The Crane Opera Ensemble Presents
Computing Venus
An Opera in One Act
Winner of the 2024 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize
Music by Timothy C. Takach Libretto by Caitlin Vincent
November 1-3, 2024
Sara M. Snell Music Theater
SUNY Potsdam
THE CRANE OPERA ENSEMBLE
Sarah M. Snell Music Theater, SUNY Potsdam
Friday, November 1, 2024 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 3, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.
Computing Venus
An Opera in One Act
Music by Timothy C. Takach
Libretto by Caitlin Vincent
Music Director/Conductor: Andrew Voelker
Stage director: Cindy Oxberry
Dramaturg: Cori Ellison
Projection and Surface Designer: Camilla Tassi
Lighting Designer: Tonry Lathroum
Technical Director: Thomas Grabowski
Wardrobe Supervisor/Coordinator: Sarah Diederich
Stage Manager: Ryan Holahan
Assistant Stage Manager: Dana Butcher
Cast of Characters
Maria Mitchell: Haleigh Vescio* / Camila Arias+
Edward Clarke: Eddie Hayes* / John Calandra+
John Raymond: Gabriel Morris* / James Quagliaroli+
Mary: Alyssa Bonfardeci* / Gabby Maresco+
Sarah: Danielle Albrecht* / Catherine Boyd+
Ida: Kristen Sita* / Rebecca Gatto+
Agnes: Kennedy Royal
Astronomer: Aidan Sperduti
Parent #1: Madeline Nokland
Parent #2: Antoinette Parisi
Parent #3: Manny Coleman
Chorus (Students, Parents, and Astronomers):
Kenzie Caccamo, Noah Driscoll, Annabelle Kahle, Katherine Keegan, Julian Mast, Eve Meinsen, Mikey Miller, Sarah Poirier, Matt Reed, Natalia Romero, Sarah Westcott
*Friday, November 1, 2024 & Sunday, November 3, 2024
+Saturday, November 2, 2024 and Community Outreach Performance
THE CRANE OPERA ORCHESTRA
Violin 1: Vanessa Cruz
Violin 2: John DiSpaltro
Viola: Ehren Auer
Cello: Mirabel Sasiela
Double-bass: Lilith Schatz
Flute: Emma Scionti
Oboe: Kayla Outman
Clarinet: Libby Sheldon
Bassoon: Maddie Garcia
Horn: Sophia Randazzo
Harp: Ricky Chui
Dramaturg: Cori Ellison
Props, Hair, and Makeup Coordinator: Cindy Oxberry
Facilities Manager: Matthew Gatti
Assistant Facilities Manager: Josh Barkley
Audio/Video Engineer: Douglas McKinnie
Projections Operator: Alyssa Normington
Light Board Operator: Morgan Ziemba
Electrician: Jay Foster-Grover
Wardrobe Assistant: Cindy Oxberry
Millinery Design: Antoinette Parisi
Rehearsal Pianist: Johanna Saint-Vil
Stage Crew: Grace Austin, Julia Diamond
Communications, Public Relations, Outreach, Artist Services: Margaret Chalker
Outreach Assistants: Sisters of SAI
2024 Pellicciotti Competition Selection Committee
Timothy Sullivan, SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music
Brock Tjosvold, Eastman School of Music
Tom Cipullo, award-winning composer and 2018 Pellicciotti prize recipient
Liesl Schoenberger Doty, SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music
Cori Ellison, dramaturg, The Juilliard School
Carleen Graham, Manhattan School of Music
Ivette Herryman-Rodriguez, SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music
Darren Woods, General and Artistic Director, Seagle Music Colony
About the Pellicciotti Prize
The Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize was founded by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay ’67 to honor his life partner, Domenic J. Pellicciotti, an ardent fan of opera. The award seeks to encourage and acknowledge the creation of new opera works that explore themes related to tolerance, inclusion or the celebration of diversity. Every four years, a panel of distinguished opera professionals awards a $25,000 commission and full production to a composer/librettist team.
In August 2021, the adjudicating panel selected four finalists from among all the project proposals submitted, and each of the finalists was commissioned to write a fifteen-to-twenty-minute scene for workshop and performance at the finals in September 2022. During the competition finals, the Crane Opera Ensemble joined with Crane alumni and faculty artists to present commissioned scenes from each of the four finalists in a public performance. The finalists were "A Nearer Mother," composed by Evan Mack, with a libretto by Joshua McGuire; "Computing Venus," composed by Timothy C. Takach, with a libretto by Caitlin Vincent; "I Was Shot by a Cop," composed and written by Anthony R. Green, and "The Strangers," composed by Frank Pesci, with a libretto by Andrew Altenbach.
