02.09.24 Pellicciotti Workshop Performance

Evening Concert Series Sara M. Snell Music Theater

2023 – 2024 Season Friday, February 9th at 7:30pm

Crane Opera Ensemble Andrew Voelker, music director Timothy Takach, composer Caitlin Vincent, librettist Cori Ellison, dramaturg Computing Venus Winner of the 2024 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize

Intermission Feedback Session Members of the audience are welcomed to remain for participation if desired.

After the Critical Response Process by Liz Lerman

Cast Maria Mitchell Haleigh Vescio Mekayla Fountaine Mary Gabby Maresco Sarah Catherine Boyd Ida Camila Arias Edward Clarke Eddie Hayes John Raymond Jacob Frenyea

Agnes Danielle Albrecht Maria’s Mother Kristen Sita Astronomer Daniel Emmons Students Danielle Albrecht Alyssa Bonfardeci Rebecca Gatto Parents Hannah Sywulski Emily Buliung John Calandra

Ensemble Danielle Albrecht Hannah Sywulski Alyssa Bonfardeci Emily Buliung Madeline Nokland Annabelle Kahle Sarah Westcott Kristen Sita Rebecca Gatto Camila Arias John Calandra Daniel Emmons Hudson Smith Noah Driscoll Marcus Smith

Computing Venus Inspired by the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell Music by Timothy C. Takach • Libretto by Caitlin Vincent Winner of the 2024 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize “Does anyone suppose that any woman in all the ages has had a fair chance to show what she could do in science?”

– Maria Mitchell

Synopsis: Computing Venus provides a glimpse into the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell, one of the earliest champions of women in STEM. The opera follows Mitchell’s efforts to cultivate the next generation of women astronomers, even as growing movements threatened to close the world of science to women forever.

Historical Context: Born into a Quaker household in Nantucket in 1818, Mitchell grew up observing the stars with her father and excelled in astronomy and advanced mathematics from a young age. At 29, Mitchell made history when she discovered a comet, subsequently known as Miss Mitchell’s Comet, while mapping the stars from the roof of her house. Mitchell was awarded a gold medal by the King of Denmark for her discovery and quickly became the most famous woman in America. A year later, she was hired as the official ‘computer of Venus’ for the United States, one of only 11 professional mathematician astronomers—and the only woman—working in such a capacity in the country. From 1865 on, Mitchell served as the first female professor of astronomy at the newly- founded Vassar College and focused her efforts on cultivating the next generation of woman astronomers.

As a young woman, Mitchell benefited from a largely supportive environment for women in science. In the early decades of the 19th century, the study of science and mathematics was thought to be a womanly activity, consistent with domestic duties and lady-like behaviour. By the 1860s and 1870s, however, women in science saw the tide turn ag ainst them, spurred by the publication of Edward Clarke’s 1873 book, Sex in Education, Or, A Fair Chance for Girls. Clarke, then a professor at Harvard Medical School, claimed that higher education had a detrimental physiological effect on women, making them sterile, sexually deviant, and hermaphrodites. As a high-profile, unmarried female professor at Vassar,

Mitchell was indirectly targeted by Clarke’s claims and became the living embodiment of the fate facing young women who were ‘too’ educated.

As the backlash against educating women gained speed, Mitchell took an active role in attempting to counteract the movement, presenting a series of public speeches and co-founding the Association for the Advancement of Women. Despite her efforts, Mitchell saw public opinion irrevocably shift against the younger generation of women. Students at Vassar were barred from taking her courses by concerned parents, and only a few of her former protégés managed to find employment as astronomers. In the late 1880s, Mitchell retired from her post at Vassar and died shortly afterwards at the age of 70. Despite her personal accomplishments, Mitchell saw her advancements undermined as the world of science and astronomy became closed to women. More than a century after Mitchell’s death, women still struggle to access STEM fields and achieve the same recognition and acknowledgement as their male peers. As recently as 2005, Lawrence Summers, then President of Harvard College, stated publicly that women were innately unsuited to the sciences.

Music Director’s Note Thank you for joining us tonight as we present the results of the workshop of our 2024 Pellicciotti winner, Computing Venus. At the Crane School of Music, we are proud to continue this tradition of sponsoring and producing new works through this competition and the Crane Opera Ensemble. These students have spent the last three days in workshop rehearsal of this piece; it is a work in progress, but we are thrilled to share it with you. We hope that you will join us again in November 2024 for the premiere full production of the opera.

There are many people who have worked to bring the Pellicciotti competition to this stage in the cycle. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Gary Jaquay for sponsoring this competition and for his incredible support of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. I would also like to thank my colleagues Dr. Nils Klykken, Dr. Tim Sullivan, and Prof. Margaret Chalker for their help and support in making this event possible. I am extremely grateful for Dr. Brock Tjosvold, who worked through the previous stages of this process, and has handed it off to me with continued support without which this workshop could not have happened.

