• Nico Muhly and Nate Thatcher
  • Dark Sisters (version for 2 pianos and percussion) (2011)

  • St. Rose Music Publishing (World)

Originally commissioned by Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group, and Opera Company of Philadelphia. The version for 2 pianos and percussion was commissioned by Texas Christian University and first performed on 8 April 2016 at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth TX, U.S.A.

arr. Nate Thatcher

  • 2pf/perc
  • 1(pic).1(ca).1(bcl).0/1.0.1.0/perc/hp.pf(cel)/str(1.1.1.1.1)
  • 4 Sopranos, 2 Mezzo-sopranos, Bass
  • 1 hr 30 min
  • Nate Thatcher
  • Stephen Karam
    • 11th October 2024, Boston University College of Fine Arts Studio ONE, Boston, MA, United States of America
    • 12th October 2024, Boston University College of Fine Arts Studio ONE, Boston, MA, United States of America
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Programme Note

CAST

   ELIZA (30s): Lyric Soprano
   PRESENDIA (First Wife, 40s): Mezzo-Soprano
   RUTH (Second Wife, 40s): Mezzo-Soprano
   ALMERA (Third Wife, 30s): Soprano
   ZINA (Fourth Wife, 30s): Lyric Soprano
   LUCINDA (Eliza’s Daughter, 20s): Soprano
   PROPHET/KING (40s-50s): Bass

SYNOPSIS

DARK SISTERS follows one woman’s dangerous attempt to escape her life as a member of the FLDS Church (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints), a sect that split from mainstream Mormonism in the early 20th Century largely because of the LDS Church’s renunciation of polygamy. The male founders of the Mormon faith (Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, chief among them) loom large in American history; Dark Sisters puts the women front and center.

The narrative draws inspiration from the flurry of media attention surrounding the two most infamous raids on FLDS compounds (the 1953 raid at Short Creek, AZ and the 2008 raid at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, TX) as well as the stories of the over 80 wives of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Set against a red-earthed landscape filled with revelations, dark prophets and white temples stretching towards heaven, Dark Sisters charts one woman’s quest for self-discovery in a world where personal identity is forbidden.

Scores

Act I
Act II