College of Saint Mary presents “Marisette’s Voice,” a unique online experience
OMAHA, Neb. – College of Saint Mary is excited to commission and present virtual performances of Marisette’s Voice, an online opera experience. Marisette’s Voice combines orchestral drama and textual dialogue to form a ‘read opera’. This piece is composed, formatted and directed by Matthew Buckwalter.
With the challenges of the global pandemic presenting a rather unique viewing style, Buckwalter is adapting the piece for accessibility. The composer plans to put text and music together into videos, one for each act.
This timely piece sets the tone for the importance of one’s rights and liberties. Marisette’s Voice is the story of a young El Salvador native who explores the processes of immigration and its implied confusion with citizenship and democracy. The right to vote is a theme touched on throughout the performance and is why CSM chose this piece to coincide with its “100 Years of Women’s Suffrage” programming this fall.
“As a piece commemorating the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage, my goal with this first act is to bring attention to the struggles of women who, within our borders or our power as a nation, are still denied a voice in those powers that shape their fates.”
Buckwalter says the opera’s format stems from “Classical and Romantic eras, though I do intermix more modern harmonies into all my work, generally for the narrative effect.” His concoction of a hybrid classical/romantic era piece with modern notes aims to speak to viewers of all interests.
This unique and entirely online event takes place over a period of three weeks in November. One act per week will be shown, and the audience is welcomed to read the story while listening to the operatic score. The performance dates include Nov. 5, Nov. 12, and concludes on Nov. 29th.
For more information, visit CSM.edu/events.
Matthew E. Buckwalter is a graduate of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in musical composition under the direction of Dr. Douglas Ovens. Matthew has composed both vocal and instrumental works for performance and now creates regular installments for his Read Opera: www.thecharteroftheforest.com. He developed the genre of Read Opera to be accessible not just to audiences but to composers as well, believing that all people have a right both to access and create individually-generated culture, free from the effects of concentrated influence. Matthew began his musical career both singing and playing saxophone with the encouragement of his father and was awakened to the true depths of his love for music upon a group-listening of Beethoven’s Appassionata. He currently lives in Lawrence Township, NJ with his wife Cary and three birds.
