Transgender themed opera to open at BAM

Kelly Markgraf and Sasha Cooke

The world permiere of Laura Kaminsky's opera "As One," which explores the revelatory and redemptive journey of a transgender individual, is opening on September 4th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Kaminsky was inspired to write the opera after reading an article in the New York Times in 2008 about a New Jersey marriage in which one of the parties transitioned from male to female, transforming the couple from heterosexual to homosexual. The opera has been cast with the real-life married couple of mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and barihunk Kelly Markgraf, as well as string quartet.

You can listen to three soundclips from the opera below. 

As One provides insights into both the personal and philosophical questions at the core of how personhood is defined, as well as into the compromised civil and humans rights of transgender individuals in the broader societal framework.

Performances at BAM run from September 4-7 and tickets are available online. 

People on the other side of the country can check out the opera in April 2015 at the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University.  Cooke's role will be sung by mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert, but Kelly Markgraf will remain in the cast. The Fry Street Quartet will perform at both venues.