ABOUT THE ARITSTS
CAST & WRITERS
BEA GOODWIN
Librettist
ELYSE ANNE KAKACEK
"Emily"
DANIEL FELSENFELD
Composer
SARA LIN YODER
Aliana
ARTISTIC STAFF
TRANSIENT CANVAS
Instrumentals
AMY ADVOCAT
Audio & Subtitle Editor
JEFFREY MEANS
Post-Production
FRISSON FILMS, INC.
Video Producer
BEA GOODWIN
Librettist
Bea Goodwin is a writer and director who made her opera stage directing debut in 2015 with Jarrar’s Fall of the House of Usher at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Since then, she has been commissioned by Gramercy Opera, dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, No Dominion Theatre Co as well as independent artists to write stories and bring them to life. She has staged her own works as well as the greats at iconic venues around NYC; LaMaMa Experimental Theatre (La Caliso, La Cifra, Princess Maleine), BAM and le Poisson Rouge (Songs of the Soul Beams) as well as site-specific opera off the stage; the gardens at the Mount Vernon Museum (The Fairy Queen), the historic Montauk Club (A Christmas Carol), and behind the gallery walls at the Blue Building (Tabula Rasa.)
DANIEL FELSENFELD
Composer
Composer Daniel Felsenfeld has been commissioned and performed by Simone Dinnerstein, The Chorus of Trinity Wall Street, Kathleen Supove, Dal Niente, ETHEL, Great Noise Ensemble, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Parhelion Trio, Friction Quartet, Nadia Sirota, URBAN Arias, and more in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kitchen, Miller Theatre, The Stone, Le Poisson Rouge, National Sawdust, and the Kennedy Center. Future projects include a piece for The Crossing in collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble with texts by Salman Rushdie. When rapper Jay-Z performed in Carnegie Hall, along with Alicia Keys and Nas, backed by a full orchestra, Felsenfeld was asked to do all of the orchestrations and arrangements. He also collaborated with The Roots on their Grammy-nominated record Undun, appearing with them on the Jimmy Fallon Show. Residencies include Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, Avaloch Farm, The Hermitage, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. He teaches at the Juilliard School and is honored to be a resident artist at Nancy Manocharian’s the cell theatre.
ELYSE ANNE KAKACEK
"Emily"
American soprano Elyse Anne Kakacek is making her mark with her “unexpectedly deep and honey-colored soprano” (Parterre Box) in opera, oratorio and contemporary music. She has been acclaimed as a “stand out performer” (Opera News) with “delicious sultriness of voice (and) smoldering lyricism” (Operawire). Ms. Kakacek has sung lead roles for multiple world premieres including her venue debut at National Sawdust in Brooklyn creating all seven soprano roles for Experiments in Opera’s premiere of And Here We Are. She was described as “captivating as she floated her voice into the heavens with a feathery tone” (Operawire) in her creation of the title role of Princess Maleine at La Mama Experimental Theatre in NYC. She has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, David A Koch Promenade at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space and the Preston Bradley Hall. Equally in love with traditional repertoire, other career highlights include: Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Dafne in L’Euridice, Micaela in Carmen, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Despina in Così fan Tutte, Norina in Don Pasquale, Musetta in La Bohème, Flora in The Turn of the Screw, Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, Clorinda in La Cenerentola and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Elyse has recently released two albums of art song which can be found on all downloadable platforms.
SARA LIN YODER
Aliana
Soprano Sara Lin Yoder’s midwestern work ethic coupled with 39 years of combined performance experience across 4 different instruments makes her an impeccable musician and a dynamic storyteller. Sara Lin’s “arresting dignity and presence that grips both the eye and the ear” entranced audiences in her performances in the title role of L’incoronazione di Poppea. Her knack for comedy in the roles of Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), and Ida (Die Fledermaus) left audiences roaring with laughter, while heart-warming renditions of Nanetta (Falstaff), Constance (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Laurie (The Tender Land) brought them to tears. Her interest in new music was discovered in 2012 while workshopping the role of Jessica in Aldridge/Garfein’s production of Sister Carrie. Since then, she has workshopped Aschera in Kerer/Mazzola’s Apocalypse: Now and Then, Susan in Redler/Campbell’s A Song for Susan Smith, Mary in Heggie/Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life, and premiered the role of Kiki in Jarrar/Goodwin’s Tabula Rasa.
TRANSIENT CANVAS
Instrumentals
Boston-based contemporary duo Transient Canvas is on a mission to revolutionize the modern concert experience. Since 2011, their innovative performances have been praised as “superb” by the Boston Globe and “disarming” by Cleveland Classical, with the San Francisco Chronicle lauding “the versatile imagination they both display and inspire in others.” Bass clarinetist Amy Advocat and marimbist Matt Sharrock relish the creative potential of working with living composers, having amassed a varied repertoire of over 85 commissioned works. They have three albums, “Sift,” “Wired,” and “Right now, in a second,” released on New Focus Recordings. Transient Canvas proudly endorses Henri Selmer Paris and Marimba One.
FRISSON FILMS, INC.
Video Producer
Frisson Films creates videos focused on the filmed expression of classical music through the collaboration of artists of all disciplines, and increases the knowledge of the general public about classical music by inviting the general public to film showings or other similar programs. The organization will host their annual Frisson Festival virtually in early 2021. www.frissonfilms.org
NANCY MANOCHERIAN'S THE CELL THEATRE
Presenter
Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre (Artistic Director Kira Simring) is a non profit dedicated to the incubation and presentation of new works that mine the mind, pierce the heart, and awaken the soul. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the cell has transitioned into the digital sphere by streaming virtual concerts and programming such as the Room | to | Breathe series with Bright Shiny Things, Nourishment "Bites" with Holdtight Dance Company, Apex Sky, Harps Uncovered and Liquidverse a psychedelic and meditative show exploring the images of the cosmos through oil based dyes by Liquid Light Lab. the cell has also premiered socially-distanced art experiences in their space on 23rd street such as Tranquility Base, an immersive light show that bathes the viewer in primordial organic forms, Garden of Eden, an exploration of major arcana tarot with Dark Matter Immersive, and Treasures and Tremors featuring the artwork of Chaney Trotter.. Past productions include Found, Hoard (co-produced with Off the Wall), The Pink Unicorn (starring Alice Ripley co-produced with Out of the Box), The Evolution of Mann, Bastard Jones (Drama-Desk Nominated), Crackskull Row, Hard Times: An American Musical, The McGowan Trilogy, Hey Jude, Horse Girls and more. www.thecelltheatre.org