Night Sky with Exit Wounds
New York City based theater, opera, and film artist Kaneza Schaal returns to Carolina Performing Arts following her 2023 direction of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize winning opera Omar with a new work-in-progress as a Southern Futures Resident Artist. Co-commissioned by Carolina Performing Arts, Night Sky with Exit Wounds will mark the first adaptation of the work of Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist Ocean Vuong and will feature music from Bryce Dessner, and a performance by acclaimed soprano Fleur Barron.
Join us for this one-of-a-kind experience that offers up the rare opportunity to witness the creative process of a new work unfold in real time. There is no finished product yet; instead, you’re invited to immerse yourself in the iterative journey of artistic exploration and collaboration, set within the intimate setting of the CURRENT ArtSpace, where each moment can reveal an evolving discovery.
Set for premiere in 2027, the finished new work will ultimately journey through the memory of war via the poetic cosmos of Vuong’s literary masterpiece by the same name. With Schaal and Dessner navigating the delicate balance between the raw vulnerability of Vuong’s poetry and the dynamic interplay of music and visuals, the collaborators embark on an exploration that transcends conventional design boundaries toward a universe where live music, poetry, and visual art find a seamless, deeply charged flow.
Both evenings will include an engaging artist dialogue with Dessner and Schaal, offering a deeper connection to the creative vision. On the first night, Heidi Kim, Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director of the Asian American Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, will guide the conversation. On the second night, Anna Gatulda, Assistant Professor in Musicology, will facilitate the conversation.
This is a rare opportunity to witness an often unseen part of the creative process and connect with artists at the beginning of a creative journey.
TICKET & DISCOUNT INFORMATION
Tickets available starting from $29.
$11 STUDENT TICKETS
For UNC-Chapel Hill students (with valid UNC One Card) and all Triangle-area students K-college (with valid student ID)
- Current UNC-Chapel Hill students: Use promo code UNCST2425 and select the price type “UNC Student”
- Non UNC-Chapel Hill students: Use promo code GENST2425 and use the price type “Student”
15% DISCOUNT
Seniors, Active & Retired Military / First Responders, and Carolina Alumni save on regular price tickets with promo codes:
- Seniors: Use promo code SENIOR2425
- Active & Retired Military / First Responders: Use promo code SERVICE2425
- Carolina Alumni: Use promo code GAA2425
25% DISCOUNT
UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty & Staff / UNC Health Employees save on regular price tickets with promo codes:
- UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty & Staff and UNC Health Staff: Use promo code UNCFS2425
- Retired UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty & Staff: Use promo code UNCRET2425
Watch our video on applying discount codes when checking out!
*Limits apply. All prices include tax. A 6.5% platform fee will apply to all orders. Discounts cannot be combined. Additional exclusions may apply. Visit our FAQ page for more details.
EVENT DETAILS
- Runtime: approximately one hour, with no intermission
- Content Warning: Themes of war and violence
- Additional information: Visit our FAQ page
CREATIVE TEAM
Based on Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
Conceived by Bryce Dessner & Kaneza Schaal
Composed by Bryce Dessner
Libretto by Ocean Vuong
Directed by Kaneza Schaal
Designed by Tuan Andrew Nguyen & Christopher Myers
Assistant Director Kiara Benn
Associate Music Director Ben Sellick
Production Management by Brian Freeland
Produced by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann & Sami Pyne
Commissioned by Yale Schwarzman Center & Carolina Performing Arts
MUSICIANS
Fleur Barron, soprano
Ben Sellick, piano
Ben Lanz, keyboards
Leah Peroutka and Matvey Lapin, violin
Suzanne Rousso, viola
Grace Anderson, cello
Luke Ellard, clarinet & bass clarinet
Gabriel Mairson, horn
Isaac Pyatt, percussion
Contracted by Mallarmé Music
Published by Wise Music
ABOUT OCEAN VUONG
Ocean Vuong is the author of The New York Times best selling poetry collection, Time is a Mother (Penguin Press 2022) and The New York Times best selling novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press 2019), which has been translated into 37 languages.
A recipient of a 2019 MacArthur “Genius” Grant, he is also the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2016, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Whiting Award, the Thom Gunn Award, and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection.
ABOUT BRYCE DESSNER
Bryce Dessner is a vital and rare force in new music. He has won GRAMMY® Awards as a classical composer and with the band The National, of which he is founding member, guitarist, arranger, and co-principal songwriter. He is regularly commissioned to write for the world’s leading ensembles, from Orchestre de Paris to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he is a high-profile presence in film score composition, with credits including The Revenant, for which he was GRAMMY®, and Golden Globe nominated, Fernando Mereilles’s The Two Popes and Mike Mill’s C’mon C’mon.
ABOUT KANEZA SCHAAL
Kaneza Schaal is a New York based artist working in theater, opera, and film. Most recently she directed the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winning opera Omar, a Carolina Performing Arts co-commissioned work, which showed at Spoletto Festival USA, Los Angeles Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and San Francisco Opera. By creating performances that speak many formal, cultural, historical, aesthetic, and experiential languages she seeks expansive audiences.
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