WISHES, LIES, AND DREAMS (2013)

soprano and pierrot ensemble (35')

texts created by elementary schoolers

in collaboration with 826 Valencia

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Wishes, Lies, and Dreams (taken from the seminal book on children's poetry by Kenneth Koch) is a monodrama in five scenes with original texts composed by elementary schoolers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Working closely with musicians Amy Foote, Annie Phillips and Justin Lee, we developed a libretto-writing workshop for students hosted by the children's writing organization

826 Valencia. Their libretti - ranging from dreams about pickle-beards to a sloth with a basil fetish - were woven together to form the structure of the piece.

 

A collage of excerpts can be found here.