DRIFT

Premiering Summer 2026 at Opera Saratoga

 

DRIFT is an opera about motherlands, migration and memory set amidst the pressing crises of our time. In a glacial landscape scarred by catastrophic war, archivists aim to preserve remnants of the past. They discover Marie, a mysterious young woman whose memory they are trying to map. After her mother’s disappearance, Marie and her childhood friend James navigate landscapes both toxic and ethereal, trying to find keys to both their future and past. Drift weaves a kaleidoscopic narrative, necessitating a radically new examination of identity, geography and the places and people we call home.

Have I been here before?

Cast:
Esmeralda: SOPRANO
Future Librarian / Guard / Mother: MEZZO-SOPRANO
Future Librarian / James / Border Agent: TENOR
SATB CHORUS: 8 VOICES

Scored for Chamber Orchestra (10 players) and Fixed Electronics

Duration ca. 90 minutes

Filmed during a residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center

Drift is commissioned by Opera Saratoga and has been awarded OPERA America’s Commissioning Award Grant supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

For more information, or to join as a co-producer or presenter contact Mary Birnbaum: MaryBirnbaum@OperaSaratoga.org