Artist

Admin

Singer

Soprano

Ashley Becker

Olympe de Gouges

Conductor

Sarah Van Sciver

Pianist

Instrumentalist

Janet Whitman

Laurice Kennel

Kirsten C. Kunkle

Charlotte Corday

Marisa Robinson

Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier

Alyssa Brode

Mezzo-soprano

Alyssa Maria Lehman

Madame Roland

Allison Deady

Raffaella lo Castro

Madame de Staël

Kaitlyn Tierney

Tracy Sturgis

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

Annie Gill

Thuy Nguyen

Melissa Brun

Suzannah Waddington

Wilmington Concert Opera

English

Girondines

Wilmington

United States

Presbyterian Church of the Covenant

Livestream recording of October 22, 2022 premiere concert performance of "Girondines," a Wilmington Concert Opera production at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Wilmington, DE.

“Girondines” shares six French Revolution women’s interconnected stories. Three are guillotined: radical murderess Charlotte Corday, moderate feminist writer Madame Manon Roland, and radical feminist writer Olympe de Gouges. Three survive political upheaval: prolific portrait-painter Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun; political theorist Madame Germaine de Staël; and inventive chemist Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze. Chamber opera for six voices, piano, electronics, cello, and violin.

GIRONDINES
Sarah Melnick (née Van Sciver), Composer
Kirsten C. Kunkle, Librettist

PERFORMERS
Kirsten C. Kunkle as Charlotte Corday
Ashley Becker as Olympe de Gouges
Marisa Robinson as Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier
Alyssa Maria Lehman as Madame Manon Roland
Raffaella Lo Castro as Madame Germaine de Staël
Tracy Sturgis as Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Sarah Melnick (née Van Sciver), Pianist and Conductor
Melissa Brun, Cellist
Thuy Nguyen, Violinist

PRODUCTION TEAM
Marisa Robinson, Producer and Wilmington Concert Opera Executive Director
Kirsten C. Kunkle, Producer and Wilmington Concert Opera Artistic Director
Sarah Melnick (née Van Sciver), Music Director and Technical Director
Ashley Becker, Graphic Design
Johanna Lynn Jones, Stage Manager
Julie Smith, Photographer

Girondines: Girondines Van Sciver

Public

Approved

We're excited to present our biggest project yet - a world premiere opera!

Wilmington Concert Opera presents the world premiere of “Girondines,” a two act ensemble chamber opera for six women, and scored for piano, harp, and electronics. Composer Sarah Van Sciver set the libretto by WCO’s co-founder and artistic director, Kirsten C. Kunkle.

“Girondines”, based on historical fact, focuses on the story of six real life French Revolutionaries who presumably knew one another, met in secret before the Reign of Terror, and supported one another during the political upheaval. All six of the revolutionaries are women, and of these, three are guillotined and three live. Van Sciver and Kunkle are working to further their own legacy of women, both in the history of the women featured in the opera, and also to create visceral and important roles for women in opera.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Instrumentation

Crew