QUI PRO DOMINA JUSTITIA SEQUITUR

Join MCM for our final subscription series of the 2017-18 season, featuring the west coast premiere of Philadelphia based composer Melissa Dunphy’s The Gonzales Cantata.

The Gonzales Cantata is a musical setting/reaction to the drama and politics of events leading up to the resignation of disgraced United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2007.

In the composer’s own words: “In 2007, NPR news ran several stories featuring electrifying audio excerpts from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings into wrongdoings by Gonzales’ Justice Department, and like many listeners, I was shocked by the tension and emotion in the voices of the men (and the single woman) involved.”

During his hearings before the often brutal Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales became a modern-day Orpheus, alone and defenseless, facing the terrifying Furies in the Underworld. The doomed Orpheus in this tale, however, lacks the noble cause or incredible talent of the mythical Orpheus, and he has even had a hand in the poisoning of his Eurydice – the country he serves.

The cantata’s libretto was taken from two primary sources – transcripts from the actual hearings, and Gonzales’ resignation speech.

In protest of the continued male domination of American politics, the genders of the performers have been reversed in relation to the characters they portray.

The work will be performed by our Women’s Choir and is scored for strings and harpsichord.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

US Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales: Molly Holleran

The Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-VT: Claire Dann
Benjamin L. Cardin, D-MD: Paris Rodgers
Orrin G. Hatch, R-UT: Karen Walley
Diane Feinstein, D-CA: Scott Rodgers
Ranking Member Arlen Specter, R-PA: Mitzi Holmes
Jeff Sessions, R-AL: Cynthia Vaughn
Charles E. Grassley, R-IA: Rachel Condie