Opera Aria TOUCHING THE SUN by Cecil Castellucci & Rose Hall is a part of the ENA Ensemble Serial Opera / Celestial at the Free Library in Philadelphia. Two performances on January 25th

ENAensemble presents its second Serial Opera Project, a multi-month performance of a new chamber opera in three parts, written by three different composer-librettist teams and centered around the loose theme of “the celestial.” Each performance in the series will feature a premiere of the next part of the opera, as well as selected chamber works and a song for voice and one instrument as part of ENAensemble’s New Song Series. Performances will be held in September, November, and January, culminating in a fully-realized “binge-staging” of the opera in 2023.

This performance will feature a double bill of Episodes 1 (originally scheduled for September, postponed due to COVID) and 3

Episode 1:

The first part of the Serial Opera, Wailing at the Moon, features a libretto by Traci D. Williams and music by Sepehr Pirasteh, along with singers Megnot Toggia and Carleen Baron. Rounding out the chamber orchestra will be Leigh Brown (cello), Chelsea Meynig (flute), and Thomas Schuttenhelm (guitar). The performance will also feature the premiere of a new art song entitled “Touching the Sun” with music by Rose Miranda Hall and text by Cecil Castellucci, performed by Toggia and Brown.

Episode 3:

The third part of the Serial Opera, Neither Created, Nor Destroyed, features a libretto by Kendra Preston Leonard and music by Jessica Rudman, along with singers Ayanna Freelon and Marcelle McGuirk. The performance will also feature the premiere of a new art song for soprano and flute entitled “Behind the Counter” with music by Jamey Guzman and text by Mel Abrams, performed by McGuirk and Meynig.