the late walk

Commissioned by Bare Opera
Music by Jasmine Barnes 
Libretto by Nikolaus Hochstein Cox

During a pandemic, nothing is a walk in the park. For modern lovers Tamara and Natalie, a night out in the fresh air takes a turn for the uncanny when they meet an older couple very much like them. There's only one problem: these other park-goers are dead.

Inspired by the humanly flawed relationships, the cold irony, and the ever-present red spectre of the plague from Day Five, Story Eight of Boccaccio's Decameron, The Late Walk is a romance, a science fiction, and a horror set against the backdrop of a global pandemic and asks, in the fashion that only opera can, what can all the best intentions and most human passions do in the face of an omnipotent and callous virus?

 
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Episode 1: both gladsome and grievous

Tales from a Safe Distance

Streaming In THE IDAGIO Global Concert Hall

 

Cast

Tamara: Briana Hunter 
Natalie: Kirsten Scott 
Sally Spectre: Alaysha Fox 
Grahame Ghost: Suchan Kim


Creative Team

Music by Jasmine Barnes 
Libretto by Nikolaus Hochstein Cox
Piano: Laetitia Ruccolo 
Bassoon: Allison Nicotera 
Director: Malena Dayen 
Video Designer: Sangmin Chae

Jasmine Arielle Barnes

She/Her

Jasmine Arielle Barnes, of Baltimore, MD, is a promising composer/vocaIist who has performed and has had her music performed all over the world. She is a multifaceted composer who embraces any writing style of music using a variety of instrumentation and specializes in writing for the voice. She proved her musical prowess in her debut composition concert entitled "Reality Race and Religion." The Concert featured major performers like Marquita Lister, Leah Hawkins, conductors like Jordan Smith, Angelo Johnson, Symphony Number One Chamber Orchestra, Choir and many more performers. As a vocalist, she's been made familiar to The Dallas Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, The White House (Obama administration), The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, The Meyerhoff, and numerous other companies and venues in and out of the US.

She holds her Bachelor of Arts (Vocal Studies) and Master of Arts (Composition) from Morgan State University in Baltimore Maryland.

Nikolaus Cox

He/Him

Born in New Zealand, a German citizen, and currently residing in England, Nikolaus Hochstein Cox is an author, artist and archaeologist. He has led archaeological expeditions across the world and is published in popular science journals; his true passion, however, lies in fiction writing.

Prior to moving to Britain, Nikolaus worked in Bolivia as a journalist. During his time in South America he witnessed and reported on many unique cultural and ecological phenomena. These are experiences which, in tandem with his archaeological background, influence his written work.

He enjoys bad adventure fiction - of which he has published his share of stories - and good coffee - of which he has drunk more than his share.

Briana Elyse Hunter

She/Her

Briana Elyse Hunter, described by the NY Times as “a radiant mezzo-soprano” and Opera News as “a mezzo-soprano of astounding vocal and dramatic range,” is rapidly emerging as an exciting artist to watch. Her previous credits include Blue (Mother), Carmen (Carmen), Little Women (Jo), Xerxes (Arsamenes), Die Fledermaus (Prince Orlovsky), As One (Hannah after), and La traviata (Flora). She won the 2018 EncoreMichigan Wilde Award for “Best Performance in an Opera” for her portrayal of Gertrude Stein in Ricky Ian Gordon’s 27. She has been on the rosters of New York City Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Santa Fe Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Knoxville Opera, UrbanArias in D.C., American Opera Projects, Opera in the Heights, I SING BEIJING, Sarasota Opera, El Paso Opera, and Music Academy of the West. She recently made her Lincoln Center Theater debut in their gala performance of Camelot starring Lin Manuel Miranda.