Takach and Vincent were selected as the recipients of the 2024 prize and were commissioned to complete "Computing Venus" for the Fall 2024 premiere. Over the last two years, students and faculty from Crane, participated with the creators and with consulting dramaturg Cori Ellison in libretto and musical workshops of the work as it took shape. The Crane Opera Ensemble and Orchestra are pleased to present the world premiere of this important new work which Takach and Vincent have lovingly crafted.
Computing Venus: An Overview
SYNOPSIS:
Prologue: 1847, Nantucket, Massachusetts
Gazing at the night sky from the roof of her home, Maria Mitchell discovers a comet
Scene 1: 1878, The Observatory at Vassar College, New York
The newest class of astronomy students anxiously waits for Maria Mitchell to arrive. Comparing bits of gossip about the famous woman astronomer, the girls eagerly anticipate the start of their studies. John Raymond and Maria Mitchell enter, and Maria immediately outlines her expectations for the class. Inspired, Mary, Sarah, and Ida aim to become her top students.
Scene 2: Boston, Massachusetts / Vassar College, New York
In a speech to the New England Women’s Club, Dr. Edward Clarke outlines the dangers of educating young women at college. Back at Vassar, John Raymond shows a copy of Clarke’s speech to Maria Mitchell, who shrugs off Raymond’s concerns. Meanwhile, Mary, Sarah, and Ida work on their latest astronomy assignment.
Scene 3: 1878, Denver, Colorado
Maria Mitchell and her astronomy class arrive in Colorado to observe the solar eclipse. Under Maria’s guidance, Mary, Sarah, Ida, and the other Vassar students successfully track the eclipse, despite being the only women among the pool of astronomers. As the others celebrate, Maria and Mary share a moment of vulnerability.
Scene 4: Boston, Massachusetts
Edward Clarke announces the publication of his new book, which further rails against educating young women, particularly in the sciences. Learning of Maria Mitchell’s influence at Vassar, Clarke decides to target her and publicly insinuates she poses a danger to the young women in her care. Alarmed, a group of parents write letters of concern to John Raymond.
Scene 5: John Raymond’s office at Vassar College, New York
John Raymond informs Maria Mitchell of the complaints he has received from parents who don’t want their daughters in Maria’s astronomy class. Maria offers to resign, but Raymond refuses. Instead, he urges her to publicly respond to Clarke’s claims.
Scene 6: The Observatory at Vassar College, New York
Ida tells Mary and Sarah she has just received a letter from her parents warning her about Maria Mitchell. Maria enters and soon gets into an argument with Mary, who insists on trying to defend her against the rumors. Aware of how her relationship with Mary is being perceived, Maria attempts to separate herself from the younger woman and accept her role as a symbol for women in science.
Scene 7: Boston, Massachusetts
Maria Mitchell finally confronts Edward Clarke in a public debate in Boston. While Maria attempts to counteract his claims with facts and science, Clarke expertly manipulates public opinion against her.
Scene 8: The Observatory at Vassar College, New York
Maria Mitchell enters her classroom for her daily astronomy lecture but finds a number of empty seats, including those of Sarah and Ida. Mary enters, but only to say goodbye: she is leaving as well. Bereft, Maria finds the strength to continue her work with the students who remain.
Epilogue: The Observatory at Vassar College, New York
Gazing at the night sky from her classroom, Maria Mitchell looks for another comet. In the distance, Mary, Sarah, and Ida search for their own comets as well.
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 newlyfounded 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 behavior. By the 1860s and 1870s, however, women in science saw the tide turn against them, spurred by the publication of Edward Clarke’s 1873 book, Sex in Education, Or, A Fair Chance for the 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.
Director’s Note
When I was invited to come to the Crane School of Music to direct a new opera which had recently won the prestigious Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize, I was truly excited and honored. I received the vocal score, and my pianist friend sat at my piano and played through its entirety, no words yet. Yes, we did it a second time. I made dinner for my friend and that night I read the libretto, no music. But as I read through the libretto a second time, I started humming (I am a conservatory trained musician). Humming is the sign, for me, that I appreciated what I heard and what I have read.
The librettist of Computing Venus, Caitlin Vincent, is someone I have known for a long time and I have known of her success in writing a libretto, her resume speaks for itself. I contacted her and she shared with me many research documents that she has acquired. Thus, I began to sketch out the scenes of the show that were materializing in my brain and spoke and touched my heart.
Inspired by the stars, encouraged by her family to reach for them, this woman of science, swam upstream against the current of men in science, to reach for her stars on earth – teaching others to appreciate the science of learning about what was in the sky above us all. Maria Mitchell became the leading female astronomer in the United States of America and served on the faculty of Vassar College. However, the journey was not easy and the price she paid to continue was costly. There were men of science speaking against educating women in the sciences, especially a voice in medicine, Edward Clarke. He doubted that women had the same ability to succeed as men. He even went on to say that he believed that women’s educational capacity was limited by their physiology. And there it was. For me, this is the soul of the opera – the female human spirit can endure much and can keep moving forward and can state very clearly that science told them then, women could learn anything and be successful at it.
