ATOMS & ARTIFACTS
A Double-Bill featuring MARIE CURIE LEARNS TO SWIM & ALICE TIERNEY
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Help us bring these groundbreaking West Coast Premieres to life! Donate to our fundraising campaign!
Now through May 18, your donation is *DOUBLED* thanks to a generous donor! Friday, September 19, 2025 | 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 7:30 PM Sunday, September 21, 2025 | 2:00 PM - includes ASL Interpretation Mago Hunt Recital | University of Portland | 5000 N Willamette Blvd | Portland, OR | 97203 **Thanks to funding from RACC, our Sunday 9/21 performance will include ASL interpretation.
Join New Wave Opera for Atoms & Artifacts, an exploration of the perceptions & experiences of historical women. This production features the west coast premieres of two 60-minute operas: Marie Curie Learns to Swim by Jessica Rudman & Kendra Preston Leonard and Alice Tierney by Melissa Dunphy & Jacqueline Goldfinger.
Atoms & Artifacts is generously supported by the University of Portland, Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition (MCCC), and the Oregon Cultural Trust (OCT). Performed in English with supertitles. One performance (TBD) will have ASL interpretation. Recommended for audiences 13 and up. Content includes short comedic profanity and brief mention of sex work. RUN TIME: Approx. 2 hrs 30 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. |
ABOUT THE SHOWS
Marie Curie Learns to Swim | Jessica Rudman & Kendra Preston Leonard
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"I love the energy of collaboration in opera. There is an exciting back-and-forth between the stage director, music director, singers, and everyone else involved in producing an opera. As the music director, being in charge of the flow of the opera's performance is electric, because I'm not just following my own musical vision, but realizing the combined intentions of everyone involved. It's leadership combined with responsibility and accountability, all in the service of the emotive power of opera as an art form."
--Dr. Stephen Lewis, Music Director |
Famous scientist Madame Curie and her daughter and research partner Irène take a vacation to the sea. Irene longs for rest, internally struggling with her fears about the radium they are using in their research, while Marie feels the urgency to return to her lab and continue her groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
New Wave Opera is proud to perform Marie Curie Learns to Swim in its complete orchestration with chamber ensemble, conducted by Dr. Stephen Lewis! (Runtime: ~70 minutes) CAST Marie Curie: Lisa Neher Irène Curie: Lindsey Rae Johnson Pierre Curie: Dan Gibbs Young Marie Curie: Alishia Garcia CREATIVE TEAM Stage Director: Jeffrey Puukka Music Director: Stephen Lewis Pianist: Sequoia Chamber Ensemble: TBA |
Alice Tierney | Melissa Dunphy & Jacqueline Goldfinger
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A team of archeology graduate students excavate the home of 1800's murder victim Alice Tierney. With little evidence to go on, each posits their own theory about who Alice was, and through the magic of opera, their versions of Alice come to life on the stage. But who was the real Alice? How do we sort out fact from fiction? How do our own experiences color the narratives we impose on history?
(Runtime: ~60 minutes) CAST Alice 1: Henriët Fourie Alice 2: Lindsey Rae Johnson Alice 3: Nicole Hanig Quinn: Chelsea Janzen Williams Lyra: Amanda Rose Taddeo Zandra: Lisa Neher John: Scot Crandal CREATIVE TEAM Stage Director: Brandon Michael |
“I was first exposed to Melissa’s compositions through Portland's own Resonance ensemble, which programmed a piece she wrote titled “Listen”. It was a remarkable composition, beautiful, haunting and trenchant. I have since found all of her work to be at a very consistent level of excellence and was thrilled to find her writing for the operatic stage to be just as exciting and innovative as her choral writing. She is an artist who is using her creative voice in deeply personal and powerful ways, a composer who I think will be an important figure in the future of the operatic art form, and I couldn’t be more excited to help bring this piece to life for our Portland audiences.”
--Brandon Michael, Stage Director
--Brandon Michael, Stage Director
Press for Alice Tierney
"[Alice Tierney] reflects a conundrum of history: What does our interpretation of history tell us about the past, and what does it tell us about the present? And where is that line drawn?" --WHYY
"Alice Tierney is the perfect selection for our fall opera. It is accessible at only one hour in length. The music is written in English and is contemporary with influences of both rock and pop. And the characters are present-day students and very relatable. Everything about it feels fresh." --WCU Director of Opera Nicholas Provenzale, in WCU News
"Melissa Dunphy’s score is a magical mix of styles that supports each change of emotion. Dunphy also leaves plenty of room in the score for the vocal lines to project over the music. " --Cleveland Classical
“I think the Alice Tierney is uniquely important with its empowerment of women, and that the main characters of the opera are actually graduate students within the story, as are the graduate students who are performing the roles [at Boston University].” --William Lumpkin, Artistic Director of BU’s Opera Institute]
"[Alice Tierney] reflects a conundrum of history: What does our interpretation of history tell us about the past, and what does it tell us about the present? And where is that line drawn?" --WHYY
"Alice Tierney is the perfect selection for our fall opera. It is accessible at only one hour in length. The music is written in English and is contemporary with influences of both rock and pop. And the characters are present-day students and very relatable. Everything about it feels fresh." --WCU Director of Opera Nicholas Provenzale, in WCU News
"Melissa Dunphy’s score is a magical mix of styles that supports each change of emotion. Dunphy also leaves plenty of room in the score for the vocal lines to project over the music. " --Cleveland Classical
“I think the Alice Tierney is uniquely important with its empowerment of women, and that the main characters of the opera are actually graduate students within the story, as are the graduate students who are performing the roles [at Boston University].” --William Lumpkin, Artistic Director of BU’s Opera Institute]