Suchan Kim

He/Him

Suchan Kim is a native of Busan, South Korea. He holds Bachelor of Music from Korea National University of Arts, Master of Music and Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College the New School for Music. Roles: Don Giovanni/Leporello (Don Giovanni), Count/Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Cosi Fan Tutte), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Hoël (Le Pardon de Ploërmel), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Germano (La Scala di Seta), Tobia Mill (La cambiale di matrimonio), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Ford (Falstaff), Marcello/Schaunard (La Bohème), Silvio (I Pagliacci), Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia), Salieri (Mozart and Salieri), Dancaïre (Carmen), Jailer (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Simeon (L’Enfant Prodigue), Father(Thumbprint), King Solomon(Shulamit). Venue: Merola Opera Program, Metropolitan Opera Education, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Carnegie Hall, Dallas Opera’s The Hart Institute for Women Conductors, Sarasota Opera, Opera in Williamsburg, NYU IMPACT Conference, National Theater of Korea, Seoul Arts Center. Awards: Opera Award - Mannes Opera, Eastern District Winner – MONC Auditions.

Malena Dayen

She/Her

Malena Dayen is an Argentinian opera singer and stage director based in New York City. She directed the productions of Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires” and “Don Giovanni” for Bare Opera. Recently Malena presented her thesis project for the MFA at CUNY Brooklyn College on Performance and Interactive Media Arts. “Exercises on The Presence of Odradek” was a live, VR online experience of an original piece that combined dance and opera with interactive technology. 

As a singer Malena was praised by the New York Times as “Outstanding”. She sang operatic roles in houses across the United Stated, Canada and Brazil. As a tango singer Malena sang with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and formed the experimental ensemble New Aires Tango. Ms. Dayen has concertized and toured with the Oratorio Society of New York, and is a member of Moving Star, a vocal improvisation collective in residence at Carnegie Hall.

Alaysha Fox

She/Her

Soprano Alaysha Fox is an emerging artist based in Los Angeles.  Currently Ms. Fox is a member of LA Opera’s Domingo Colburn Stein young artist program. This summer, Ms. Fox was scheduled to join Santa Fe Opera's Apprentice program. Recently Ms. Fox was seen as Erstes Mädchen in Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen with the LA Philharmonic. 

 Some previous credits include: Camelot with the Lincoln Center Theater, Kathleen Battle’s Underground Railroad recital, First Lady (Die Zauberflӧte), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth, Bloch), Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Penelope(Penelope), and featured artist in Lee Mingwei’s exhibit: Sonic Blossom with MetLiveArts.

Ms. Fox has been honored with several awards including: Grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, first place winner of the Joan Taub Ades Vocal competition, semi-finalist in the Elizabeth Connell dramatic soprano competition, and the Lotte Lenya emerging artist award.

Kirsten Scott

She/Her

Kirsten Scott has been described as a “creamy toned mezzo-soprano with charm to burn.” She has sung throughout the U.S. as well as abroad. She was a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera Eastern Region National Council Auditions in New York City. She was selected by Florida Grand Opera for its young artist program and by Portland Opera for its Resident Artist Program. She made her professional debut with Florida Grand Opera as Vera Boronel in Menotti’s The Consul. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Stern Hall as a soloist with Choirs of America in 2018. She has performed numerous roles such as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Flora in La Traviata, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Stephano in Romeo et Juliette. She is a co-founder and the General Director of Bare Opera in New York City.

Laetitia Ruccolo

She/Her

French-Italian pianist Laetitia Ruccolo is the co-founder of the company Bare Opera in New York. She was a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio in London, and she has been in residence at the Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera, and Opera North. She regularly works for opera companies all over the world. She also performs widely as a solo artist, and in collaboration with chamber ensembles, singers, and with orchestra. Also passionate about art songs, she has played and performed at SongFest in California, and was invited twice at the Schubert Institute in Austria, where she worked with pianists such as Julius Drake, Helmut Deutsch, Roger Vignoles, and Graham Johnson, as well as singers Christa Ludwig, Robert Holl, and Elly Hameling.

She graduated from the Ecole Normale de Musique of Paris, University Mozarteum in Salzburg, and Mannes College of Music in New York, and from the University of Aix-Marseille in foreign languages and literature.