Higher Ground, Opera in One Act

Abstract

Higher Ground (2018) is a sixty-minute opera in one act written by Julian Lee Pegram in partial fulfillment of the dissertation for the Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition.

The composition is scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, two baritones, SATB chorus, flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), oboe (doubling English horn), Bb clarinet, bassoon, horn, percussion, harp, piano, and strings. The text is a libretto by North Carolina-based writer Jim Whiteside, commissioned by Julian Lee Pegram via a 2017 Rackham Research Grant.

Set in 1913 and situated in a small Missouri town facing a record-setting "flood of the century," the opera focuses on J.T. Fitzgerald and his decision to fortify the family's homestead while wife Hattie evacuates north to Chicago with infant Lucy in tow. Prompted by the guilt of losing another daughter to a previous year's flood, J.T. stays behind against Hattie's wishes, promising a letter every day to assure her of his and the town's safety. Through the intimate lens of a family tested by external crisis, the story tackles broader issues of honor and loyalty, of love's ability to transcend space and time, and of the true meaning of home.

Musical motifs associated with J.T. and Hattie are primarily established through their love letter arias; these letters are positioned back-to-back at the center of the opera and allow for thematic development, both when the couple’s lost daughter returns in a haunting nightmare sequence and particularly when all three are ultimately reunited in the opera’s tragic, metaphysical finale. The opera includes instrumental interludes, duets, and full ensemble numbers that allow for the chorus to provide muse-like commentary via discordant, drone-like passages.

Fully staged premiere performances for Higher Ground were presented at 8:00pm, Wednesday, April 4, 2018 and at 8:00pm, Thursday, April 5, 2018 in McIntosh Theatre at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. The principal cast were baritone John Daugherty, mezzo-soprano Antona Yost, coloratura soprano Madeline Thibault, baritone Samuel Kidd, and tenor Christopher Wolf. The ad hoc orchestra was comprised of thirteen instrumental performance majors studying in the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance while the ad hoc chorus consisted of ten students in various disciplines, including vocal performance, orchestral conducting, and musicology.