Obie Award-winning composer Ricky Ian Gordon will lead a discussion about his opera, 27, in a joint presentation by Elk River Books and Intermountain Opera Bozeman at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10.
27 peeks into the salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas at 27 rue de Fleurus, where they welcomed Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway and other bohemian artists. The Intermountain Opera company, which will perform 27 later that week, is sponsoring several talks in the region ahead of the performance, including this one at Elk River Books in Livingston.
Carnegie-trained, Gordon is a prolific composer whose works include the 2017 holiday opera, The House without a Christmas Tree, an acclaimed two-act libretto based on The Grapes of Wrath, and pieces from Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, among many others.
Livingston music critic, chef and author Jim Liska will open the evening’s discussion by sharing his expertise on the Modernist and eclectic world of Paris in the early 20th century. The free event begins at 7 p.m. upstairs at Elk River Books, 120 N. Main St., in Livingston.
Co-written with Pulitzer Prize winner Royce Vavrek, 27 is described as a work of “lyrical exuberance” by Opera News. The Bozeman production will feature celebrated guest singers, director Octavio Cardenas (Falstaff, 2018) and conductor Steven Byess (The Pirates of Penzance, 2018). This northwestern premiere will be IOB’s first performance by a living composer.
Performances of the opera will take place in Bozeman’s Willson Auditorium, 404 W. Main St., on Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. Tickets to the opera will be available at the lecture, at intermountainopera.org, or by calling IOB at (406) 587-2889. Discounts are available for students and first-time attendees.
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