Alice Shields work: Komachi at Sekidera, at Opera America with Aviva Players, Dec. 1

Tue - December 1, 2015, 7:30 pm

Komachi at Sekidera, a Noh-inspired mini-opera by Alice Shields, will be performed
Tuesday, Dec.1, 2015 at 7:30 pm at OPERA AMERICA, 330 Seventh Avenue, NYC (between w.28th & 29th St.)

Performers will include Martha Cluver, soprano, Sarah Carrier, alto flute & Mayuko Matsuda, koto.

Costume design: Camilla Huey; Costume Assistant Nicole Rauscher; Lighting: Seth Tillet.

Admission is $20, reception included. For tickets contact SMARTTIX at 212-868-4444

or purchase online here - or, visit the box office on the night of the concert.

The concert, entitled "THAT CERTAIN AGE" is a program of short operas about aging with grace and humor, produced by The Aviva Players, Kindred Spirits & New York Women Composers, and will also include works by Mira Spektor, Seymor Barab, Anne Phillips, Haim Elisha & Mario Fratti.

"Komachi at Sekidera" by Alice Shields is based on the Japanese Noh play, "Sekidera Komachi" by Kanze Motokiyo Zeame (1363-1443). The protagonist, Ono no Komachi, was a woman of great literary gifts and beauty who lived at the Heian court in ninth-century Japan. She became a legend after her death, and many apocryphal stories surround the few known facts concerning her life. In the opera, Komachi has lived into old age, beyond her beauty and her literary fame, and is forgotten. Confronted with age and mortality, she alternates between crying out for the days that are gone, and contemplates the bittersweet delight of being alive. Featured are Martha Cluver as Ono no Komachi with Mayuko Matsuda (Koto) and Sarah Carrier (Alto Flute).

Founded in 1975, The Aviva Players is one of the first chamber ensembles to feature music of Women Composers. The goal of The Aviva Players is to research, present, promote and, above all, to perform the rich repertoire of chamber music and songs by Women Composers from the 12th to the 21st centuries.