Michael Dellaira

Mezzo-Soprano, women's voices (S & A), bass clarinet, guitar, viola, double bass

Song Co-authored by Nuka Alice.

Arctic Explorations tells the story of 19th century explorer Elisha Kent Kane, and his curious romance with spiritualist and medium Maggie Fox. The story is about the human desire to know what lies beyond the boundaries of our experience. Explorers, all of us, our success often comes at a cost, and nowhere can this cost be measured more than in the Arctic, one of the most beautiful -- and endangered -- places on earth.

The libretto is based on Kane's 1856 bestseller, "Arctic Explorations" as well as letters and newspaper articles from the period, including the love letters between Kane and Fox. The opera is scored for four principal singers and chorus, with an ensemble of clarinet, guitar, banjo, violin, viola, double bass and percussion.

The Inuit play a significant role in the opera, and the libretto contains a number of passages in the Inuit language Kalaallisut, (now called Greenlandic since Greenland's independence from Denmark.) Greenlandic (and Inuit) drum-dancer Nuka Alice has consulted on pronunciation and translation. Nuka Alice is also a captivating performer, and was involved in creating the role of an Inuit spirit, Siarnaq.

Nuka Alice Lund is one of the pioneers in the revitalization of the Inuit drum dancing and singing in Greenland. Not only is she a keeper of songs that she passes along when she teaches, she also creates her own drum songs. She teaches inuit drum dance at Knud Rasmussenip højskolea, The music school Serravik and also as a guest teacher at the national theatre school.

This is an archival item from ACA's catalog, and not currently available for purchase.