Graham Reynolds Creates a Pancho Villa Opera in Marfa (Kickstarter Appeal)
Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance is an experimental chamber opera about the life and death of Pancho Villa. Commissioned by Ballroom Marfa, the project is the third installment of The Marfa Triptych, a genre-hopping trilogy of musical performances by visionary composer Graham Reynolds. The opera is an insightful examination of the Mexican and Mexican-American impact on the culture and politics of West Texas, contributing to the current and timely conversation about borders. Be a part of this unique opportunity to support the work of Graham in collaboration with Ballroom Marfa by bringing Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance to life in Marfa, Texas.
Click to go to Kickstarter page for more information and to donate
What is Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance?
This opera looks at the life and death of Pancho Villa, the enigmatic hero of the Mexican Revolution, unlikely film star and notorious bandit. Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance opens with Villa’s assassination, and unfolds in his mind in the seconds before his death. Simultaneously, a woman on an American hotel rooftop in El Paso observes the war taking place right across the river in Mexico through her opera glasses.
Exploring facts from Villa’s biography while also examining the mythology surrounding him, the opera will ask what Pancho Villa means to Mexican and American culture, and where these meanings intersect and conflict. The opera brings together artistic collaborators from both sides of the border to engage in a borderless conversation about the shared history between Mexico and the United States.
Pancho Villa From a Safe Distance is the epic closing chapter in The Marfa Triptych. The opera experiments with an exciting hybrid of compositional techniques, including looping and sampling in Ableton Live, overdubbed layers of vocals, and remixes by Mexican electronic artists.
Listen to "Me Llamo Pancho Villa"
Click to go to Kickstarter page for info and to donate