FULL APOLAKI: OPERA OF THE SCORCHED EARTH (Micaela Tobin) Los Angeles 2023
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: APOLAKI: OPERA OF THE SCORCHED EARTH
- Composer: Micaela Tobin
- Libretto: Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Los Angeles
- Recorded: 2023
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Rhea Salta-Amador, Willie Lopez, Naila Aquino, Pastor Mike de Guzman, Ginny de Guzman, Yolanda Damian, Lorna Meadows
- Conductor:
- Orchestra: Instrumental Ensemble
- Choreographer: Jay Carlon
- Stage Director:
- Stage Designer: Carlo Maghirang
- Costume Designer: Vinta Gallery
- Lighting Designer: Ric Zimmerman
Information about the Recording
- Published by: LACE
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
A displaced God walks a foreign and unfamiliar land, looking for liberation beyond the Empire of the Sun. But what is beyond the horizon, and who has walked this path before?
APOLAKI: OPERA OF THE SCORCHED EARTH is a new experimental opera by Filipino-American composer Micaela Tobin in collaboration with installation designer Carlo Maghirang and dancer/choreographer Jay Carlon. Continuing her celebration of the pre-colonial mythologies of the Philippines, Tobin’s new work tells the story of Apolaki, the precolonial God of Sun and War, who finds themself lost in a foreign and unfamiliar land (present day Tongva Land/Los Angeles) after being displaced from the Philippines by Spanish colonizers. This opera is a radical meditation on the complex relationships between settler colonialism, migration, and diaspora, and invites the audience to join Apolaki in this immersive pilgrimage, premiering at the historic and storied Zorthian Ranch overlooking the Los Angeles Basin.
This piece is the sequel to Tobin’s recent opera-film, “BAKUNAWA: Opera of the Seven Moons” which premiered at REDCAT in May 2021. Incorporating her signature combination of noise, drone, and opera, for this premiere Tobin has recruited experimental percussionist M.A. Harms and electric bass/guitarist Stephen McNeely to create a dramatic and disruptive soundscape that will draw Apolaki and the audience into a portal for Filipinx Liberation in the form of a large walking-labyrinth, designed by Carlo Maghirang.
APOLAKI is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions in partnership with OUTsider Festival, and NPN. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information, visit www.npnweb.org. Additional support is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.