Ricky Ian Gordon - Photo: provided
Prolific composer Ricky Ian Gordon is in town to oversee workshop performances of Morning Star,
his operatic setting of the 1940 film that follows a Russian Jewish
immigrant family’s struggle to make it in America. “It is a piece about
immigration, about sisters, about longing and loss … about being Jewish,
being marginalized, about being Black,” says Gordon, adding that Morning Star is,
“a musical melting pot of any number of American styles I absorbed from
my mother, a famous Borscht Belt performer.” Gordon began working with
librettist William M.
Hoffman (As Is, The Ghosts of Versailles libretto) more than a decade ago while adding to his extensive catalog, including his epic opera The Grapes of Wrath
in 2007. The performances are the culmination of this year’s “Opera
Fusion: New Works” series presented by CCM and Cincinnati Opera. Free,
but reservations required. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, Memorial Hall,
513-241-2742; 8 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, Cohen Studio Theater, CCM,
513-556-4183. cincinnatiopera.org
