Scenes 6 & 7 (American Opera Projects Reading)

Jennifer Goode (Caroline), Jonathan Woody (Gregory), Tookah Sapher (voice)

MatthewBarnson · Vera: Opera in Seven Scenes & a Prologue (2025)

Scenes 2,6,7 (Manhattan School of Music Reading)

Caroline: Abigail Shapiro (Caroline), Marshall Morrow (Gregory), Yesul Yeon (Vera), Sara Mikulsk (a voice); Anne Shikany, director; Scott Rednour, music director

MatthewBarnson · Vera - Opera in Seven Scenes & a Prologue (Manhattan School of Music Staged Reading) Scenes 2,6, & 7

Vera

Opera in Seven Scenes and a Prologue (2025)

In an empty corner of the cosmos, a small government spacecraft hurtles towards the farside colony of Muriana. It transports Caroline, future ambassador to the colony, her husband Gregory, and their daughter Vera. A faulty communication transmitter, however, has forced Gregory to restart the System—the onboard computer that tends to their every need. Probably everything will be fine.

Music by Matthew Barnson

Libretto by Mark Sonnenblick

Workshop Productions: Vera originated with American Opera Projects’ Composers & the Voice Fellowship and was supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Scenes 6 & 7 were performed as part of that fellowship. Further support was offered by Stony Brook University. A staged reading of Scenes 2, 6, & 7 was undertaken, with gratitude, by the Manhattan School of Music. Anna Shikany directed.

Composed: 2016-2025

Duration: One hour and 20 minutes

Full Orchestration: 3 flutes (I=alto flute, II= piccolo 2, III= alto flute, piccolo 1); 3 oboes (III= English horn); 3 clarinets in Bb (III =clarinet in Eb & bass clarinet in Bb); 3 bassoons (III= contrabassoon); 4 horns in F; 3 trumpets in C (II= trumpet in D, III= piccolo trumpet in Bb ); 2 tenor trombones, Bass trombone, Tuba, Timpani, 5 percussionists; Harp; Celesta (= synthesizer II), * Piano (=synthesizer 1),*Strings (Double Basses with Low C Extensions)

* If space in the pit is limited, piano & celesta parts can be performed with high-quality samples.

Chamber Orchestration: Flute (= Alto, Piccolo), Clarinet in Bb (=clarinet in Eb & bass clarinet in Bb), Vibraphone, Harp, Celesta (= piano & synthesizer**), Synthesizer (=celesta**), 3 violins, Viola, Cello, Double bass (with low C)

** only a single celesta, piano, and synthesizer are required. If space in the pit is limited, all part can be performed with high-quality samples. In this case, two synthesizers are required.

Availability: Vocal, chamber, full orchestra versions are currently available and await a production. Please contact.

CHARACTERS

CAROLINE Soprano, 30’s/40’s

GREGORY Baritone, 30’s/40’s

VERA Coloratura Soprano, 10

WILLIAM Tenor, any age

SYNOPSIS

PROLOGUE: NOWHERE

William tells us they are traveling on a spacecraft to the far side colony of Muriana. Three years into a five year journey, they are nowhere.

SCENE 1: CONSTELLATIONS

On the ship, a young girl, Vera, looks out at the stars and forms them into animals, pictures, fantastic stories and characters. She’s excited, bubbling with enthusiasm for the beauty of space and her own exuberant imagination.

SCENE 2: STARS

Caroline enters and quizzes Vera on the actual names of the stars—far more useful information than fabricated constellations. Stars are the fixed points, anchors in indifferent space, that allow them to navigate. The ship, of course, calculates the path for them, but they could do it themselves if necessary just by looking at the shifting star positions. She describes what the night sky will look like over Muriana, where Caroline is to be ambassador. And, unlike on the planet they left behind, there will be vast jungles and gardens beyond anything they can imagine. Caroline asks William to simulate the one of these bioscopies and he obliges. Vera, excited by the jungle but also frightened, asked what she should do if she gets lost in it? Caroline assures her she won’t get lost—if she calls, Caroline will find her. Gregory, Caroline’s husband and the technician, enters through the airlock after making repairs to the ship. The jungle retreats, leaving them once again the spaceship.

INTERLUDE I

Star charts, maps, the organization of the universe.

SCENE 3: DINNER AND AFTER

Vera, Caroline and Gregory say grace before eating a feast. William explains that most of what we are seeing isn’t real—their perception is manipulated by a chip in their brain called the System. William is its face. Caroline accidentally cuts herself with the carving knife and, bleeding, goes to a medical cabinet to wrap up her finger. William clarifies: the knives are real.

Time skips. Vera finishes explaining a recent dream before leaving for bed. Gregory and Caroline talk, concerned. They have not received any communication from Muriana for months. Caroline thinks they should restart the system. Gregory believes this is too drastic. What if it fails to turn back on? But Caroline is firm. If they’re missing messages it could be a disaster. And if they aren’t receiving them, it means the colony may have failed. Gregory tries to persuade her: that, no matter what happens, they will have each other. Caroline counters: yes, they’ll have each other even if some parts of the system fail to restart. It’s ultimately her decision and Gregory acquiesces.

SCENE 4: RESTARTING THE SYSTEM

In the mechanical room of the ship, Gregory prepares to restart the system. William hovers nearby. Gregory laments a secret he has hidden from Caroline and, in shutting off the system, she will learn. But he initializes the sequence.

INTERLUDE II

The System shuts down.

SCENE 5: PREPARATION FOR A LONG JOURNEY

The next morning as Caroline and Gregory make breakfast. The System has yet to reboot and, stripped of its simulations, the interior of the spacecraft is cold and bare. William has disappeared. Caroline calls Vera again for breakfast and, when Vera still doesn’t come, she leaves to get Vera from her room.

Vera is not there. Gregory explains: Vera is also a simulation, generated by the System to keep them company on the trip. Surely Caroline remembers.

Caroline does not. Gregory must be lying to her.

INTERLUDE III

Caroline, confused and desperate, scours the ship for Vera.

SCENE 6: THE TRUTH

Gregory cries out. Caroline has tied him to the table and begs him to help search for Vera even as she is convinced that he must have harmed her. Gregory, frightened, tells Caroline she has gone mad. But Caroline remembers giving birth to Vera. She remembers time they spent together before the voyage: he cannot erase those memories. Not knowing what else to do, Caroline tortures Gregory, cutting off his fingers and ultimately his hand when he won’t cooperate. Weakened and incoherent, Gregory finally tells Caroline to look in the filtration hull, where she finds Vera’s body. Their daughter was not a simulation. Caroline forces Gregory to look at their daughter’s corpse but he refuses. Wild with grief, she stabs Gregory, leaving Gregory and Vera dead at the table.

As the System more fully reboots, William reappears. He explains: Vera died in an accident two years prior and Gregory lied about it to Caroline. William, detached, wonders when the System should intervene instead of carrying out misguided orders from the passengers.

SCENE 7: STARS

Caroline, realizing she has been alone for a long time, stumbles back into to the entrance hub to find solace in the stars. She realizes, in her grief and to her horror, she cannot remember all of their names. Suddenly she hears a voice: Vera’s. As William watches silently, Caroline follows the voice to the airlock and into empty space.