The No One’s Rose

This past August, PBO presented The No One’s Rose, a project in the making for more than five years. Co-produced by the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), this dramatic work combined music, theater, dance, and poetry. Co-commissioned by PBO and Stanford Live, the poignant work reflected on themes of recovery and resilience, loosely mirroring the structure of The Canterbury Tales: a series of stories, portraits in time, danced, sung, and played by the artists of AMOC all navigating through a shared circumstance—our actual circumstance—of processing the catastrophe of the last few years. The piece featured a new score by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Matthew Aucoin, set to the words of the prolific poet Paul Celan, alongside music by Bach, Berlioz, Schubert, Sam Cooke, and Paul Simon. The work was directed by Zack Winokur and featured new choreography by Bobbi Jene Smith. The production featured soprano Julia Bullock, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, tenor Paul Appleby, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, dancers Julia Eichten, Yiannis Logothetis, Or Schraiber and Bobbi Jene Smith, violinist Keir GoGwilt, cellist Coleman Itzkoff, and percussionist Jonny Allen. The No One’s Rose began as a conversation between Matt Aucoin and PBO on 20th century poet Paul Celan, Bach and the possibility of composing for period instruments. The production’s original world premiere was scheduled for October 2020 but was cancelled due to the pandemic. The project evolved over the past few years as the artists grappled with some of the most urgent issues of our time—from pandemic-induced isolation to the ravages of climate change. We were thrilled to finally see this life-affirming production come to life. Philharmonia is deeply grateful to Carol and Douglas

Tanner for their generous support and Lead Sponsorship of

these performances. We are also grateful for additional support from the Stanford Live Commissions and Programming Fund, The Koret Foundation, and The Ross E. Armstrong and Jonas (Jay) K. Stern Jews & Music Fund. We thank all of you for sharing this experience with us and for looking forward as we create more beautiful art with extraordinary partners. Matthew Aucoin, composer & conductor

Zack Winokur, director

Bobbi Jene Smith. choreographer & dancer