FULL FIERCE (William Menefield) Iowa City, IA 2024 Madeline Yankell, Brie Bevans
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Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Fierce
- Composer: Menefield William
- Libretto: Sheila Williams Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Hadley Stage, Hancher Auditorium, University of Iowa
- Recorded: April 26, 2024
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Madeline Yankell, Brie Bevans, Kate O'Connell, Finley McVay, Sarah Hachtman, Foo Chen Gui, Alix Bushard, Ethan Elsbernd, Tatum Calderwood, Elizabeth Cerrito, Olivia Stange, Yaxin Sun, Allison Wright, Fabiola Castaneda-Santiago, Chloe Schwab, Joslyn Sheeley, Trinity Woody
- Conductor: David Karl Gompper
- Orchestra:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: University of Iowa
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: yessubs, ensubs, gensubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
The Cincinnati Opera commissioned composer, musician, and UI assistant professor of Jazz Studies William Menefield to write the music for an opera in collaboration with librettist Sheila Williams. The resulting work, Fierce, debuted at the Cincinnati Opera in July 2022 to packed houses and enthusiastic audiences.
An opera for the 21st Century, Fierce follows four teenage girls finding identity and purpose in the world as they write their college essays in a high school writers’ workshop. The young women face striking internal challenges—the difficulties of high school popularity and social media, the weight of parental expectations, personal loss, and unstable lives at home—but come together to find community, self-empowerment, and the confidence to embrace new chapters.