October 2007

An Incubator of Creativity

The MacDowell Colony has been many things to the more than 6,000 artists it has supported during its illustrious 100-year history. “Heaven on earth,” a kind of “promised land,” an “oasis,” and a “tonic and medicine for the soul,” are just some of the ways the artists who have been to the Colony often refer to it. For many of these artists, MacDowell has served as a creative incubator — the one place in the world they have felt safe enough to take the risks that have enabled them to become the artists they were meant to be.

This is certainly the case for composer Stewart Wallace, who readily claims that MacDowell has been indispensable to his life and career. “MacDowell introduced me to my colleagues and other artists when I was very young and still unformed,” claims Wallace, who has worked at the Colony 11 times since 1987. “In many ways, MacDowell shaped me as an artist.”

Spanning every genre and performed around the world, Wallace’s work includes scores for ballet (Peter Pan, 2000), chamber orchestra, film (The Book of Love, 2004), and opera (Harvey Milk, 1995). Commissioned by such prestigious organizations as the Houston Grand Opera, the New York City Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra, and Germany’s Bochum Symphony, his scores are known for being “intensely rhythmic, melodic, and emotionally compelling.” Which may explain why Wallace was drawn to his current project — an opera based on the best-selling novel by Amy Tan, The Bonesetter’s Daughter.

Wallace has been the driving force behind this project from the get-go. A long-time friend of Tan’s, he convinced her that the theme and structure of The Bonesetter’s Daughter — a tale of three generations of Chinese mothers and daughters told via the memories of an elderly woman in modern-day San Francisco — made it an ideal one to be told through opera. Soon after, he began traveling to China to research the culture and in particular, the music. “I knew absolutely nothing about China and Chinese music before then,” admits Wallace, who began collaborating with Chinese musicians during the one-month visits he has made to China every year since. “I’ve gotten a very intimate view through very specific people, who have taught me many things along the way.”

One such person is Li Zhonghua, a Beijing master percussionist who Wallace has brought on board to lead the opera’s four-person Chinese percussion section. Other Chinese-influenced factions of the opera’s ensemble include a KunJu singer, two suonas (double-reeded trumpets), 12 Chinese acrobats, and internationally acclaimed director Chen Shi-Zheng. In addition, Tan — who has accompanied Wallace on his trips to China — is writing the opera’s libretto.

Wallace began composing the score for The Bonesetter’s Daughter in earnest in 2004. His current residency at MacDowell could not be better timed: He plans to finish the opera by the end of this year. The Bonesetter’s Daughter is scheduled to premiere on September 6, 2008, at the San Francisco Opera, and will then travel to China.

At his MacDowell Downtown presentation at 7:30 p.m. at the Peterborough Historical Society on October 6th, Wallace will play three cuts of music from the opera, and will talk about the development of this project and the important role MacDowell has played in his career. “MacDowell gave me a strong sense of my place in the world,” he says, “and it continues to be the place where I go deepest and work best.”