Music by: Kamala Sankaram
Libretto by: Jerre Dye
Duration: 75 mins
Commissioned by Washington National Opera, 2018
Project Statement
In TAKING UP SERPENTS, 25-year-old Kayla is the estranged daughter of a fire-and-brimstone preacher who is dangerously bitten by one of his own snakes. Kayla’s journey home forces her to confront her troubled upbringing. With a score showcasing Sankaram’s deft stylistic eclecticism and an original story inspired by Dye’s roots in the Deep South, Taking Up Serpents calls into question faith, family, and destiny, with shocking results.
FORCES
Singers:
Kayla - soprano. A daughter of The Church, a lost soul, a wanderer
Nelda - mezzo-soprano. Kayla's mother, anointed, a Preacher's wife
Daddy - baritone. Kayla's father, a Holiness Preacher, a snake handler
Reba - mezzo-soprano. Kayla's co-worker / Passenger - a young mother / Holiness Congregation member
Customer - soprano. Save-Mart Customer / Passenger - a queer kid / Holiness Congregation member/ Preacher
Young Kayla - supernumerary. A memory of Kayla as a child
Orchestra:
Flute/Piccolo
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon
French Horn
Electric Guitar/Acoustic Guitar - With volume pedal, tremolo, distortion, wah and reverb. Will also need a tuning pedal to tune to Drop D.
Percussion - Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Triangle, Glokenspiel, Large Suspended Cymbal, Whirly Tube, Crotales, Waterphone, Junk Metal (3 different pitches)
Piano
2 Violins
Viola
Cello
Bass
MEDIA
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