Theatre and Dance

Leeds Youth Opera is proud to announce the latest installment of their association with  minimalist modern composer Philip Glass, with the European premiere of his latest opera, "Appomattox", first performed in San Francisco, in 2007.

The production is set at the end of the American Civil War in 1865 when freedom for African American slaves and the prospect of their emancipation was close at hand.  However, the assassination of Lincoln and the rise of groups such as the Ku Klux Klan meant that for many, emancipation did not take place and true equality in some people's eyes, has only now arrived with an African American in the White House.

The opera starts in the closing stages of the Civil War and portrays the South's final effort as much from the points of view of their wives, as of the soldiers and politicians.  Too late to be effective, the South finally creates a Black army; but with the fall of Richmond, Robert E Lee is forced to sign a peace treaty in the village of Appomattox.

While the two military leaders debate the trivialities of the treaty we see the effect of the war over the next one hundred years, from the assassination of Lincoln, followed by lynchings and the indiscriminate murders and persecution of blacks, as well as peace rallies and the voice of Edgar Ray Killen, a preacher who supervised the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964.

This production marks the fourth collaboration between Leeds Youth Opera and Philip Glass - the previous productions being "Akhnaten", "Satyagraha" and the British premiere of "The Voyage". 

Koyaanisqatsi - a revered work

Philip Glass (born 1937) is considered to be one of the most influential composers of our era. He is seen as one of the pioneers of minimalism in modern classical music although Glass himself doesn't like the term 'minimalist', preferring 'classicist', but his work is eclectic and he has collaborated with rock musicians like David Byrne, Brian Eno, Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen.

A prolific composer, Glass has written works for his own musical group (the Philip Glass Ensemble for whom he plays keyboards) as well as operas, musical theatre works, eight symphonies, eight concertos, solo works, string quartets, and film scores. Three of his film scores have been nominated for Academy Awards, including his most famous score, 'Koyaanisqatsi'.

Leeds Youth Opera is a group of passionate and committed 12 to 25 year olds drawn from schools, colleges and universities in and around the city. Under the professional guidance of Artistic Director, Jonathan Clift and Musical Director, Michael Williamson, the group has built a reputation as a musical institution to be reckoned with.

Leeds Youth Opera's performance of Appomattox runs at the Carriageworks Theatre, Millennium Square from Wednesday 8 July until Saturday 11 July 2009.