<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>. . . if/when it makes it to Spokane's INB Performing Arts Center.</div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of <i>Derrick Wang</i> at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.derrickwang.com/scalia-ginsburg/">http://www.derrickwang.com/scalia-ginsburg/</a></div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-weight: 300; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 1.8em; font-size: 30px; font-family: 'Open Sans'; color: rgb(18, 18, 18);"><strong>Scalia/Ginsburg</strong></h1></div><div><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-a0c1fcc077c0d018fa82" style="position: relative; height: auto; outline: transparent solid 1px; transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; padding: 12px 17px; clear: none;"><div class="sqs-block-content" style="outline: none; cursor: auto;"><h3 style="font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font size="3">SUMMARY</font></strong></h3><p style="margin: 24px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> is an American comic opera in one act by composer-librettist Derrick Wang, inspired by the opinions of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia—and by the “operatic precedent†of Händel, Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, Sullivan, Puccini, Strauss, et al. </span></p><p style="margin: 24px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Introduced at the Supreme Court of the United States in 2013, the opera has received national attention, with selections presented at leading musical and legal institutions. The <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/SGjlaLw" style="text-decoration: none;">annotated libretto</a>[script] has been published by the <em>Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts</em>, with <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/SGjlaPw" style="text-decoration: none;">prefaces by Justices Ginsburg and Scalia</a>. <em>Scalia/Ginsburg </em>will receive its <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/SG-Tix0" style="text-decoration: none;">world premiere production</a> at the Castleton Festival on July 11, 17, & 19, 2015. The <a target="_blank" href="http://nyti.ms/1vlktSE" style="text-decoration: none;"><em>New York Times</em></a> reports that Justice Ginsburg will attend the premiere.</span></p><h3 style="font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font size="3">PLOT</font></strong></h3><p style="margin: 24px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What happens when Supreme Court justices go before a Higher Power? In this comic opera, Justices Ginsburg and Scalia must pass through three cosmic trials to secure their freedom. The catch: they may have to agree on the Constitution. Derrick Wang’s<em> Scalia/Ginsburg</em> is a valentine to law and opera, where the law’s leading players go toe-to-toe and trill-to-trill in a (gentle) parody of operatic proportions. Opinions will be offered. Dissents will be delivered. And justice will be sung.</span></p><h3 style="font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font size="3">HISTORY</font></strong></h3><p style="margin: 24px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Selections from <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> were presented at the Supreme Court of the United States in June 2013. Nina Totenberg introduced the opera on <a target="_blank" href="http://n.pr/16vt7S9" style="text-decoration: none;">NPR</a> in July 2013, with further coverage by outlets including the <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/19A9NBb" style="text-decoration: none;">Associated Press</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://bloom.bg/1fXs8gB" style="text-decoration: none;">Bloomberg</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://wapo.st/18OXTUH" style="text-decoration: none;">Washington Post</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/1bWBUsK" style="text-decoration: none;">ABA Journal</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/1uVqwIi" style="text-decoration: none;">New Republic</a>, and the front page of the <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/SG-WSJ2" style="text-decoration: none;">Wall Street Journal</a>. Selections from <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> have been presented by the <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/1nO9EPn" style="text-decoration: none;">Washington National Opera</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/1nkDHSp" style="text-decoration: none;">Glimmerglass Festival</a>, Castleton Festival, <a target="_blank" href="http://bsun.md/1cGmb1V" style="text-decoration: none;">Maryland Opera Studio</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/UuXow4" style="text-decoration: none;">National Constitution Center</a>, Second Circuit Judicial Conference (co-sponsored by Columbia Law School, with artists from Opera Saratoga), and Stanford Arts Institute & Stanford Law School. </span></p><h3 style="font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font size="3">STYLE</font></strong></h3><p style="margin: 24px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A buddy comedy with an operatic twist, <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> reflects the witty style of its subjects by applying the novel technique of “<strong>operatic precedent</strong>.†Just as a court opinion analyzes previous cases to develop a new decision, the score of <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em>revels in references to beloved operas, transforming them into new and effervescent commentaries on music and law.</span></p><h3 style="font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font size="3">AUDIENCE</font></strong></h3><p style="margin: 24px 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By presenting current legal issues in a concise and entertaining manner, <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> aims to reach new audiences for opera. Moreover, by dramatizing the friendship of two justices with (frequently) opposing viewpoints, <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> aims to encourage nuanced discussion of issues faced by the Supreme Court. Furthermore, through its playful reference to famous operas of the past, <em>Scalia/Ginsburg</em> appeals to frequent and first-time operagoers alike. </span></p><h3 style="font-weight: 300; margin: 0px;"><strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font size="3">QUOTES</font></strong></h3></div></div><div class="sqs-block quote-block sqs-block-quote" data-block-type="31" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1404445727152_45913" style="position: relative; height: auto; outline: transparent solid 1px; transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; padding: 12px 17px; clear: both;"><div class="sqs-block-content"><figure style="margin: 1em 0px;"><blockquote style="margin: 0px; font-style: italic;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The Justices are blind!<br>How can they possibly spout this?<br>The Constitution says absolutely nothing about this…â€</span></blockquote><figcaption class="source" style="text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">— “The Justices are blind!†(Justice Scalia’s opening aria)</span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="sqs-block quote-block sqs-block-quote" data-block-type="31" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1404445727152_63550" style="position: relative; height: auto; outline: transparent solid 1px; transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; padding: 12px 17px; clear: both;"><div class="sqs-block-content"><figure style="margin: 1em 0px;"><blockquote style="margin: 0px; font-style: italic;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“You are searching in vain for a bright-line solution<br>To a problem that isn’t so easy to solve,<br>But the beautiful thing about our Constitution<br>Is that, like our society, it can evolve.â€</span></blockquote><figcaption class="source" style="text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">— “You are searching in vain (for a bright-line solution)†(Justice Ginsburg’s aria)</span></figcaption></figure></div></div></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>I will be monitoring scheduled performances of Scalia/Ginsburg, so . . .<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Stay tuned, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>