Hey, Maudie

Opera

2023 | 30’

solo sop. + 4 voices (SATB), 2 vn., va., vc., cb., perc., pno./org.

• Collaboration with Rachel Jones

• Libretto by Rachel Jones and Victoria Adukwei Bulley

• Commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art

Hey, Maudie is the result of a collaboration between painter Rachel Jones, poet Victoria Adukwei Bulley and myself, commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art.

Reflecting a collage of perspectives, the libretto, co-authored by Jones and Adukwei Bulley, takes inspiration from Gwendolyn Brooks' 1953 novel, Maud Martha. Brooks’ Maud Martha, which remained unpublished in Britain until 2022, traces the life of a young Black woman in 1940s and 50s America through a series of lyrical vignettes, employing a unique third-person interior voice.

Across four acts, Hey, Maudie follows the character of Maud Martha (sung by soprano Gweneth Ann Rand), as she converses with a choral ensemble that represents her soul and another intimate, interior voice, spoken by Jones.