Virtual Conversation: Jake Heggie and Ernesto Estigarribia at the Figge Art Museum -- October 20 (pictured: Ernesto Estigarribia)
Thursday, October 20, 6 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
A nationally lauded composer and revered area conductor will take part in a special virtual conversation hosted by Davenport's Figge Art Museum, the October 20 event finding Jake Heggie and Ernesto Estigarribia discussing the two-act chamber opera Two Remain (Out Of Darkness), which will be performed by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra on October 22.
Presented as part of the area-wide Holocaust-remembrance project Out of Darkness (OutOfDarknessQC.com). composer Heggie's and librettist Gene Scheer's Two Remain (Out of Darkness) is based on the true stories of two Holocaust survivors, and explores the unimaginable through vivid testimony and arresting musical compositions. In Act I, Krystyna Żywulska, assisted by ghosts of Auschwitz, shares her story of survival with a journalist, while in Act II, Gad Beck is haunted by his first love: the poet Manfred Lewin, who perished in Auschwitz. The work will be presented on October 22 in Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center, with admission to the 7:30 p.m. performance $10-35 and tickets available by calling Augustana at (309)794-8045 and visiting Augustana.edu/tickets and QCSO.org.
In addition to Two Remain (Out of Darkness), Heggie has composed such operas as Dead Man Walking, Great Scott, Moby-Dick, It's a Wonderful Life, and If I Were the You, the latter three also boasting librettos by Gene Scheer. In addition to nine full-length operas and numerous one-acts, Heggie has composed nearly 300 art songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral and orchestral works, leading the Wall Street Journal to deem the artist “arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer." Gramophone magazine, meanwhile, stated, "Heggie’s way with music, the way in which his choices unlock and intensify the poetry and drama of the words, is consistently illuminating, full of surprises."
Two Remain (Out of Darkness) conductor Estigarribia is the Assistant Conductor and Youth Ensembles Music Director of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Hailed for his “expert direction” by Fanfare magazine, the Paraguayan Estigarribia previously served as Music Director of Buffalo Community Orchestra and Southeastern Minnesota Youth Orchestras, and having a passion for working with young musicians, he is also member of the conducting staff of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Estigarribia has conducted the Mankato Symphony, Rochester Symphony, Oskaloosa Music Festival Orchestra, Argentina's Orquesta del Centro del Conocimiento, and his home country's Orquesta Sinfónica del Congreso Nacional, where he was the first Paraguayan guest conductor to appear in the International series.
The virtual conversation between Jake Heggie and Ernesto Estigarribia will take place on October 20, particpation in the 6 p.m. event is free, and more information is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