In the opera you will see today, you will hear the voice of the heart of Maria Mitchell. That voice is what I heard for months and guided me as I sketched out the scenes of this opera. She never let go of her grasp of the stars, she simply reached back and offered her other hand to the next generation of young women to believe in their abilities, continue their education, and achieve any goal they set before themselves.
Enjoy, and thank you for coming. I have enjoyed working with each one of these terrific students here at Crane.
Cindy C. Oxberry, is a stage director, producer, program educator, dramatic coach for M/T/classical singers/actors, and a digital storyteller producer which she began during COVID. She began her directorial career following an illustrious on-stage career in opera, musical theatre, cabaret and TV commercials.
In North America, she has directed at Washington National Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Omaha, Los Angeles Opera, Connecticut Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Roanoke, Indianapolis Opera, Opera Idaho, Opera on the James, Florida Grand Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre with her productions of La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, BLUE, Hansel & Gretel, Porgy & Bess, The Merry Widow and The Mikado; also, The Music Man, Carousel, Camelot, Candide and South Pacific in dinner theatres and on university campuses throughout the USA.
In 1998, she assisted on a production of Fedora with Placido Domingo and Mirella Freni. Due to her dedication and attention to detail, she was invited by Placido Domingo to Mexico City to celebrate his 40th anniversary as an international artist and produced the opera, Fedora for the International Opera Company of Mexico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
For 25 years, Ms. Oxberry has been a resident assistant director/associate director for Washington National Opera at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and an associate director for Los Angeles Opera since 2002. Since 2000, Ms. Oxberry has served as the Faculty Director/acting instructor/stage director for OPERA INSTITUTE, a prestigious training program for young high school singers from around the world. This program, under the umbrella of the Education Department of The Kennedy Center and WNO, holds a special place in Ms. Oxberry’s career. During COVID, she was instrumental in finessing the program to an online platform for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, Ms Oxberry joined the esteemed faculty roster of Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute. A native of New York, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Clarinet and Opera Theater studies at The Hartt School and her Master’s degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Manhattan School of Music. She is honored to be here working with the students of the Crane School of Music and Maestro Andrew Voelker.
Music director and conductor Andrew Voelker brings more than twelve years of experience as a performer, music director, and educator to SUNY Potsdam. Andrew is in demand as a vocal coach, specializing in lyric diction and contemporary score analysis.
In April 2023, Andrew made their Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center debuts with tenor Andrew Lunsford. The duo performed at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium as guest artists for Choirs of America, then appeared in recital at Alice Tully Hall as part of the Masterworks at Lincoln Center series.
While serving as Associate Instructor of Collaborative Piano at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, they coached productions of Le nozze di Figaro, La traviata, Little Women, Serse, and L'Incoronazione di Poppea. In the spring semester of 2023, Andrew assisted in preparing vocal roles for the premiere production of Shulamit Ran and Charles Kondek's opera Anne Frank. Andrew also spent three years as the music director for the graduate opera workshop directed by internationally renowned soprano Heidi Grant Murphy.
From 2016-2019, Andrew was an Adjunct Lecturer of Accompanying and Opera Coach at Illinois Wesleyan University. There they were the music director for opera productions and workshops, and performed with students and faculty in recitals and New Music forums. Andrew made their conducting debut at IWU in 2017, directing Menotti's The Medium.
In the summer of 2019, Andrew was a Coach/Accompanist at Opera in the Ozarks where they prepared La bohéme and served as music director for the
company's education tour. A 2018 Opera Coaching Fellow at the Aspen Opera Center, they have also been a music director for productions with Great Lakes Light Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, and Prairie Fire Theatre. From 2014-2017, and again in 2023, Andrew was a member of the collaborative piano staff at the renowned Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan.
As an ABD doctoral candidate in Collaborative Piano at IU, Andrew is currently researching innovation in the programming of art song literature for their dissertation. They hold a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Piano and Voice from Northern Illinois University.
Inspired by captivating narrative, speculative fiction and making better humans through art, the music of Timothy C. Takach has risen fast in the concert world. Applauded for his melodic lines and rich, intriguing harmonies, Takach has received commissions and premieres from GRAMMY Award-winning ensembles Roomful of Teeth and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the St. Olaf Band, Cantus, U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus, Lorelei Ensemble, VocalEssence, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, The Rose Ensemble, and numerous other organizations. His compositions have been performed on A Prairie Home Companion, The Boston Pops holiday tour, nationwide on PBS, many All-State and festival programs and at venues such as the Library of Congress, Kennedy Center and Royal Opera House Muscat.
