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Mind on Fire’s New Opera “and we, each” Bends Genres and Minds

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BmoreArt’s Picks: October 8-14

When I was invited to review the performance of a new opera, and we, each on September 29th, I didn’t know what to expect.

While I have more than 50 years of experience in and around theaters, added to the dozens of reviews I’ve written for various publications over the past 11 years or so here in Baltimore, I was ill-prepared for an evening of the most experiential musical performances I have ever heard or seen. Did I love it? Hate it? Feel confused, moved, or intrigued by it? Upset by it?

I don’t have a clue. I only know I have never witnessed anything like it, either audibly or visually.

Still from video projection by director James Mathew Daniel
To be absolutely honest, I have no idea what the piece was about... but it is riveting, even with no understanding of the story that is being presented.
Timoth David Copney

Mind on Fire is a Baltimore based theater group that seeks to bridge the gap between classical and experimental music and art genres. According to the mission statement on their website, “Mind on Fire makes music by living composers and showcases the talents of performing artists, building creative access and collaborative partnerships in Baltimore.”  It goes on to say, “What happens when disparate resources, sensibilities, and expertises are shared in the pursuit of art making? Mind on Fire seeks to answer that question by presenting exceptionally compelling art performances by people of all disciplines and skill levels.”

The question of, “what happens” is on display in this company’s many pieces of music and performance, and while the answer might not be clear at first, it is clear that we are in the presence of important theater making done on a level that is unsurpassed in this arena.

Founded in 2017 by a group of exceptionally talented artists from both classical and experimental musical backgrounds, along with contributions by visual artists, filmmakers, dancers, choreographers, actors, these seemingly disparate collaborators have created and showcased some incredibly innovative pieces.

The second of and we, each’s two sold-out shows in Baltimore almost didn’t happen. A power outage in Theatre Project on Preston Street forced it to shut down just hours before the curtain was to go up. This quick-witted group of creatives hauled what they could from the set (not much), and proceeded to mount the production in a makeshift music hall that actually contributed to the ambience of the piece quite nicely.

This last-minute pivot was handled with what I’m sure was a good deal of nerve-wracking decision making—what to take, what to leave behind, not to mention where to go! But they made it work, and having no basis for comparison having not seen the set designed for the piece, I can just say it was an impressive move and it paid off greatly for the audience in the packed, makeshift 2640 Space, a performance venue straddling Old Goucher and Charles Village.

Jesse Blumberg and Ah Young Hong, photo by James Young
Ah Young Hong and Jesse Blumberg, photo by James Young
Performance pieces such as this one coerce us into using all of our senses to interpret what we are seeing and hearing... we are forced to look beyond immediate impressions and form our own conclusions about what the performers are showing us.
Timoth David Copney

To be absolutely honest, I have no idea what the piece was about. The description in the program which contains the libretto (apparently in the abandoned space there was the ability to project the libretto on the large screen that displayed the beautiful choreography to the piece as well as the emotion inducing backgrounds) offers insights into the haunting words of the poet Shane McCrae, but I found it difficult to follow the complex narrative.

Visually the piece is quite moving, full of symbolic wrapping of each of the two leads hands or heads with paper mâché like strips of paper or fabric, to form rather cast-like strictures. The narrative also says that the story is to “engage with such images ranging from intimate touch to metaphysical struggle, to the implied defilement of Aeneas’ corpse.” Further the opera is described as “an exploration of the treacherous territories of relationships—between individuals, within societies and, ultimately, the collapse of both.” I will leave the interpretation to more learned minds and ears than mine, but the piece is riveting, even with no understanding of the story that is being presented.

Performance pieces such as this one coerce us into using all of our senses to interpret what we are seeing and hearing, so rather than eliciting laughs or tears or even empathy, we are forced to look beyond immediate impressions and form our own conclusions about what the performers are showing us.

The creative team behind this world-premiere possesses some mighty impressive credentials. Usually I would comment on the sets and lights in my review, but due to the extenuating circumstances, I’ll have to assume that those aspects were as well-crafted as what was able to be seen in the new space.

Director James Mathew Daniel has kept the focus on the two actors by managing the pacing of the physical aspects of the interpretation. In a piece that has only two actors, and where both are wholly engaged the entire time, never leaving the stage, it is particularly important to direct the audience’s attention with a clearly defined focus on the actors. Daniel does a superb job of that.

Still from video projection by director James Mathew Daniel

Being a newcomer to this type of music and with scant background or experience in experimental music, I had to listen closely to both Ah Young Hong, the virtuoso soprano voice, and Jesse Blumberg’s controlled baritone. Both of them have sterling pedigrees in vocal performance. I would imagine that in less professionally trained hands those atonal sounds, the juxtaposing of the voices to the instruments and the demanding timing of the piece as a whole, might have been sheer cacophony. But with both Hong and Blumberg, and their obvious connection to the music and each other, it was at times mesmerizing and never less than fascinating to watch and hear.

Composer Michael Hersch is a widely respected master of this genre of music. I don’t know if this style of composition is thought to be ‘classical’—that might be a term that it is too soon to use—but his genius has been recognized multiple times across the musical universe. I listened to some of his other work in preparation for writing this piece and I have no doubt that Hersch will take his place among the great composers of this and the previous century. Basing the opera on the poetry of Shane McCrae, and collaborating with the poet, the combined talents are certain to be applauded by all aficionados of the type of harmonic dissonance that is a hallmark of this piece.

So what do I think? I think this piece will stay with me for a long time. It doesn’t matter so much that I was perplexed as to how to interpret it, but what it does do is make me realize that this type of music is as acoustically valid as any serious form of musical composition and interpretation. Mind on Fire is not as widely known in the Baltimore area as it should be. I am looking forward to more encounters with the uber-creatives who power this organization.

Upcoming performances:

Sunday, October 13, 2024
Bloomberg Performance Center
555 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington D.C., 20001
Tickets are free and available here.

Thursday, February 6, 2025
National Sawdust
80 North 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY, 11249
ticket information available soon
Detailed Announcement Here.

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