"Tell Me a Bedtime Story, ABRAXAS": a Gnostic opera about frogs.

Bay Area composer Brett Carson presents a new experimental, multimedia chamber opera entitled "Tell Me a Bedtime Story, ABRAXAS" in world premiere performances at the Dresher Ensemble Studio on July 27-28. The abstract, dream-like narrative follows the central protagonist, "The Amphibian", through a series of vignettes exploring the double-life of amphibians as beings existing both on land and in the water. They wander a landscape of Christian and Gnostic mythologies, culminating in a revelation of the transcendent Gnostic deity Abraxas, a being beyond logic and duality.

Carson's musical language narrating this excursion is highly eclectic - drawing on contemporary classical music, rock music, free improvisation, and experimental electronic music - and will be performed by some of the Bay Area's brightest stars in the realm of new music. Leading this ensemble are trailblazing vocalists Daniel Cilli and Melinda Martinez Becker, followed by the tireless new music aficionados Friction Quartet and versatile drummer/percussionist Jordan Glenn. In addition to composing the music and libretto, Carson also serves as the director and production designer. Portland-based artist Jayden Becker contributes an immersive video component.

“Tell Me a Bedtime Story, ABRAXAS” is a project of New Performance Traditions, and is made possible through generous support from the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.

Brett Carson is a composer, pianist, improviser, poet, and theater artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His compositional work, which has been described as "fascinatingly intense" (Stephen Smoliar, SF Classical Voice), explores the juxtaposition of a gleefully chaotic plurality of musical approaches. This is combined with a penchant for surreal world-building and an exploration of the bizarre and uncanny, along with a commitment to writing for the voice and the stage.

Notable projects include the song cycle Mysterious Descent (2017) which was partially written in an invented language "Kôktimo", Just Visiting (X-Ray Vision) (2018), a post-apocalyptic chamber opera, and The Killing Jar (2021) a dystopian meditation on the COVID-19 pandemic. His recent project, The Secret Life of the Paramecium, is a theatrical song cycle navigating a series of 22 microbiological vignettes based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot. It premiered as part of the Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency to sold-out audiences in September 2022.

In addition to his compositional work, he enjoys a career as a pianist, keyboardist, and synthesist, having performed internationally in the realms of free improvisation, contemporary classical music, jazz, and rock. Performing venues and festivals include the Chicago Jazz Festival, Sons d'hiver, Roulette, the Barbican, the Kennedy Center, the Broad (LA), and SESC Pompeia (Brazil). He has worked with a wide variety of composers/performers including Bill Baird, Brian Baumbusch, Nicolas Collins, Sidney Corbett, Vinny Golia, George Lewis, Nicole Mitchell, Roscoe Mitchell, Bill Noertker, Zeena Parkins, Rent Romus, and William Winant. From 2019-20, he performed as the pianist for the legendary jazz unit the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

brettcarsonmusic.com

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