He 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. He was also selected for the 2014 Nautilus Music-Theater Composer-Librettist Studio. In 2018 his oratorio We, the Unknown premiered at the Folly Theatre in Kansas City featuring the Heartland Men’s Chorus, and in 2019 “Su Rahva Koda (The House of Your Kindred)” was premiered by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. 2019 also saw the premiere of Helios, Takach’s new 65’ work for a cappella choir inspired by the solar
system. In 2015 Takach placed third for The American Prize for Composition for Wind Ensemble for his piece “Frost Giant.” He was Composer-in-Residence for the Texas Boys Choir from 2019-2021, for The Singers–Minnesota Choral Artists from 2018-2023 and was recently named a Composer-in-Residence with Jocelyn Hagen for True Concord Voices and orchestra.
Takach has frequent work as a composer-in-residence, presenter, conductor, clinician and lecturer for conventions, schools and organizations across the country. He is a full-time composer and 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). Known for her nuanced character portraits and compelling treatments of historical subjects, Vincent is recognized as a major talent in the current generation of American opera librettists.
Her opera Better Gods, with composer Luna Pearl Woolf, premiered in January 2016 as part of Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative. With sold-out performances, the work was acclaimed as “fascinating and heartwrenching” (DC Metro Theatre Arts), told “with brutal honesty through Caitlin Vincent’s stirring libretto” (Broadway World). In August 2017, Vincent and composer Douglas Buchanan won the 2017-19 Sackler Music Composition Prize to fund a new opera about Bessie Coleman, the first female African-American aviator, and Miriam “Ma” Ferguson, the first female governor of Texas. Bessie and Ma premiered at the University of Connecticut in March 2019. Vincent’s other operatic works include Camelot Requiem (2013) for The Figaro Project, Uncle Alex (2013) for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, Prix Fixe (2015) for Florida Atlantic University, Nullipara (2018) for Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and Tienda (2019) for the Schubert Club of Minnesota.
Also noted for her work in song repertoire, Vincent has had pieces premiered at the Oxford Lieder Festival, Wigmore Hall, and Carnegie Hall, including the monodrama Godiva with composer Juliana Hall and comic song cycle Little Black Book with composer Susan LaBarr. In December 2020, bass-baritone Zachary James premiered AHAB, another collaboration with Juliana Hall, as part of the award-winning visual album Call Out.
A classically-trained soprano, Vincent graduated cum laude from Harvard University and holds a MM degree from the Peabody Conservatory and a PhD from Deakin University in Australia. She is currently 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.
Camilla Tassi is a NYC-based projection designer from Florence, Italy. Design credits include Falling Out of Time (Carnegie Hall), King Arthur (Lincoln Center, Juilliard415), SEACHANGE (Miami City Ballet), The Extinctionist (Heartbeat Opera), Adoration (BMP & PROTOTYPE), SANDRA (TheaterWorks Hartford), Elijah Reimagined (Kennedy Center), Alcina (Yale Opera), Iphigénie en Tauride (Boston Baroque), La Boheme (Music Academy of the West), Anne Frank (Indiana University Opera), Fun Home (Yale School of Drama), and Malhaar (Walt Disney Concert Hall). Broadway: Illinoise, Associate. She has sung in the NY Phil chorus and with the Yale Schola Cantorum. Tassi holds degrees in computer science, music, and projection design. Burry Fredrik design award and Robert L. Tobin DirectorDesigner opera prize recipient. Yale, MFA. IG: camtassi http://camillatassi.com
E. Tonry Lathroum, Lighting Designer
Member United Scenic Artists local 829, a graduate of Catawba College with 30 plus years’ experience and a thriving list of over 600 credits, he designs approximately 10 to 15 productions a year for a variety of customers.
Some of Tonry’s favorite residencies have included: Greenbrier Valley Theatre, The Crane Opera Ensemble at SUNY Potsdam., Florida Stage, West Virginia Dance Company, The Barter Theatre, The Cumberland County Playhouse, Off Square Theatre Company, Three Rivers Entertainment and Production, Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre, West Virginia Department of Culture and History, Kitchen Sink Dance Company, West Virginia University School of Theatre and Dance, Miss WV Scholarship Pageant, Memphis Black Repertory Theatre, Morgantown Dance Company, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Theatre West Virginia and many concerts, videos, commercials and corporate events throughout the mountain state and across the country.
Acknowledgments
Dr. Gary C. Jaquay
The Crane School of Music, Dr. David Heuser, Dean SUNY Potsdam, Suzanne Smith, President
Dr. Nils Klykken
Ryan Mix
Karen Miller
Sandra Larock
Treasures Cove, Potsdam, NY
Vassar College Digital Library Collection
