“Make Some Noise!” with Seattle Opera

Join us and “Make Some Noise” at our free, family-friendly McCaw Hall open house next Saturday, August 3! This special event, taking place the day before opening night of Der Ring des Nibelungen, kicks off a year-long celebration of Seattle Opera’s 50th Anniversary. Open house guests will have an exclusive opportunity to subscribe to the four operas of Seattle Opera’s 50th Anniversary season for only $50.

Patrons enjoy a recent Seattle Opera open house
Rozarii Lynch, photo

As you approach the building on August 3, you’ll find three-dimensional Ring-inspired sidewalk art by Marlin Peterson. The public can view this outdoor art installation, located on Kreielsheimer Promenade near McCaw Hall’s serpentine glass wall, throughout the month of August. Morning activities at the “Make Some Noise” open house include KING FM’s Instrument Petting Zoo, a “Make Your Own Instrument” activity, a photo retrospective of Seattle Opera’s 50 years, and imaginative original performance art by Lelavision. This Seattle-based group, whose mission is to delight people using creativity, will play several of their kinetic musical sculptures, including “Violcano,” “Longwave,” “Metalphor,” and “Orbacles.”

Lelavision’s Longwave

In the afternoon, musicians from Seattle Opera’s Youth Chorus and the Seattle Youth Symphony, together with Seattle Opera’s professional singers, will present Seattle Opera’s complete Our Earth opera trilogy, with music by Eric Banks and libretti by Irene Keliher, conducted by Stephen Rogers Radcliffe.

Town Hall performance of Heron and the Salmon Girl
Alan Alabastro, photo

These operas, perfect for children of all ages, follow a quest for missing salmon from the marine environment of Puget Sound all the way upstream to a mountain watershed. In the first opera, Heron and the Salmon Girl, animals such as Heron, Orca, Turtle, and the fisherman Tayil travel from the open water of the Sound to an estuary in search of the missing fish. Meanwhile Alitsa, a young woman who is also a salmon, searches for her brother, Parr, who has left their small fishing village only to fall ill in the big city. In Rushing Upriver, the second opera of the series, the journey continues. Salmon siblings Parr and Alitsa head upstream, searching for a unique white flower with healing properties, closely pursued by a hungry coyote, a mischievous raccoon, and a wise raven. An eagle, frog, and owl from east of the Cascade mountains help Alitsa, Parr, and Tayil solve the mystery of the missing salmon in the final opera of the trilogy, Every River Has Its People. Each of these English-language operas is approximately 30 minutes long.

"Make Some Noise!” Open House
August 3, 2013
McCaw Hall
Admission: Free

10:00 a.m.: Doors open; hands-on activities explore music-making and sound production, featuring the incredible music, sculpture, and performances of Lelavision
12:00 p.m.: OUR EARTH Part 1: Heron and the Salmon Girl
12:30 p.m.: More performances by Lelavision
1:15 p.m.: OUR EARTH Part 2: Rushing Upriver
1:45 p.m.: “The Finer Points of Kazoo Virtuosity and Other Musical Noise”
2:30 p.m.: OUR EARTH Part 3: Every River Has Its People (Seattle premiere)