Are You There? (2013)
from Luminosity: The Passions of Marie Curie
for voice, flute, piano and percussion
6 minutes
Commission/Premiere Info: Premiered by Tony Arnold, Aiyun Huang, Thomas Rosenkranz and Jane Rigler (soundSCAPE) on March 1, 2013 in Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton.
Program Notes
Luminosity: The Passions of Marie Curie is a multi-media opera about the passions of the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, the discover of radium, for voices, flute, percussion, piano, and electronics, commissioned and premiered in part by soundSCAPE, Tony Arnold, soprano and Either/OR Ensemble, composed by Pamela Madsen with projected images and video by Quintan Ana Wikswo. The opera explores the concept of the invisible in life and death. This opera ponders the ephemeral fleeting nature of things beyond one's grasp—that which is beyond seeing, but is felt, and focuses on the question posed by Marie Curie: "Are you there?" This quest for the invisible was at the heart of Marie and Pierre Curie's work—in their discovery of radium, radioactivity, and their exploration of spiritualism, and the quest of quantify life beyond death. From Poland to Paris, a visionary young chemist transcends the frontiers of her era, redefining physics, chemistry, and the role of women in science and society. Her pursuit of radioactive elements brings her as close as humanly possible to both creation and destruction – a legacy of her work that continues to resound across time and space.
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Performances
March 1, 2013 | Tony Arnold & soundSCAPE in Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton