ALICE RYLEY (2015) and ANNA HUNTER (2017) are my two operas set in Savannah. Both were written while I was composer-in-residence at Savannah Voice Festival. Both of these pieces were workshopped and premiered separately and then performed together in 2022. They are now available separately or together. ALICE is over fifty minutes; ANNA is around 40.
Alice is a dark ghost story lifted from a few paragraphs from the annals of Georgia. An indentured Irish servant in the early days of the colony, she is accused of murdering her master. When they discover she is pregnant, they allow her to have her baby and then hang her a few weeks later. A guilty conscience is one of the reasons that we imagine ghosts, and that is the case for Savannah here. The legend is that if you encounter a young woman asking "Have you seen my baby?" that's Alice.
Anna Hunter is the story of how a group of women in Savannah kept the city from modernizing itself to the point of losing its historic character in the mid 20th century. After the demolition of the city market, Anna energizes a group to save the historic Davenport house. Anna is a comedy, as light as Alice is dark.
ALICE RYLEY (about 50 minutes)
Soundcloud Playlist and Perusal score (Direct Download)
Orchestration: Flute, Drums, String Quintet, Piano. (There is also a Vln/Vc/Piano version)
ANNA HUNTER (about 40 minutes)
Soundcloud Playlist and Perusal score (Direct Download)
Anna (M or S), Louise (M), Mrs. Davenport (S), Mr. Davenport (T), Mr. Progress (B), Quortina (M or S, should be African American, separate keys available), Lucy (M), Jane (S or M), Kass (M or S), Ensemble.
Orchestration: Flute, Drums, String Quintet, Piano.
I'm very grateful for to Maria and Sherrill and SVF for commissioning these two operas!
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