Children of the Sun (2013)
Information on the Production
Henry Mollicone, Composer
William Luce, Lyricist
Dr. Samuel Mungo, Director - Texas State Opera
Kristin Roach, Conductor - Texas State Opera
Helen Miers, Director of Choirs - McCallum Fine Arts Academy
Ricky Pringle, Director of Orchestras - McCallum Fine Arts Academy
PR/News
University News Service writes:
By Andrew Smith
University News Service
October 25, 2013
Texas State Opera Theatre has partnered with the McCallum Fine Arts Academy for the first ever performance of Henry Mollicone’s “Children of the Sun” on Nov. 15-16 at 7 p.m. and on Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. at the McCallum Arts Theatre Center in Austin.
The world premiere event will combine live orchestral music from the McCallum Fine Arts Academy and the operatic singing of Texas State vocalists to tell the iconic story of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
“Children of the Sun” is the original work of Henry Mollicone. The American composer has had an illustrious career spanning nearly four decades and has received awards and grants from institutions such as OPERA America, the Presser Foundation, the American Composers Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts. Mollicone has also worked as an orchestrator and composer for feature films and television series.
Samuel Mungo, the director of opera studies at Texas State, will oversee the school’s participation in the performance. His previous productions at Texas State include “Die Fledermaus,” “The Magic Flute,” “The Turn of the Screw,” “Don Giovanni” and Jacques Ibert’s “Angelique,” which was named the 2012 Opera Production of the Year by the National Opera Association. Mungo’s accomplished career encompasses more than 20 years of singing, directing, and teaching. He has also served as a faculty member at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York and the New School University.
TEXAS STATE, MCCALLUM FINE ARTS ACADEMY TO PREMIERE OPERA INSPIRED BY OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (OR PATRON SAINT OF MEXICO)
Texas State Opera Theatre announces a joint endeavor with the McCallum Fine Arts Academy in Austin for the World Premiere of Henry Mollicone’s Children of the Sun, an opera about the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Dr. Samuel Mungo, Director of Texas State Opera Theatre, says the public will love the show.
“Henry Mollicone’s music mixes operatic grandness, Broadway-musical energy and movie-soundtrack sweep,” he says. “His previous works have shown him to be so well connected to the musical sounds of his subjects - 1890’s honky-tonk music in his western The Face on the Barroom Floor, music evoking Slave songs and Gospel in the true story of a slave mother, Gabriel’s Daughter, and Spanish and native idioms in this work focusing on such an icon of Mexican culture.”
This unique collaboration was borne out of a conversation Dr. Mungo had with Helen Miers, Choral Director at the McCallum Fine Arts Academy. “We were discussing ideas where we could serve our talented students and also provide an arts opportunity for the greater community,” says Miers. “Sam remembered a conversation with Henry about this one-act opera, and we saw a great opportunity to combine McCallum’s top notch Choral and Orchestra programs, and the Award winning Texas State Opera. At the same time, we could engage and honor the large Hispanic community in Austin.”
In order to allow for the most access to the performances, tickets to this World Premiere will be free of charge. “Exposing audiences to opera is so much more important to us than a ticket price,” says Mungo. “We’d rather build a community of arts goers, break down the imagined barriers to classical music as inaccessible, and give folks an experience that provides an avenue to new ideas and collaborations.” While tickets are free, you must reserve them through the box office.