SWELL
a music-theater work
conceived by Melisa Tien
featuring 10 contemporary composers
~ Live and Online, 3.17.21 - 3.21.21 ~
(Art: Blair Thornley)
Melisa collaborated with composers Joshua Cerdenia, Carolyn Chen, Justine F. Chen, Or Matias, Tamar Muskal, Polina Nazaykinskaya, Leyna Marika Papach, Izzi Ramkissoon, Kamala Sankaram, and Jorge Sosa on a contemporary song cycle about immigrants & children of immigrants, written by immigrants & children of immigrants. Tickets were available on a sliding scale from $5-50. For more information, please visit the production webpage.
A concert presentation of SWELL ran at HERE July 13-14, 2019. It featured singers Jonathan May, Jasmine Muhammad, & Kannan Vasudevan, musicians Naomi Florin, Mila Henry, & Jennifer Shaw, music direction by Mila Henry, projection design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, & stage direction by Elena Araoz.
[Photos: Al Foote III]
“Swell emphatically rejects the idea that there is one monolithic immigrant experience…there were moments of magic…like many of the people whose stories it tells, Swell is a piece on a journey, and there are many places it could go.”
- National Sawdust Log
