by Anna Hostman (Composer, BC) &
Oana Avasilichioaei (librettist, QC)
Commissioned & developed by FAWN Chamber Creative
Cells of Wind is a new, multimedia chamber opera that looks at solitary confinement while in incarceration and the resulting distortions of memory, reality, time, and space.
CELLS OF WIND
Mini-Documentary,
July 2022 Workshop
Next steps: A second-stage workshop of the revised score and a prototype exploration of the set, projection, and movement elements conceived in the first-stage workshop. NUMUS is joining FAWN as the co-producer of the second stage workshop.
FAWN Chamber Creative is a two-time Dora Award Nominated experimental music and opera collective that explores the intersections between art forms and audiences. Known for their daring explorations and riveting live performances, FAWN prioritizes cross-disciplinary collaboration to create new works and audience experiences that defy tradition and blur the lines between genres.
Estimated time: 60 minutes
Development stage: FAWN hosted a first-stage score and design dramaturgy workshop in July 2022. Watch the mini doc of our 2022 workshop process here!
Scale of Work: Cells of Wind is a multimedia chamber opera, intended for a mid-sized theatre, with four lead singers, a four-singer chorus, and a six-piece ensemble.
July 2022 Workshop
TEAM
Creative Team:
Stage Director & Dramaturge:
Amanda Smith
Music Director: Adam Scime
Set Designer: Anna Treusch
Projection Design Team: potatoCake_Digital (Emily Soussana & Andrew Scriver)
Choreographer: Alyssa Martin
Costume Designer: Joyce Padua
Makeup Designer: Erica Jeffery
Co-Dramaturge: Graham Cozzubo
Cast (four leads):
Rebecca Cuddy, playing L (mezzo-soprano)
Samuel Chan, playing H (baritone)
Rebecca Gray, playing G (soprano)
Xander Bechard, playing Guard (tenor)
Prisoner Chorus (currently scored for four singers, with discussions to expand):
- Danielle Aprile (soprano)
- Anna Wojcik (soprano)
- Emma Heaton (soprano)
- Gwenna Fairchild-Tayler (soprano)
Ensemble (six players):
Sara Constant – flute
Anthony Thompson – clarinet
John Lettieri – accordion
Ilana Waniuk – violin
Amahl Arulanandam – cello
Nathan Petitpas – percussion
Content Consultants:
Synopsis:
Cells of Wind is a new chamber opera by Victoria-based composer Anna Höstman and Montréal-based poet/librettist Oana Avasilichioaei. The story is inspired by Romanian artist Lena Constante’s real-life experience as a political prisoner in Romania, who was imprisoned for twelve years with much of that time spent in solitary confinement. Cells of Wind builds out from Constante’s ordeal and serves as a window into someone subjected to these complex and troubling conditions.
The opera observes a woman being kept in an administrative segregation unit, the term used in Canada’s correctional system and where the piece takes place. Surrounded by women’s voices from scattered cells and a perpetually patrolling guard, we see the lines between this woman’s memories, imagination, and sense of reality blend during a period of extreme, forced isolation. With music described by Höstman as, “grains of sand in the wind”, Cells of Wind will immerse audiences in the sounds of confinement that encompass whirling thoughts and recollections, and exhibit the mind’s role in attempting to maintain a sense of self.
With so much focus on inequities in the American criminal justice system, FAWN plans to use Cells of Wind as a platform to inform audiences of the impacts of solitary confinement in Canada, including the long-standing struggle over its use. This opera will be a timely contribution to the ongoing national dialogue on criminal justice issues.
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