Buying a Home

for 4 voices, percussion, piano and electronics

Robert Ashley was one of the most original and innovative American composers of opera. His death in March of 2014 marked the end of a strange and beautiful output of music. In collaboration with a band of exceptional artists, Jacob Adler presented this operatic tribute to Ashley's artistic spirit at the Kerr Cultural Center on Jan 27, 2015. A revised version was performed twice in 2020.

The opera depicts the story of Don and Linda as they navigate the labyrinth of real estate in Phoenix. The subtext of their journey is a search for meaning and purpose in a chaotic world, an attempt to reconcile bureaucracy and mystical experience, common law and dreams, social institutions and the vastness of space.

THE CHARACTERS

Josh Hill is Don, the buyer

Holly Pyle is Linda, the buyer

Richard Wall is Donny, the realtor

Ilona Kubiaczyk-Adler is Mścisława, the lender

Tony Obr, electronic music composition

Josh Bennett, live electronic processing

Eric Retterer, percussion

Jacob Adler, libretto, piano, direction