ORIGINS of SALT

The micro-opera commissions have their roots in the decades-long collaborations between Dr. Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins and Dr. Sharon Campbell, who did their graduate degrees at overlapping periods in the same institutions.

During their D.M.A. studies at the University of Kansas, Sylvia inspired a collaboration with Sharon, and another singer and a pianist to explore a concept of singing art songs with texts by Emily Dickinson in the personae of Emily, her sister-in-law, Susan Huntington Gilbert, and a personification of Emily’s Muse. Sylvia was asked by an arts presenting organization to produce a concert on the theme of “Pioneer Women” for which the four performers agreed to collaborate.

It would include a broad definition of “pioneer” that allowed the Emily Dickinson set to have continued life representing the independence of a poetess exploring her unique literary voice.

In pursuit of additional repertoire, Sylvia and Sharon, who had premiered an opera written by composition faculty member, Dr. Forrest Pierce, approached the composer about commissioning a work that would meet the theme of a “Pioneer Women” concert. Aware of all the performers capabilities and having seen the Emily Dickinson performance model, Forrest mined the farm journal and letters written by his grandmother, Cassie Berdine Pierce, to create what we then called “an operatic trio” named Cassie Leaves Nebraska in 2007.

Inspired by the successes of Sister – Show Me Eternity, Sylvia, Sharon, and Jennie, reached out to Dr. Suna Gunther and Dr. Young Kim to expand the group to a quintet and pursue more operatic collaborations that integrate an expansion of operatic genre, that showcase the stories of unsung women, and that ties the quintet’s musical prowess with their care for teaching and mentoring.

When Suna mentioned a UNL student’s graduate thesis on the genre of micro-opera, Sylvia and Sharon offered Forrest’s work as an example of what we could commission. The group agreed to commission Forrest to expand and rewrite his micro-opera for the expanded personnel.

THANK YOU

None of this could have come to birth without the support of institutional and community funding. Our fundraising was and continues to be a group effort.

Skidmore College not only provided us a Faculty Initiative Grant to fund the commissioning of “Untangled Threads” and the expansion of the previously commissioned work “Cassie Leaves Nebraska,” but also a separate grant from the Dean of Faculty to support the commission of “To Be Young.” Likewise, a Research Services Council Grant from the University of Nebraska at Kearney funded the commission fees for author, librettist and composer for micro opera “Sophia’s Song,” The quartets of Emily Feld were commissioned by a gift from a private donor. Additionally the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Kearney, as well as Skidmore College have supported our travel to various residencies and conference presentations.

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