Heroes of New York

Commissioned by Bare Opera
Music by Dina Pruzhansky
Libretto by Briana Hunter

The piece ‘Heroes of NY’ celebrates unknown people who make New York City a special place in the world. Inspired by a famous Facebook page, the opera features several characters inspired by everyday heroes, whom we can run into in the streets of the city. We will meet a doctor, an environmental activist, a bodega owner, a sex worker and an aspiring singer, who will each share with us a moment of their lives.

Heroes is recommended for viewers age 13 and up.
This chapter contains a frank, though tasteful, discussion of sex work.

 
Photo: Danielle Thralow

Episode 3: Sustenance

Heroes

Premiered October 1, 2021

 

Cast

The Doctor: Shannon Delijani
The Oyster Lady: David Charles Tay
The Bodega Owner: Brace Negron
The Sex Worker: Patrice P. Eaton
The Singer: Meryl Dominguez

Ensemble

Piano: Dina Pruzhansky
Violin: Victoria Lewis
Cello: Oded Hadar
Double Bass: Pat Swoboda
Drums: Ariel Sekiguchi

Creative Team

Composer: Dina Pruzhansky
Librettist: Briana Hunter
Videographer: Brian Gonzalez
Director: Malena Dayen
Audio Engineer: Sean Yoo

Dina PruzhanskyShe/HerDina Pruzhansky is an NYC-based award-winning composer and pianist. Azerbaijan-born and Israeli-raised, she enjoys a diverse international career, ranging from classical music to cabaret and from liturgy to musicals. As a composer/performer, she has been featured at Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, The Bargemusic, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, The Kosciuszko Foundation, and others, and broadcast on media, including the WQXR. Her opera SHULAMIT, which premiered in NYC, 2014, had received an additional run in 2016 by popular demand and was presented, in part, at the Aspen Music Festival 2019 and in concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.  Dina was named the finalist for the 2019 NYMT festival (musical for children CENTRAL PARK). She was nominated for the Fred Ebb Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre.  Dina Pruzhansky is an alumna of the Mannes School for Music and the BMI Advanced Musical Theater Workshop.

Dina Pruzhansky

She/Her

Dina Pruzhansky is an NYC-based award-winning composer and pianist. Azerbaijan-born and Israeli-raised, she enjoys a diverse international career, ranging from classical music to cabaret and from liturgy to musicals. As a composer/performer, she has been featured at Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, The Bargemusic, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, The Kosciuszko Foundation, and others, and broadcast on media, including the WQXR. Her opera SHULAMIT, which premiered in NYC, 2014, had received an additional run in 2016 by popular demand and was presented, in part, at the Aspen Music Festival 2019 and in concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.  Dina was named the finalist for the 2019 NYMT festival (musical for children CENTRAL PARK). She was nominated for the Fred Ebb Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre.  Dina Pruzhansky is an alumna of the Mannes School for Music and the BMI Advanced Musical Theater Workshop.

Briana Hunter

She/Her

Briana Hunter, a long established “mezzo-soprano of astounding vocal and dramatic range” (Opera News) makes her debut as librettist of “Heroes of NY.” She will continue to write amidst a full season, which includes her Metropolitan Opera debut in Terrance Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones, a return to the role of Mother in Blue in debuts with both Seattle Opera and Pittsburgh Opera, and a debut with The Madison Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Additionally, Ms. Hunter sits on the Artistic Advisory Council at American Opera Projects, and the Davidson Arts and Creative Engagement Advisory Board at Davidson College. She is based in NYC with her pup Freya.

Malena DayenShe/HerMalena Dayen is an Argentinian singer and director that creates opera performances using  new and interactive technology.In 2020 Malena won the 1st Prize in Catapult Opera’s competition for innovation in opera and directed Teatro Grattacielo’s Fedora and Mefistofele video productions, that were selected to the Munich Music Video Awards, the 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival in Bali and the London International Music Video Awards.Malena directed The Late Walk, a new opera in collaboration with Bare Opera and the Decameron Opera Coalition. Previously she directed a production of Don Giovanni and starred and directed Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires with Bare Opera in New York City.Along with collaborator Sangmin Chae Malena co-created Exercises on The Presence of Odradek, a new experimental operatic work performed live online.Malena holds an MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College in the Performance and Interactive Media Arts program (PIMA) and a MM and a PSD from the Mannes College of Music.

Malena Dayen

She/Her

Malena Dayen is an Argentinian singer and director that creates opera performances using  new and interactive technology.

In 2020 Malena won the 1st Prize in Catapult Opera’s competition for innovation in opera and directed Teatro Grattacielo’s Fedora and Mefistofele video productions, that were selected to the Munich Music Video Awards, the 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival in Bali and the London International Music Video Awards.

Malena directed The Late Walk, a new opera in collaboration with Bare Opera and the Decameron Opera Coalition. Previously she directed a production of Don Giovanni and starred and directed Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires with Bare Opera in New York City.

Along with collaborator Sangmin Chae Malena co-created Exercises on The Presence of Odradek, a new experimental operatic work performed live online.

