Thanks to the artist in resident Renee Baker for having the vision to bring the project to Bronzeville and record in the Loft Gallery of the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network. The artwork installed is the sculpture installations of Renee Baker, "Because we are Nature," featuring her junk drawer series. Visual art is the collection of the gallery.
SWEET FRUIT FALLING, A SPATIAL ORATORIO FROM THE OPERA BALDWIN CHRONICLES: LONE ALCHEMY
This moment in the life of James Baldwin represents temporality, impermanence, the futility of dreams, and reckoning with the finality of inequality of life in the USA for Black Americans. Baldwin realizes that never will people of color achieve equity or equality in his lifetime..the boxes for blacks and whites have been set..with civil rights almost non-existent.
CAST
RENEE BAKER
Composer
DEE ALEXANDER
Performer
COCO ELTSSES
Percussion
LUV MOSLEY
Saxophone
Artistic Team
Concept/Director
Concept/Commissioning/Music Direction
Concept/Editor
Chicago Fringe Opera is dedicated to presenting innovative vocal works emphasizing new and contemporary styles, engaging with the Chicago community through intimate and immersive performance experiences, and fostering and empowering local artists. Chicago Fringe Opera is at the forefront of producing dynamic contemporary vocal works in the city of Chicago.
A City of Works – an oblique reference to former Mayor Richard J. Daley's moniker for Chicago – combines the power of music and design in a series of site-specific digital experiences. Evoking the ethereal nature of theatre itself, audiences embark on individual journeys to landmarks throughout our city, unlocking audio and video content and joining a collective experience to watch performances through individual personal devices.
Arriving at specific locations, audiences scan a QR code on their smartphone to access a music video of a given newly commissioned work, the piece having been filmed at that locale, creating a fleeting yet shared theatrical experience. Thus, the project eliminates the need to gather groups of people while leaving content both free of charge and accessible at any time to audiences.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
Supported by The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation & The CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
