THE VOYAGE OF EDGAR ALLEN POE

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI'S COLLEGE-CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC | 2005

DIRECTOR
Sandra Bernhard

CONDUCTOR
Mark Gibson

PROJECTION DESIGN
Richard Cawood & Tom Huston

SCENIC DESIGN
Paul Shortt

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's opera department is presenting the contemporary English-language opera The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe. The opera is composed by Pulitzer-Prize winner Dominick Argento and will be directed by CCM Opera Chair Sandra Bernhard and conducted by Director of Orchestral Studies Mark Gibson. The opera follows an aged Poe traveling by sea to his hometown of Baltimore. As he journeys on the haunted ship ,Poe is plagued by images of his mother's death, as well as his wedding ceremony. To make things worse, he is still grieving his wife's death as his literary executor Griswold tortures him with accusations of longing for his wife's death. The theme throughout the opera is Poe's internal struggle with his demons.

The set of Voyage was designed through a collaboration between the Theater Design and Production Department and the Electronic Media Division, both at CCM. The two departments worked together to create a set resembling a dream world full of moving projections to create scenes from Poe's past as his mind continues to deteriorate.