Mark Abel: Home Is a Harbor & The Palm Trees Are Restless

Featuring

Benjamin Makino
Jamie Chamberlin
Janelle DeStefano
E. Scott Levin
Ariel Pisturino
Babatunde Akinboboye

Jon Lee Keenan
Carver Cossey
Ayana Haviv
Hila Plitmann
Tali Tadmor
La Brea Sinfonietta
Mark Abel

Did you know?

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Composer Mark Abel developed a stylistic blend that combines the expressive depth of classical music, the impact of rock, and the free-flowing nature of jazz.

Performer Biography

Benjamin Makino, the conductor, is the Music Director at Opera Memphis and was hand-selected by Plácido Domingo for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

Compositional Technique

The opera's musical language synthesizes classical elements with pop- and rock-tinged shorthand, symbolizing Americans' penchant for cursory, cliché-ridden communication.

Performer Biography

Hila Plitmann, the Grammy-winning soprano on "The Palm Trees Are Restless," is known for her astonishing emotional range and ability to perform challenging new music.

Compositional Technique

Mark Abel's opera "Home Is a Harbor" uses a modest ensemble to encourage performances, notably including the organ—an instrument rarely found in operas—to achieve a big sound.

Compositional Technique

Mark Abel's "Home Is a Harbor" includes brief musical quotations from Laura Nyro's 1967 song "The Confession," Shostakovich's 15th Symphony, and Charlie Haden's bass solo on Denny Zeitlin's jazz trio masterpiece "Mirage."

Composer Biography

Mark Abel, the composer, had a pan-global childhood, became a rock musician and absorbed modern jazz before pursuing a career in journalism and deciding to become a serious music composer.