Butler School of Music: Downwind
Downwind is a contemporary opera centered on the fictitious Mendoza family, set against the backdrop of real historical events.
Butler School of Music brings this work to Helsinki as a representative example of one of their most innovative initiatives: the creation of new operas through close collaboration between Butler School of Music composition department and the Butler Opera Center. These works are conceived and composed by composition students and brought to life by members of Butler Opera Center, reflecting a dynamic, student-driven creative process and a strong commitment to collaboration, creativity, and the future of opera.
The visit also forms part of the developing collaboration between the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and various high-level foreign music universities. The performance is presented at the Sibelius Academy in connection with shared pedagogical approaches to student-driven opera creation and is complemented by workshops and masterclasses involving Sibelius Academy students.
Performers
- Ben Lowe, baritone (Eduardo Mendoza)
- Kara Covey, soprano (Teresa Mendoza)
- Connor Behrmann, tenor (Enrique Mendoza)
- Kayla Suter, soprano (Ofelia Mendoza)
- Douglas Kinney Frost, conductor and pianist
Programme
Downwind
- Music by: Michael Robert Smith
- Libretto by: Demian Chavez Galván
- Director: Madison Jackson
Changes are possible.
Further informaton: Anna Huuskonen-Kuhlefelt, anna.huuskonen-kuhlefelt@uniarts.fi
Butler School of Music brings this work to Helsinki as a representative example of one of their most innovative initiatives: the creation of new operas through close collaboration between Butler School of Music composition department and the Butler Opera Center. These works are conceived and composed by composition students and brought to life by members of Butler Opera Center, reflecting a dynamic, student-driven creative process and a strong commitment to collaboration, creativity, and the future of opera.
The visit also forms part of the developing collaboration between the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and various high-level foreign music universities. The performance is presented at the Sibelius Academy in connection with shared pedagogical approaches to student-driven opera creation and is complemented by workshops and masterclasses involving Sibelius Academy students.
Performers
- Ben Lowe, baritone (Eduardo Mendoza)
- Kara Covey, soprano (Teresa Mendoza)
- Connor Behrmann, tenor (Enrique Mendoza)
- Kayla Suter, soprano (Ofelia Mendoza)
- Douglas Kinney Frost, conductor and pianist
Programme
Downwind
- Music by: Michael Robert Smith
- Libretto by: Demian Chavez Galván
- Director: Madison Jackson
Changes are possible.
Further informaton: Anna Huuskonen-Kuhlefelt, anna.huuskonen-kuhlefelt@uniarts.fi