Spring 2004: World Premiere

Nancy

Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia was pleased to present the premiere performances of Nancy, a three-act dramatic opera written by American composer Garrison Hull and commissioned by OTNV. Our concert-style presentation of Nancy was under the direction of John Edward Niles, Artistic Director.

Carmen Mason, Kathryn Galvin, Emily Marsh and John Edward Niles rehearse Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia's Nancy

The opera tells the story of Nancy Randolph, member of the socially and politically prominent Randolph family of colonial Virginia. The scandal that engulfed Nancy and her family has been described as one of our "young nation's very first scandals—of murder, betrayal, and other unseemly acts" (Washington Post).

Banished from the family plantation after she and her brother-in-law were acquitted of incest and infanticide, Nancy journeys to Connecticut and then New York trying to regain her reputation and establish a new life for herself. In New York, she meets Gouverneur Morris, hero of the American Revolution, and goes to work for him at his estate Morrisania on the Harlem River. The two soon marry. Vengeful family members follow Nancy to New York, determined to break up the marriage. Nancy is the story of a woman's struggle to survive despite individual and social forces working against her.

Cast:
Don Phillip Bicoy, tenor: Guest
Ingrid Cowan, mezzo-soprano: Judith Randolph
Kathryn Galvin, soprano: Schoolgirl
Ole Hass, tenor: John Randolph
Matthew Lepold, baritone: Mr. Johnson
Lorriana Markovic, soprano: Mrs. Pollock
Emily Marsh, soprano: Schoolgirl
Carmen Mason, soprano: Nancy Randolph
Michael Nansel, baritone: Ogden Morris
Pamela Ferry Tsitos, soprano: Mrs Johnson
Robert W. Tudor, tenor: Gouverneur Morris
Bailey Whiteman, soprano: Aggie

Photo Credit: John Schmidt

About the Composer:
Garrison Hull's music, described as "expressively engaging," is distinguished by breadth of melodic line, lyricism, and clarity of tonality, all merged into a contemporary idiom.

Mr. Hull's recent works of note include Strathmore Sonata, premiered in May 2000 at the Strathmore Hall Arts Center, Bethesda, MD; Riverside Sonata, commissioned by the City of Alexandria for its 250th Anniversary Celebration, premiered at The Lyceum in Alexandria, July 10, 1999, and performed at the Tallories International Composers Conference in 2000; A Profound Whisper, for orchestra and chorus, premiered February 2, 1997, by the Virginia Chamber Orchestra and the Alexandria Choral Society; Of Prayer and Praise, for orchestra, winner of an international competition by the Louisville Orchestra and performed by that orchestra at the 1997 Contemporary Music Festival at Indiana State University; and The Fashionable Vices: Fables of John Gay, premiered by Opera Americana during its 1990-91 season.

Mr. Hull received a commission from the Knickerbocker Artists of New York (1993), a commission and residency from the Meet the Composer Education Program for 1992-93, and an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Standard Music Panel (1994). He has twice been a Resident Fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.

Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia commissioned Mr. Hull to write an opera based on the story of Nancy Randolph, member of a socially and politically prominent family in colonial Virginia. The scandal that engulfed Nancy and her family has been described as one of our "young nation's very first scandals—of murder, betrayal, and other unseemly acts" (The Washington Post).