Persephone in the Late Anthropocene | SPACE Gallery 2016; The Apohadion 2015; Belfast Poetry Festival 2014
This experimental spoken opera vaults the Persephone myth into the age of climate crisis. A co-creation of the late composer Denis Nye and librettist Megan Grumbling, Persephone premiered in 2016 at SPACE Gallery, in Portland, Maine. Persephone in the Late Anthropocene now also exists as a book, published by Acre Books.
LISTEN to Denis Nye’s score from Persephone, recorded with the support of the Maine Arts Commission at Acadia Recording Co., in Portland, Maine.
WATCH music videos of the compositions chorus song: short shorts and chorus song: too susceptible.
Persephone merges new composition, poetry, movement, theater, and installation. Its score is a post-Romantic chamber work for oboe, violin, viola, and cello, filtered through a digital delay to evoke the disjunction and crisis – as well as the beauty – of our modern world. The libretto ranges from lyric verse to edgy, magical realist prose poems and an imagined Farmer’s Almanac.
The 2016 premiere of Persephone was directed by Tess Van Horn, with musical direction by Cameron Prescott, costumes and installation by Jenna Crowder, and lighting design by Corey Anderson.
The original performers of Persephone in the Late Anthropocene were ensemble members Bridgette Kelly (Persephone), Deborah Paley (Demeter), Ian Bannon (Chorus), Paul Haley (Chorus), and Marjolaine Whittlesey (Chorus); and musicians Ben Meiklejohn (Oboe), Victoria Hurlburt (Violin), Leigh-Ashley Milne (Viola), and Volkhard Lindner (Cello), conducted by Cameron John Prescott. With assistant direction by stage manager Rene Johnson.
Persephone 's premiere at SPACE included "Underworld" and "Aboveground" cocktail pairings by Nathaniel Meiklejohn of The Bearded Lady's Jewel Box, and a thematic food pairing for each movement, by relational artist Genevieve Johnson.