Creative Team Inspired by captivating narrative, speculative fiction and making humans better through art, the music of Timothy C. Takach has risen fast in the concert world.

Applauded for his melodic lines, thoughtful text choices and rich, intriguing harmonies, Takach has received commissions and performances from GRAMMY Award-winning ensembles Roomful of Teeth and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the St. Olaf Band, Cantus, Lorelei Ensemble, VocalEssence, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, and numerous other organizations. His compositions have been performed on A Prairie Home Companion, The Boston Pops holiday tour, numerous All-State and festival programs and at venues such as the Library of Congress, Kennedy Center and Royal Opera House Muscat.

Takach is a co-creator of the theatrical production of All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914, by Peter Rothstein. The critically adored show has had over 120 performances since its premiere in 2006. Takach and librettist Caitlin Vincent won the 2024 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize for Computing Venus, an opera based on the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell, which will premiere at SUNY Potsdam in Fall 2024. In 2018 his oratorio We, the Unknown premiered at the Folly Theatre in Kansas City featuring the Heartland Men’s Chorus. Takach’s a cappella choral symphony Helios is “larger than life, as if the piece were accompanied by an orchestra” and is “complemented with brilliant visuals created by CandyStations” (Tucson.com). In 2023 his ballet with choreographer Penelope Freeh Unfashioned Creature was premiered in St. Paul, MN by the James Sewell Ballet. Takach was a co-founder, singer and Artistic Co-Director of the vocal ensemble Cantus and has frequent national work as a composer-in-residence, presenter, clinician and lecturer. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two sons.

Caitlin Vincent is an award-winning librettist and lyricist whose writing has been praised as “nuanced and honest” (DC Theatre Scene), “intriguing” (The Baltimore Sun), and “luminous” (The Huffington Post). Vincent’s works have been performed

by Washington National Opera, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the University of Connecticut, the Schubert Club of Minnesota, the Melbourne Fringe Festival, and Semperoper Dresden, among others. In 2017, Vincent and composer Douglas Buchanan won the 2017-19 Sackler Music Composition Prize for Bessie and Ma, an opera about aviator Bessie Coleman and Governor Miriam “Ma” Ferguson. In 2022,

Vincent and composer Timothy C. Takach won the Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize for Computing Venus, an opera based on the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell, which will premiere at SUNY Potsdam in Fall 2024. Other operatic works include Beyond (2023) and Honeyed Voices (2023), both with composer Lisa Neher; The Blood Vote (2023) with composer Jenny Game; Tienda (2019) with composer Reinaldo Moya; Nullipara (2018) with composer D. J. Sparr; Prix Fixe (2015) with composer Kevin Wilt; and Camelot Requiem (2013) with composer Joshua Bornfield.

Also noted for her work in song repertoire, Vincent has had works premiered at the Oxford Lieder Festival, Wigmore Hall, and Carnegie Hall, including Godiva (2019) with composer Juliana Hall and Little Black Book (2019) with composer Susan LaBarr. Other song works include Modern Muse (2017), Sentiment (2017), and Thanks a Latte (2022), which is included on the GRAMMY-nominated vocal album 40@40. In December 2020, bass-baritone Zachary James premiered AHAB, another collaboration with Juliana Hall, as part of his awardwinning visual album Call Out. A classically-trained ballet dancer and former professional opera singer, Vincent is on faculty at the University of Melbourne.

Cori Ellison, a leading creative figure in the opera world, has served as staff Dramaturg at Santa Fe Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and New York City Opera. Active in developing contemporary opera, she is a founding faculty member and mentor at American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program and has developed new operatic works for companies including Glyndebourne, Icelandic Opera, Canadian Opera, Norwegian Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Chicago Opera Theater, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Pittsburgh Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, On Site Opera, the Miller Theater, Indiana University Opera Theater, and Crane School of Music. She has served as production dramaturg for projects including L'incoronazione di Poppea at Cincinnati Opera; Orphic Moments at the Salzburg Landestheater, National Sawdust, and Master Voices; Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo at National Sawdust and Philharmonia Baroque; Washington National Opera’s Ring cycle, Opera Boston’s The Nose, Offenbach!!! at Bard Summerscape, and La finta giardiniera at Indiana University.

At The Juilliard School, she serves on the Vocal Arts faculty and is also a faculty member at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Singers. She has coached and taught master classes for singers at schools including Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto,

University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Michigan State University, Mannes College, DePaul University, University of Illinois, Loyola University, Montclair State University, University of Utah, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Florida International University, and Oklahoma State University, as well as the Crested Butte Opera Studio and Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program. She regularly serves as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Concurso San Miguel in Mexico, and many other vocal competitions. She creates supertitles for opera companies worldwide and helped launch Met Titles, the Met’s simultaneous translation system.

Her English singing translations include Hansel and Gretel (NYCO), La vestale (English National Opera), and Shostakovich’s Cherry Tree Towers (Bard Summerscape). She has often written for the New York Times and has contributed to books including The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The Compleat Mozart.