Tickets
Food and drink will be available
About the Show
The House Taken Over by composer Vasco Mendonça and librettist Sam Holcroft
An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being “taken over” by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
Vasco Mendoça, Composer
Etienne Siebens, Music Director
R.B. Schlather, Director
Rachel Calloway, “Sister”
Robert Mellon, “Brother”
JAX Messenger, Lighting Design
Terese Wadden, Costume Design
Anne Ford-Coates, Hair and Make Up Design
Kathleen Stakenas, Stage Manager
Nolan Robertson, Orchestra Coordinator and Co-Producer
Miriam Charney,Vocal Coach
Brian Daurelle, Rehearsal Pianist
Benjamin Grow, Music/Orchestra Prep Conductor
Nolan Robertson, Orchestra Coordinator and Co-Producer
Miriam Charney,Vocal Coach
Brian Daurelle, Rehearsal Pianist
Benjamin Grow, Music/Orchestra Prep Conductor
Commissioned by LOD muziektheater & Festival d’Aix en Provence
Opera programming at NS is supported in part by a generous gift from Alberto Cribiore.
With special thanks to the Rolex Institute
Other Fall Highlights
Queens of the Night: Mozart in Space
October 31, 2016 - 7:00pm Don your fabulous space suits! Heartbeat Opera presents its third annual Benefit Drag Extravaganza for one spectacular night of eye-popping fashion, divalicious coloraturas, and galactic Halloween revelries.
Birdman Live Scoring
November 5, 2016 - 7:00pm Experience the explosive Oscar winning FILM BIRDMAN, accompanied LIVE by composer Antonio Sanchez with his Grammy Award winning score that provides the heartbeat of the film. The Oscar winner for Best Picture by maverick director Alejandro Inarritu stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up action star trying to reinvent his career as a credible actor and director on the Broadway stage. For this special performance, the film will be accompanied live by renowned jazz drummer Antonio Sanchez playing his electric, GRAMMY winning score.
NYFOS Next: Gabriela Lena Frank & Friends
November 2, 2016 - 7:00pm A native Californian of mixed Peruvian, Chinese, Lithuanian, and Jewish descent, Gabriela Lena Frank explores her multicultural heritage ardently through her compositions. Her pieces refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework uniquely her own.
AdHoc Presents: Xylouris White
November 18, 2016 - 10:00pm When Xylouris White recorded their second album, this most intuitive and inquisitive of duos did what comes naturally to them: expanded their horizons. For George Xylouris, the Cretan lute player who partners here with the Dirty Three’s preternaturally fluent Australian drummer Jim White, one aim was to extend a core metaphor of their ruggedly visionary debut album, 2014’s Goats. “Like goats walking in the mountain” is Xylouris’ poetic analogy for their approach: “They may not know the place, but they can walk easily and take risks and feel comfortable. Really, the goats inspired us.”
ECM Records: Sun of Goldfinger
December 3, 2016 - 7:00pm The mercurial trio comprising saxophonist Tim Berne, drummer Ches Smith and guitarist David Torn explores the edges of the genre, infusing it with perspectives ranging from the minimalist to the cinematic to the metallic. The improvisation-based group effortlessly, seamlessly shifts from atmospheres into shattering mayhem to thrilling effect.
YPC Presents: Transient Glory
November 4, 2016 - 7:00pm Transient Glory, the groundbreaking new music commissioning series created in 2001 by Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez for the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, returns with the world premieres of six new works, representing a wide range of perspectives and styles, by six distinguished composers: Mason Bates (Sirens), Michael Gordon (Great Trees of New York City), Joan La Barbara (A Murmuration for Chibok), YPC alumna Jessie Montgomery (Danse Africaine), Robert Xavier Rodriguez (A Surfeit of Similes), and Charles Wuorinen (Exsultet).
R.B. Schlather Presents: Ariodante Workshop Performance
December 21, 2016 - 7:00pm Open workshop of Handel’s Ariodante. Directed R.B. Schlather; Conducted by Geoffrey McDonald. Composed in 1734 by George Frideric Handel.
Bresnick@70
November 6, 2016 - 7:00pm A celebration of Martin Bresnick's 70th birthday. Featuring performances from the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, Taimur Sullivan, Benjamin Verdery, Lisa Moore, New Morse Code and more.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 7, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
CCO Presents: Anaïs Nin and Odysseus’ Women, Louis Andriessen
October 15, 2016 - 8:00pm The desire of the mythical Ulysses and the desire of the legendary Anaïs Nin. Dutch director Jorinde Keesmaat brings in a U.S. premiere two distinctive works by Louis Andriessen together in one direction. The rarely performed Odysseus' Women (1995) for four female voices and synthesizer and the famous Anaïs Nin (2010).
Jeff McErlain Presents: A Night Of The Delta Blues With CeDell Davis And His Band
October 20, 2016 - 7:00pm The blues is one of the great American contributions to world. It reaches down to the heart of the human condition in the most direct way and transcends all boundaries. It is the truth and we know it when we hear it. We are lucky enough to have some of these original blues artist still with us to share the music in it’s purest form. CeDell Davis is one of those artists. At 90 years old he is living history. I am very excited to bring CeDell Davis to National Sawdust for this very special performance.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 8, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
