Violet Fire at Temple University
Violet Fire’s first production was mounted at Temple University’s Tomlinson Theater, to sold-out audiences on February 13-14, 2004. The production, represented a collaboration of Temple faculty and students with the core project collaborators and the Relache Ensemble. The opera was performed by students in the Department of Voice and Opera at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music, under the supervision of John Douglas, with the Relâche Ensemble playing the instrumental score under the baton of Music Director Thaddeus Squire. The project partnered with the community-arts organization Cosacosa Art at Large to bring students from Philadelphia’s Kenderton School to the production and present an assembly program at the school.
Participants included
| John Gibson | Composer |
| Miriam Seidel | Librettist |
| Terry O'Reilly | Director |
| Thaddeus Squire | Music Director |
| Sarah Drury & Jen Simmons | Media Design |
| Philip Grosser | Choreography |
| Dan Boylen & Martin Dallago | Sets |
| Anthony Hostetter | Lighting Design |
| Maori Holmes & Heidi Barr | Costumes |
| Jay Wahl | Assistant Director |
| Kim Barrosso | Assistant Conductor |
Singers:
| Kristin Moody | Tesla |
| Sharon Derstine | Katharine Johnson |
| Adam Fry | Mark Twain |
| Julie Snyder | White Dove |
| Rachel Sutliff | Margaret Storm |
| Stephanos Tsirakoglou | Reporter |
| Peri Berman, Colin Dill, Emily Good, | Chorus |
| Michele Jenkins, Denise Ryks |
Relâche Ensemble:
| Bob Butryn | sax & clarinet |
| Andrea Clearfield | keyboard |
| John Gaarder | bassoon |
| Michele Kelly | flute |
| Douglas Mapp | bass |
| Harvey Price | percussion |
| Lloyd Shorter | oboe |
| Aliza Appel | viola |
This production was supported by the Temple University Provost’s Commission on the Arts, the Five-County Arts Fund, the Pennsylvania Councili on the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, and individual donors.