Houston Grand Opera’s “River of Light” to Feature Libretto by Chitra Divakaruni
At the introductory event hosted by the Inamdars, author Chitra Divakaruni explained the art and science of writing a libretto with HGO artists and Pradeep Gupta in the audience (far right).
By Pramod Kulkarni
HOUSTON: Yet another indication of the city’s diverse, international character is the launch of a new chamber opera entitled, “River of Light”, a story about an Indian American mother in Houston
Featuring the libretto (lyrics of an opera) by our own author Chitra Divakaruni and music by Jack Perla, “River of Light” is part of HGO’s East+West series of chamber operas that celebrate Houston’s Eastern and Western cultures. It is a part of the multi-year “Song of Houston” series sponsored in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The 2013-14 season marks the finale of the series.
One of the performances of “River of Light” is scheduled to take place at the Meenakshi temple in Pearland.
According to the HGO, each East+West piece honors a specific culture and community through storytelling and music. HGO engages artists and individuals from different countries to create art about, by, and for Houston’s vibrant Asian communities.
“River of Light” is based on the story of Meera, who has moved to Houston after getting married and earned a high-powered job. Meera loves her mainstream lifestyle, until the birth of her daughter makes her long to recreate authentic Diwali traditions at home.
The HGO recently held a fundraising launch party for “River of Light” at the home of the Dr. Nikhil and Radhika Inamdar in West University. The chamber opera has been funded generously by the Inamdars as well as HGO board members Sam and Omana Abraham.
The launch party featured a performance by HGO artists of short extracts from the opera. HGO’s Development Officer Rebecca Kier explained how the Chamer opera will be performed at various locations throughout the area, including the Meenakshi Temple in Pearland. Kier asked the audience to contribute generously to fund these performances. Chitra Divakaruni then explained the challenges of writing the libretto. “I’ve written novels for adults and children, but this was something new,” recalled Divakaruni. “The libretto is written to synchronize with specific the music as well as convey the story. I enjoyed the back-and-forth sessions with composer Jack Perla, who is based in San Francisco.”
Jack Perla has forged a reputation for writing engaging, sophisticated, and accessible works using a palette that includes symphonic, operatic and chamber music, as well as multiple jazz and popular idioms. For the first East + West series, Perla worked with Chinese author Euginia Chan in 2010 to create “Courtside.”
Perla was recently commissioned by Opera Theater St. Louis to create a new opera for 2015, based on Salman Rushdie’s “Shalimar the Clown.”
For additional information on River of Light, please call 713 546 0211 or visit HGO.org/HGOco.