FireSongs is a new music performance work by Thomas Cabaniss that challenges the form of traditional operas and concerts as a multimedia, fully-staged version of this poetic tapestry. With texts taken from prose by Mark Strand, W.H. Auden, Wendell Berry and Langston Hughes, the piece explores the edges, limits of all things—ultimately telling the greater story of what it means to be alive. Acclaimed director and newly appointed Creative Director of Bare Opera, Malena Dayen, and music director David Rosenmeyer, guide this world premiere—that will also mark Bare Opera’s return to the “theater”—on June 18, 2022 at the Chelsea Factory as a part of the National Sawdust season programming.

Bare Opera will kick off its 2022 season with a special gala concert at The Green Room 42 on February 23, 2022. This in-person and live-streamed event not only launches the fundraising for our new production "FireSongs" by renowned composer Thomas Cabaniss (world premiering in June 2022), but also marks our return to safe, live, in-person performing.

Michael Jorgensen and Romuald Grimbert-Barré, Violin
Basil Vendryes, Viola
Kenneth Law, Cello
Mark Allen, Jr., Clarinet
Elizabeth Hill, Piano 
Shanelle Woods, Mezzo Soprano

Johannes Brahms (1833-1887)
Two Songs
For Voice, Viola and Piano, Opus 91
    I.    Gestillte Sehnsucht
    II.    Geistliches Wiegenlied

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911- 2007)
Trio for Clarinet, Piano, and Violin
    I.    Capricio
    II.    Romanza
    III.    Envoi  

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)
Four Noveletten, Opus. 52, No. 4 in D Major
    I.    Allegro moderato
    II.    Larghetto
    III.    Andante con moto
    IV.    Allegro molto

“Prevented from performing together in person during the quarantine, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City instead set out to create a unique project reflecting the effects of the pandemic on children and young adults. ‘Alone Together,’ a free mixed media installation, includes contributions from a striking array of composers, songwriters, conductors, poets, and filmmakers,”

Soprano Shanelle Woods will join for this event, presenting the works of featured composer, Tom Cabaniss.

Shanelle will sing the role of Countess Ceprano in the festival production of Rigoletto.

*This production has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Shanelle will sing the role of Countess Ceprano in the festival production of Rigoletto.

*This production has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Shanelle will sing the role of Countess Ceprano in the festival production of Rigoletto.

*This production has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Shanelle will sing the role of Countess Ceprano in the festival production of Rigoletto.

*This production has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Shanelle will sing the role of 2nd Lady in this beloved Mozart opera.

Shanelle will sing the role of 2nd Lady in this beloved Mozart opera.

Join Shanelle in recital, as she is accompanied by Jessica Minahan White. Together they will present some of opera’s most beloved arias, by the likes of Mozart and Bizet, as well as musical theater favorites and an array of concert spirituals.

Experience the sounds that define Charleston, South Carolina and its unique southern charm — jazz, gospel, Gershwin, Gullah, spirituals, Civil War songs — coming to life in historic Circular Congregational Church.

For over three centuries, Charleston’s musical heritage has been as diverse as the people who’ve lived here – haunting spirituals of slaves first arriving in America through our port; Civil War camp songs from both sides in this place where the first shots were fired; pieces such as Amazing Grace and Pachelbel’s Canon that are wonderfully connected to the history of this great city; and, of course, “Porgy and Bess,” inspired and composed in Charleston by the incomparable George Gershwin. This is but a snapshot of the rich array of music that makes up The Sound of Charleston.

Experience the sounds that define Charleston, South Carolina and its unique southern charm — jazz, gospel, Gershwin, Gullah, spirituals, Civil War songs — coming to life in historic Circular Congregational Church.

For over three centuries, Charleston’s musical heritage has been as diverse as the people who’ve lived here – haunting spirituals of slaves first arriving in America through our port; Civil War camp songs from both sides in this place where the first shots were fired; pieces such as Amazing Grace and Pachelbel’s Canon that are wonderfully connected to the history of this great city; and, of course, “Porgy and Bess,” inspired and composed in Charleston by the incomparable George Gershwin. This is but a snapshot of the rich array of music that makes up The Sound of Charleston.

Experience the sounds that define Charleston, South Carolina and its unique southern charm — jazz, gospel, Gershwin, Gullah, spirituals, Civil War songs — coming to life in historic Circular Congregational Church.

For over three centuries, Charleston’s musical heritage has been as diverse as the people who’ve lived here – haunting spirituals of slaves first arriving in America through our port; Civil War camp songs from both sides in this place where the first shots were fired; pieces such as Amazing Grace and Pachelbel’s Canon that are wonderfully connected to the history of this great city; and, of course, “Porgy and Bess,” inspired and composed in Charleston by the incomparable George Gershwin. This is but a snapshot of the rich array of music that makes up The Sound of Charleston.

Experience the sounds that define Charleston, South Carolina and its unique southern charm — jazz, gospel, Gershwin, Gullah, spirituals, Civil War songs — coming to life in historic Circular Congregational Church.

For over three centuries, Charleston’s musical heritage has been as diverse as the people who’ve lived here – haunting spirituals of slaves first arriving in America through our port; Civil War camp songs from both sides in this place where the first shots were fired; pieces such as Amazing Grace and Pachelbel’s Canon that are wonderfully connected to the history of this great city; and, of course, “Porgy and Bess,” inspired and composed in Charleston by the incomparable George Gershwin. This is but a snapshot of the rich array of music that makes up The Sound of Charleston.

What happens when we care more about the screens than the people around us? Better yet, what happens when this modern day conflict is put to the test with opera as its medium? For TEDxCharleston, Small Opera will present Service Provider, a contemporary work by Christopher Weiss and John De Los Santos that examines these questions and more.

Led by violinist/conductor Anyango Yarbo Davenport,  presenting Schubert’s Death and the Maiden for the opening concert of Colour of Music Festivals’s  Virtuosi Women - an all female chamber ensemble.
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From Colour of Music Festival: A spotlight on black female composers including pioneer Florence B. Price is a fitting theme for National #womenshistorymonth and an auspicious evolution of the Festival’s commitment to ensure black, female, classical performers are both elevated and included in the classical music canon and live performances.
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Join Soprano Shanelle Woods, and Johnnie Felder, Tenor, as they present Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass, in collaboration with Lyttleton Street United Methodist Church and Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church.

Join Soprano Shanelle Woods, and Johnnie Felder, Tenor, as they present Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass, in collaboration with Lyttleton Street United Methodist Church and Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church.