Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein are internationally renowned for their GRAMMY® award-winning opera Elmer Gantry (2007). Their follow-up collaboration, Parables (2010) is a cantata for soloists, a 200-voice choir and 80-piece orchestra. The attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001 haunts its writing but the use of passages from the Torah, New Testament and Koran seeks to bind the major faiths’ commonality, hopeful of healing and reconciliation. In this staged performance young dancers, costumes, and projection emphasize the music’s powerfully theatrical impact.

Artists

Monica Yunus (soprano), Adriana Zabala (mezzo-soprano), Joseph Okell (tenor), Philip Zawisza (baritone)

University of Minnesota Opera Theatre, Univeristy of Minessota Symphony Orchestra, University of Minnesota Choruses & University Singers, Kathy Saltzman Romey (conductor) & David Walsh (stage director)