FULL ALICE TIERNEY (Melissa Dunphy) West Chester PA 2024 Wells School of Music
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Alice Tierney
- Composer: Dunphy Melissa
- Libretto: Jacqueline Goldfinger Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall, Philips Memorial Building, West Chester, Pennsylvania, West Chester University WCU
- Recorded: Nov 15 & 16, 2024
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: David Arlen, James Baker, Lily Gonglik, Anastasia Groden, Niamh Kelly, Mary Kate McKenzie, HaYoung Nam, Julia Webster Jordan Lynch
- Conductor:
- Orchestra: Jordan Lynch, PIANO
- Stage Director: Nicholas Provenzale
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Wells School of Music
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 2 Audio:2
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs, gensubs
- Video Recording from: Vimeo FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Composed in 2023 by WCU alum Melissa Dunphy, this opera tells the story of four present-day archeology students who unearth clues to the mysterious death of Alice Tierney in 19th century Philadelphia. In English, and about one hour, this opera challenges the way we think about American history.
Dunphy says, “While researching the history of my new home in Philadelphia, I uncovered newspaper reports of a 45-year-old ‘dissipated woman’ named Alice Tierney who was found strangled and strung up on a fence on my property on a cold January night in 1880. Shockingly, Tierney’s death was written up by police and the press as an accident. I pledged to find a way to tell Alice’s story, which resonates in the 21st century when our culture is actively grappling with the ways in which women’s stories of trauma are silenced or minimized, especially those of vulnerable and poor women.”
Dunphy adds, “What little we know about Alice is dimmed by the passage of 140 years and hampered by a lack of written records about those who lived on the fringes of society. Librettist Jacqueline Goldfinger and I opted to tell Alice’s story from the perspectives of four modern-day archeology graduate students who piece together Alice Tierney’s life while excavating the place where she lived and died. Their different perspectives show that the telling of history says just as much about the narrator as the narrative.”
Please be advised that the opera contains explicit language.