Today is the world premiere of Our Trudy, a full length opera commissioned from librettist Maria Reva and myself by the Ad Astra Music Festival in Russell, Kansas. This project celebrates the 150th anniversary of the town’s founding. The three performances take place as part of an enormous festival called Prairiesta, which rolls through Russell every ten years. Our Trudy honours the legacy of a beloved local artist and teacher, Trudy Furney, who inspired several generations to pursue an artistic practice and cultivated a lively appreciation for visual arts in the town and the state as a whole. Thirty years after her death, her impact is still felt in the community and in the hearts of those who remember her.

Maria and I joined the project three years ago when the Ad Astra brought us to Russell to interview people who knew Trudy. A week of interviews revealed a rather complex emotional legacy. Initially the idea of boiling all this complexity down to a single narrative seemed utterly overwhelming. On the one hand were all of Trudy’s professional achievements (numerous teaching awards and artistic recognition) and her sociable and nurturing personality, which endeared her to everyone who knew her. On the other, were the horrible personal tragedies she suffered: the loss of her husband to cancer, her son’s death in a somewhat mysterious gun incident in her own kitchen, and Trudy’s own battle with cancer. Trying to reconcile these struggles with her religious, social and personal worldview, Trudy dipped into fringe theories that blended Christian end-of-the-world prophesies with alien contact. Her connection with these theories and their followers landed her name on the pages of national tabloid papers shortly after her death, an unfortunate circumstance that caused much trauma for the people who knew her and the community as a whole.

Maria and I were faced with the challenge of how to represent this complex human being who was remembered in such contrasting light by people who had access to different parts of her life and psyche. Some remembered her as a hardy, fun-loving person who could always cheer them up, a pillar of support, someone who appeared unbroken by the tragedies in her life. Others saw her as vulnerable and struggling with intense grief, questioning everything, including her Christian faith. In this deeply religious community, such questioning was a very serious and potentially threatening matter at that time. Many were rightfully nervous about this project, worried that we would sensationalize the end of her life.

Instead of trying to define a single “correct” version of Trudy, Maria and I decided to construct her out of memories and to represent the different perspectives through several fictional characters who act as amalgams of the people we interviewed. Dora, herself a sunny but perhaps avoidant personality, focuses on Trudy’s nurturing and cheerful nature. Todd, a brooding man who also suffered loss, dwells on Trudy’s darker side. Neither is wrong, but neither is fully right either. Managing this somewhat conflict-ridden but also humorous navigation through memory space is the Narrator. He attempts to remain neutral and uninvolved but is eventually forced to grapple with his own unresolved grief and guilt. Filling out the memories is the Chorus, a quartet of singers who transform into Trudy’s students, townspeople, vicious rumours or Trudy’s friends. In the end, the opera is as much about the town and the people who remember Trudy as it is about Trudy herself.

Maria and I are deeply grateful to the people who welcomed us to Russell and made themselves vulnerable to total strangers by sharing deeply personal memories and reflections on Trudy’s life, memories that were often painful and raw even thirty years after her death. Thank you.

The premiere is directed by Cara Consilvio, with music direction by Austin McWilliams. The set design is by Terrance Volden. The cast includes Katelyn Mattson-Levy (Trudy), Dominic Aragon (Narrator), Alyssa Toepfer (Dora), Gregório Taniguchi (Todd), Janie Brokenicky (Chorus Soprano), Lily Belle Czartorski (Chorus Alto), Michael Davidson (Chorus Tenor), and Alan Williams (Chorus Bass). The musicians of the ensemble are Man Wang, Negar Afazel, Julius Adams, Benjamin Cline, Even Hillis and Megan Bailey. Tina Gorter is the rehearsal pianist. A huge thank you to this wonderful cast and crew for their dedication, enthusiasm and energy. You really made this project happen!

Because of ongoing pandemic travel restrictions in Canada, Maria and I are not able to attend this premiere and have been observing the rehearsal and staging process from afar. This has been a complex emotional experience in itself. We hope that it is the last major premiere we have to attend virtually.

To learn more about the development of this project, check out this documentary created by Ad Astra following a workshop in the summer of 2020.