A House in Bali

Part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival

Oct 14—16, 2010, 7:30pm

NY Premiere

Bang on a Can All-Stars & Gamelan Salukat
Music by Evan Ziporyn
Libretto by Paul Schick (based on the memoir of Colin McPhee)
Directed by Jay Scheib

"an ingenious and often beautiful fusion of contemporary classical strains and Balinese gamelan" —San Francisco Chronicle

An iconoclastic composer, an encounter with an untouched island, and a love affair forged in the ecstasy of Indonesian gamelan music are the subjects of A House in Bali, a bold new opera by Evan Ziporyn. Based on the writings of composer Colin McPhee, this work tells the true story of one man’s sojourn to South Asia and the unlikely cultural awakening that ensues.

As the alkaline sounds of a 16-member Balinese gamelan orchestra intertwine with opera and Balinese singers, traditional dance, live video feeds, and the throbbing post-minimalism of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, McPhee and his cohorts—anthropologist Margaret Mead and painter Walter Spies—are seduced by Balinese culture, opening up an island to the West to share its music with the world.

Presented in association with Asia Society

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
95min, no intermission
Tickets: $20, 40, 60

Choreography by Kadek Dewi Aryani and I Nyoman Catra
Set design by Sara Brown
Costume design by Oana Botez-Ban
Lighting design by Peter Ksander
Sound design by Andrew Cotton
Video design by Jay Scheib and AKA

A House in Bali was commissioned by Real Time Opera with support from the LEF Foundation, the Argosy Foundation, and the The Byrne Foundation. A House in Bali is made possible by generous support from the NIB Foundation.