Roscoe will be Mack’s third full-length opera and second collaboration with librettist and fellow CCM alumnus Joshua McGuire (MM, 2005). Their first work, The Secret of Luca, has been performed and workshopped in various parts of the US.

Mack’s first opera, Angel of the Amazon, was produced by Encompass New Opera Theatre at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in NYC for all of May 2011 and the Original Cast Recording was released worldwide by Albany Records in 2012.

Learn more about Roscoe courtesy of Janelle Gelfand and the Cincinnati Enquirer here.

Earlier this month, Albany Records released CCM alumnus Evan Mack’s (DMA, 2008) new American opera Angel of the Amazon for worldwide distribution.

Recorded live at premiere performances held on May 6 – 22, 2011 in New York City after preview performances in Cincinnati, Angel of the Amazon depicts Sister Dorothy Stang’s lifetime of work with the Brazilian peasant farmers in the rainforest.

At age 75 two gunmen hired by a head of a logging firm murdered Sister Dorothy. Her last words were the beginning of the Beatitudes, which she recited to her killers before being shot six times. Mack’s lush dramatic score and Encompass New Opera Theater’s production received critical acclaim by the Daily News, the Epoch Times and Command Opera. The recording features two CCM alumni in the lead roles: Caitlin Mathes, mezzo-soprano and winner of the 2011 Lotte Lenya Competition (MM, 2008; AD, 2010) and Jose Rubio, baritone (MM, 2008, AD in progress).

Evan Mack is a composer, librettist and pianist. As a performer, has toured the United States, Barcelona and South Africa. As a composer, he produced five full musicals as well as numerous popular songs and numerous classical works. His choral suite, Langston Hughes’ Dream of Freedom is a selection winner of the National Association of Composers, San Francisco and the UCM New Music Festival. He is currently published with Hal Leonard.

Most recently, Evan has performed in the Kentucky Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, including a performance at Carnegie Hall. He is on the faculty of the College of Saint Rose and Skidmore College.

The two-CD set for Angel of the Amazon can be purchased online at Albany Records, Amazon and Best Buy.

For more information, visit Evan’s website or the Angel of the Amazon website.

WE beseech Thee, O Lord, according to Thy loving-kindness, have mercy upon the soul of Thy handmaiden Dorothy., and now that she is set free from the defilements of this mortal flesh, restore her to her heritage of everlasting salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

+Damian of Alexandria

+Julian the Hospitaller

+Grant Wood

+Immanuel Kant

Those who have heard the whole piece report that the complete opera is really stunning and, as Janelle Gelfand reported, the music has overtones of Barber and other neo-romantic composers, as well as Latin American instrumental colors. Mack now teaches at two colleges in Albany, NY.

You can learn more about Angel of the Amazon here and you can view WLWT’s coverage of the event here.