Malena holds an MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College in the Performance and Interactive Media Arts program (PIMA) and a MM and a PSD from the Mannes College of Music.



Arei SekiguchiHe/HimTokyo-native Arei Sekiguchi took up drums after early studies in classical piano and marimba. He received a BFA from the New School University under the guidance of jazz Legends such as Bobby Sanabria, Chico Hamilton, Reggie Workman, and Charles Tolliver. He has performed at various festivals and venues all over the United States including Jazz Mobile, River to the River Festival, Harlem Summer Stage, MASS MoCA, New York Anime Festival, Tiny Desk Concert, Whitney Museum, The National Gallery of Art, Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. Arei has recorded for labels such as Sony Japan, and Clean Feed(Portugal). His musical theater credits include, Curvy Widow(off Broadway), In the Heights, Man of La Mancha, Newsies, and Annie (regional). Besides performing and touring, he actively teaches privately and in schools. He has also been a regular accompanist for the Afro-Brazilian Dance Class at Alvin Ailey for the last ten years. Some of the bands he currently performs with are Spanglish Fly, and Os Clavelitos.

Arei Sekiguchi

He/Him

Tokyo-native Arei Sekiguchi took up drums after early studies in classical piano and marimba. He received a BFA from the New School University under the guidance of jazz Legends such as Bobby Sanabria, Chico Hamilton, Reggie Workman, and Charles Tolliver. He has performed at various festivals and venues all over the United States including Jazz Mobile, River to the River Festival, Harlem Summer Stage, MASS MoCA, New York Anime Festival, Tiny Desk Concert, Whitney Museum, The National Gallery of Art, Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. Arei has recorded for labels such as Sony Japan, and Clean Feed(Portugal). His musical theater credits include, Curvy Widow(off Broadway), In the Heights, Man of La Mancha, Newsies, and Annie (regional). Besides performing and touring, he actively teaches privately and in schools. He has also been a regular accompanist for the Afro-Brazilian Dance Class at Alvin Ailey for the last ten years. Some of the bands he currently performs with are Spanglish Fly, and Os Clavelitos.

Shannon Delijani

She/Her

Shannon Delijani is an Iranian-American mezzo soprano, filmmaker and creative producer, based in Los Angeles.


As a performer,  Shannon is praised for her versatility, appearing onscreen and on stage. Her repertoire ranges from early music to bel canto to musical theater. She has performed with The Mannes Sounds Festival in New York, the Trentino Festival, Pittsburgh festival Opera, and was a 2019 and 2021 fellow with Classic Lyric Arts, France.

Shannon holds a Bachelor of Music from USC Thornton School of Music where she was the recipient of the Opera Award, and a Master’s in Music from Mannes School of Music where she received the Marian Marcus Wahl Memorial Award for performance. She is also an Alumnus of the Beth Morrison Projects: Producer Academy. She is the founding artistic director of Mad Scene, a multidisciplinary production company based in LA.

Patrice P. Eaton

She/Her

American Mezzo-Soprano Patrice Eaton’s career in opera began as a member of the children's chorus of both the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. Most recently Patrice has performed with; Spoleto Festival USA, Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center as soloist for the White Light Festival, the We Shall Overcome National Tour with Damien Sneed honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Carmen with Downtown Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Eaton made her Carnegie Hall debut honoring the late Sylvia Olden Lee, followed by her debut with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise at The Strathmore. 

Patrice is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. She is a proud member of Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity, a Lifetime and National Board Member of the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) and the Artistic Director of Three on 3 Music.



Oded HadarHe/HimRecipient of the Audience Choice Prize in the prestigious 2015 Aviv Cello Competition, Israeli cellist Oded Hadar has performed worldwide as both soloist and chamber musician. In 2008, he received a special distinction award from Maestro Zubin Mehta, resulting in a solo appearance with the Buchmann Mehta Symphony Orchestra in Tel Aviv’s Smolarz Auditorium. As a chamber musician, Mr. Hadar has performed in the Perlman Music Program, the Salzburg Music Festival, the Chigiana Academy Festival in Sienna, the Brussels Chamber Music Festival, the Northern Lights Chamber Music Festival, and the Kefar Blum Music Festivals. As a member of the chamber music ensemble "Manhattan Chamber Players" from 2015 to 2017, Mr. Hadar performed regularly in many prestigious chamber music halls across the US, Israel, and South America, including Carnegie Hall and Tel Aviv Museum. Mr. Hadar is currently pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology at City College in New York City.

Oded Hadar

He/Him

Recipient of the Audience Choice Prize in the prestigious 2015 Aviv Cello Competition, Israeli cellist Oded Hadar has performed worldwide as both soloist and chamber musician. In 2008, he received a special distinction award from Maestro Zubin Mehta, resulting in a solo appearance with the Buchmann Mehta Symphony Orchestra in Tel Aviv’s Smolarz Auditorium. 

