Exsultate, jubilate,
Exult! Rejoice!

o vos animae beatae,
O you blessed souls,

dulcia cantica canendo,
singing sweet songs.

Cantui vestro respondendo,
In response to your song,

psallant aethera cum me.
may the heavens sing with me.

A woman lays in the darkness of her “cave” watching and playing along with images of joyful people and beautiful nature from the outside world that are projected on her body. Elated with curiosity, she plays with the people on the projections until she is surprised by her shadow as it suddenly moves independently of her. Entranced, she watches as this shadow dances, finally reaching out and touching her. She has never felt the sensation of touch, only having experienced other people through sight, in the visual projections. She is deeply affected. The visitor presses a lily petal into her hand.

tācta? Attonita
Touched? Stunned

ab ignōtā peregrīnā.
By this unknown stranger.

quārē? Unde?
Why? From where?

phantasma calōris, tepor me tangit. Apparition of heat, the warmth touches me.

parā vidēre.
Prepare to see. (spoken by the dancer)

tenebrīs vēlāta vānīs,
Veiled in empty shadows--

mea gēns vānēscit,
My people vanish.

metus mē mordet
Anxiety gnaws at me,

subitō sōla.
Suddenly alone.

nūntiī, tuus tāctus manet
Herald, only your touch remains--

dūc mē per cālīginem.
lead me through the dark.

quis potentia umbrās creat?
What power creates the shadows?

The visitor turns off the projector, revealing to the woman that she is alone and that this place, which she has loved, is forbidding, monochrome and dangerous. She resists facing the truth of her empty life. Finally, unable to cope with this new reality, the woman begs for answers from the visitor, who, it becomes clear, is blind. The woman redoubles her entreaties for a response and the visitor shoves her against the wall.

Fulget amica dies,
The friendly day gleams,

jam fugere et nubila et procellae; both clouds and storms now flee--

exortus est justis inexspectata quies. Unforeseen calm has arisen for the righteous.

Undique obscura regnabat nox,
Once dark night reigned everywhere.

surgite tandem laeti qui timuistis Rise up, at last, joyful ones who feared till now,

adhuc, et jucundi aurorae fortunatae and welcoming this blessed dawn

frondes dextera plena et lilia date. give garlands and lilies from your bounty.

"Prepare to come into the world, after your suffering and fear, it’s time to be glad", the visitor proclaims, and she struggles to lead the fearful woman into the elevator towards the outside world. As they pause before the door, the visitor instructs the woman to eat the lily petal, which she does before opening the door towards a blinding light.

rupta, fracta,
Torn apart, broken,

perdita insidiis flammae
destroyed by this snare of flame

o improba lux, ardeo
O vile light, I burn.

Staggering over the threshold into the outside world, the woman's retinas start to burn. She is blinded by pain and falls to the ground. Through the blur, she sees the visitor walk away, embracing the world and clearly able to see. The only way out is through. She sees blood pooling around her and collapses.

Tu virginum corona,
You, crown of virgins,

tu nobis pacem dona,
grant us peace,

tu consolare affectus,
soothe our passions,

unde suspirat cor.
from that place where the heart sighs.

The woman, finding herself broken and alone, prays for solace and guidance. As if in answer, she spies a trail of lily petals and begins to follow them into the woods. She arrives at a riverbank to find the visitor who comforts her and cleans the blood from her face. The visitor embraces her and they fall back together into the water. Under the water their bodies entwine.

Alleluja
Hallelujah

The woman, rising with broken but newfound energy, travels towards a crowd of strangers who are celebrating the twilight, dancing and rejoicing in the streets. They seem to be newly free. Maybe they have also come from their own caves?

Iman Habibi, D.M.A. (Michigan), is an Iranian-Canadian composer and pianist, and a founding member of the piano duo ensemble, Piano Pinnacle.

Hailed as “a giant in talent” (the Penticton Herald), "whose technical mastery is matched by his musical and cultural literacy" (Hudson-Housatonic Arts), Dr. Habibi has been commissioned by The Boston Symphony, The Philadelphia, and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, The Orchestra of St. Luke's and The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and has been programmed by The Carnegie Hall, The Tanglewood Music Festival, and The Canadian Opera Company, among others.

