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Garsington Opera Presents the World Premiere of a New Chamber Version of Andrew Norman's A Trip to the Moon

Jul. 22, 2024

Garsington Opera Presents the World Premiere of a New Chamber Version of Andrew Norman's <em>A Trip to the Moon</em>

Inspired by the first science fiction film ever made, a new chamber version of Andrew Norman's opera, A Trip to the Moon will receive its world premiere performances on July 30-31 at Garsington Opera. The performances of Garsington Opera's 2024 Community Opera will be conducted by Douglas Boyd and directed by Karen Gillingham. A true collaboration between professional performers and students and members of the community, the production involves several artistic ensembles, including Garsington Opera Adult Company, Garsington Opera Youth Company, Primary School Youth Company, Abbey View Primary Academy, Infant Youth Company, Ibstone CE Primary School, Stokenchurch Primary School, and Philharmonia Orchestra, supported by an outstanding cast and creative team.


A Trip to the Moon: Introduction with director Karen Gillingham

Norman's first dramatic work, A Trip to the Moon, was originally commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic in 2017 with the English libretto provided by the composer himself. Following this success, the Hamburg State Opera commissioned a revised version for a smaller ensemble with a German singing translation. This version was then revised especially for Garsington Opera. This one-hour melodrama accompanies the filmmaker Georges Méliès who sets out to explore the moon with the company of four scatter-brained astronomers. As they research this new land and try to repair their broken rocket, they meet mysterious aliens, who in turn have to deal with their own dangers.

Andrew Norman's opera was inspired by Georges Méliès 1902 silent film, A Trip to the Moon. The retro-futuristic world presented in this ground-breaking motion picture inspired the composer to bring this story to the stage for both amateurs and professionals as a parable for how we ourselves deal with strangers. He says,

"A Trip to the Moon contains a whole new language - Lunar. As it turns out, inventing a new language is quite a lot of work. But I was excited by the potential of combining even syllables with pitches and movements to create a new gestural world. My aim was to put the audience in the role of the "other" who has to find their way around without the help of a common language.


In 2018, Andrew Norman discussed his role as composer for Yuval Sharon's production of his opera, 
A Trip to the Moon, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

For more information on Andrew Norman, visit schott-music.com.

Andrew Norman
A Trip to the Moon (2024)
an opera for people of all ages
chamber version in English language
inspired by George Méliès’s silent film “A Trip to the Moon” (1902)
words and music (Eng, Moonish) by Andrew Norman
for 2 sopranos, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 2 tenors, baritone, 6 speaking roles, adult choir, youth choir, children’s choir and 3 conducting roles
0.0.0.0-0.2.2.0-2perc(I. crot, glsp, xylo, 3 splash cym, sus cym, 2 metals, 4 temple blocks, kick drum, thundertube, guiro; II. vib, sus cym, 2 metals, kick drum, tam-t 2 bass boomwhackers, tri)-str(4vn.2va.2vc.1db)
50'

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