Info:

New Arrivals: A Chamber Opera
scored for: soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, smot chanter, marimba, and string quartet
duration: 35 minutes
text: Catherine Filloux

Commissioned by/Premiere:

Houston Grand Opera (commission and world premiere)
HGOco's East+West Project
June 16-17, 22-23, 2014 / Rothko Chapel and Asia Society Texas Center, Milwaukee WI
premiered by: Smot Chanter: Srey Pov, Mezzo-soprano: Mihoko Kinoshita, Baritone: Carlton Ford, Soprano: Kathryn Jolly, Tenor: Peter Tran
Director: Elise Sandell / Set and Costumes: Elizabeth Freese / Lighting Design: Jeremy Choate
Conductor: Timothy Meyers / Music Coach: Bethany Johnson
Members of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
residency, masterclass, and research support for creating the work from Cambodian Living Arts

About the work:

As Yani, an ageless Cambodian refugee, sits on a plane, she is haunted by the empty seats around her. “How will I survive?” she asks. When a Nepalese farmer, a Nigerian orphan, and a lost boy from the Sudan join Yani on the plane, her desire to help refugees like herself is launched. The work is based on the true-life experiences of Yani Rose Keo and marks the first documented collaboration between western-trained classical musicians and Smot Chant.

Watch/Listen:

New Arivals
(excerpt and talk from Rothko Chapel performance)

Srey Pov: Cambodian Smot Chanter
(a short documentary about Smot Chant and Srey Pov, who collaborated on the premiere produciton of New Arrivals)

Images from the Houston Grand Opera production