He is a 2022 laureate of the Azrieli Music Prizes, and has received multiple SOCAN Foundation Awards, The International Composers’ Award at the Esoterics’ POLYPHONOS (2012), The Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Awards for Emerging Artist in Music (2011), Brehm Prize in Choral Music (2016), as well as numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, BC and Ontario Arts Councils.

www.imanhabibi.com

Elin Rummel is a writer, translator, and educator based out of Seattle. She studied Latin at Oberlin College and earned her MA in Classics from the University of Washington. Her enthusiasm for language and translation theory led her to spend seven years teaching Latin before transitioning to localization writing for Nintendo's console games.

Canadian soprano Julia Dawson has been hailed as "radiant and riveting" (Opera News) and "spitfire" (NY Times). She is a winner of the George London Award as well as the Anny-Schlemm-Preis from Oper Frankfurt, where she was a member of the ensemble and Opernstudio from 2015-2019. She has performed under the baton of Barbara Hannigan with the Munich Philharmonic and L’Orchestre Philharmonique, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, and Opera Lafayette among others. Julia has been presented in recitals by Vocal Arts DC, the New York Festival of Song at Caramoor, Musica Plus, and the Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt.

Combining her love of contemporary and classical music, Dawson recently conceived and performed in "Obscura Nox," a musical film featuring Mozart's "Exsultate, jubilate" and new commissions from Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi. The film was selected for Opera Philadelphia's O22 Festival and the Canada Shorts Festival.

Dawson has trained at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Rice University, and Oberlin Conservatory.

She was nominated for Singer of the Year by Opus Klassik for the album 'Girl in the Snow;' songs by American composer Scott Ordway.

www.juliadawsonopera.com

German film producer and video artist Sebastian Rieker grew up in a musical family singing Bach in the church choir where his father was music director and studying cello. He initially devoted himself to pop music and, as bassist for the band JAMT, celebrated his first gold record with the album “Hier und Jetzt.” After the release of the second release “Schall.Platte”, which was created in cooperation with the Prague Philharmonic, the band split up. After graduating from school, Rieker met the Austrian director Timo Novotny, with whom, in addition to years of collaboration, a deep friendship developed. Novotny brought Rieker back on stage, but as a visual artist on the European tour of the Austrian band Sofa Surfers. This combination of live music and film led him to study in film (B.A. and M.A.) at Darmstadt University and he found his own film production company Seehund Media which recently celebrated its 10th Anniversary. He is one of three partners in the company which in addition to recording concerts, will produce a documentary series for ARTE/NDR/BR/ORF and various other broadcasters in 2024/2025.

As a video artist Rieker is passionate about collaboration and facilitating the creativity of his artistic partners. Recent projects include a jazz production with Matthias Vogt, Daniel Stelter and Demian Kappenstein, as well as freely improvised projects with the Cologne award winning artist Liv Alma.

seehundmedia.de/team

Mary Birnbaum has directed opera and music theater around the world, including staging critically acclaimed productions of L’Orfeo, Proving Up, and The Rape of Lucretia at The Juilliard School and The Classical Style at Carnegie Hall. Mary’s production of La Bohème opened the Santa Fe Opera season in 2019, and she has also directed productions at Opera Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Bard Summerscape, Opera Columbus, Virginia Opera, Virginia Arts Festival, Ojai (California) Festival, Montclair Peak Performances and Boston Baroque in the U.S, as well as in Taiwan (National Symphony Orchestra), Central America (National Theatre of Costa Rica and Guatemala), Australia and Israel.

 Nominated for Best Newcomer at The European Opera Awards in 2015, Mary’s production of Dido and Aeneas toured to Opera Holland Park and Opéra de Versailles in 2019. In demand for her skills as a collaborator on new works, Mary has created world premieres of works by contemporary artists including Jeremy Denk, Steven Stucky and others. She most recently directed the world premiere of In A Grove by Christopher Cerrone and Stephanie Fleischmann at Pittsburgh Opera.

On the faculty of the Juilliard School since 2011, Mary teaches acting to singers and serves as Dramatic Advisor to the Masters degree candidates. She has also taught acting in the Lindemann Young Artists Program at the Metropolitan Opera.

In 2023, Mary was named General and Artistic Director of Opera Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, New York. 

