Vermont-born composer’s new opera featured at Latchis Theatre

BRATTLEBORO- The Met presents a brand new opera, “Marnie,” by young Vermont-born composer Nico Muhly on Saturday, November 10, at 1 pm, at the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main Street.
Based on Winston Graham’s haunting novel, which inspired the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, “Marnie” is the tale of a beautiful woman in late-1950s England running from a mysterious past, who assumes a series of new names, identities, and physical appearances. Marnie is caught in her deceit by businessman Mark Rutland, who blackmails her into marrying him. Stripped of her life of lies, Marnie is forced to face the truth and her future, without the deceptions on which she has relied for so long.
Born in Randolph, Muhly has risen to become a wunderkind of the contemporary musical scene, crossing genres to collaborate with a variety of artists. He studied composition with John Corigliano, and was a protégé of Philip Glass. He is the youngest composer ever to be commissioned by the Met, for “Two Boys,” which was staged at the Met in 2013. He has ties to the Brattleboro area. In 2009, the Brattleboro Concert Choir commissioned a piece from him and performed “Jubilate” as part of its celebration on Blanche Moyse’s centennial. Muhly has also collaborated with area native sons Thomas Bartlett and Sam Amidon on musical projects.
The cast is led by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as Marnie. Baritone Christopher Maltman is her husband and rival, Mark Rutland, and countertenor Iestyn Davies is Mark’s brother. Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves is Marnie’s mother, and soprano Janis Kelly is her mother-in-law. General admission is $22 and $10 for students.
For more information or to purchase tickets in advance contact John Potter at (802) 254-1109, ext. 3, or jon@latchisarts.org. For information on Muhly visit nicomuhly.com.