WAKING THE WITCH: DEVELOPMENT TEAM

The extraordinary people below collaborated in the development of Waking the Witch.

Waking the Witch is written at the request of the brilliant countertenor Min Sang Kim, who wanted to play a villain.

Pierrot ensemble Balance Campaign and stage director Lee Cromwell served as consultants throughout the project for instrumental writing and crafting the libretto and overall story.

We invite anyone considering a presentation or production of Waking the Witch to work with the developmental team as collaborators OR to make the work entirely their own, with their own artistic teams.

I am forever grateful for the work of these amazing artists.

Origin: Waking the Witch began when countertenor Min Sang Kim asked me to write him a solo opera. I asked him if there was anything he wished he could play that he hadn’t had a chance to yet, and he said he would love to play a bad guy.

So I created a piece for the worst person I could think of: someone willing to accept conspiracy theories who uses religion and authority as weapons against the most vulnerable.

Our goal is to create a piece that can both showcase Dr. Kim’s unique talents while also being performable by a variety of artists, including countertenors and mezzo-sopranos or contraltos.

Min Sang Kim, countertenor

Praised for his “unusually ethereal voice,” countertenor Dr. Min Sang Kim has performed the leading roles in many productions including Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Hawaii Performing Arts Festival; Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea with New York Lyric Opera; Endimione in La Calisto, Madame Haltière in Cendrillon, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Peabody Opera; Ixion in La descente d’Orphée aux enfers with Baltimore Theater Project; Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare with Pittsburgh Festival Opera; Secrecy, Mopsa in The Fairy Queen with HPAF; Nerone in Agrippina with Opera NEO; Ottone, Valetto in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Ascanio in Ascanio in Alba; and Giulio Cesare in Giulio Cesare with Aspen Opera Center. In the concert stages, he has performed with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Dolce Contento Ensemble, American Bach Soloists, Peabody-Hopkins Chorus, and Daegu Opera House among others. Dr. Kim is a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Capitol District, Annapolis Opera Competition, Camille Coloratura Awards, and Saltworks Opera Competition, and performed at Carnegie Hall as a Grand Prize winner of Concert Artists International Competition. In addition, he is a winner of the Russell C. Wonderlic Competition, Baltimore Music Club Competition, Osaka International Music Competition, and a finalist of the Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition and the Vocal Arts DC Competition. He also has been awarded the Citation from the Maryland Legislative Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Caucus for promoting the art and assisting the most vulnerable in the immigrant community of Maryland. Originally from South Korea, Dr. Kim studied at the Juilliard School’s pre-college and received a Bachelor of Music degree at the New England Conservatory of Music. He received Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where he was a recipient of the George Woodhead and G. Raymond Ziegler Endowed Scholarships. Dr. Kim is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at Austin Peay State University.

Balance Campaign, workshop performers and music consultants

BALANCE CAMPAIGN is a Washington, D.C.-based contemporary classical ensemble dedicated to commissioning and performing new works by underrepresented women, LGBTQ+, and minority composers, as well as composers with connections to the DC area. Since their start in 2017, the group has been in residence at University of Maryland-Baltimore and the District New Music Coalition, where they curated full programs and workshop new works with students. In Fall 2019, Balance Campaign premiered their first commission from Fordham University professor, composer, and Maryland-native, Nathan Lincoln de Cusatis. They are currently working closely with composers Viet Cuong and Lexi Bryant-Tavani on new commissions to be premiered in 2023. Learn more at www.balancecampaign.com

Lee Cromwell, stage director, conductor, and libretto consultant

Lee Cromwell has led a varied career as a director, educator, producer and performer. Hailing from Harrington, Delaware, Lee is a magna cum laude graduate of Bucknell University, where he pursued dual degrees in Music & Theatre. Lee went on to earn advanced degrees in Conducting (MM, Westminster Choir College) and Directing (MFA, Indiana University Bloomington). At Indiana, he worked extensively in spoken drama, musical theatre, and opera, and on productions with the Bloomington Playwrights Project, Jewish Theatre of Bloomington, New Voices Opera, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and Indiana Festival Theatre. No stranger to new works, Lee has directed and worked at a variety of theaters, including the National Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Young Playwright’s Theatre, Imagination Stage, and the DC Queer Theatre Festival. From 2014 – 2017 he was the Associate Producer of the Source Festival and from 2017 - 2019 was the Festival Producer for Capital Fringe. Since the pandemic Lee has pivoted toward more work in virtual production, serving as a remote producer for a variety of virtual events, most recently as a Producer/Production Manager for theatreWashington, overseeing the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards. Currently, Lee is employed with Washington National Opera as the Rehearsal Planning Coordinator. His previous work with the WNO was in a combination of two different production capacities, as the Studio Coordinator and the Tour/Production Manager for the “Pop-Up” Opera Truck. Lee currently is working with composer and librettist Ashi Day on a series of one act operas in development. Learn more at www.leecromwell.com