''Freshwater'' is a two-act

chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a Chamber music, chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas ...

composed by Andy Vores, based on the 1935 comic play by

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

. Vores received assistance in creating the opera from

Quentin Bell Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell (19 August 1910 – 16 December 1996) was an English art historian and author. Early life Bell was born in London, the second and younger son of the art critic and writer Clive Bell and the painter and interior ...

, Woolf's nephew and executor, who provided a rarely seen earlier version of the text that served as the inspiration for several passages of the libretto.“If You’re Writing a First Opera, Why Be Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Boston Globe, November 27, 1994 (fee required for access)
/ref> ''Freshwater'' was commissioned by the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Opera Institute and had its world premiere on December 2, 1994 at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.

References

External links

Andy Vores web site
1994 operas English-language operas Operas Operas by Andy Vores {{english-opera-stub