UKSUS is the latest opera by Erling Wold, composer of the critically acclaimed Certitude and Joy, A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil, Queer, and Mordake. UKSUS is an autobiography of Daniil Kharms and the OBERIU in the Soviet Union of the 1930s, a narrative told through their stories and poems, brief and often absurd. The OBERIU - The Association for Real Art - maintained their love of words and nonsensical art even through the deprivations of the Nazi siege of Leningrad and to their deaths in Stalin's Great Purge. Kharms himself starved to death in a psychiatric hospital in 1942 after his arrest at the hands of the NKVD.
Kharms was well known as a writer of books for children, even though he hated children and wrote fantasies of their painful deaths. His adult works were lost for decades but, secreted away by a friend, were rediscovered and reclaimed by a new generation of troublemaker artists who have run afoul of the authorities. From Pussy Riot's closing statement to their court: "Just as the dissidents were not defeated although they disappeared into mental institutions and prisons, they pronounced their verdict upon the regime. The art of creating the image of an epoch does not know winners or losers. It was the same with the OBERIU poets, who remained artists until the end, inexplicable and incomprehensible." The librettists Yulia Izmaylova and Felix Strasser met working in the Moscow theater of Kirill Ganin, arrested for artistic hooliganism.
UKSUS is directed by Wold's long-time collaborator Jim Cave, and features soprano Laura Bohn, mezzo Nikola Printz, actors Duncan Wold, Bob Ernst, Mary Forcade, and Roham Sheikhani.
The band, conducted by Bryan Nies, is an all-star ensemble of Bay Area performers who cross between the modern, jazz and rock worlds, including Beth Custer clarinet, Chris Grady trumpet, Joel Davel percussion, Diana Strong accordion, John Schott guitar, Ela Polak violin, Lisa Mezzacappa contrabass.
DISCLAIMER: Our aim is to continuously provide our
progressive audience with an open and interactive medium to view
and share relevant,
beneficial and interesting "career, economic, lifestyle and
networking" listings, ads, content and resources.
While the above information may be accurate and viable, the role
of Minority Professional Network, Inc. (MPN) is
strictly as a communications medium, and we do not
accept any responsibility for
cancellation, changes, errors, omissions, inconveniences, or any other form
of liability for any content
displayed or disseminated via our web sites, or e-marketing or social media
promotional services.
If there are any
doubts, we
encourage you to conduct additional research or contact the listed host or responsible entity.
CLICK HERE to inform us about any ads, listings or content
which appear to be
inappropriate,
fraudulent or misleading, or inconsistent with our theme and focus.