Two one act operas, in a double bill
Ashley Hastings, Composer and Librettist: Free Men and The Dream (FM/D): a double bill
After a decades-long career in linguistics and a lifetime love for music, Ashley Hastings decided to take on the challenge of composing opera, and this event will feature two of his one-act chamber operas, fully staged. Free Men is set in the American South shortly after the end of the Civil War during the early days of Reconstruction. Here, two withdrawn gay men form an unexpected bond so strong they’d be willing to do anything to fight for love. In The Dream, Hastings asks “What happens when an author’s main character shows up at her door and demands changes in her story?” A pursuit for truth ultimately ends with more questions.
Cascadia Chamber Opera is excited to present the Cascadia Chamber Opera Festival 2023 in Astoria, Oregon from August 20th through September 3rd, 2023. This combination of events will include fully staged English sung productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Ashley Hastings’ Free Men and The Dream at the Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts (The Larsen Center). Also on the schedule is, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, an opera made for film being projected at the Liberty Theatre, a Cascadia Chamber Opera Chorus concert presented at The Larsen Center, a presentation of Marianne Monson’s novel The Opera Sisters, at the Astoria Public Library, and Pint-Sized Opera featuring Don Giovanni cast members at Fort George Brewery. The Opera Festival will feature vocalists and instrumentalists from across the country including Emily Pulley, Erik Huntoft, Misook Yun, Robert Anthony Mack, Stacey Murdock, Jennifer Estrin, Jocelyn Claire Thomas, Marcus Peterson, Mattison Solgan, Shelley Loring, Brian Woosley, and many more. Events will take place at various stages throughout the town of Astoria. For more information, visit: www.cascadiachamberopera.org – Contact for the Press Release: Bereniece Jones-Centeno info@cascadiaconcertopera.org 503-468-0796