A graduate of Harvard College, Mary trained professionally in physical theater at L’École Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

www.marybirnbaum.com

Alex is a producer and recording engineer in classical music and opera. He has worked with members of the Frankfurt Opera, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, SOLI Chamber Ensemble and multimedia artist Scott Ordway. His work has been featured on Classic FM, CBC, and PBS. His recent project includes "[in]verse" by Grammy-winning cellist Arlen Hlusko, available on Bright Shiny Things. Upcoming releases include The Thirteen and Daniel Moody on Acis Productions.

alexanderbrusencev.com

www.thilojaeger.de

Claudia Schreier has choreographed, directed, and produced for dance, opera, and film across the U.S. and internationally. She is the Choreographer in Residence at Atlanta Ballet and has created over 50 works for various companies and organizations, including San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Vail Dance Festival, Juilliard Opera, Guggenheim Works & Process, and New York Choral Society. Schreier served as choreographer for Juilliard Opera’s New York premiere of Dido and Aeneas, directed by Mary Birnbaum, and co-helmed its international tour to Opera Holland Park in London and Opéra Royal de Versailles. She has contributed to programs at the White House, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center, including the Kennedy Center Honors. Her work is the subject of two documentaries, most recently PBS’s Emmy Award-Winning “Dancing on the Shoulders of Giants” (Capital Region). Schreier presented her TEDx talk “Thinking On Your Feet,” at Columbia University in 2018. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award, Toulmin Fellowship at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, Lotos Prize, and Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize. She has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC News, NPR, Dance Magazine, Pointe, Marie Claire, and ELLE.

www.claudiaschreier.com

Grace Laubacher is a Brooklyn-based scenic designer. Recent and upcoming work includes: Oklahoma! (West End and Young Vic); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder and Don Pasquale (Opera Saratoga); Titanique (Daryl Roth Theater); The Sound of Music (Virginia Opera); La Bohème (Santa Fe Opera). Grace is also a designer at Iron Bloom Creative Production, a multi-disciplinary design & production company in NYC.

www.gracelaubacher.com

www.sarajeantosetti.com

https://oper-frankfurt.de/de/ensemble-gaeste-teams/staedtische-buehnen-frankfurt-gmbh/

The British choreographer and dancer, Evie Poaros, started her dance education in London, before moving to Germany to continue her training. She trained in Mannheim and Frankfurt, where she graduated with a BA degree from the HfMDK Frankfurt and completed an internship with The Forsythe Company, under the direction of William Forsythe. She has worked with choreographers including William Forsythe, Regina van Berkel, Marguerite Donlon, Ramses Sigl, Richard Siegal, Claudia Schreier and Spenser Theberge.

Since 2015 Evie has performed regularly at Oper Frankfurt in productions by directors such as Claus Guth, Barrie Kosky, Damiano Michieletto, Vincent Boussard, Ted Huffman and Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus). In 2021 Evie danced at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in Claus Guth’s production of Jenůfa, which received an Olivier Award in 2022 for Best New Opera Production. Her collaboration with Claus Guth has led her to work as a choreographer and movement collaborator at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples (Don Carlo) and the Festival Aix-en-Provence (Il Viaggio, Dante).

As a freelance dancer and choreographer, Evie has been involved in dance, film and interdisciplinary projects. She has worked with ensembles including Ensemble Modern, Dorfproduct, Kammerphilharmonie Frankfurt and Gossips collective. In 2022 she was commissioned to co-choreograph at Alte Oper Frankfurt for the concert evening 2 x Hören: Hindemith alongside pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and she recently co-choreographed a new work for Gossips collective. Her film experience includes featuring in the 2021 dance film HINENI, choreographed by Gal Fefferman, which was screened at various festivals in Germany and Israel, and as a soloist in the musical short film, Obscura Nox directed by Mary Birnbaum, which was selected as a finalist in festivals in Canada and the United States and was part of Opera Philedelphia’s Opera on Film series in 2022.

Parallel to her creative and performance work, Evie holds a Master of Science in Psychology.

www.eviepoaros.com

First Violin and Orchestra Leader: Guillaume Faraut
Violin: Megan Chapelas
Viola: Benjamin Beck
Cello: Bogdan Michael Kisch
Double Bass: Jean Hommel
Oboe: Johannes Grosso
Oboe: Marta Berger
Horn: Benoît Gausse
Horn: Stef van Herten
Organ: Torsten Mann