The Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera and Center for Contemporary Arts Present an Online Screening of "UnShakeable" on August 28
Part of the CCA’s “Living Room Series,” the Screening is Followed by a Panel Discussion with Prominent New Mexico Poets
View or Print Press Release (PDF)
Santa Fe, NM — On Friday, August 28 at 7 pm MT the Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera and Center for Contemporary Arts will present a special online screening of UnShakeable, an opera composed by conductor and Fort Worth Opera Artistic Director Joseph Illick with a libretto by Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Director of Community Engagement for the Santa Fe Opera. UnShakeable premiered in 2016 with sold-out performances and has since enjoyed several encore presentations across New Mexico. The piece is sung in English and runs in one act, 45 minutes in length.
Part of the CCA’s “Living Room Series,” the screening is followed by a panel discussion with prominent New Mexico poet and recently named Albuquerque Poet Laureate Mary Oishi, slam poet and Inaugural Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy, and Gary Glazner, founder of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. The panelists will discuss the intersection of memory, truth, and belonging.
The commission and production of UnShakeable was made possible by a deeply appreciated grant from Principal Community Engagement sponsor the Melville Hankins Family Foundation. The Santa Fe Opera also wishes to recognize and thank Robert and Ellen Vladem for their support for the recording of UnShakeable.
About UNSHAKEABLE
Set in an abandoned theater in New Mexico 25 years in the future, UnShakeable is the story of Wyatt and Meridian, Shakespearean actors and former lovers who have varying degrees of memory loss due to Erasure, a viral pandemic resulting in memory loss. Separated from Meridian at the start of the viral pandemic, Wyatt has been searching for his love ever since. Exploring themes of memory, connection, and the power of story, UnShakeable incorporates language from some of Shakespeare’s iconic works to create a modern romance.
Soprano and former Santa Fe Opera apprentice Jacquelyn Stucker sings Meridian. She is joined by baritone and fellow former apprentice Jarrett Ott, last seen on the Santa Fe Opera stage in 2019 as Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, in his role debut as Wyatt. Kathleen Clawson, Assistant Director of the Apprentice Program for Singers at Santa Fe Opera, stage directs. David Felberg, Artistic Director of Chatter, Concertmaster of the New Mexico Philharmonic, Director of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and Violin Instructor at the University of New Mexico, conducts the chamber orchestra. Original costume and set designs are by former Santa Fe Opera technical apprentice Wilberth Gonzalez. Shawn Nielson, Technical Theater Director at Albuquerque’s Bosque School, serves as Lighting Designer.
For Calendar Editors
- WHAT: Online screening of UnShakeable and a panel discussion with notable New Mexico poets presented by the Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera and Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- WHEN: Friday, August 28 at 7 pm MT.
- HOW: Interested parties may register via the CCA’s website. The cost of admission is $12.00.
About the Santa Fe Opera
Lauded by The Wall Street Journal as “the Rolls-Royce of American summer opera festivals,” the Santa Fe Opera annually draws 85,000 people from New Mexico and around the globe. Nestled atop a mountain vista in northern New Mexico, the company’s iconic Crosby Theatre offers a nightly seating capacity of 2,126. The covered theatre is open on three sides, allowing visitors to enjoy performances complemented by the elements. Since 1957 the company has presented over 2,000 performances of 175 different operas by 89 composers spanning five centuries of opera, creating a legacy of 45 American premieres and 16 world premieres.
Page Header Image: Soprano Jacquelyn Stucker in UnShakeable, photo by Kate Russell
The mission of The Santa Fe Opera is to advance the operatic art form by presenting ensemble performances of the highest quality in a unique setting with a varied repertory of new, rarely performed, and standard works; to ensure the excellence of opera’s future through apprentice programs for singers, technicians, and arts administrators; and to foster an understanding and appreciation of opera among a diverse public.