Production is part of Wolf Trap’s 2017-2018 Chamber Music in The Barns season
Vienna, Virginia (October 10, 2017) – Presented in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates, Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music in the Barns 2017-2018 season has been expanded to include Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy on Sunday, March 11 at 7:30 pm at the Barns at Wolf Trap.
Created by theatrical director James Glossman and Emerson String Quartet’s Philip Setzer, the piece combines chamber music, theater, and multimedia projections to weave a tale of art, love, madness, and freedom. Written and directed by James Glossman, with music direction by Philip Setzer, the cast includes David Straitham (Shostakovich) and music by the Emerson String Quartet.
In a bold intersection of chamber music and theater, the Emerson Quartet, accompanied by an ensemble of actors, weave a story about Dmitri Shostakovich’s 50-year obsession of creating an opera based on Chekhov’s mystical tale, The Black Monk. Through theater and music, including a complete performance of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 14, the tale is told through the composer’s eyes and his decades of suffering under political attacks within an oppressive Soviet regime which leaves him with a deteriorating body and mind, struggling to complete his life’s work.
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PRODUCTION AND TICKETING INFORMATION
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates
Present
Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy
Created by Philip Setzer and James Glossman
Musical Direction by Philip Setzer
Written and Directed by James Glossman
Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 7:30 pm
The Barns at Wolf Trap is located at 1635 Trap Road, Vienna, VA 22182
Tickets, priced at $60, can be purchased online at wolftrap.org, in person at the Barns Box Office, or by phone at 877.WOLFTRAP.
CAST
Shostakovich David Straitham
Stalin TBD
Younger Woman Ali Breneman
Younger Man Alex Glossman
Middle Woman Evelyn McGee Colbert
Older Man Paul Murphy
Older Woman Linda Setzer
CREATIVE TEAM
Director James Glossman
Music Direction Philip Setzer
Music Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker, Violin
Philip Setzer, Violin
Lawrence Dutton, Viola
Paul Watkins, Cello
Media Contacts:
Jo LaBrecque, Vice President, Communications and Marketing
703.255.1997 or joannl@wolftrap.org
Emily Smalling, Manager, Media Relations
703.255.4096 or emilys@wolftrap.org