Creative Team
Co-creators
TED HEARNE, PATRICIA MCGREGOR & SAUL WILLIAMS
Composer
TED HEARNE
Text
SAUL WILLIAMS & TED HEARNE
Director
PATRICIA MCGREGOR
Scenic Design
SANFORD BIGGERS and TIM BROWN
Featuring
STEVEN BRADSHAW, SOPHIA BYRD, JOSEPHINE LEE, ISAIAH ROBINSON, SOL RUIZ & AYANNA WOODS
TED HEARNE
SAUL WILLIAMS & TED HEARNE
PATRICIA MCGREGOR
About
A finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Music, PLACE examines the complex consequences of a rupture in the place we call home through meditation and confrontation. Boundaries crossed within a young family mirror the fault lines that are exposed when the desire for expansion by some causes displacement for others. Where will the impulse to claim our space lead us next; what is left to colonize and at what cost?
Support
Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, the Barbican, Beth Morrison Projects, Lynn Loacker and Elizabeth & Justus Schlichting with additional commissioning support from Sue Bienkowski, Nancy & Barry Sanders, and the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts. This project was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Govenor and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Premiered at Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles) in 2020.
![The West Coast premiere of TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD marked another successful addition to the rich legacy of collaborative efforts between Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera (@laopera)! We're looking back at some of our favorite productions over the years to celebrate!
DOG DAYS - DOG DAYS marked the first production of the whirlwind partnership in 2015. Hailed by the New York Times as a riveting, soon-to-be “groundbreaking American classic,” the post-apocalyptic tragedy made waves at its LAO presentation and put BMP on the West Coast map.
P R I S M - P R I S M marked another milestone in our joint history. Not only did Ellen Reid’s (@ellenreidmusic) debut opera make its world premiere with LA Opera at REDCAT (@calartsredcat), but this collaborative project would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2019. It was a major development for BMP, LAO, and, of course, Ellen Reid, who “[took] her place among the host of promising young American opera composers” (The Financial Times).
ANGEL'S BONE - Another Pulitzer Prize-winning BMP production, ANGEL'S BONE, was planned as part of the 2020 season. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation pivoted, becoming the first in our history to be presented digitally. The show was streamed by 20,000 people, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our bond with LAO.
TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD - Finally, Emma O’Halloran’s (@emmamohalloran) TRADE/Mary Motorhead made its West Coast premiere last month at REDCAT. We're thrilled to celebrate another year of BMP and LAO sharing boundary-pushing, cutting-edge opera with this incredible production starring Naomi Louisa O’Connell (@naomi_louisa_oconnell), Marc Kudisch (@marckudisch), and Kyle Bielfield (@bielfield)!](https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)