Stewart Wallace (born 1960,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
) is an American
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
and
cantor
A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...
.
Biography
The son of Marsha J. Wallace and Dr. Sidney Wallace,
Wallace is one of three siblings in his family. Wallace attended the University of Texas at Austin.
Without formal training in composition,
Wallace has spent much of his career composing experimental
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
s, from the dance-centered ''Kabbalah'' (1989) to the surrealist ''Hopper's Wife'' (1992). Two of his operas have been premiered at the
Houston Grand Opera, ''
Where's Dick?'' (1989) and ''
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Milk was born and raised i ...
'' (1995). His opera ''
The Bonesetter's Daughter'' is based on the
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
of the
same name by
Amy Tan, who wrote the opera's libretto. ''The Bonesetter's Daughter'' premiered at
San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
in 2008. In 2010, Wallace was in a bicycle accident that resulted in traumatic brain injury and prevented him from composing, for a five-year period.
Wallace and Korie prepared a revised 2-act version of ''Harvey Milk'' for Opera Parallèle in San Francisco, who jointly commissioned the revision with
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the ...
, with an intended premiere performance run in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement of this scheduled San Francisco production. The revised 2-act version of ''Harvey Milk'' received its premiere at
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the ...
on 11 June 2022.
Wallace married the US television journalist Dianne Festa in 1999.
References
External links
Official website of Stewart WallaceSchott Music page on Stewart Wallace
1960 births
20th-century American classical composers
American opera composers
American male opera composers
Jewish American classical composers
Living people
Musicians from Philadelphia
21st-century American classical composers
Classical musicians from Pennsylvania
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American Jews
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