(Photo--Rowen Sabala as Vireo courtesy KCET)
In the making for some time, the made-for TV opera "VIREO: the Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser" will premiere at 8 p.m. on June 13th, on KCET.
Produced in partnership with Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center (GCAC), the two-and-a-half-hour broadcast will be a special edition of KCETLink’s Emmy® award-winning arts and culture series ARTBOUND. In a first for the network, KCETLink will release all 12 of the approximately 15-minute episodes of VIREO at once for free, on-demand streaming starting Weds., May 31 at kcet.org/vireo, linktv.org/vireo, and on Apple TV and Roku.
The eponymous heroine Vireo, played by soprano Rowen Sabala, is a fourteen-year- old girl genius entangled in the historic obsession with female visionaries, as witch-hunters, early psychiatrists, and modern artists have defined them. Based on Bielawa’s own research at Yale, then freely adapted and re-imagined by librettist Ehn, VIREO is a composite history of the way in which teenage-girl visionaries’ writings and rantings have been manipulated, incorporated and interpreted by the communities of men surrounding them throughout history. From the European Dark Ages, to Salem, Massachusetts, all the way to 19th century France and contemporary performance art, VIREO provides a thoughtful, sometimes-humorous look at the universal issues of gender identity, perception, and reality.
VIREO features the work of over 350 musicians including opera star Deborah Voigt, violinist Jennifer Koh, cellist Joshua Roman, mezzo-sopranos Laurie Rubin, Maria Lazarova and Kirsten Sollek, baritone Gregory Purnhagen, tenor Ryan Glover, drummer Matthias Bossi, soprano Emma MacKenzie and in the title role of Vireo, teenage soprano Rowen Sabala.
Additionally, the opera features the talents of notable groups and organizations from around the country including Kronos Quartet, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Magik*Magik Orchestra, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, PARTCH, the Orange County School of the Arts Middle School Choir, and many, many more.
Produced in partnership with Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center (GCAC), the two-and-a-half-hour broadcast will be a special edition of KCETLink’s Emmy® award-winning arts and culture series ARTBOUND. In a first for the network, KCETLink will release all 12 of the approximately 15-minute episodes of VIREO at once for free, on-demand streaming starting Weds., May 31 at kcet.org/vireo, linktv.org/vireo, and on Apple TV and Roku.
The eponymous heroine Vireo, played by soprano Rowen Sabala, is a fourteen-year- old girl genius entangled in the historic obsession with female visionaries, as witch-hunters, early psychiatrists, and modern artists have defined them. Based on Bielawa’s own research at Yale, then freely adapted and re-imagined by librettist Ehn, VIREO is a composite history of the way in which teenage-girl visionaries’ writings and rantings have been manipulated, incorporated and interpreted by the communities of men surrounding them throughout history. From the European Dark Ages, to Salem, Massachusetts, all the way to 19th century France and contemporary performance art, VIREO provides a thoughtful, sometimes-humorous look at the universal issues of gender identity, perception, and reality.
VIREO features the work of over 350 musicians including opera star Deborah Voigt, violinist Jennifer Koh, cellist Joshua Roman, mezzo-sopranos Laurie Rubin, Maria Lazarova and Kirsten Sollek, baritone Gregory Purnhagen, tenor Ryan Glover, drummer Matthias Bossi, soprano Emma MacKenzie and in the title role of Vireo, teenage soprano Rowen Sabala.
Additionally, the opera features the talents of notable groups and organizations from around the country including Kronos Quartet, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, Magik*Magik Orchestra, American Contemporary Music Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, PARTCH, the Orange County School of the Arts Middle School Choir, and many, many more.
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