a place to call home
A Place to Call Home
Words & Music by EDWARD BARNES
Based on interviews, conducted by the composer, with teenage refugees in Los Angeles
SYNOPSIS: The journeys of 4 different teenage refugees/immigrants, their escape, arrival and assimilation in the U.S.. Based on interviews conducted by the composer-librettist with teenage refugees from El Salvador, Iran, Cambodia and Angola,the opera is propelled forward by the choices and decisions each teenager has to make re: cultural identity, conformity, new language, new systems, new friends, and their struggles to rebuild lives in a complex new world.
THEMES: Respect for different cultures; Adjusting to a new place.
“Engaging and emotionally forceful. Sharply drawn, dramatically punchy. The score carries the piece along vividly..”
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
CAST: 4 + ensemble (teenage or adult chorus)
- Woman 1 (soprano)
- Woman 2 (mezzo-soprano)
- Man 1 (tenor)
- Man 2 baritoneo)
- Ensemble (Other immigrants, refugees, high school students, high school teachers, street gang, barrio kids)
DURATION: 60 minutes
ACCOMPANIMENT: Piano; or, 2 Electric Keyboards (2 players) and Percussion (1 player)
COMMISSIONED BY: The Los Angeles Opera
PRODUCTIONS: The Los Angeles Opera, University of Texas El Paso
videos/excerpts
Scene 1
Scene 2
Copyright 2022 – Operas for Children – Edward Barnes, Composer