White Snake Projects Activist Opera Company Presents the Third Annual Let’s Celebrate!, An Opera Series Celebrating Diverse Holiday Traditions, Dec 14

BOSTON, MA (For Release 11.14.24) — Hailed for creating diverse, timely and relevant opera, activist opera company White Snake Projects (WSP) hosts the third installment of Let’s Celebrate!, an annual holiday tradition presenting brand-new operas that celebrate the diversity of the Boston area and the myriad holidays celebrated here. Mirroring the city’s demographics, Let’s Celebrate! serves up a collection of three 20-minute operas telling stories about holidays and families from various cultures around the world. With post-show panel discussions about intersectionality during the holiday season, this year’s concert embraces the traditions of Mexico’s Black Christ at Chalma, Uzbekistan’s Navruz, a national holiday celebrating the new year and new life, and Spain’s La Tomatina, a tomato throwing festival.

Thirty Angels is a musical celebration of Navruz, the Uzbek and Persian New Year. Composed and written by Uzbekistan-native pianist Liliya Ugay (carrying Korean and Tatar ethnic heritage), Thirty Angels tells the fictional story of a young child in an Uzbek village who learns the meaning of the centuries-old tradition of preparing Sumalak, a celebratory food of germinated wheat, flour, cottonseed oil and water symbolizing community, friendship, and good luck. For generations of Uzbeks, Navruz has been a source of renewal, hope, and joy.

Dancing in Chalma celebrates one of the most important festivals of Mexico: The Black Christ. With music by world-renowned Mexican composer Felipe Perez Santiago, Dancing in Chalma transports listeners to the Mexican town of Chalma where people make their pilgrimages to the reputed miracle-worker shrine, the Black Christ of Chalma.

Requiem Tomatina celebrates the largest food fight in the world, the heart-stopping La Tomatina Festival held every year in a town near Valencia, Spain. Acclaimed director/choreographer/librettist John de los Santos and composer Tony Solitro join forces to share the wild, unusual, and very saucy spectacle of their homeland that brings together thousands in the streets squashing and throwing tomatoes at each other producing a sea of red.

About White Snake Projects      
White Snake Projects (WSP) is an activist opera company that unites artmaking with civic practice. It envisions a world where the power of opera expands the collective understanding of community and transforms lives through creative storytelling. WSP’s mission is to use opera not just as performance, but as performance with purpose, a vibrant and vital art form that is also a champion of change. It makes socially relevant music theater/opera exploring difficult issues that resonate with the community, such as I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams (Dreamer), an immigrant story about what it means to be a new American; Cosmic Cowboy, a sci-fi opera meditating on the consequences of our colonizing impulses; MONKEY: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable, retelling the beloved Chinese classic “Journey to the West” through life-size puppets; and Is This America?, centered on the life of voting activist Fannie Lou Hamer. A critical element in the exploration of these themes is the establishment of authentic connections with thought leaders in social justice to ensure that the company’s creative work lives in an ecosystem of activism. Learn more at WhiteSnakeProjects.org.

Program Ticketing Info:                                                                                                                       

Let’s Celebrate!

Saturday, December 14,^, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 15, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.
(post-performance panel discussion)

Maso Studio at The Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.

Tix: Tickets: Pay What You Wish. Reservations strongly encouraged. To reserve or for more information, visit WhiteSnakeProjects.org or call The Huntington Theatre at 617.266.0800.

Program Cast: 

Thirty Angels

Music Libretto: Liliya Ugay
Nodirbek/Farrukh: Maggie Finnegan (coloratura)

Nilufar/Madina: Carina DiGianfilippo (soprano)

Dilbar/Fatima Alexis Peart (mezzo-soprano)

Dancing in Chalma

Music: Felipe Perez Santiago
Libretto: Cerise Lim Jacobs
Xochil - Maggie Finnegan (soprano)

Chely - Carina DiGianfilippo (soprano)

Xula - Alexis Peart (mezzo-soprano)

Requiem Tomatina

Music: Tony Solitro

Libretto: John de los Santos

Student: Maggie Finnegan (soprano)

Vendor: Carina DiGianfilippo (soprano)

Priest: Alexis Peart (mezzo-soprano)

Corporal: Joel Clemens (baritone)

Creative Team:
Director: Laine Rettmer
Music Director: Tianhui Ng

Costume Designer: Chole Moore

Lighting Designer: Kevin Fulton

Projections Designer: Pamela Hersch
Executive Producer: Cerise Lim Jacobs/White Snake Projects

Orchestra:

Justin Ouellet – violin
Linda Hwang – cello

David McGrory – piano

Sung in English

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