mannes opera presents in the green

WHAT:
The College of Performing Arts at The New School is proud to present a Mannes Opera production of Grace McLean's In the Green from Tuesday, May 10 through Saturday, May 14 at the Bank Street Theater. Premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in 2019, and praised as “Ingenious & Wildly Inventive” by The New York Times, Mannes Opera has expanded on McClean’s original vision by weaving in additional choral pieces by Hildegard von Bingen, performed by a full chorus. A vibrant and pulsing meditation on art, music, and the responsibilities of the individual to society - In the Green is a thrilling return to live performance by the students and faculty of Mannes Opera.

"It's an incredible show, featuring an extraordinary display of talent from students from across the College of Performing Arts. The composer/librettist Grace McLean is faculty at CoPA, and we are excited to workshop her next piece in the coming year. The In the Green score demands real virtuosic performance from our voice students - with extended technique and complex looping technology. The material - an investigation into Von Bingen's early life and the overlooked inner lives of women - spans a thousand years of narrative music. It's a joyous, complex, astonishing return to the stage for Mannes Opera, and a real expression of hope for who we are as a school and community," said Emma Griffin, Managing Artistic Director of Mannes Opera.

This innovative opera/music/theater piece tells the story of the medieval composer, mystic, scientist, and Catholic saint Hildegard von Bingen “on her path to sainthood from childhood,” focusing on the thirty years she spent locked up in a cell with her mentor, the anchoress Jutta von Sponheim.

In the Green is performed by students from across the College of Performing Arts at The New School: Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, the School of Drama as well as the MA AME program and conducted by Mannes alum Geoff McDonald (MM '09).

WHO:
In the Green by Grace McLean
Additional Music and Words by Hildegard Von Bingen
Conductor: Geoff McDonald
Director: Emma Griffin
Musical Preparation: Lynn Baker
Choreography: Sunny Hitt

WHEN:
Tuesday, May 10 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, May 11 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, May 12 at 7:30 pm
Friday, May 13 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 14 at 2:00 pm
Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 pm

WHERE:
Bank Street Theater, 151 Bank Street, New York, New York

REGISTER:
RSVP: event.newschool.edu/inthegreen
Members of the media must RSVP with Will Wilbur
Audience members must show proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination series (and booster if eligible), ID, and remain masked at all times.

Mannes Opera
Under the leadership of Managing Artistic Director Emma Griffin, the Mannes Opera is a training program with a curiosity for the new and a devotion to craft for operatic artists. As part of the College of Performing Arts, the program uses the medium of opera to innovate, improvise, and create and offers young artists extensive performance practice and opportunities.

The program engages with the rich tradition of classical repertoire as a lens with which to better understand today’s world and trains students to be professional artists with agency and control over what they do and how they do it. Mannes Opera draws on the best opera and theater-makers that NYC has to offer.

The College of Performing Arts at The New School (CoPA) was formed in 2015 and draws together the iconic Mannes School of Music, the legendary School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and the ground-breaking School of Drama. With each school contributing its unique culture of creative excellence, the College of Performing Arts is a hub for cross-disciplinary collaboration, bold experimentation, innovative education, and world-class performances.

The over 1,100 students at CoPA are actors, performers, writers, improvisers, creative technologists, entrepreneurs, composers, arts managers, and multidisciplinary artists who believe in the transformative power of the arts for all people. Students and faculty at CoPA collaborate with colleagues across The New School in a wide array of disciplines, from the visual arts and fashion design, to the social sciences, public policy, advocacy, and more. 

The curriculum at CoPA is dynamic, inclusive, and responsive to the changing arts and culture landscape. New degrees and coursework, like the new graduate degrees for Performer-Composers and Artist Entrepreneurs are designed to challenge highly skilled artists to experiment, innovate, and engage with the past, present, and future of their artforms. New York City’s Greenwich Village provides the backdrop for the College of Performing Arts, which is housed at Arnhold Hall on West 13th Street and the historic Westbeth Artists Community on Bank Street.

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

The New School
Will Wilbur
[email protected]