wayne Jennings and Louis Davis sang an original score composed
by Joshua Rich and lyrics by Tom Minter.
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First, take this pop quiz:
1: When Hunter Smith faked a punt on Nov. 15, who received the 35-yard pass for a touchdown against the Broncos?
2: When the Washington National Opera (WNO) performed Wagner's Gotterdamerrung [Twilight of the Gods] on Nov. 15, who sang the part of Brunnhilde?
3: Are the Redskins or Wagner more relevant to enjoying the new operatic piece, “Threading Time,” which premiered at Kelly Miller Middle School, Nov. 15?
Answers: 1: fullback Mike Sellers; 2: soprano Irene Theorin; 3: neither
And this “neither” is an important element in the budding arts partnership between WNO and Ward 7 Arts Collaborative (W7AC), according to WNO's director of education, Bruce Taylor.
Partnership for the Long Haul
“We want people to be curious enough to want to experience opera,” Taylor explains. If more people become interested in Wagner or check out Porgy and Bess, that would be a welcome “by-product,” but it's not the purpose of the partnership. The education department wants WNO to help others use opera – which is a “multi-art form” that includes music, dance, visual arts and literature – to “express what is most important to them.”
W7AC wants people who live both in the ward and outside of it to “realize that the area has a rich history and culture,” notes Taylor. “We are here to help them share this through art, and that art helps deepen the community's commitment and identification.”
The DC Humanities Council funded this project, says Wanda Aikens, W7AC executive director, partnering W7AC with a larger, more established and better-resourced organization. “The Opera would work with us on a project about Ward 7. In exchange, we would provide untapped resources and expertise and help them be welcomed and connected to Ward 7.”
The partnership has already been a “learning experience for Ward 7 and a learning experience for us,” concludes Taylor, noting that WNO plans a “ReWard Day,” celebrating wards 7 and 8, and eventually a one-act African-American opera. “We're committed to the long haul.”
Community In Bloom
Four people who meet at a street corner and “mingle their thoughts on community” might not seem a usual opera subject. Through the WNO-W7AC partnership, however, just such a scene was brought to operatic life. Joshua Rich and lyricist Tim Minter, created “Threading Time,” based on interviews with generations of Ward 7 residents. It was performed by soprano Aundi Moore, mezzo-soprano Anamer Castrello, tenor Wayne Jennings and baritone Louis Davis.
The result “was spellbinding,” reports Marvin Bowser, Ward 7 Commissioner, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, who was in the audience. Miss DC, Jennifer Corey, cites participation in this project as “one of the most moving parts of [her] internship with WNO.”
The theme of intergenerational conflict and disconnection, which emerged from the 20 hours of interviews, appears in “Threading Time” and other “Community in Bloom” pieces.
Spoken-word artist Deidre Gantt [contributing writer to this newspaper] says she was struck by the irony that groups describing the strongest feelings of disconnection -- seniors and youth -- frequently ride the same buses. Her “Bus Drivers: Tour of Ward 7” -- “we'd better connect; put down our fear and mistrust and pick up love and respect!” -- struck an audible chord with the audience.
Julia Jones says her 24-year old Smothers Dance Ensemble explored possibilities for resolution, along with sources of conflict. “Generational Gaps” -- presented by dancers in kindergarten through middle school – “spoke to discord then harmony between the generations,” says Bowser.
“Our community is changing, and this project offered an opportunity for residents to express their thoughts,” says Jones, who also serves as W7AC board chair. She adds: “We have been working for many years to get W7AC established. We want to be a sustainable force and continue to do projects, such as this outreach to youth and seniors.”
“Parlor Indians,” a collaboration of Melvin Deal's African Heritage Drummers and Ivy Hylton, a classical vocalist, introduced a little-known piece of the area's (Afro-)Native American history.
“It takes artists to highlight elements of a community's history, so that people realize its importance,” says Deal. “I think this project was able to bring to the fore the richness that exists in that community, the uniqueness of people who live there and their endeavor to provide a quality of life for themselves and their families.”
Deal adds that W7AC – and the partnership with WNO – is changing the perception that artists work east of the river, “because they couldn't make it elsewhere.” The reality, he says, “is that we have rich and accomplished artists – many of us are internationally known -- who stay to serve their community.”
For selections from “Community in Bloom,” contact Ward 7 Arts Collaborative, www.w7aconline.org, 202-399-7177, or visit YouTube. (Wagner and Sellers were both born in Germany: Leipzig, 1813; Frankfurt, 1975.). |
