Via The Journal Of Music: Kilkenny Arts Festival has announced the premiere of a new opera, Custom of the Coast, exploring the lives of Savita Halappanavar and Anne Bonny.
The performance will take place on Friday 8th August in St Canice's Cathedral.
The opera features a score by Indian-American composer Kamala Sankaram setting work by Irish Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon from his 2024 book of the same name.
It brings together the stories of Halappanavar, whose death in 2012 became a pivotal moment in the debate around abortion in Ireland, and Anne Bonny, the eighteenth-century pirate reputedly born in Cork.
The work connects their lives across time in a production that combines traditional Irish and Indian music.
Soprano Anchal Dhir and mezzo-soprano Michelle O’Rourke will perform the principal roles. Music will be provided by Crash Ensemble and accordion player Danny O’Mahony. The production is directed by filmmaker Alan Gilsenan, with musical direction by Kate Ellis.
Custom of the Coast was developed through a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Potash Hill in the United States and was previously presented in a workshop format in New York City by Experiments in Opera and Works & Process.
Tickets for the performance are priced at €32–39 and are now available.
For more information, go here.
Read more from The Journal Of Music here.
