Works tagged with ‘chorus of men women & children’
King Island Christmas
An oratorio for the musical stage
Music by David Friedman
Based on a true story from the Bering Sea of Alaska. The North Star freighter, carrying the village priest, is anchored in the Bering Sea on Christmas eve, on it’s last arctic voyage before the winter ice closes in around King Island. The waves are too high for the villagers to go out and fetch the priest in their walrus skin boats; without him, there will be no Christmas celebration. In a communal effort, the villagers triumphantly carry their oomiak over a mountain to the calmer waters of the lee, and bring the priest ashore. Christmas is celebrated on King Island. King Island Christmas is a heartwarming story about the power of community and the ability of the human spirit to overcome adversity.
Winner of the Frederick Loewe Award. (more…)
Goodbye My Island
Music by David Friedman
Goodbye My Island tells the story of the forced removal of the King Islanders from their home in the Bering Sea of Alaska by the US Government in 1963. This true story, which was fictionalized by Alaskan author Jean Rogers in her book of the same title, is told through the eyes of different community members who experienced the loss of their home, community and culture. Many of the characters in Goodbye My Island are also in King Island Christmas. Although inspired by a historical event, Goodbye My Island is a work of fiction. Currently scored for piano.
Two developmental workshops at New Dramatists, with grants from Cameron MacIntosh, and the Yip Harburg Foundation.
