SYNOPSIS
A mother and daughter have argued–the girl has dirtied her church clothes and is sent to her room. While the girl sits on the floor reading a book she notices her friends playing outside the window. The girl pretends to play along with them, but when she goes to get tea to share they are gone. Then the girl plays tea-time with her crocodile puppet, but gets angry and throws him off stage. Then she plays dress-up in front of a mirror with her mother’s old clothes, but gets angry, pulls off the clothes, and is about to smash the mirror when a life-size crocodile appears chewing on a human leg. The crocodile tells a story about trying to play outside with the girl’s friends but they are afraid of him. When the girl points to the leg the crocodile is chewing, he bursts into tears. The girl plays dress-up with the crocodile and they are friends again. Suddenly there is loud knocking at the door–the mother has come back to let the girl know it is time for church.
PERFORMERS
Kristen Watson
Soprano Kristen Watson has made solo appearances with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group, American Classical Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Handel & Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, North Carolina Symphony and A Far Cry, at such venues as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and Boston’s Symphony Hall. Opera audiences have heard her with Odyssey Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and the Boston University Opera Institute in such roles as Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and the Voice of the Fountain in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar directed by Peter Sellars. As a versatile crossover artist she has performed with the Boston Pops in programs ranging from Mozart to Richard Rodgers. Originally from Kansas, Ms. Watson holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Boston University.
Krista River
Mezzo-soprano Krista River won a Grammy award for the role of Mrs. Fox on Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording of Tobias Picker Fantastic Mr. Fox. She has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Symphony, the Santa Fe Symphony, Handel & Haydn Society, the Florida Orchestra, the Charlotte Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Krista won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition and a Sullivan Foundation grant, and is featured on numerous recordings under Naxos, Dorian, and Navona record labels. She is on the voice faculty at Brandeis University and Phillips Academy in Andover. Krista resides in Boston and is a regular soloist with Emmanuel Music’s Bach Cantata Series.
John McDonald
“The New England master of the short piece,” John McDonald is a composer who tries to play the piano and a pianist who tries to compose. He is currently Professor of Music at Tufts University, where he teaches composition, theory, and performance. He was the Music Teachers National Association Composer of the Year in 2007 and served as the Valentine Visiting Professor of Music at Amherst College in 2016–2017. His new recordings include At All Device (Bridge Records 9528; a collection of piano works played by soloist David Holzman; 2020); PanSync (Arsis Audio; works by Su Lian Tan and John McDonald, performed by Tan [flutist], McDonald, [pianist], with flutist Carol Wincenc and piccoloist Cynthia Meyers; 2022); States of Play (Bridge Records 9564; a collaborative retrospective of music by Robert Carl and John McDonald; 2022); and a new short work as part of pianist Andrew Rangell’s Waltz Inventions collection (Steinway and Sons, 2024).
McDonald’s research interests include composition and new music pedagogy; intermedia collaboration involving composing and performing solo and chamber music; writing for young and non-professional performers; music applications for visual art and science; advocacy of new and overlooked composers through research and performance. His book, Stirring Up the Music: The Life, Works, and Influence of Composer T(homas) J(efferson) Anderson, is forthcoming from Borik Press. McDonald’s works are published by American Composers Alliance, and he is currently serving a term on the Board of Governors for ACA.
COMPOSER
Molly Wong
Composer Molly Wong has been a lifelong lover of music and opera. She is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Tufts University graduate music program. She is also a student of Howard Frazin, who himself was a student of Dominick Argento. “A Girl and Her Crocodile” is Wong’s first original opera.