1/30/2025 HARVARD CHORUSES PREMIERES GROUNDBREAKING OPERA ABOUT POWER, POLITICS AND RELIGION IN EARLY AMERICARead Now For immediate release: January 30, 2025 Contact Olivia Porada, Administrative Manager for Choral Music, [email protected] Posters/Social Graphics HARVARD CHORUSES PREMIERES GROUNDBREAKING OPERA ABOUT POWER, POLITICS AND RELIGION IN EARLY AMERICAA new opera by James Kallembach about Puritan spiritual leader Anne Hutchinson features Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Radcliffe Choral Society, and Harvard Glee Club in historic Sanders Theatre. CAMBRIDGE (January 30, 2025) – American Jezebel: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson, a powerful new opera by composer James Kallembach, will make its world premiere in a semi-staged concert performance at 8:00 pm, March 1, 2025, in Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. Presented by the Harvard Choruses with the Office for the Arts, the concert will feature Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Radcliffe Choral Society, and Harvard Glee Club. The opera delves into one of the most tumultuous and consequential moments in early American history—the 1637 trial of Puritan spiritual leader Anne Hutchinson—and examines the deepening tensions between personal freedom and communal order, gender and power, and religious orthodoxy and individual conscience. In this gripping operatic retelling, Anne Hutchinson (sung by soprano Sarah Joyce Cooper) stands at the center of a dramatic battle against Governor John Winthrop (baritone Sumner Thompson). Hutchinson’s unyielding theological beliefs and her defiance of the Puritan clergy lead to a high-stakes confrontation, where private convictions clash with the rigid laws of a theocratic society. The late Harvard preacher and theologian Peter Gomes described Hutchinson as “the midwife of what would become Harvard College:” the schism Hutchinson provoked compelled the Puritan leaders to provide a theological education for future ministers against the threats Hutchinson posed to the dominant Puritan orthodoxy. The opera features a vivid cast of characters, including Winthrop’s wife Margaret, Hutchinson’s young protégé Mary, and her lover Tom, all of whom hope to escape to the promise of a life outside of Boston's political and religious strife. Kallembach’s score weaves together communal singing from the Bay Psalm Book with excerpts from Hutchinson’s meticulously documented trial and an array of primary texts—from bawdy rhymes to iconic works of embroidery – creating a rich, layered narrative. The music provides a sonic landscape that amplifies the emotional turmoil of the characters while reflecting the period’s religious fervor and societal constraints. Conducted by Dr. Hana Cai, Associate Director for Choral Activities at Harvard, the world premiere performance features a talented ensemble of performers, including both professional singers and Harvard students, that will bring the story to life, with a musical and vocal experience designed to captivate and provoke. “When I began this opera over a decade ago, I would never have imagined it would be as timely as it is now.,” says Kallembach, whom the Harvard Choruses commissioned to write American Jezebel. “This story speaks to our present as never before in my lifetime.” Tickets for the world premiere of American Jezebel: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson are available now at Harvard Box Office. For more information about the concert or the Harvard Choruses, please visit www.singatharvard.com. # # # MEDIA CONTACT: Olivia Porada, [email protected] About Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Harvard’s nationally acclaimed mixed-voice choir, performs dynamic and innovative repertoire ranging from classical masterpieces to new compositions by renowned, emerging, and student composers. Collegium has served as a joyful and vibrant community on Harvard’s campus since 1971, uniting students of all backgrounds and academic interests through their shared love of exceptional and meaningful choral singing. Uniquely situated as an accredited course at Harvard College and a student-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Collegium fosters a passionate community of student musicians through collaborative projects, tours, and community engagement. https://hrcm.org/ About Radcliffe Choral Society The Radcliffe Choral Society, founded in 1899, is a treble choral ensemble at Harvard University, currently under the direction of Dr. Hana Cai. The ensemble performs a distinctive repertoire spanning nine centuries of choral literature: sacred and secular, a cappella and accompanied, collaborative and choral-orchestral. The Radcliffe Choral Society aims to foster the appreciation and enjoyment of women's and treble choral music through the commission of new works for soprano-alto voices, high-caliber performances, and domestic and international travel, striving to honor its history and further its legacy. As a student run and managed 501(c)(3) non-profit, singers are given a unique opportunity to join the Executive Committee, learning about and developing their skills in arts management. Featuring a student-led a cappella group, 'Cliffe Notes, the Radcliffe Choral Society promotes excellence in women's choral music and celebrates the extraordinary community formed through its music-making. http://www.radcliffechoralsociety.com/ About Harvard Glee Club An ensemble of tenor and bass voices, the Harvard Glee Club is the oldest collegiate choir in the United States. Since its founding in 1858, it has cultivated and sustained the art of tenor-bass—traditionally men’s—choral music through regular concerts at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre, as well as in performances around the world, including at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Disney Concert Hall in LA, the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, the Duomo di Firenze in Italy, and the American Cathedral in Paris, France. www.harvardgleeclub.org About the Office for the Arts at Harvard The Office for the Arts at Harvard supports student engagement in the arts and integrates the arts into university life. Through its programs and services, the OFA teaches and mentors, fosters student art making, connects students to accomplished artists, commissions new work, and partners with local, national, and international constituencies. By supporting the development of students as artists and cultural stewards, the OFA works to enrich society and shape communities in which the arts are a vital part of life. The OFA programming team hosts visits with world-class professional artists who interact with students through a range of educational forums, many open to the public. 617-495-8676, [email protected], ofa.fas.harvard.edu Comments are closed.
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