The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Peabody Opera Theatre Presents The Alien Corn

 The Peabody Opera Theatre will present the world premiere of The Alien Corn, composed by Tom Benjamin with libretto by Roger Brunyate, on March 9, 10, 11, and 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Peabody’s Miriam A. Friedberg Hall, 17. E. Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore. Tickets are $24, $12 Senior Citizens, and $10 Students with I.D. Call the Peabody Box Office at 410/659-8100, ext. 2.

Set in Great Britain and Germany from 1928 -1931, The Alien Corn is based on a powerful short story by Somerset Maugham about divided ethnic identity, social snobbery, and the loneliness of the artist as an outsider. The plot concerns a family of German-Jewish origins, living an affluent life as English gentry. The parents deny their heritage but their elder son goes to Munich to pursue his passion to become a concert pianist and explores his Jewish roots in that city. His quest leads ultimately to tragedy.

Written in a lyrical, operatic style, the music contains elements of English patriotic songs, dance-hall ditties (including a foxtrot played on a phonograph), piano concerto interludes, and a haunting lullaby from an old collection of Yiddish melodies.

In conjunction with the world premiere, Peabody will host a pre-concert lecture entitled “Composing The Alien Corn” on Wednesday, February 23, at 6:00 p.m. in the Cohen-Davison Family Theatre. The lecture will feature composer Tom Benjamin and librettist Roger Brunyate, with musical excerpts from the opera. Tickets are $10 and include a wine & cheese reception beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Bank of America Mews Gallery. Call the Peabody Box Office at 410/659-8100, ext. 2/

About the Creative Team

Composer Tom Benjamin has composed works for all media, including six operas, concertos for violin, piano and viola, symphonies, oratorios, cantatas, and choral and chamber music. Over 60 of his works have been published, and several have been recorded. He has won prizes here and abroad, and has received numerous grants, awards and commissions. He has previously collaborated with librettist Roger Brunyate on a chamber opera The Joy That Kills, commissioned by the American Chamber Players and the Candlelight Concert Series and premiered in 1998. Also active as a clarinetist and choral conductor, Dr. Benjamin taught for many years at the National Music Camp (Interlochen), the University of Houston's School of Music, and recently retired from the Peabody Conservatory, where he taught theory and composition and chaired the Music Theory department. Born in Bennington, Vermont, in 1940, Tom Benjamin received his degrees from Bard College, Harvard, Brandeis and Eastman, studying composition with Leon Kirchner, Carlos Surinach, Ernst Krenek, Arthur Berger and Bernard Rogers.

Librettist Roger Brunyate is Artistic Director of the Peabody Opera Theatre and Professor of Opera at Peabody. Born in Northern Ireland, he took degrees in English and Fine Arts from Cambridge University in England. He became active as a designer and director while teaching Art History at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. For four seasons, he served as Staff Producer at the Glyndebourne International Festival, and worked with other major companies in Britain and in Italy, including the Edinburgh Festival, the English Opera Group, and La Scala, Milan. Coming to America in 1972, Brunyate has directed for many regional companies and served in 1983 and 1984 as Artistic Director of the Wolf Trap Opera Company and young artists' training program.

Roger Brunyate has also been active in the creation of new opera, as a librettist, teacher, and director. His three-act opera Where Angels Fear to Tread, with music by Mark Lanz Weiser, received a triumphant premiere at Peabody in February 1999. Roman Fever, a shorter opera with music by Robert Ward, has had almost 20 productions since its creation in 1993, and has been recorded for PBS. At Peabody, Brunyate directs a program designed to bring composers, librettists, and performers together to create new short opera études.