Please join the School of Music for the Festival of One Act Operas presented by the TCU Opera Studio. All performances were recorded prior to the end of the spring semester.   David Gately, director. 

Content Warning: Strong Language and Subject Matter. Not recommended for under 16

Event Live Stream

Opera in English w/subtitles

Music and Text by Michael Ching

Based on a concept by Michael Ching w/scenarios by Michael Ching, Paul Houghtaling, Laurie Rogers, and  Anita Johnson

Commissioned by the UA Opera Theater, Dr. Paul Houghtaling Director for the University of Alabama

Directed by David Gately

Musical Preparation by Stephen Carey

Edited by Tyson Deaton

Subtitles by Dr. Corey Trahan     

The premise, as described by Michael Ching, Composer.

“A group of students on a field trip in the rural US are taken by their professor to an old abandoned looking building in a decrepit small town. Inside, the place is a cross between a juke joint and a church.  There is a crudely painted sign on the door that says “Remove Shoes Before Entering”. The interior is dimly lit. The place has the air of having been created by an eccentric outsider, self-taught artist. There are pairs of shoes everywhere and the impression is not orderly. The students can’t resist trying on shoes of picking up objects. When they do, they are suddenly hit with a vision or recollection of a key moment in their lives when they learned something about themselves – moments of uplift or failure; of empathy or its absence; of sorrow, bitterness and joy.”

Michael continues

“The concept is influenced by my love of a genre of fiction called the New Weird which combines elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction.”