Description
Audio
Cassandra, or Don't Girls Love Horses (2020) by Jessica Rudman (b. 1982)
Nanette McGuinness, Soprano
Abigail Monroe, Cello
Margaret Halbig, Piano
Recorded April 4th, 2021 at The Producer’s Loft Studio
Premiere Live-stream by the Center for New Music on Saturday, April 17, 2021
The Cassandra Project is supported by funds from The San Francisco Arts Commission and is sponsored, in part, by a grant from The Alice M. Ditson Foundation and The Ross McKee Foundation.
Video
Ensemble for These Times: The Cassandra Project
David Garner, Producer, Composer
Nanette McGuinness, Soprano, Artistic Executive Director
Ilana Blumberg, Violin
Abigail Monroe, Cello
Margaret Halbig, Piano
Brennan Stokes, Projectionist, Make-up artist
PROGRAM:
Cassandra Effect (2020) by Valerie Liu (b. 1971)
Cassandra, or Don't Girls Love Horses (2020) by Jessica Rudman (b. 1982)
Text by Kendra Preston Leonard (b. 1974)
Projections by Brennan Stokes
Images by Stephen Stokes
Wild Sage (2020) by Hannah Lash (b. 1981)
Die geflüsterte Zukunft (The Whispered Future, 2020) by David Garner (b. 1954)
with Projections by Mister WA from the classic films:
Helen of Troy
The Fall of Troy
Nosferatu
The Phantom of the Opera
(Films in the Public Domain)
Moerae (The Fates, 2010) by Mary Kouyoumdjian (b. 1983)
Video Production
Vic Ferrer, Stage Lighting & Stage Management
Mister WA, Director of Photography, Pre- & Post-Production
Recorded April 4th 2021 at The Producer’s Loft Studio
Premiere Live-stream by the Center for New Music on Saturday, April 17, 2021
The Cassandra Project is supported by funds from The San Francisco Arts Commission and is sponsored, in part, by a grant from The Alice M. Ditson Foundation and The Ross McKee Foundation.
© E4TT & Mister WA Productions, 2021
Duration
10 min.
Instrumentation
Voice, Cello, and Piano
Text
Kendra Preston Leonard : Cassandra, Don't Girls Love Horses?Program Notes
Cassandra, or Don’t Girls Love Horses? was commissioned by Ensemble for These Times. The work will be premiered by Nanette McGuinness, Abigail Monroe, and Margaret Halbig on April 17, 2021. The piece sets a text by Kendra Preston Leonard and focuses on the mythological prophetess, Cassandra. Cursed by the gods, she could see the future but was thought mad all around her. She knew of Troy’s terrible fate but was powerless to convince anyone of the dangers posed by the wooden horse that would be her city’s downfall. I have always been drawn to Cassandra’s tragic story, and in light of current events such as#metoo and the backlash against women running for government office, I saw a striking parallel. Women’s views, advice, and truths are regularly discounted by both individuals and society at large. This failure to heed women’s voices causes great damage and is not a curse from the gods but a product of patriarchal culture. If we pay attention to the lesson of Cassandra’s story, perhaps, we can start to change that culture and avoid our own Trojan fall. Leonard’s text portrays Cassandra as someone who has grown from an innocent, perhaps naive, child to a mature woman struggling to find a path forward amidst public ridicule. She has the strength to repeatedly warn her people about the coming attack despite their scorn, yet is worn down by the enormous stress of being helpless to prevent her horrific visions. She is torn between wanting to retreat into the warm, safe memories of her past and fighting against a fate she ultimately is powerless to change. Leonard uses the modern trope of girls who love horses to signify both Cassandra’s nostalgia for her youth and the way her society dismisses her warnings as the dreams of foolish girls.
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