Opera

2023 | 40′

Collaboration with Rachel Jones
Libretto by Rachel Jones and Victoria Adukwei Bulley

5 voices + 7 players
solo soprano + 4 voices (SATB) | 2 violins, viola, cello, contrabass, percussion, piano/keyboard

Commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art

Maud Martha is a very ordinary person.

There’s nothing explicitly extravagant about her, no extraordinary events happen to her.

And yet, Maud’s inner life is filled with joy and desire, curiosity and wonder, frustration and dejection. Hey, Maudie sets this interior world centre stage, as Maud converses with a choral ensemble that represents her soul to find meaning, and rest, in her life.

Hey, Maudie is creatively led by painter Rachel Jones. The libretto, co-authored by Jones and Adukwei Bulley, takes inspiration from Gwendolyn Brooks’ 1953 novel, Maud Martha. The opera was originally commissioned by the Roberts Institute of Art and later extended with a residency at Britten Pears Arts.