Lifeboat (2016)

chamber opera
for three singers and chamber ensemble
sop mez bar; 1111/1110/pno/perc/strings 10111
duration 25:00

Three refugees are stranded in an inflatable lifeboat out in the open ocean; they are the sole survivors of a shipwreck. After three days, tensions erupt between the strangers, who each fled the same conflict for different reasons. As their pasts are revealed, cooperation-and survival-seem unlikely. Lifeboat explores and challenges the ideals of courage, social justice, and service; can these ideals overcome major divides between people of different backgrounds and experiences? Can we all live in the same boat?

A John F Kennedy Center Commission for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative.

PREMIERE

Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center, Jan 16 2017
2017 John F Kennedy Center Commission for the American Opera Initiative