Peter Sellars’ Winds of Destiny
| A new staged production of George Crumb’s The Winds of Destiny (American Songbook IV) by Peter Sellars with Dawn Upshaw as soprano anchors the Friday evening concert on June 10. Written in 2004, The Winds of Destiny is a work for soprano and percussion quartet performed on a variety of traditional and exotic instruments, and amplified piano.
Joining Ms. Upshaw will be California-based percussion ensemble red fish blue fish in its Ojai debut and pianist Gilbert Kalish, last seen in Ojai in 2008. The riveting work reinterprets Civil War songs including “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” and “Shenandoah.” Mr. Sellars new staged version will frame The Winds of Destiny through the eyes of a female American veteran returning from the war in Afghanistan, played by Ms. Upshaw. In the Friday symposium from 3 to 5 pm, Peter Sellars and journalist/author Mark Danner will discuss in his words “to take account of the moral concerns of the U.S. as a polity and a great power and how these must stem, or should stem, ultimately, from a grounding in the humanities.” The Winds of Destiny is a co-production by the Ojai Music Festival and Cal Performances at UC Berkeley. |
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VIDEO: Peter Sellars and Dawn Upshaw discuss their 10th theatrical collaboration
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