HILDEGARD

The year is 1147, and abbess Hildegard von Bingen has begun transcribing her visions of God, at the risk of excommunication. She enlists Richardis von Stade to illustrate these visions, and the two women quickly develop a partnership that awakens them creatively, spiritually, and—troublingly—romantically. Their sacred work faces upheaval when Hildegard’s superior forbids her and her fellow nuns from making music, threatening her standing within the Church.

 

This highly anticipated world premiere marks LA Opera's 17th innovative collaboration with the pioneering Beth Morrison Projects, hailed as “a driving force behind America’s thriving opera scene” (Financial Times). Based on the writings of visionary, composer, and polymath, Hildegard examines the tension between spiritual calling and human constraint. With a libretto by Sarah Kirkland Snider—who is praised by The Washington Post as one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music”—and immersive visual projection design by Deborah Johnson, captures the struggle of two gifted women determined to make their voices heard in a world that sought their silence.

Sarah Kirkland Snider, COMPOSER AND LIBRETTIST

Elkhanah Pulitzer, DIRECTOR

Deborah Johnson, PROJECTION DESIGNER

Beth Morrison, CREATIVE PRODUCER

Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and the Aspen Music Festival