“Music for New Bodies” at Tanglewood

“Music for New Bodies” at Tanglewood
August 7, 2025
Seiji Ozawa Hall

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Matthew Aucoin’s Music for New Bodies (2024) is an uncategorizable work of music-theater: part opera, part song cycle, part vocal symphony. Based on poetry by Jorie Graham, the piece is a portrait of our moment in history as seen through the eyes of a cancer patient undergoing a drastic medical procedure. As the patient experiences the transformation of her own body, she meditates on questions that range from the personal to the cosmic: in a time when life is more and more virtual, what does it mean to have a body? And above all, after our species has poisoned the planet with uncountable toxins, can we still listen to what the earth has to tell us?

Music by Matthew Aucoin*

Text based on poems by Jorie Graham, assembled by Matthew Aucoin and Peter Sellars

Stage Direction by Peter Sellars 

Lighting Design Ben Zamora

Assistant Director Yibin Wang

Production Stage Manager Betsy Ayer

Costume Stylist Victoria Bek

High Soprano Song Hee Lee

Soprano Meryl Dominguez

Mezzo Megan Moore

Tenor Paul Appleby*

Bass-Baritone Evan Hughes

Sandbox Percussion Jonny Allen*, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney

Flute Emi Ferguson* and Jessica Shand

Clarinet Yasmina Spiegelberg

Oboe Joe Jordan

Bassoon Kara LaMoure

Violin Miranda Cuckson* and Keir GoGwilt*

Viola Carrie Frey

Cello Iva Casian-Lakos and Jesse Christeson

Bass Maggie Cox

Harp Jacqueline Kerrod

Piano Baron Fenwick

Keyboard Lucas Amory

Conductor Matthew Aucoin

* AMOC* Company Member

The American Modern Opera Company’s appearance, including Music for New Bodies, is generously supported by Katie and Paul Buttenwieser.

Music for New Bodies is a co-commission of American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*), DACAMERA, Los Angeles Opera, the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Foundational residency support for the development of Music for New Bodies was provided by Brown Arts Institute at Brown University.

By arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc., publisher and copyright owner. 

Special thanks to Avery Willis Hoffman, Jessica Wasilewski, Joshua Bristow, Ian Driver, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and THE OFFICE performing arts + film.