As a chamber musician, Mr. Hadar has performed in the Perlman Music Program, the Salzburg Music Festival, the Chigiana Academy Festival in Sienna, the Brussels Chamber Music Festival, the Northern Lights Chamber Music Festival, and the Kefar Blum Music Festivals. As a member of the chamber music ensemble "Manhattan Chamber Players" from 2015 to 2017, Mr. Hadar performed regularly in many prestigious chamber music halls across the US, Israel, and South America, including Carnegie Hall and Tel Aviv Museum. 

Mr. Hadar is currently pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology at City College in New York City.



Pat SwobodaHe/HimPat Swoboda is an upright and electric bassist based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the bassist for Latin-alternative project LADAMA, new-music trio Bearthoven, and contemporary chamber orchestra Contemporaneous. On Broadway, Swoboda has performed in the pit for shows like Les Miserables, Paramour, The Nance, and A Christmas Story. Onstage, he has performed extensively with the American Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Pops, the International Contemporary Ensemble, as well as many others.  Swoboda has been a part of three TEDTalks, performed at NPR’s Tiny Desk, and toured and performed on four continents.  

Pat Swoboda

He/Him

Pat Swoboda is an upright and electric bassist based in Brooklyn, NY. He is the bassist for Latin-alternative project LADAMA, new-music trio Bearthoven, and contemporary chamber orchestra Contemporaneous. On Broadway, Swoboda has performed in the pit for shows like Les Miserables, Paramour, The Nance, and A Christmas Story. Onstage, he has performed extensively with the American Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Pops, the International Contemporary Ensemble, as well as many others.  Swoboda has been a part of three TEDTalks, performed at NPR’s Tiny Desk, and toured and performed on four continents.  

David Charles Tay

He/Him

Hailed as one of “Singapore’s finest operatic talents” (bakchormeeboy.com), tenor David Charles Tay’s versatile artistry, expressive musicality and “voice of delightful warmth and impressive projection” (bachtrack.com) have established him in prominent operatic, concert and recital programs in Singapore and the USA in recent years. Notably, he is the co-founder of The Opera People, one of Singapore’s most prolific and innovative opera companies. He has also performed with the Bronx Opera Company, where he was described as “a vocal standout” (Opera News), and with Bare Opera in a performance that was described as “hypnotic, affecting and amusing” and sung with “bold clarity” (Opera News). He is also a featured artist in the 2020/21 season for the third year in a row with the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Tay is currently pursuing his doctorate in music at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

MEryl DominguezShe/HerMeryl Dominguez, praised for her “intensity and warm tone” (Bachtrack), is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. This is her second production with Bare Opera. As a soprano with “gorgeous, crystalline highs and a powerful mid-range” (Arts Knoxville) she has performed roles such as Violetta (La Traviata), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and most recently made her international debut as the title character in Norma with Musica Viva Hong Kong. She has also spent time as an apprentice artist at Santa Fe Opera, where she sang the role of Naiade (Ariadne auf Naxos). Included with her passion for operatic performance is an enthusiasm for art song and new music. 

MEryl Dominguez

She/Her

Meryl Dominguez, praised for her “intensity and warm tone” (Bachtrack), is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. This is her second production with Bare Opera. As a soprano with “gorgeous, crystalline highs and a powerful mid-range” (Arts Knoxville) she has performed roles such as Violetta (La Traviata), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) and most recently made her international debut as the title character in Norma with Musica Viva Hong Kong. She has also spent time as an apprentice artist at Santa Fe Opera, where she sang the role of Naiade (Ariadne auf Naxos). Included with her passion for operatic performance is an enthusiasm for art song and new music. 

Victoria LewisShe/HerVictoria Wolf Lewis enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator based in New York City. Since graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Master of Music in performance and Suzuki Pedagogy, Ms. Lewis has performed with many orchestras in the United States and abroad including New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, New York City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Tel Aviv Soloists, and is currently a violinist with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. Ms. Lewis has served as the concertmaster of LoftOpera and is currently the concertmaster of Bare Opera in New York City. Ms. Lewis performed with the Ensemble for the Romantic Century in their April 2016 production of Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone at BAM Fisher Theater. Past solo appearances include Vivaldi’s Winter with Orquestra De Camara Galega in Spain. Ms Lewis has taught at the Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies at Queens College, Saint David’s School, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies at CIM, and she currently maintains an active private studio.

Victoria Lewis

She/Her

Victoria Wolf Lewis enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator based in New York City. Since graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a Master of Music in performance and Suzuki Pedagogy, Ms. Lewis has performed with many orchestras in the United States and abroad including New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, New York City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Tel Aviv Soloists, and is currently a violinist with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. Ms. Lewis has served as the concertmaster of LoftOpera and is currently the concertmaster of Bare Opera in New York City. Ms. Lewis performed with the Ensemble for the Romantic Century in their April 2016 production of Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone at BAM Fisher Theater. Past solo appearances include Vivaldi’s Winter with Orquestra De Camara Galega in Spain. Ms Lewis has taught at the Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies at Queens College, Saint David’s School, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies at CIM, and she currently maintains an active private studio.

Origin Story

The DOC’s Matt Boresi chats with composer Dina Pruzhansky, librettist Briana Hunter, and director Malena Dayen about the creation of “Heroes of New York”