Gardner McFall

Amelia: The Libretto - Amelia Gardner McFall

Commendation Quotes: By treating the plight of one woman who underwent a great loss as a little girl and who, now pregnant, is determined to break what she feels is a cycle of destruction, Gardner McFall taps into elemental feelings.... In 2010, when "Amelia" receives its premiere at Seattle Opera, the full meaning of Gardner McFall's extraordinary words will become clear. Jacket Description/Flap: With an intensely personal libretto by American poet Gardner McFall, whose father was a Navy pilot lost in Vietnam, this new opera explores man's fascination with flight and the dilemmas that arise when vehicles of flight are used for exploration, adventure, and war. Gardner McFall teaches at Hunter College in New York and is the author of two books of poetry and two children's books. Table of Contents: Foreword by Speight JenkinsDramatis PersonaeAct 1, Scene 1Act 1, Scene 2Act 1, Scene 3Act 2, Scene 1 Act 2, Scene 2 Act 2, Scene 3 AfterwordAcknowledgmentsAbout the authorBiographical Note: Librettist Gardner McFall is the author of two volumes of poetry, "The Pilot's Daughter" and "Russian Tortoise," as well as two children's books. She lives in New York and teaches at Hunter College. Marc Notes: Amelia, a two-act apera in six scenes, with music by Daron Hagen and based on a story by Stephen Wadsworth, was commissioned by Seattle Opera to premiere May 8, 2010.

Contributor Bio:  McFall, Gardner Gardner McFall is the author of The Pilot's Daughter (Time Being Books). She is also the editor of Made with Words, a prose miscellany, by May Swenson (University of Michigan Press), the author of two children's books, Jonathan's Cloud (Harper & Row) and Naming the Animals (Viking), and the librettist for Amelia, an opera commissioned by Seattle Opera, with music by Daron Hagen. Ms. McFall, who has received a "Discovery"/ The Nation award and the Missouri Review's Thomas McAfee Prize for Poetry, earned her master's degree from the Writing Seminars at The Johns Hopkins University and her doctorate, in English, from New York University. She lives in New York City and teaches at Hunter College.