BROADVIEW CHRISTBROADVIEW CHRIST

The first in a trilogy of operas that mine the contemporary psychology of the family farmer, Broadview Christ dramatizes through words and music the downward spiral of a man who hits rock bottom only with his own death. The story follows a farmer and his family who are struggling to cope with his alcoholism that he tries to hide while working in his wood shop, fashioning a crucifix he believes to be a commission from Christ. The opera paints a portrait of rural contemporary life, examining the root of depression and addiction that plagues many a small family farm.

"I come from a lineage of farmers. My father, with his father (my grandfather) and brother (my uncle) worked together for most of my childhood, then the farm was split, wholly unevenly, when my grandfather retired leaving the majority of the assets to his youngest son, his namesake, my uncle. I perceived this to be at the root of my father's depression, which led to his alcoholism, drug use, and finally his suicide a decade ago. I've been wanting to write an opera about my father, and the many farmers who suffer from mental health issues and substance abuse, but it has taken me a decade to muster up the courage to tackle such an emotionally heavy and personal subject. This is the opera that marries the Catholic imagery that I associate with my paternal grandparents, which is also my spiritual heritage, with the landscape of vital fields of wheat and barley, dramatizing through words and music that downward spiral of a man who hits rock bottom only with his own death. I hope this to be the first in a trilogy of operas that mine the contemporary psychology of the family farmer. It is the song of my dad, lost among the swaths of harvest."

— Royce Vavrek, Librettist

MUSIC DIRECTOR & COMPOSER — JULIAN WACHNER

LIBRETTIST — ROYCE VAVREK