World premiere of contemporary opera “Double Blind Sided” set May 22-25 at Idaho State University

The world premiere of "Double Blind Sided," a contemporary opera inspired, in part, by Franz Kafka's "The Trial" and Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," will be presented 7:30 p.m., Wednesday – Saturday, May 22-25, with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, May 25, in the Idaho State University Stephens Performing Arts Center's Rogers Black Box Theatre . 

A post-performance panel discussion with the composer, librettist and directors will be held Wednesday and Thursday.  Admission is by donation.  All donations will support the tour of the work to the July 2013 Santa Cruz Fringe Festival.  For information: Joséphine A. Garibaldi, 233-2494, garijose@isu.edu.

Initiated five years ago, ISU Theatre and Dance faculty Josephine A. Garibaldi and Paul Zmolek invited composer Robert Fruehwald of Southeast Missouri State University and poet G.B. Waldschmidt from Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne to collaborate on the creation of an original music/theatre/dance work inspired by Kafka's novel.  Creating variations upon the motifs from "Pictures at an Exhibition," Fruehwald created emotionally moving music for Waldschmidt's witty libretto, creating a non-linear montage of anachronistic scenes connecting Kafka's novel, Weimar Germany's slide into Nazism, the Vietnam War, and current economic and political events.

The Callous Physical Theatre collaborative team of Josephine A. Garibaldi and Paul Zmolek utilized a collaborative devising methodology with the eight performers to create movement directly linked to the text.  "The performers are singing, dancing, and acting throughout the entire show.  It is really jam-packed.  I am so impressed with them," said Garibaldi.

The cast, drawn from ISU Theatre, Dance and Music students, has been coached by Vocal Director Diana Livingston Friedley.  Julie Sorensen conducts a wind ensemble supplemented by electronic score.  Livingston Friedley and Sorensen are on faculty in Music at ISU.

Following the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances, a post-performance panel discussion with guest artists composer Robert Fruehwald and librettist G.B. Waldschmidt, the creative team and cast of "Double Blind Sided" will be held in the Theater.

For more information, contact Josephine A. Garibaldi, garijose@isu.edu, (208) 233-2494 or CallousPhysicalTheatre.weebly.com.

Made possible, in part, by the generous support of National Endowment for the Arts, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Pocatello Arts Council, Callous Physical Theatre and the Cultural Events Committee, Department of Theatre and Dance, and the Humanities and Social Science Research Committee of Idaho State University.

Biographies of Double Blind Sided Creative Team:

Composer Robert Fruehwald, is a prolific composer whom has released five CDs from his over sixty major compositions. Dr. Fruehwald developed a series of programs to print musical examples for scholarly journals and books.  Fruehwald received his compositional training from several renowned composers including Morton Subotnik. Robert Wykes, Leonard Rosenman and Mel Powell. As former Chair and Professor of Music at Southeast Missouri State University, Dr. Fruehwald has taught numerous subjects including applied composition, music theory, applied flute, electronic-computer music, and the history of modernism. http://www6.semo.edu/fruehwald/fruehwaldhome.htm

 Librettist G.B. Waldschmidt instructor of English composition at Indiana University, Purdue has developed an approach to teaching English composition based in the theory of memetics within a hyperlinked, information age environment. Recognized with over two-dozen AAF-Addy awards, his prolific output as a writer includes; songwriter/musician; CEO of his own advertising agency; poetry, fiction, blogging and text for Zmolek's 2008 Callous Physical Theatre production of Migrant.

Directors Joséphine A. Garibaldi and Paul Zmolek each hold three degrees in related fields and have been active as professional interdisciplinary performing artists/educators for over 30 years. Co-artistic directors of Callous Physical Theatre, both are on faculty with the Department of Theatre and Dance at Idaho State University where Garibaldi is the Director of Dance. Their award-winning work has been performed in Finland, Italy, Brazil, California, Washington, Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Nebraska, and Idaho.  Recent notable works include The Rule of Life (2011), an hour long physical theatre work inspired by the Orders of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.  A made-for-video version of the work directed by Tom Hallaq was featured in the December 2012 International Contemporary Artists Exhibition at Gallerie le Logge in Assisi, Italy.  In May 2012, Garibaldi and Zmolek teamed up with Finnish poet Karri Kokko to create and perform Cagevent: Sometimes it works, Sometimes it doesn’t, a 2 hour performance event inspired by the creative process of John Cage as a featured performance in the Helsinki 2012 Kontaining Performance Festival. http://callousphysicaltheatre.weebly.com/index.html

Garibaldi and Zmolek teamed with composer Robert Fruehwald in 2002 to create the highly successful Zaum: Beyond Significance, a 50-minute contemporary ballet inspired by revolutionary arts movements of the early 20^th century. Robert collaborated with Joséphine to create Anticipatory Illumination, a modern dance inspired by the temple of Borobodur and the incidental music for Paul’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Vocal Director Diana Livingston-Friedley served as vocal director for Garibaldi and Zmolek’s 2010 production of their Landscaping for Privacy.  Garibaldi choreographed for Livingston-Friedley’s production of A Threepenny Opera.  Dr. Livingston-Friedley, a soloist featured in national and international venues, is Acting Director for the School of Performing Arts and the Director of Music at Idaho State University.

Conductor Julie Sorensen joined the music faculty at Idaho State University in the fall of 2011 as an Assistant Lecturer in Music Theory, Aural Skills and Music Appreciation. She was the orchestra director for the ISU spring production of Into the Woods and in the fall of 2012 Julie organized and directed the first full student chamber symphony orchestra at ISU.  Julie comes to ISU from Lubbock Texas where she studied for her PhD in Fine Arts with a specialty in Orchestral Conducting from Texas Tech University.  While in Lubbock, Julie also served as the Assistant Conductor for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra where she conducted for family, children and holiday concerts. Julie received her B.A. in Music and flute performance from the University of Wyoming and her M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.