Huang Ruo, the composer of the opera Paradise Interrupted — which will premiere at this May’s Spoleto Festival USA — has just been appointed composer-in-residence to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls.
As composer-in-residence, Huang will spend three months in the city writing a work that will premiere during the Concertgebouw’s 2015-16 season.
Huang, who is Chinese-American, worked on Paradise Interrupted with the visual artist Jennifer Wen Ma, who conceived, directed, and designed the show. The opera is inspired by the Western mythical Garden of Eden and the Chinese mythical Peony Pavilion, and features a garden that grows out of the stage, called to life by the lead female singer’s voice. Although the opera is making its world premiere at this year’s Spoleto Festival, a sneak peek will be performed this month, on March 21, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
It’s not Huang’s first opera, however; he’s also composed several chamber operas and the three-act opera Dr. Sun Yat-sen, which tells the love story of the revolutionary and first president of the Republic of China and his second wife, Soong Ching-Ling.
Paradise Interrupted plays May 22, 24, 27, 29, and 31, and seats are going fast. Pick yours up on the Spoleto website.
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