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The American Opera Initiative presents “Hairpiece”

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On the verge of a solitary retirement, wigmaker Esther knows everything there is to know about her craft: you start by laying a lace foundation, then match the client’s hair with a frontal and stitch in the wefts by hand. And yet she doesn’t know how to save her studio, preserve the dying art, or find meaning in her life’s work. But when an eye-catching young stranger shows up unannounced at her door, an unexpected alliance emerges.

"Hairpiece" is a 1 Act Opera was performed on January 19th, 2024, in the Terrace Theater of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of the The American Opera Initiative.

"Hairpiece"
Composer: Joy Redmond
Librettist: Sam Norman
Esther: Tiffany Choe
Ari: Jonathan Pierce Rhodes
Gale: Justin Burgess

The American Opera Initiative is a comprehensive commissioning program founded in January 2012 by the Washington National Opera. The Initiative was created to stimulate, enrich, and ensure the future of contemporary American opera by providing talented emerging composers and librettists with mentorship and opportunities to write for the stage.

Thank you to our American Opera Initiative Sponsor
Denise Littlefield Sobel

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  • Washington National Opera

American Opera Initiative

WNO: AOI 20 Minute Operas

An abstractly colored open mouth

AOI: Three One-Act Operas

FRI. JAN. 19, 2024

Be there for the world premiere of three one-act operas staged in a concert performance, accompanied by a small chamber orchestra comprised of WNO Orchestra musicians.

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